User's Manual

23 Database Backup 87
7signal Ltd, Panuntie 6, FI-00620 HELSINKI, FINLAND, [phone], [e-mail], www.7signal.com
7signal Sapphire Carat Carat User Guide Release 3.1
23 DATABASE BACKUP
It is possible to backup databases in 7signal Sapphire. Given a proper backup, the system state
may be recovered completely in case of system crash. There are two remarkably different
alternatives and an option not to backup the database. The default in 7signal Sapphire is no
backup. While this option is known to be non-optimal for any production environment, it is
chosen as default to force every organization to define their own backup policy.
23.1 Backup options
The backup process will use /tmp directory by default and take a lot of disk space.
The directory can be changed with 7db-utility.
Example:
# 7db backup workdir set /largefilesys
23.1.1 Automated backup with server downtime
Backup with downtime is a circadian backup based on Unix cron that pauses the
measurements by stopping the Carat server and closing the underlying database connections.
In quiescent mode a full backup of the database is made and stored to the desired location in
the Carat server file system. The user is responsible for managing the backup files, moving and
purging and so on. This type of logging is later referred as offline backup.
Example:
# 7db backup set daily 03:00 /mnt/backups
23.1.2 Automated backup without server downtime
Online backup is a circadian backup based on Unix cron that keeps 7signal Sapphire in
production while creating the backups.
Database logging method should be archival logging.
Example:
# 7db backup set daily 03:00 /mnt/backups
23.1.3 Manual backup
Circular logging
Sapphire processes will be stopped during backup process and automatically restarted after
backup has been created.