Updated on 2025-09-10 GMT+08:00

Backup Types

DDS supports multiple backup types. Based on different dimensions, there are the following backup types:

Full Backups and Incremental Backups Based on Data Volume

Table 1 Comparison between full backups and incremental backups

Backup Type

Full backups

Incremental backups

Description

All data in an instance is backed up.

Only data changes within a certain period of time are backed up.

Enabled by Default

Yes

Yes

Retention Period

  • You can specify how many days automated backups can be retained for. If you shorten the retention period, the new backup policy takes effect for existing backups.
  • Manual backups are always retained even though a DDS instance is deleted. They can only be deleted manually.

Incremental backups will be deleted along with automated full backups.

Characteristics

  • A full backup is to back up all data of your DB instance in the current point of time.
  • You can use a full backup to restore the complete data generated when the backup was created.
  • Full backups can be created automatically or manually.
  • Incremental backup is used to back up the data newly added or modified since the last full or incremental backup.
  • DDS automatically backs up the updated data every 5-60 minutes since the last automated or incremental backup was made.

How to Check Backup Size

Click the target instance name. On the Backups & Restorations page, click the Instance-level Backups tab and check the backup size.

Click the target instance name. On the Backups & Restorations page, click the Incremental Backup tab and check the backup size.

Automated Backups and Manual Backups Based on Backup Methods

Table 2

Backup Type

Automated backups

Manual backups

Description

  • You can set an automated backup policy on the console, and the system will back up your instance data based on the time window and backup cycle you set in the backup policy and will store the backups for the retention period you specified.
  • Automated backups cannot be manually deleted. To delete them, you can adjust the retention period specified in your automated backup policy. Retained backups (including full and incremental backups) will be automatically deleted at the end of the retention period.
  • Manual backups are user-initiated full backups of your DB instance. They are retained until you delete them manually.
  • Regularly backing up your DB instance is recommended, so if your DB instance fails or data is corrupted, you can restore it using backups.

Enabled by Default

Yes

Yes

Retention Period

Automated backups are retained for the number of days you specified.

The retention period ranges from 1 to 732 days.

Manual backups are always retained until you delete them manually.

How to Configure

Configuring an Automated Backup Policy

Creating a Manual Backup

Same-Region Backups and Cross-Region Backups Based on Backup Regions

To use cross-region backup, submit a service ticket.

Table 3 Comparison between same-region backups and cross-region backups

Backup Type

Same-region backups

Cross-region backups

Description

Backups are stored in the same region as your DB instance.

Backups are stored in a different region from that of your DB instance.

Enabled by Default

Yes

No

Retention Period

Backups are retained for the number of days you specified.

The retention period ranges from 1 to 732 days.

Backups are retained for the number of days you specified.

The retention period ranges from 1 to 1,825 days.

Characteristics

Backups are stored in the same region as your DB instance. Same-region backup (automated backup) is enabled by default and cannot be disabled.

Backups are stored in a region different from the one where your DB instance is located. After you enable cross-region backup, the backups are automatically stored in the region you specify.

How to Configure

Disable cross-region backup.

Configuring the Cross-Region Backup Policy