What is Database Backup?
Database backup is the process of making a complete secondary copy of a database or database server for the purpose of recovering the database following a
disaster. Businesses who rely upon databases to conduct business operations and/or provide services are especially susceptible to the loss of database information, and therefore generally invest in some form of database backup. Most database management systems (DBMSs) feature the ability to create a backup of a given instance locally; however, local data remains susceptible to loss or damage from accidental deletion, drive or partition errors, or physical damage due to hardware failure or disaster. A properly conducted database backup ensures that the most recent copy of operational data is available for recovery.
Backup service providers such as CRC offer the ability to make complete backups offsite of common database servers such as SQL Server, Oracle and DB2. In addition, CRC allows users to perform a database backup without taking the database server offline, a critical consideration when database functionality is critical to core business tasks.
Databases are also regularly backed up for reporting and compliance purposes, since regulations imposed by the Federal goverment require many types of organizations to maintain access to electronic records.
Database backup from providers like CRC also involve information lifecycle management (ILM), transferring inactive or less frequently-accessed data to tiered storage, reducing the amount of time involved in a backup while freeing up resources to improve the performance of database-driven applications.
