This is an archive version of the document. To get the most up-to-date information, see the current version.Backup Chain
If you enable image-level backups for a backup policy, Veeam Backup for GCP creates a new backup file in a backup repository during every backup session. A sequence of backup files created during a set of backup sessions makes up a standard backup chain.
The standard backup chain includes backup files of the following types:
- Full — a full backup file stores a copy of the full VM image.
- Incremental — incremental backup files store incremental changes of the VM image.
To build a standard backup chain for a VM instance protected by a backup policy, Veeam Backup for GCP implements the forever forward incremental backup method:
- During the first backup session, Veeam Backup for GCP copies the full VM image and creates a full backup file in the backup repository. The full backup file becomes a starting point in the standard backup chain.
- During subsequent backup sessions, Veeam Backup for GCP copies only those data blocks that have changed since the previous backup session, and stores these data blocks to incremental backup files in the backup repository. The content of each incremental backup file depends on the content of the full backup file and the preceding incremental backup files in the standard backup chain.
Full and incremental backup files act as restore points for backed-up VM instances that let you roll back instance data to the necessary state. To recover a VM instance to a specific point in time, the chain of backup files created for the instance must contain a full backup file and a set of incremental backup files dependent on the full backup file.
If some file in the standard backup chain is missing, you will not be able to roll back to the necessary state. For this reason, you must not delete individual backup files from the backup repository manually. Instead, you must specify retention policy settings that will let you maintain the necessary number of backup files in the backup repository. For more information, see Retention Policy for Backups.
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