Types of Backups
It’s important to back up data frequently. Decide what kind of backup schedule is suitable for your environment. Before deciding what’s best for your site, consider what’s more important: to have a simple and fast restore procedure, or to perform backups quickly.
Making a Golden Image
The first thing to do is make a golden image of your system. A golden image is a full system backup[43] made before the system is connected to the public network. This image can be used for recovery, but it can also be used as a reference if the system is compromised in any way.
Performing a Full System Backup
A full system backup is a backup of everything on a system: the operating system, the application executables, and the application data. Always perform a full system backup both before and after any major change takes place—for example, when applying a new service pack.
If the main objective of your backup strategy is to restore a system as quickly as possible, you need to schedule full system backups as often as possible.
Performing Incremental Backup
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