Is SBAdmin suitable for performing backups of databases?

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We would like to perform a backup that includes our database. What does SBAdmin provide to assure the database will come up properly when restored?

ANSWER

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Performing a backup of a system with a database can be very tricky. Especially when the database is very active and contains relational data. Therefore, the most important aspect to performing a backup that includes a database is to assure the data in the database is in a stable state at the time of the backup.

SBAdmin provides 2 features that will help you to perform a backup of database:

1. Snapshot Backups
A snapshot backup is a frozen, point-in-time representation of the filesystem or raw device that contains the database data. The unchanging data is what will be included in the backup, rather than the live filesystem or device. Using snapshots will allow you to keep the database running and perform a hot backup of the database.

Snapshot support is provided through LVM on Linux, JFS2 filesystem on AIX, and ZFS on Solaris.

2. Pre and Post Backup Scripts
As part of the backup profile used by the backup job, you may specify custom scripts to run prior to backing up the data on the system and after the backup completes. A common use for these scripts is to stop or quiesce the database for the duration of the backup and to restart it when the backup completes. This will assure the database is in a stable state, but does make the database unaccessible for the duration of the backup.