Usage Inconsistency
While the terms above are in very wide use, some backup vendors reverse the meaning of "incremental" and "differential" although using these terms incorrectly could lead to botched backup jobs and loss of data. One case for example is Microsoft with NtBackup.exe. However, no other such vendor is known today. On the other hand, it is technically accurate to refer to a differential backup as a cumulative incremental backup but this use is discouraged as it is unnecessarily confusing. Additionally, while it is technically accurate to refer to an incremental backup as a differential incremental backup, this use is also discouraged and unnecessarily confusing.
Read more about this topic: Incremental Backup
Famous quotes containing the word usage:
“I am using it [the word ‘perceive’] here in such a way that to say of an object that it is perceived does not entail saying that it exists in any sense at all. And this is a perfectly correct and familiar usage of the word.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)