Backup4all Forum

I am just wondering what possible problems I might run into using fast mirror for backing up a external hard drive containing 30 thousand pictures. Currently I make two backups using mirror without the FAST option. I recall having had some problems using that option in the past.

Hi,

There should be no problems. The Fast Mirror will back up only new and modified files from sources. That will result in a faster backup.

I guess I am wondering if I delete some files from the source disk, will those also be deleted from the destination disk using the fast option. I think that was the problem I had in the past. I would want them to be deleted from the destination so it is an exact copy of the source.

Richard

Hi,

If you want to also remove from destination the files deleted from sources, you need to select the "Remove excluded or deleted files" option from Backup Properties->Type->Mirror.

Great. Thanks.

I also assume that any alterations made to the destination outside of backup&4all will not be noticed by b4a when using the fast option.

Hi,

Yes, that is correct. Backup4all won't monitor the destination all the time, to track any change made outside Backup4all.
It is supposed you won't manually alter the backup in destination.

OK. I have been using fast mirror and it seems to save hours of time.
Now can backup in a few minutes rather than several hours... so I backup more frequently! That's good.

However, I understand that at some point I should make a full backup without the FAST option... to get all files rewritten occasionally... is that reasonable?

If so what is the best way to do that without confusing the "catalog" of the FAST option approach.

Should I just use the same backup set and occasionally turn off the fast option, or should I create a different backup set (without fast) and run that occasionally.

What is the best and safest protocol?

Hi,

For Mirror backup type, there is no need to run a complete backup from time to time.
Let me explain why: there are no file versions (for Mirror type). Any modified source file will overwrite the existing file version in destination.

If you want, you can run a repair backup from time to time. That means the backup in destination will be tested against the catalog and all missing files will be backed up again. (in case anyone deleted some files from destination)