Schedule - PGDay/MED 2023

You Don't Need a Database Backup Policy

Date: 2023-04-13
Time: 13:10–14:00
Room: Amphitheatre
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I can hear what you’re thinking:

“Don’t be ridiculous, Karen! Of course I need a database backup policy. All hell will break loose if I don’t take database backups.”

Hear me out.

A backup policy specifies things like

  • type and frequency of backups
  • backup tool(s)
  • backup storage and retention

But how do you decide those things? Finger in the air? Copy what you put in place for your other applications?

Since the primary goal of your backups is probably to recover data in case of failure, it makes more sense to consider

  • the types of failure you need to be able to recover from
  • how quickly you need to recover
  • how much data you can afford to lose

The answers to these recovery-based questions will determine how and when you take backups.

So, you don’t need a database backup policy, you need a database recovery policy.

We’ll look at how to implement a suitable database recovery policy, how important it is to test your recovery processes, and the need for constant review and updating of the policy so that you can be confident in your ability to recover from disaster.

Slides

The following slides have been made available for this session:

Speaker

Karen Jex