image-based backup
What is image-based backup?
Image-based backup creates a copy of an operating system and all the data associated with it, including the system state and application configurations. The backup is saved as a single file called an image.
The advantage to image-based backups is that all the information can be collected in a single pass, providing an updated bare-metal restore capability with each file-based backup.
Uses for image-based backups
Image-based backup products can perform backups online, perform dissimilar hardware restores, enable file-level restores, and recover servers remotely across wide area networks or local area networks.
They also enable backup images to be saved to a variety of different media. Many image-based backup products support encryption.
Because image-level backup applications use snapshots, all the data is backed up, including deleted files and empty disk blocks. To reduce the amount of data stored, some vendors incorporate data reduction technologies such as data deduplication.
