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Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

Database Backup and Recovery Strategies

RPO and RTO

RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Maximum acceptable data loss. RTO (Recovery Time Objective): Maximum acceptable downtime.

| System | RPO | RTO | |--------|-----|-----| | Banking | < 1 min | < 5 min | | E-commerce | < 5 min | < 1 hour | | Analytics | < 24 hours | < 24 hours |

Backup Types

| Type | Size | Speed | Restore | |------|------|-------|---------| | Full | Largest | Slowest | Fastest | | Incremental | Smallest | Fastest | Slowest | | Differential | Medium | Medium | Medium |

Point-in-Time Recovery (WAL Archiving)

postgresql.conf

wal_level = replica

archive_mode = on

archive_command = 'cp %p /backups/wal/%f'

archive_timeout = 60

Full base backup

pg_basebackup -h localhost -D /backups/base/$(date +%Y%m%d) -X stream -P

Restore to point in time

recovery.conf

restore_command = 'cp /backups/wal/%f %p'

recovery_target_time = '2026-05-11 14:23:45'

Cloud Backups

AWS RDS

aws rds create-db-snapshot --db-instance-identifier mydb

aws rds restore-db-instance-from-db-snapshot \

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--db-instance-identifier mydb-restored \

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--db-snapshot-identifier mydb-snapshot

Point-in-time restore

aws rds restore-db-instance-to-point-in-time \

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--source-db-instance-identifier mydb \

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--target-db-instance-identifier mydb-restored \

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\--restore-time "2026-05-11T14:23:45Z"

The 3-2-1 Rule

3 copies of data, 2 different media types, 1 off-site copy. Test restores regularly.

Conclusion

Define RPO/RTO before designing backup strategy. Use continuous WAL archiving for PITR. Follow the 3-2-1 rule. Test restores regularly. Automate the entire process.

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