currently I have a full backup running daily in SharePoint. The automated process for further copying, renames the full backup directory to backup_((date in yyyymmdd))_full. I'd like to rework to a daily incremental/weekly full schedule, but the differentials can't seem to find the last full backup to work with. I was thinking of further extending the batch jobs to record the SharePoint name and do a quick rename before the differential executes, but does anyone have an easier way? Thanks!
The reason why differentials aren't working is because SharePoint cannot find the spbrtoc.xml file. This file records a history of the backups taken and is updated whenever you perform a backup. Renaming the backup directory is preventing SharePoint from finding this file, so it can't work out how to perform a differential.
I would strongly recommend searching the web for SharePoint backup scripts as many others have been down this path and you should be able to adapt what they've done. Here are a few links I found:
The Technet articles under Back up and restore the farm might also be helpful. Good luck!