Release notes - Database Backup - Alibaba Cloud Documentation Center

This topic describes the release notes for Database Backup (DBS) and provides links to the relevant references.

DBS provides the backup and restoration features for ApsaraDB RDS, PolarDB, ApsaraDB for MongoDB, ApsaraDB for Redis, and AnalyticDB for PostgreSQL. The following tables describe the release notes of the features for these databases.

2023


Release date	Feature	Description	References
April 2023	Fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables in ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances	The fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances that use standard SSDs or enhanced SSDs (ESSDs). You can restore databases to the original instance from a backup set or to a point in time, without the need to restore all the data of an instance. This feature can be used in scenarios such as data restoration after accidental operations, and historical data analysis.	Restore databases and tables
March 2023	High-frequency physical backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0 High-availability Edition instances that use local SSDs	The high-frequency physical backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL 8.0 High-availability Edition instances that use local SSDs. If you enable this feature for your instance, you can back up databases at a higher frequency.	Use the high-frequency physical backup feature of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
February 2023	Fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables in ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs	The fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs. You can restore databases and tables to the original instance from a backup set or to a point in time. This feature can be used in scenarios such as data restoration after accidental operations, and historical data analysis.	Restore individual databases and tables of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
January 2023	Logical backup feature for PolarDB for MySQL clusters	Logical backup by using DBS is supported for PolarDB for MySQL clusters.	Use DBS for logical backup

