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# Synthetic Backup
Synthetic backup accelerates the process by capturing only the delta since the last full backup. These delta changes are merged with the existing full backup, eliminating the need to recreate a full backup from scratch. When the “Enable Synthetic Backup (Faster Backup)” option is selected, it ensures faster full backups by reusing prior backup data efficiently.
### Process Flow – Backup Configuration
1. Only if the “Full Backup” option is selected for any job being created.
2. The “Enable Synthetic Backup (Faster Backup)” is available for selection, and, the option comes auto-enabled for the above said selections.
3. If a synthetic backup need not be run on a full backup, the “Enable Synthetic Backup (Faster Backup)” option has to be explicitly disabled.
4. Observe the “Enable Synthetic Backup (Faster Backup)” option, and the info icon which provides information about the same.
### Process Flow – Start Backup
On triggering a backup, if a configuration for which the “Enable Synthetic Backup (Faster Backup)” is enabled. The option comes auto enabled on the “Start Backup” pop-up.
### Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Restoration of Deleted Records (Scenario 1)
“In synthetic backup, if the previous backup had 200 records and the current only has 50, how do we manage or restore the deleted 150?”
Synthetic backup captures deltas (changes) from the last backup. If 150 records were deleted between backups, these deletions are recorded as part of the delta. The synthetic backup process preserves this change, and records deleted from Salesforce are still tracked and can be restored, assuming they haven’t been permanently removed (e.g., from the Recycle Bin).
* If “Exclude Deleted Records” is not enabled, the deleted records will be part of the backup.
* If excluded, the records may still be recoverable for a short period (e.g., 24 hours via API, if they exist in the Recycle Bin).
* Verification of deleted records should be done before the demo/restore process to confirm their availability.
2. Value Mismatch Between Backups (Scenario 2)
“How do I ensure the original field value (e.g., ‘gold’) is retained or identified during restoration?”
The restore process in synthetic backup retains the most recent valid value of the record:
* If a field’s previous value was “gold” and it changed to “silver,” synthetic backup retains both states through deltas.
* During restore, the process will use the original value from the selected backup version, ensuring consistency.
* You can identify the correct version by reviewing backup timestamps and performing a value audit if needed. This helps ensure data accuracy when restoring earlier field states.
3. Applicability to Metadata, Data Files, and Attachments
“Do changes apply to metadata, data files, and attachments as well?”
Yes, synthetic backup handles updates across:
* Metadata (e.g., changes in custom objects or fields)
* Data files (standard and custom object records)
* Attachments (including new or modified files)
The backup system ensures only new or changed attachments are included (no duplication), keeping the process efficient. For example, if 10 attachments exist and 2 new ones are added, the next backup captures only those 2 new additions.
4. Switching to Full Backups When Needed
“Can we switch back to using full backups if synthetic backups are not sufficient?”
Yes, you can switch back to full backups at any point based on your operational or compliance needs.
* The team has discussed and agreed that both backup types will remain available, and you can choose full backups if a scenario demands a more complete restore baseline or addresses automation-related deletion challenges.
## Understanding Synthetic Backup Performance
**1. Why did Synthetic Backup take similar time as Full Backup for only 8,000 records?**\
This is expected behavior. With a small dataset of around 8,000 records, the time required for a Full Backup to query and retrieve all records from Salesforce is already very low. Synthetic Backup saves time by retrieving only incremental changes, but it also performs an additional delta merge step. For small data volumes, that merge overhead can offset the savings.
**2. Why was Synthetic Backup slightly slower than Full Backup?**\
Synthetic Backup includes extra processing after retrieving incremental changes. It must merge the changed data with the existing backup set to create a complete backup view. When the dataset is small, this additional processing may make Synthetic Backup similar to or slightly slower than Full Backup.
**3. Does this mean Synthetic Backup is not working correctly?**\
No. Similar runtime between Synthetic Backup and Full Backup on a small org does not indicate an issue. It aligns with how Synthetic Backup is designed to work.
**4. How does Full Backup work?**\
Full Backup retrieves all records from Salesforce during every backup run. Its performance depends mainly on the total number of records that need to be queried and downloaded.
**5. How does Synthetic Backup work?**\
Synthetic Backup retrieves only the incremental changes since the previous backup. After collecting those changes, it performs a delta merge process to combine the incremental data with the existing backup set.
**6. Why were the API calls similar for both backup types?**\
Both backup types still need to query configured Salesforce objects to determine whether records exist and whether changes need to be processed. In a small dataset, these object-level queries can represent a significant portion of total API usage, so the API call count may look similar.
**7. When does Synthetic Backup provide clear benefits?**\
Synthetic Backup is most beneficial in large Salesforce environments, such as orgs with hundreds of thousands or millions of records. In those cases, Full Backup must retrieve the entire dataset every time, while Synthetic Backup retrieves only the changes.
**8. What kind of environment shows the best improvement with Synthetic Backup?**\
The best improvement is seen when the total dataset is large, but the number of changed records between backup runs is relatively small. This allows Synthetic Backup to reduce Salesforce data retrieval time and API consumption.
**9. Why are the benefits less visible in small orgs?**\
In small orgs, the total data retrieval time for Full Backup is already minimal. Because there is not much data to avoid retrieving, Synthetic Backup has limited opportunity to reduce runtime or API calls.
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