One good explanation:
“Backup supports the rapid recovery of live changing data while archiving stores unchanging data that’s no longer in use but needs to be retained. The former is one of multiple data copies, while the latter is usually the only remaining copy. Backup retains the data as long as it’s used actively. Archives retain the data indefinitely or for the required period. What’s more, duplicate copies get regularly overwritten in backups, but archive data cannot be deleted or altered.”
Backup and archiving are similar. In simple terms, the two words mean the same. Backing up and archiving both take a copy of your data and store it elsewhere to be used in emergency. The duplicate data is stored for a specified period. However, archiving is less frequent and stored for longer periods.
Backup address short term data loss often due to corruption or vandalism. Archiving addresses compliance and legal obligations.
BACKUP
As you regularly back up your data, a series of backup sessions accumulate in a storage location. Typically, backups occur daily for workstations but may be taken hourly for websites. After a specified number of backup sessions, the oldest sessions begin to be removed to free-up storage space for new data.
Although the main consideration is storage space, backup retention is generally specified time. For example, you could retain 28 days of backup (default). The amount of storage space required for this retention period will depend on your workstations, server, or website. You are charged for all storage space. Paying for more storage space will allow more sessions to be retained.
ARCHIVING
Archiving takes a duplicate backup and places it into longer-term storage. Archives could be kept indefinitely or be scheduled to delete after a specified period of time. Some archiving systems may function like slow backups. For example, an archiving may be taken monthly and stored for several year. You are charged for all storage space and archiving can become expensive. By default archiving is disabled in most modern backup solutions.