Disaster Recovery
Backup while Live
Backing up the database is simple with InterBase. Because InterBase runs a multiversioning architecture, starting a backup takes a snapshot at that point in time, allowing others to still be connected and changing the database. Because you don’t need to get users out of the system, InterBase can be left running 24x7 while still allowing you to backup your business lifeblood, your data!
The database can be backed up via command line, through our admin tools, via code using the backup APIs, or via the ODBC driver GUI. For Delphi, C++, RAD Studio developers IBX and FireDAC components provide a handy wrapping of the backup/restore/mend APIs, allowing for easy integration of database management inside your own applications.
Distinguished Data Dumps
Distinguished data dumps (also known as incremental dumps) are a fast way of creating a copy of your database as part of your disaster recovery plans. A data dump is different from a traditional backup (that has to be restored into an active database format) as it produces a read-only copy of the database. It is therefore popular as a disaster-recovery option, as the database just needs to be switched to read/write, which is faster than waiting for a restore to complete. If you are looking to run a copy of your database on a secondary database server to spread the load of processor-demanded reporting, then this may also be the right option for you.
Running a distinguished data dump for the first time creates a complete copy of the database in read-only mode, with subsequent runs updating this copy with only the changed pages from the primary database. Distinguished data dumps are the recommended way of backing up with Change Views as it maintains the transaction IDs required to maintain Change View subscriptions.
Multithreaded Restore
InterBase uses parallel processing technologies to speed up the restoration of a backup. Indexes are the most time-consuming part of restoring a database as they have to be rebuilt. InterBase restores using multiple threads on multiple processors to ensure the fastest possible restoration of the database and indexes.
Journaling
Many medical systems around the world rely on InterBase journaling. Journaling provides the security of immediately writing changes to disk, with the benefits of a full in-memory database system. Journaling can be enabled on a database through a single line of SQL and requires no changes in your application to have it enabled. Journaling is sometimes referred to as write-ahead logging (WAL). Read more
Point-in-Time Recovery
The next step on from journaling is journal archives, which then enable point-in-time recovery of data. If you ever have someone “accidentally” run a script that deletes your orders table or gives the rest of the staff an unauthorized 50% pay raise, using journal archives would enable you to revert the database to any second in time covered by your journal archive. Journal archives can also be stored off device and provide a fast way to recover from disaster even if the backup hasn’t run, reducing the risk of changed data since losing a backup due to a hardware failure. Read more