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    Data Management:Guide to selecting backup methods and backup plan specifications

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    Data Management:Guide to selecting backup methods and backup plan specifications

    Last Updated:Mar 28, 2026

    Data Disaster Recovery provides two backup methods — logical backup and physical backup — and multiple backup plan specifications. Use this guide to choose the method and specification that fit your database size, performance requirements, and budget.

    Logical backup vs. physical backup

    Logical backup operates at the database object level (tables, indexes, stored procedures). Physical backup operates at the database file level, copying the raw files from the operating system. The right choice depends on your database size and what you need to back up.

    AttributeLogical backupPhysical backup
    Backup scopeIndividual databases and tablesEntire database instance only
    Recommended database size1 MB – 1 TBLarger than 1 TB
    Common toolsmysqldump (MySQL), exp/imp (Oracle)XtraBackup (MySQL), RMAN (Oracle)
    Full backup mechanismDBS splits table data and reads it across multiple threads using parallel SQL executionA backup gateway installed on the database server copies the database files directly
    Incremental backup mechanismDBS reads database logs from memory in real time, adjusting read speed based on log generation rateNot applicable
    Requires backup gatewayNoYes — see Add a backup gateway
    Impact on database I/OMinimal — databases are not locked during backupModerate — reads directly from disk, which affects input/output operations per second (IOPS)
    Backup sizeSmaller — selective table or data backup is possibleLarger — reflects the full storage footprint of the database
    Backup and recovery speedTypically slowerTypically faster
    Sandbox supportNoYes — see Sandbox feature overview
    Supported databasesAll database types, including ApsaraDB (ApsaraDB supports logical backup only)Self-managed databases; ApsaraDB is not supported
    For the full list of backup methods supported per database engine, see Supported database engines and features.

    Choose a backup plan specification

    Data Disaster Recovery offers the following backup plan specifications: serverless, micro, small, medium, large, xlarge, 2xlarge, and 4xlarge. Higher-tier specifications deliver faster backup and recovery performance at a lower unit price per GB.

    The primary factor determining your monthly cost is how your actual backup volume compares to the free quota of your selected tier. If your backup volume consistently exceeds the free quota, upgrading to a higher tier is often more cost-effective than paying overage fees at a lower tier.

    Specification details

    SpecificationTime to back up 100 GBFree quota (GB/month)Chinese mainland config fee (USD/month)Excess rate — Chinese mainland (USD/GB)China (Hong Kong) region and outside China config fee (USD/month)Excess rate — China (Hong Kong) region and outside China (USD/GB)
    micro~20 hours4050.11770.175
    small~5 hours400220.055330.083
    medium~2.5 hours800350.039530.059
    large~1.5 hours1,600560.024840.036
    xlarge~1 hourUnlimited140Free209Free
    The fees displayed on the buy page prevail. Each calendar month, the free quota resets — unused quota does not roll over.

    Backup schedule type

    Estimated time required to back up 100 GB of data

    Free quota for data backup (GB per month)

    Configuration fee for the Chinese mainland

    Configuration fee for the China (Hong Kong) region and regions outside China

    Configuration fee (USD per month)

    Unit price of excess backup data (USD per GB)

    Configuration fee (USD per month)

    Unit price of excess backup data (USD per GB)

    micro

    20 hours

    40

    5

    0.117

    7

    0.175

    small

    5 hours

    400

    22

    0.055

    33

    0.083

    medium

    2.5 hours

    800

    35

    0.039

    53

    0.059

    large

    1.5 hours

    1600

    56

    0.024

    84

    0.036

    xlarge

    1 hour

    ∞

    140

    Free of charge

    209

    Free of charge

    Usage notes

    • Backup schedule upgrades only: Downgrading a backup schedule is not supported. See Upgrade a backup schedule.

    • Table count limit: Keep the number of tables in the source database under 10,000. Exceeding this causes long table initialization times during backup and recovery.

    • Primary key considerations: Tables without primary keys, tables with string primary keys, or tables with composite primary keys result in longer backup times.

