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== Backup Types ==
There are three traditional backup types: full, cumulative and differential.

=== Full Backups ===
A complete backup of all associated files at a known point in time.

Both of the following types are considered Incremental backups. They can be used independently or in conjunction with each other but always relate back to a '''full''' backup.

=== Cumulative or Differential Backups ===
This is a backup of the differences since the last '''full''' backup, so each cumulative backup gets bigger each cycle as it is also backing up data previously backup, since the last '''full''' backup.

=== Incremental Backups ===
This is a backup of the changes since the previous backup of any type, i.e., full, cumulative, or incremental.