<s>
Backup	B-Application
software	I-Application
are	O
computer	O
programs	O
used	O
to	O
perform	O
a	O
backup	B-Protocol
;	O
they	O
create	O
supplementary	O
exact	O
copies	O
of	O
files	O
,	O
databases	O
or	O
entire	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
programs	O
may	O
later	O
use	O
the	O
supplementary	O
copies	O
to	O
restore	O
the	O
original	O
contents	O
in	O
the	O
event	O
of	O
data	B-General_Concept
loss	I-General_Concept
;	O
hence	O
,	O
they	O
are	O
very	O
useful	O
to	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
several	O
features	O
of	O
backup	B-Application
software	I-Application
that	O
make	O
it	O
more	O
effective	O
in	O
backing	O
up	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Voluming	O
allows	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
compress	O
and	O
split	O
backup	B-Protocol
data	O
into	O
separate	O
parts	O
for	O
storage	O
on	O
smaller	O
,	O
removable	B-Device
media	I-Device
such	O
as	O
CDs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
often	O
used	O
because	O
CDs	B-Device
were	O
easy	O
to	O
transport	O
off-site	O
and	O
inexpensive	O
compared	O
to	O
hard	B-Device
drives	I-Device
or	O
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
recent	O
increase	O
in	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
capacity	I-Device
and	O
decrease	O
in	O
drive	O
cost	O
has	O
made	O
voluming	O
a	O
far	O
less	O
popular	O
solution	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
introduction	O
of	O
small	O
,	O
portable	O
,	O
durable	O
USB	B-Device
drives	I-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
increase	O
in	O
broadband	B-General_Concept
capacity	O
has	O
provided	O
easier	O
and	O
more	O
secure	O
methods	O
of	O
transporting	O
backup	B-Protocol
data	O
off-site	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
space	O
has	O
cost	O
,	O
compressing	B-General_Concept
the	O
data	O
will	O
reduce	O
the	O
size	O
allowing	O
for	O
less	O
drive	O
space	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
save	O
money	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
backup	B-Protocol
solutions	O
offer	O
a	O
plug-in	O
for	O
access	O
to	O
exclusive	O
,	O
in	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
locked	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Backup	B-Protocol
solutions	O
generally	O
support	O
differential	B-General_Concept
backups	I-General_Concept
and	O
incremental	B-General_Concept
backups	I-General_Concept
in	O
addition	O
to	O
full	B-Protocol
backups	I-Protocol
,	O
so	O
only	O
material	O
that	O
is	O
newer	O
or	O
changed	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
backed	O
up	O
data	O
is	O
actually	O
backed	O
up	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
effect	O
of	O
these	O
is	O
to	O
increase	O
significantly	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
backup	B-Protocol
process	O
over	O
slow	O
networks	O
while	O
decreasing	O
space	O
requirements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Backup	B-Protocol
schedules	O
are	O
usually	O
supported	O
to	O
reduce	O
maintenance	O
of	O
the	O
backup	B-Protocol
tool	O
and	O
increase	O
the	O
reliability	O
of	O
the	O
backups	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
prevent	O
data	O
theft	O
,	O
some	O
backup	B-Application
software	I-Application
offers	O
cryptography	O
features	O
to	O
protect	O
the	O
backup	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Transaction	O
mechanism	O
(	O
with	O
commit/rollback	O
management	O
)	O
for	O
all	O
critical	O
processes	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
backups	B-Protocol
or	O
merges	O
)	O
to	O
guarantee	O
the	O
backups	B-Protocol
 '	O
integrity	O
.	O
</s>
