Note: WinZip Pro or WinZip Enterprise license is required to use WinZip jobs.
This article is mentioned in KB 125904, but only as a bullet point. This separate article is available for easier reference to what may seem to be a complex topic.
Available job types
WinZip's Job Wizard provides five predefined Job Types plus a Custom job type. The first two predefined types, Normal and Update, may be familiar to you as Zip file options. The other three job types; Full, Differential, and Incremental; are standard backup types. Carefully consider these different job types in order to determine the appropriate backup strategy for your needs.
|
Job type |
Description |
|---|---|
| Normal | Zips all selected files, replaces a Zip file of the same name if it exists |
| Update | To an existing Zip file, adds only files that are new and files that have changed; if a Zip file of the same name does not exist, Update will add all selected files |
| Full | Zips all selected files, replaces a Zip file of the same name if it exists, and resets archive attribute of added files |
| Differential | Only zips files with the archive attribute set; does not reset archive attribute of added files |
| Incremental | Only zips files with the archive attribute set; does reset archive attribute of added files |
| Custom | Allows you to specify your own job type by controlling all of the options individually |
Additional job type information:
- You should create new Zip files or rotate through multiple Zip files when you run your backups. If you always replace the same Zip file and the backup process goes wrong or the Zip file becomes corrupt, you may not have a valid Zip file when you need it. See the examples below for backup strategies.
- A Normal Backup or a Full Data Backup will require the most storage space, as they will always zip all selected files.
- An Incremental Backup will only back up the files that have changed since the last Full Backup or Incremental Backup; therefore, the storage requirements for these Zip files are usually the smallest.
- A Differential Backup will back up all files that have changed since the last Full or Incremental Backup. Since it does not reset the archive attribute of the files, storage requirements for differential backup archives will generally be greater than for incremental backup archives.
Differential backup example:
- A Full Backup is run on Sunday, and then a Differential Backup is run on Monday. The Monday "differential" Zip file will contain any files that have been added or have changed from Sunday (after the full backup) to Monday. Another Differential Backup is run on Tuesday. Tuesday's Zip file will include all of the files that have changed between Sunday and Tuesday. In other words, the Tuesday file has all of the data that is in the Monday file, plus everything that changed after the Monday backup was done. From this, you can see that differential Zip files may grow quite large depending on how often a full or incremental backup is run and how many files change during that time period.
Example backup strategies
The examples below are some strategies that you could use for backing up data. Other options exist. You would need to choose a strategy that fits your needs and works for you.
Safety note: in all four strategies, you would also want to keep the older of Full Data Backups off-site in case of an on-site disaster.
|
Strategy |
Description |
|---|---|
| Full Data Backup every day, two or more Zip files | This strategy will be practical if you are only backing up a few files. Creating two Zip files is for safety. |
| Include Incremental Backups using three Zip files | Archive 1: Full Backup, even weeks, every other Friday Archive 2: Full Backup, odd weeks, every other Friday Archive 3: Incremental Backup, updated daily, all other days (Monday through Thursday) |
| Include Incremental Backups using six Zip files | Archive 1: Full Backup, even weeks, every other Friday Archive 2: Full Backup, odd weeks, every other Friday Archive 3: Incremental Backup on Monday Archive 4: Incremental Backup on Tuesday Archive 5: Incremental Backup on Wednesday Archive 6: Incremental Backup on Thursday |
| Include Differential Backups using six Zip files | Archive 1: Full Backup, even weeks, every other Friday Archive 2: Full Backup, odd weeks, every other Friday Archive 3: Differential Backup on Monday Archive 4: Differential Backup on Tuesday Archive 5: Differential Backup on Wednesday Archive 6: Differential Backup on Thursday |
Strategy 2: If your incremental backup (Zip file 3) is damaged, you have only lost the data since the last Friday backup.
Strategy 3: If any incremental backup is lost or corrupt, you will still have all the changes from the other incremental backups, and you only lose the data from the one Incremental Backup.
Strategy 4: If Zip files 3, 4, or 5 become lost or corrupt and Zip file 6 is still good, you haven't lost any data. If Zip file 6 becomes lost or corrupt, then, assuming Zip file 5 is still good, you will only lose the data from Thursday.
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