What is a full server backup? Today, data is one of the most valuable business assets. A full server backup helps protect your organization from data loss and cyber attacks. In this video, we'll explain what a full server backup is, how it compares to other backup types, when to use it, and how to build smarter backup strategies around it. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to Ninja One's IT Video Hub for more tech content like this. What is a full server backup? A full server backup creates a complete copy of your server's data, every file folder, and system setting. It's the most comprehensive backup method available, making it the go-to for full disaster recovery. But with that thoroughness comes a cost. Full backups are time consuming and require significant storage. That's why they're not typically run daily, especially in larger environments. Instead, many teams use them as a solid baseline, then supplement with faster, lighter backup types, Pros and cons of a full server backup versus other types of backups. Full server backups protect your data and are crucial in data recovery if a major disaster occurs since they are the most comprehensive backup. Full backups are actually relatively simple to manage and are usually the fastest and easiest source for recovering data. That being said, full server backups are time consuming to run, require a lot of storage and can be slower to restore. Depending on your system setup, that's where other backups come into play. Incremental backups only save changes since the last backup. Whatever type that was. Differential backups save everything changed since the last full backup image backups. Go a step further. Capturing the OS apps and systems state in a single file. Each method has a role, but when you need everything and fast, full backups are the easiest to restore. Larger businesses often schedule full backups monthly or quarterly. Smaller teams might run them weekly or even daily, depending on how much data needs to be backed up and how quickly they need to recover. Implementing full server backups in backup strategies. Since full server backups are resource heavy, they work best as part of a broader strategy. Many IT teams schedule them periodically and use incremental or differential backups in between to stay protected without overloading their systems. For more information, check out our official blog post on what is a full server backup. LinkedIn, the description below.