This topic provides an overview of available backup methods and describes how to select the backup method that suits your business requirements.

Logical backup, physical backup, and snapshot-based backup are common data backup methods:

  • Logical backup: backs up database objects. The backup content includes database objects such as tables, indexes, and stored procedures. Database objects include MySQL mysqldump and Oracle exp and imp.
  • Physical backup: backs up database files. The backup content includes database files on the operating system such as MySQL XtraBackup and Oracle RMAN.
  • Snapshot-based backup: a fully usable copy of the specified dataset that is obtained based on the snapshot technology. You can choose to maintain snapshots only on your computer, or perform cross-machine backup for the snapshots created by using systems such as Veritas File System, Linux LVM, and NetApp NAS.
    Note Database Backup (DBS) does not support snapshots.

DBS supports logical and physical backups, as described in the following table.

Logical backup Physical backup
Full backup DBS splits the data of all tables in a database and executes SQL statements on the database to read the data in multiple threads in parallel. A DBS backup gateway is installed on the server of a database for database backup.
Incremental backup DBS incrementally backs up logs stored in the memory of a database in real time. This prevents the sudden I/O performance drop that may occur when a full backup is performed on a large amount of data. The speed at which database logs are read also varies based on the rate at which they are generated.
Feature
  • Finer-grained backup can be performed on databases and tables.
  • Databases are not locked during data backup. This minimizes the impact of data backup on database performance.
  • A database instance can be backed up only as a whole.
  • Data is read from the disks of a database, which affects I/O performance of the database.
  • In most cases, the speeds of physical backup and restoration are faster than the speeds of logical backup and restoration.
    Note You can create DBS sandbox instances to use your backup data with ease. For more information, see Overview.
Recommended data size From 1 MB to 1TB. At lease 1 TB.

For information about backup methods supported by database engines, see Database engines and features.

What to do next

Purchase a backup schedule