Updated on 2025-08-05 GMT+08:00

Database Server Backup

Overview

There are three types of backups in terms of backup consistency:

  • Inconsistent backup: An inconsistent backup contains data taken from different points in time. This typically occurs if changes are made to your files or disks during the backup. CBR cloud server backup uses the consistency snapshot technology for disks to protect data of ECSs and BMSs. If you back up multiple EVS disks separately, the backup time points of the EVS disks are different. As a result, the backup data of the EVS disks is inconsistent.
  • Crash-consistent backup: A crash-consistent backup captures all data on disks at the time of the backup and does not capture data in memory or any pending I/O operations. Although it cannot ensure application consistency, disks are checked by chkdsk upon operating system restart to restore damaged data and undo logs are used by databases to keep data consistent.
  • Application-consistent backup: An application-consistent backup captures data in memory or any pending I/O operations and allows applications to achieve a quiescent and consistent state.

Figure 1 compares these backup types in detail.

CBR supports both crash-consistent backup (also called cloud server backup) and application-consistent backup (also called database server backup).

Crash-consistent backup does not back up data in memory or pending I/O operations and cannot be used to restore applications. If your server is running a MySQL or SAP HANA database, you can use application-consistent backup. An application-consistent backup captures application information both in memory and in pending I/O operations and can be used to quickly restore applications.

Figure 1 Backup consistency

Differences Between Database Server Backup and Cloud Server Backup

Table 1 Differences between database server backup and cloud server backup

Item

Database Server Backup

Cloud Server Backup

Object

Cloud servers with MySQL or SAP HANA database deployed

Cloud servers without databases

Granularity

Cloud server

Cloud server

Vault

Server backup vault

Server backup vault

Recommended scenario

Data of cloud servers and their databases such as MySQL or SAP HANA database needs to be backed up. All data and application configurations need to be restored in case of an error.

Only data of cloud servers needs to be backed up. Such data needs to be restored in case of an error.

If you use cloud server backup to back up database servers such as MySQL or SAP HANA database servers, certain database configurations may not be fully restored from the backups. This can result in startup issues when the database is restarted.

There are two types of vaults to store server backups. Those store backups of non-database servers are server backup vaults, and those store backups of database servers are database server backup vaults.

OSs Supporting the Agent

Table 2 lists the OSs that can run the Agent. Only Windows OSs in English can have the Agent installed.

Table 2 OSs that support installation of the Agent

Database

OS

Supported Versions

SQLServer 2008

Windows

Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2019 for x86_64

SQLServer 2012

Windows

Windows Server 2012, 2012 R2, 2019 for x86_64

SQLServer 2019

Windows

Windows Server 2019 for x86_64

SQLServer 2014/2016/EE

Windows

Windows Server 2016 Datacenter for x86_64

MySQL 5.5/5.6/5.7

Red Hat

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and 7 for x86_64

SUSE

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, 15 SP1, 15 SP2 for x86_64

CentOS

CentOS 6 and 7 for x86_64

EulerOS

Euler OS 2.2, 2.3 for x86_64

HANA 1.0/2.0

SUSE

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 for x86_64

For Windows servers, ensure that Volume Shadow Copy is running properly. Otherwise, the backup task will fail.

For databases that are not in the compatibility list, you can create a custom script to back up the database server by referring to Using a Custom Script to Implement Application-Consistent Backup in the Cloud Backup and Recovery Best Practices.

Process

Figure 2 shows the database server backup process.

Figure 2 Database server backup process
  1. Change the security group: Before performing a database server backup task, change the security group of the server you want to back up.
  2. Install the Agent: Change the security group and install the Agent in any sequence. Ensure that the two operations are completed before backing up the desired server.
  3. Create a database server backup: After creating a server backup vault for storing database server backups, associate it with the desired database server and then create a database server backup.
  4. Modify or compile a custom script: After backing up a database server on the CBR console, modify or compile a custom script on the database of the server. For details, see Using a Custom Script to Implement Database Server Backup.
  5. Verify the backup result: After the backup is performed, verify that the backup succeeds. For details, see Verifying the Database Server Backup.
  6. Use the database server backup to restore server data. After restoration, the database applications and data will return to the exact state they were in at the time the backup was created. For details, see Restoring from a Cloud Server Backup.