Mirror Backup

A mirror backup is identical to a full backup, with the exception that the files and folders are not compressed in zip files and they cannot be protected with a password. A mirror backup is most frequently used to create an exact copy of the backup source data. It has the benefit that the backup files can also be readily accessed using tools like File Explorer.

A mirror backup is an exact copy of the selected folders and files at a given time. Mirror backup is the fastest backup method because it copies files and folders to the destination without any compression. However, the increased speed has its drawbacks: it needs larger storage space and it cannot be password protected.

While the other backup types collect all the files and folders being backed up each time into a single compressed container file, a mirror backup keeps all the individual files separately in the destination. That is, the destination becomes a mirror (exact copy) of the source. You can even directly access files in the destination without needing to use Backup4all's restore feature, because each file is just an exact copy of the original.

One handy feature of mirror backup is Backup4all's Fast mirror option. When this option is selected, any mirror operation after the first will only copy new and modified files, making the operation very fast.

Another important feature is that users can choose to zip each file individually using the Zip the files option. In this case, the compression and encryption options can be used.

A mirror backup cannot keep track of different versions of files. However, Backup4all provides an option to customize destination folder names using user-defined parameters, giving you the ability to save each mirror backup in a different folder location. Restore using Backup4all is possible only from the latest mirror backup, but all previous mirror backups remain available in the destination and can be accessed manually.