Full Backup: Complete copy of all selected data regardless of when it was last backed up. Takes the most time and storage space but provides fastest recovery.
Incremental Backup: Only backs up data that has changed since the last backup (full or incremental). Fastest backup time, least storage space, but slower recovery as you need the full backup plus all incremental backups.
Differential Backup: Backs up all data changed since the last full backup. Moderate backup time and storage, faster recovery than incremental as you only need the full backup plus the latest differential. Example: If you do a full backup on Sunday, then:
Monday incremental: backs up Monday's changes
Tuesday incremental: backs up only Tuesday's changes
Tuesday differential: backs up Monday + Tuesday changes
Rewriting in plainer words…
This answer doesn't lend itself to a diagram - it reads best . No credits were charged.
