Block-level backups integrate snapshot technology with efficient block storage mechanisms for faster backups. The backups are faster because only the blocks that contain data are backed up, rather than the entire files. For more information on supported operating systems for block-level, see System Requirements for Block-Level Backup for Windows.
Compared to file system backups and disk image-based backups, block-level backups reduce scan times when the file system has a large number of small files. Also, when compared to file system incremental backups, block-level incremental backups run faster and back up less data if the file system has very large files. Block-level backups might not be useful when backing up a portion of files or folders on a volume.
By default, block-level backups are performed using native snapshots, but they can be configured to function with hardware snapshot engines.
For more information about the high-level process steps for block-level backups on Windows, see KB article DAPR0008.
Note: Turn off the Automount feature, if you have an antivirus software installed on your client computer.