Guidelines for Choosing Continuous or Run-once Backup

You can specify whether to back up data continuously or periodically according to a schedule. The backup types are:

Backup type	Description
Continuous backup	Backup runs all the time, during the scheduled intervals. When the interval starts, files that have changed since the last time backup ran are synchronized, then on-going changes are backed up as they occur on your computer. If your schedule is 24x7 (the default), your files are synchronized once then only changes are backed up.
Run-once backup	Backup starts and stops according to the schedule. When the schedule interval starts, files that have changed since the last time backup ran are synchronized. After all changed data is backed up, backup stops even if there is still time left in the schedule. This option is not available if you set a 24x7 schedule.

You select a backup type as part of the schedule for each backup configuration (that is, for the default Files and Directories configuration, and for each additional Exchange or database configuration). You can change the backup type by modifying a backup configuration.

When choosing a backup type, you should consider:

Availability of network bandwidth.
Importance of the data on the backup configuration.
Size of files and rate of change.
How an application writes its file changes to disk (for example, are byte-level changes written to disk, or full files).
Other characteristics of the data and your environment.

Continuous backup

Choosing the backup type Continuous backup ensures that the most current files are always backed up and available. As such, you may choose to use this frequency on a 24x7 schedule to back up all your data.

For example, you may choose to back up databases continuously on a 24x7 schedule, particularly those that are large or that change frequently.

By specifying this backup type, LiveVault Online Backup Service backs up only changes as long as the backup configuration is running. In most instances, this means that only byte-level file changes are copied over the network. This minimizes the network bandwidth used while ensuring that the most current changes are backed up immediately.

If you are backing up data from applications that write a full file to disk each time the file is saved (for example, Microsoft Office files and graphics files), choosing Continuous backup means the entire changed file will be copied each time the file is written to disk. Depending upon the file size, rate of change, and the number of files, this can adversely impact your network bandwidth availability.

Run-once backup

You may choose to use Run-once backup to back up files that are written to disk in their entirety each time they are saved. If you choose this backup type, LiveVault Online Backup Service will either copy the entire changed file, or only changed portions of the file, whichever it deems most efficient.

Related Information

Configuring Backup
Modifying Backup: An Overview