Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

Differential Backups

Differential backups can be used to reduce the amount of time required to restore a database and can be particularly useful in environments where the amount of data that changes is limited. Differential backups capture only the database extents that have changed since the last database backup—typically, a full database backup.

The addition of differential backups to a plan that includes full database backups and transaction log backups can significantly improve the overall recovery time. The differential database backup eliminates the need to apply any transaction log backups that have occurred from the time of the last full backup up until the completion of the differential backup. Figure 11.5 depicts a backup plan that ...