IBackup allows historical view of data by way of its Snapshots technology. The available daily Snapshots have been set to 10 (This may change without notice).

The additional storage requirements for Snapshots have no impact on your data usage. It is free for Enhanced backup and Workgroup accounts.

Once you select 'Show Snapshots', you can see the files stored in your IBackup account during the previous days under newly created directories with appropriate names. The backup directories have meaningful names with date, nightly.* or weekly.* extensions.

nightly.0 extension refers to the most recent Snapshot.
nightly.1 extension refers to the Snapshot that is a day older vis-à-vis the most recent Snapshot.
nightly.2 extension refers to the Snapshot that is two days older vis-a-vis the most recent Snapshot.

You can restore the files which you need from these directories just as you would, for any file or directory.

Note:

a. 'Show Snapshots' can be selected for the Main IBackup accounts and not Sub-Accounts.
b. Click the 'Hide Snapshots' icon once you are done with them, else the Snapshots end up cluttering your IBackup account.

To view the Snapshots, login to your IBackup account using any standard browser. On the Web-Manager main page that appears, click the 'Show Snapshots' icon.

To hide the Snapshots, click the 'Hide Snapshots' icon on the main page of your IBackup account. The 'Hide Snapshots' icon is visible immediately after you have selected 'Show Snapshots' for your data. Also, the option remains selected on logout.

To Show Snapshots

1. Click the 'Snapshots' icon on the toolbar.

Or

1. Tools > Preferences

2. Check the option 'Show Snapshots' under the 'General' tab.

To Hide Snapshots

1. Click the 'Snapshots' icon on the toolbar again.

Or

1. Tools > Preferences

2. Uncheck the option 'Show Snapshots'.

Do I need to select 'Show Snapshots' to preserve and view the previously stored data?

No. Snapshots are maintained by default unless you have opted for an Economy Plan. To view the Snapshots, click the 'Snapshots' icon on your IBackup for Windows or the 'Show Snapshots' icon on your Web-Manager client.

The Snapshot view automatically changes to 'Hide Snapshots' on exiting the IBackup for Windows and Web-Manager client applications (else it would clutter the screen with Snapshots directories on subsequent logins).

Does Snapshot data (previously stored data) impact the available quota (storage space in my account)?

Your available quota depends on the storage requirements of the most recent view of your data. Snapshots do require additional space. However, this is not charged to your usage. In other words, Snapshots do not increase your storage requirement and are free with your online backup account.

How do I use the Snapshots feature to restore from a previously stored data file using rsync on Linux?

While IBackup for Windows and Web-Manager allow you to view previously stored data with the 'Show Snapshot' feature; for rsync on Linux and other platforms, perform the steps listed below:

1. Login to your IBackup via a standard browser and click the 'Show Snapshots' icon on the main page.

2. After selecting 'Show Snapshots', keep your browser session open. Note down the directories from which you want to restore. Then, using rsync and with the directories noted, apply the necessary rsync commands to restore the data from Snapshots.

3. Close the Web-Manager session when you are done with the restore.

I have lost a file, which was probably backed up four days ago from my desktop. How do I restore it?

You can restore files that were backed up earlier using the Snapshots feature available with IBackup. Snapshots are point-in-time images of your data.

First, select 'Show Snapshot' (To view Snapshots, go to Tools > Preferences section of the application and check the option 'Show Snapshots' under the 'General' tab.). Once 'Show Snapshots' is selected, you can see Snapshot folders with names like nightly.0, nightly.1 etc. at the top level of your account.

If you recall the folder where the file was kept, then try and navigate to the file/folder, starting from the folder nightly.3. This may contain the data that you backed up 4 days ago. If not, try nightly.4.

Once you find the right file, simply restore it. (IBackup does not have the concept of separate full and incremental backup files as incrementals are directly written on top of full backup).