Advantages of Using Synthetic Backups

There are a number of reasons why implementing synthetic backups may be useful in your NetBackup configuration.

Processing Takes Place on Master and Media Server(s) Instead of Client

One advantage of synthesizing a full backup lies in where the bulk of the processing takes place. During a traditional full backup, all files are copied from the client to a master or media server, even though those files may not have changed since the last incremental backup.

When creating a synthetic full backup, NetBackup takes full advantage of the fact that new or changed files have already been copied to the media server during the last incremental backup. NetBackup does not require that the client even be running in order to combine the full and incremental backups on the media server to form a new, full backup. The new, full synthetic backup is an accurate representaion of the clients' file system at the time the most recent incremental backup has been run.

Reduce Network Traffic

Another benefit is that files are transferred over the network only once, reducing network traffic. After the full and incremental backup images have been combined into a synthetic full (or cumulative) backup, the tapes containing the component images can be recycled, thereby reducing the number of tapes in use.

Use Drives More Effectively

Backups can be synthesized when drives are not generally in use. For example, if backups occur primarily overnight, the drives can be busy synthesizing full backups during the day.