CertiGuide to A+ (Operating Systems)  9  Chapter 0010:  File Attributes       9  V  Backup/Restore

Method to the Madness 1 VI  All Backups are Not Created Equal

Now that we’ve heard more about backup, we can talk more about the archive bit. What is the archive bit?

This is an attribute (remember RASH?) that indicates a file status regarding the backup attribute applied to the file. When this bit is set, the backup utility program (agent) keeps track of the file attribute information, and each time a program or file is used or opened it checks to see if the information has changed and includes this file or program in the backup, thus saving the changes.

The bit is set (meaning the placeholder for the information is recognized) by the network operating system (NOS), which in turn alerts the backup utility to include any files that were changed, when the archive bit “alarm” (if you will) was setoff, in a backup. The bit is “turned on” when a file is changed.

Method to the Madness 1 VI  All Backups are Not Created Equal