    • Complex table schemas: If your database has unreasonable table schemas, large tables, or large fields, start with a higher-tier specification. If backup exceptions occur, upgrade the schedule and retry. For unresolved issues, join the DBS DingTalk group (ID: 35585947) for technical support.

    Select a specification based on your priority

    High-performance requirement

    For production databases where backup and recovery speed matters, choose the 4xlarge or 2xlarge specification.

    Cost-effectiveness requirement

    Use the billing formula to compare costs across tiers, then choose the lowest-cost option that meets your performance needs:

    Subscription (upfront) billing = Configuration fee + max(0, Actual backup volume − Free quota) × Excess rate

    Example: Company A runs four full backups per month on a 150 GB database, producing 600 GB of backup data. Prices apply to the Chinese mainland.

    SpecificationCalculationMonthly cost
    microUSD 5 + (600 − 40) GB × USD 0.117/GBUSD 70.52
    smallUSD 22 + (600 − 400) GB × USD 0.055/GBUSD 33
    mediumUSD 35 + 0 (within free quota)USD 35

    In this example, small is the cheapest option. Medium is only USD 2 more but offers faster backup speed — the right choice depends on your performance requirements.

    This example is illustrative. Account for incremental backup volume and data growth between full backups when estimating your actual monthly usage. When total monthly backup volume exceeds 5,207 GB, xlarge becomes the most cost-effective option — it has no data volume limit and provides the best backup performance.

    Performance benchmark data

    The benchmark results below help you validate which specification meets your throughput requirements before purchasing.

    Logical backup and recovery

    Test environment:

    Configuration itemValue
    Database typeRDS for MySQL (general-purpose)
    CPU8-core
    Memory2,400 MB
    IOPS1,200

    Test database:

    MetricValue
    Database size102 GB
    Total records150 million
    Record size1 KB – 100 KB
    Fields per record3 – 22 columns
    Field typesint, varchar, datetime

    Full backup

    SpecificationRPS (records per second)Throughput (MB/s)
    large42,855.715.3
    medium33,122.211.8
    small9,569.33.4
    micro6,756.21.9

    Incremental backup

    SpecificationThroughput (MB/s)
    large46.1
    medium29.8
    small14.9
    micro5.0

    Full restoration

    SpecificationRPS (records per second)
    large34,190.5
    medium19,740.9
    small9,949.4
    micro4,320.2

    Incremental restoration

    SpecificationRPS (records per second)
    large35,546.9
    medium21,331.4
    small10,061.5
    micro4,972.1

    Physical backup and recovery

    Physical backup reads MySQL files as a stream and writes backup data to cloud storage using multiple concurrent streams. The concurrency level scales with the specification tier — higher tiers mean faster backups. Two compression algorithms are available: gzip (higher compression ratio, smaller files) and LZ4 (faster speed, larger files).

    Test database:

    MetricValue
    Database size40.3 GB
    Total records2 billion
    Number of tables160
    Record size0.2 KB

    Full backup

    Specification and compressionTimeThroughputCompressed file size
    small (4 threads) + gzip636 s63 MB/s21.1 GB
    large (8 threads) + gzip341 s118 MB/s21.1 GB
    xlarge (16 threads) + gzip204 s197 MB/s21.1 GB
    small (4 threads) + LZ4268 s150 MB/s31.1 GB
    large (8 threads) + LZ4119 s338 MB/s31.1 GB
    xlarge (16 threads) + LZ4104 s387 MB/s31.1 GB

    Full restoration

    Specification and compressionCompressed data volumeDurationRecovery speed (relative to raw data size)
    small (4 threads) + gzip21.1 GB320 s126 MB/s
    large (8 threads) + gzip21.1 GB161 s250 MB/s
    xlarge (16 threads) + gzip21.1 GB86 s468 MB/s
    small (4 threads) + LZ431.1 GB408 s99 MB/s
    large (8 threads) + LZ431.1 GB208 s194 MB/s
    xlarge (16 threads) + LZ431.1 GB108 s373 MB/s

    Key insight: LZ4 is approximately 2–3x faster than gzip at the same specification tier, but produces backup files roughly 47% larger. Choose gzip when storage space is the priority; choose LZ4 when backup speed matters more.

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