2022


Release date	Feature	Description	References
December 2022	Optimized cross-region backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances	The cross-region backup feature is optimized. If your ApsaraDB RDS instance runs SQL Server 2017 Enterprise on RDS Cluster Edition and the snapshot backup feature is enabled for the instance, you can use the cross-region backup feature to back up data from a region to another in the ApsaraDB RDS console for regulatory compliance or disaster recovery.	Enable the cross-region backup feature for an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance
December 2022	Cross-region backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs	The cross-region backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs. You can use the cross-region backup feature to back up data from a region to another for regulatory compliance or disaster recovery.	Use the cross-region backup feature of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
October 2022	Optimized automatic backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances	The automatic backup feature is optimized. When you configure a physical backup policy for an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, you can choose whether to enable the incremental backup feature. By default, this feature is enabled. After the incremental backup feature is enabled, automatic backups are performed based on the backup cycle that you specify. The backup cycle consists of three phases: a full backup, an incremental backup, and another incremental backup.	Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance
	Optimized manual backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances	The manual physical backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instances is optimized based on improved scheduling algorithms and concurrency control. For example, if you manually create multiple single-database backup tasks for an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance, the efficiency of the manual backup tasks is significantly improved.	Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance
	Advanced download feature for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances	The advanced download feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances. You can use this feature to create advanced download tasks by point in time or backup file. You can set the Download Destination parameter to URL or directly upload the downloaded data to your Object Storage Service (OSS) bucket to facilitate data analysis and offline archiving.	Download the backup files of an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance
September 2022	New regions in which the advanced download feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances	The advanced download feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances in the following regions: Singapore, US (Silicon Valley), and US (Virginia).	Download the backup files of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
August 2022	Advanced download feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances	The advanced download feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances. You can use this feature to create advanced download tasks by point in time or backup file. You can set the Download Destination parameter to URL or directly upload the downloaded data to your OSS bucket to facilitate data analysis and offline archiving.	Download the backup files of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
August 2022	High-frequency backup feature for ApsaraDB for MongoDB replica set instances that use ESSDs	The high-frequency backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB for MongoDB replica set instances that use ESSDs. You can specify a backup frequency that ranges from 15 minutes to 12 hours for your ApsaraDB for MongoDB instance to increase the backup frequency.	High-frequency backup
July 2022	High-frequency physical backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances	The high-frequency physical backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances. You can enable the high-frequency physical backup feature for your ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance to increase the backup frequency.	Use the high-frequency physical backup feature of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
July 2022	High-frequency snapshot backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances	The high-frequency snapshot backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances. You can specify a backup frequency that ranges from 15 minutes to 12 hours for your ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance to increase the backup frequency.	Use the high-frequency snapshot backup feature for an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance
June 2022	Cross-region backup feature for PolarDB for MySQL clusters	The cross-region backup feature is supported for PolarDB for MySQL clusters. You can use the cross-region backup feature to back up data from a region to another for regulatory compliance or disaster recovery. You can enable the cross-region backup feature by configuring a backup policy.	Configure backup settings
June 2022	Multi-level storage pool	The multi-level storage pool feature of DBS is gradually available after its public preview period ended on June 20, 2022. This feature will be included in the infrastructure of DBS to provide services in scenarios such as cross-region backup and backup file download. Important The feature is available only for users who have joined the public preview.	Notice on the end of the public preview of the multi-level storage pool feature
May 2022	Optimized configurations for backing up ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instances	The retention period of data backups can be changed for ApsaraDB RDS instances that run PostgreSQL 10 on RDS Basic Edition. Before the optimization, the retention period is seven days and cannot be changed. After the optimization, you can specify a retention period that ranges from 7 to 730 days.	Back up an ApsaraDB RDS for PostgreSQL instance
May 2022	Issue fixes	The issue that an exception occurs when you unlock a DBS instance is fixed. The issue of incorrect configuration logic that occurs when you modify an OSS lifecycle rule is fixed. The issue of incorrect logic for determining network changes during periodic scheduling by some sites is fixed. The issue that cloud disks and snapshots cannot be created for the sandbox feature is fixed. The issue that the emergency disaster recovery feature fails to be enabled for some sites is fixed.	N/A
April 2022	Data restoration from a backup set to a new instance for ApsaraDB for Redis instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs	Data can be restored from a backup set to a new instance. ApsaraDB for Redis instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs allow you to create an instance from a backup set. The data in the new instance is the same as that in the backup set. This feature is suitable for scenarios such as data restoration, quick workload deployment, and data verification.	Restore data from a backup set to a new instance
	Feature optimization	Whitelists can be managed in a fine-grained manner.	N/A
	Issue fixes	The issue that full backup sets are issued repeatedly for copy data management (CDM)-based sandbox instances is fixed. The issue that some ApsaraDB RDS whitelists are deleted by the system by mistake due to overwriting when the whitelists are refreshed is fixed.	N/A
March 2022	High-frequency snapshot backup feature for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances	The high-frequency snapshot backup feature is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs. You can specify a backup frequency that ranges from 15 minutes to 12 hours for your ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance to increase the backup frequency.	Use the high-frequency snapshot backup feature for an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
	Features of advanced download and data restoration from a downloaded backup set for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs	The features of advanced download and data restoration from a downloaded backup set are supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use standard SSDs or ESSDs. You can convert backup files to CSV files, download the backup files, and then restore the downloaded backup files to your on-premises MySQL databases.	Download the backup files of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
	Fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables in ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use local SSDs	The fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables is supported for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use local SSDs. Compared with the standard restoration feature for individual databases and tables, the fast restoration feature for individual databases and tables accelerates data restoration by 2 to 10 times for ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instances that use local SSDs.	Restore individual databases and tables of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
	Feature optimization	A solution is added for the issue that data backups are performed at a time beyond the specified time windows in the China (Hohhot) region and central sites.	N/A
	Issue fixes	The issue that MySQL table partitions cannot be sorted in ascending order after schema restoration is fixed. The issue of security vulnerability caused by PostgreSQL connection strings is fixed.	N/A
February 2022	Issue fix	The issue that backup sets fail to be downloaded and restored is fixed.	N/A
January 2022	Issue fixes	A solution is added for the issue that a DRDS backup set loses its UNIQUE constraint. The issue that a MySQL table fails to be created because the partition order does not comply with MySQL rules when MySQL data is being restored is fixed. The issue that CDM-based sandbox instances do not release ZFS file systems as expected is fixed. The issue that TAR files fail to be downloaded and the IDs of Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instances fail to be obtained after DBS restarts in the China (Hangzhou) region is fixed. The issue that the value of the live_mount parameter is invalid is fixed.	N/A

