What is a key advantage of an incremental backup?

An incremental backup is specifically designed to enhance efficiency by only saving the data that has changed since the last backup. This approach drastically reduces the amount of data that needs to be processed and transferred during each backup session, resulting in a quicker backup process. By focusing solely on the differences, incremental backups minimize storage space usage and optimize network bandwidth.

In contrast, a complete backup captures all files, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive. Retaining backups for an extended period generally pertains to backup policies rather than the nature of incremental backups. While incremental backups can make restoration simpler when combined with the last full backup, the process can still involve multiple steps to restore the entire data set, as it requires accessing several incremental snapshots. Therefore, the key advantage of an incremental backup lies in its ability to speed up the backup process by focusing on changes, making it an efficient choice for data management.