Performing full farm backups is an important task that should be performed regularly; however, some farm data, such as configuration databases, will not change frequently, so it will not require frequent backups. Other data, such as content
databases, will change frequently and should be backed up at a much higher frequency. You can use the backup options in Central Administration or PowerShell cmdlets to back up specific components. You can also use SQL Server backup to back up specific databases.
Backing up a SharePoint farm configuration
You can perform a configuration-only backup of a farm by using Central Administration or the Backup-SPConfigurationDatabase cmdlet. A configuration-only backup is useful for development or test environments, or where you are using a different method, such as SQL Server backup, to back up SharePoint content. You cannot back up the farm configuration using SQL Server backup tools or System Center Data Protection Manager
Backing up service applications
You can use Central Administration or the Backup-SPFarm –Item <Service Application Name> cmdlet to back up specific service applications. Performing a SQL Server backup of the databases associated with the service application does not back up the entire service application itself; however you can re-provision the service application using the restored SQL databases.
Backing up web applications
You can use Central Administration or the Backup-SPFarm –Item <Web Application Name> cmdlet to back up specific web applications and all attached content databases. Performing a SQL Server backup of the databases associated with the web application does not back up the entire web application itself; however, you can recreate the web application using the restored SQL databases.
Backing up content databases
You can use Central Administration, the Backup-SPFarm –Item <Web Application Name> cmdlet, or SQL Server backup to back up specific content databases. Backing up a content database backs up all site collections and contained content in that database, but does not back up the associated web application.
Backing up site collections
You can use the granular backup option in Central Administration or the Backup-SPSite cmdlet to back up an individual site collection, including all sites and content within that site collection. Site collection backups can be useful as part of a roll-back plan prior to making significant changes, or where it is important to be able to restore individual site collections independently, instead of restoring an entire database.
Exporting content
You can export a site, list, or library by using the granular backup option in Central Administration or by using the Export-SPWeb cmdlet. However, unlike backing up, exporting is not considered full-fidelity and some items will not be included. For example, when exporting a site, workflows will be omitted from the export.