2021


Release date	Feature	Description	References
December 2021	Feature optimization	Physical backup gateways are upgraded to improve the security of physical backup data.	Add a backup gateway
November 2021	Backup set download fees	Fees are charged for the downloads of backup sets over the Internet.	Network traffic fees
August 2021	Creation of privileged accounts	The emergency disaster recovery feature is further enhanced to allow you to create a privileged account in a sandbox instance.	Use the emergency recovery feature of an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance
July 2021	Deletion of backup sets	Backup sets can be deleted.	Delete a backup set
June 2021	Emergency disaster recovery	The emergency disaster recovery feature is enhanced.	Create a sandbox instance for emergency disaster recovery of a self-managed MySQL database
	Feature optimization	For emergency instances, the reading of binary log files is accelerated at the backend, and snapshots can be generated based on binary log files without processing at the backend.	N/A
	Issue fixes	The issue that the error message "dataset not exist" is displayed when you release a DBS sandbox instance multiple times is fixed. The issue of failing to restore a data source based on a backup schedule is fixed. The issue of failing to specify the port number of a public endpoint in the console when you restore databases is fixed. The issue of failing to obtain valid instance information and remap information when you perform logical backups for PolarDB for Oracle databases is fixed.	N/A
May 2021	Network-attached storage (NAS) storage pool	Self-managed OSS buckets and NAS file systems are supported in addition to the built-in storage space of DBS. This facilitates backup management.	What is a storage pool?
May 2021	Issue fixes	The issue of failing to delete expired backup sets is fixed. The issue of failing to redeploy machines due to the soft deletion of a backup gateway is fixed. The issue of failing to enable incremental backup for MariaDB databases is fixed.	N/A
April 2021	True incremental-forever backup for an Oracle database	Full backup and synthetic backup are supported to reduce backup costs and resource overheads.	Create a true incremental-forever backup for an Oracle database
	Backup gateway V0.0.113	The parameter files that are used to create Oracle Windows services and Oracle standalone databases are restored. A backup gateway can be configured at the frontend to disable databases before data is restored and enable databases after data is restored.	N/A
	New regions	DBS is available on Alibaba Gov Cloud and in the China (Heyuan) and China (Ulanqab) regions of the Alibaba Cloud public cloud.	N/A
	Issue fix	The issue of the repeated creation of incremental tasks for ApsaraDB for MongoDB instances that support primary/secondary switchover is fixed.	N/A
March 2021	Multi-level storage pool	The multi-level storage pool feature is supported to allow data backups to be automatically replicated across storage pools. Backup policies that use multi-level storage pools are configured to manage on-premises storage pools and storage pools in the cloud, and share data backups among storage pools. This enhances security and reduces backup costs. Note The public preview period of the multi-level storage pool feature of DBS ended on June 20, 2022. The feature is available only for users who have joined the public preview.	Notice on the end of the public preview of the multi-level storage pool feature
	Source deduplication	The source deduplication feature is supported to back up only data that has been modified since the last backup and ignore other data that has been backed up. This greatly reduces bandwidth and storage costs. Note This feature is discontinued.	N/A
	Feature optimization	The DescribeRegions operation is optimized. You can call this operation to query the regions in which DBS is supported. This improves availability. The restoration feature is optimized so that a sandbox instance can be restored to the point in time of the latest snapshot when the sandbox instance cannot be restored to a specific point in time. Automatic access to data sources is disabled, which does not affect the backup set synchronization feature of the backup schedules that have been synchronized.	N/A
	Issue fix	Configuration issues are fixed in the Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) region.	N/A
January 2021	DBS sandbox	The public preview period of the DBS sandbox feature ended on January 28, 2021. After January 28, 2021, you are charged for the use of the sandbox feature. If the sandbox feature is enabled for backup schedules after 00:00:00 on January 28, 2021 (UTC+8), you are charged based on the instructions in DBS sandbox fees. If the sandbox feature is enabled for backup schedules before 00:00:00 on January 28, 2021 (UTC+8), DBS extends the validity period of public preview to 00:00:00 on March 1, 2021 (UTC+8). If you want to continue using the sandbox feature after the public preview period ends, go to the DBS console to re-enable the sandbox feature.	Overview
January 2021	Backup for MySQL based on logs	MySQL databases can be backed up based on binary logs by using the physical backup method. This helps you achieve a recovery point objective (RPO) within seconds.	Back up binary logs of a MySQL database

2020


Release date	Feature	Description	References
November 2020	Batch operations on data sources	Batch import, backup, and including of data sources are supported. Multiple backup tasks can be managed at a time based on backup policies and logical groups.	Add a data source Back up databases Create a backup policy template
November 2020	Recovery drill	Recovery drills are supported to verify the integrity of backup data and the reliability of the disaster recovery system.	Perform disaster recovery drills
October 2020	Backup of MariaDB databases	MariaDB 10.0 and 10.3 databases can be backed up, including ApsaraDB RDS for MariaDB TX instances and self-managed MariaDB databases.	Back up a MariaDB instance by using logical backup
September 2020	Backup set query	Backup sets can be queried by using built-in Data Lake Analytics (DLA), without the need to restore databases.	Overview
	Backup of files	The data of the server that hosts your databases can be backed up in a centralized manner. The data includes logs, programs, and attachments.	Back up files
	DBS sandbox instance	Sandbox instances can be created to restore data from backup sets.	Overview