1

I am doing system state backups on a Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise (Service Pack 1) machine and expected the backups after the first one to be incremental. However with each backup a new directory with vhd files are created and the vhd files are almost the same size as the with the first backup. So the backups does not seem to be incremental.

I used the following command to do the backup:

wbadmin start systemstatebackup -backupTarget:f:

I played around with the settings under "Configure Performance Settings" in the Windows Server Backup plugin in Server Manager but according to the description at the top of the dialog these settings are not applied to system state backups.

Are there any settings available for wbadmin system state backup to make the backups incremental?

gtirloni
  • 5,746
  • 3
  • 25
  • 52
user74513
  • 111
  • 1
  • 2

2 Answers2

2

The incremental backup will work when you assign a dedicated disk that will be formatted by the Windows Backup Software. If you use a shared location each time it will run will create a new full backup!

Alexios Pappas
  • 505
  • 3
  • 9
0

Windows Server Backup uses Volume Shadow Copy Service and block-level backup technology to efficiently back up and recover the operating system, files and folders, and volumes. After the first full backup is created, Windows Server Backup automatically runs incremental backups by saving only the data that has changed since the last backup occurred. Unlike previous versions, you no longer have to worry about manually scheduling full and incremental backups.

Guido van Brakel
  • 942
  • 5
  • 10
  • 1
    Is the changed data supposed to be copied/replaced to/in the same VHD that was created by the first backup? I get a new directory with a name like "Backup 2011-03-15 104335" with every backup that contains a VHD file of roughly 7GB. – user74513 Mar 15 '11 at 10:43
  • Explained in detail here: http://standalonelabs.wordpress.com/2011/05/25/a-closer-look-at-windows-server-backup-and-where-did-my-backup-files-go/ – gtirloni Sep 09 '14 at 20:08
  • @user74513 Guido is right at 85%. wbadmin need a local disk to be "able" to make a incremental backup. The tool can't make that on a remote folder in exemple, but it warn you when you make that choice in the wizard. – yagmoth555 Apr 22 '15 at 01:18