Backup of files + mysql

[dormky 2]

So we have this big client that insists on us providing a backup solution for our own program and database. I told management this is not an issue we should be taking care of (imagine if every software had its own complete backup management system ?) and that the client's IT should just add the relevant paths to their backups.

 

Alas, it is what it is and the compromise seems to be us "advising" a backup solution... So what's a backup solution that would handle backuping the path to our software installation as well as a mysql database ? I have absolutely no knowledge of the market for this, I'm not a sysadmin.

 

Thanks !

[Lars Fosdal 1792]

Is the DB a single instance on a server, accessed by multiple users?

 

There are several strategies, but it is hard to say which one is the right one without insights into how your DB is setup and used.

https://blog.devart.com/mysql-backup-tutorial.html

https://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/8.0/en/backup-and-recovery.html

 

Your application could probably be installed from scratch, but what about application configuration?

Stored locally in file or registry? 

Complex config or simply a URI to the DB + credentials?

 

[dormky 2]

Yes, the DB is a on a server and used from multiple clients.

I'd like to tell them to just use mysqlbackup, but there's an insistence on having everything in one tool... And if we use a tool where we can add a script to run the mysqlbackup ourselves, then we start taking responsibility for things which management doesn't want either --'

[Lars Fosdal 1792]

Does the clients access the DB directly, or is there a service between the clients and the db?

If direct access, you have to take extra care in your design of the backup - to avoid clients making partial changes during the backup.

 

It is not a trivial problem you have here...

[dormky 2]

Well, there's the client's own IT service (do not ask me why the IT service can't perform this simply backup, it's beyond me) that can access everything. Apparently we need to tell them what to install and how to use it.

I'm honestly going to leave this request unanswered and hope people forget about it.

[Lars Fosdal 1792]

IMO, that is a bad idea.

[Tom Chamberlain 47]

12 hours ago, dormky said:

Well, there's the client's own IT service (do not ask me why the IT service can't perform this simply backup, it's beyond me) that can access everything. Apparently we need to tell them what to install and how to use it.

I'm honestly going to leave this request unanswered and hope people forget about it.

Your joking right?  Is your database so large that it is not in a virtual server (hopefully on redundant hardware) with at least some sort of enterprise backup solution at a VM level?  Is the client so small or so cheap they do not understand this is not a software vendors job?  This sounds like a 'sales job' making you to come up with a solution for a non-problem or a completely incompetent IT service.  I am betting on the latter.

 

Sarcasm:

 

Tell them they need an SAS 18TB LTO tape drive attached to the server and something old-school like Restrospec or Backup Exec installed on the server for file-level backups and about 10-12 hours of down time each night to do the backups.  Don't forget to include someone has to swap that tape every day and they will need at least 100+ tapes for daily's, weekly's and monthly offsite storage.  Maybe you should offer to pickup the backups every morning and keep them safe offsite for them, for a extra fee of course.

 

Sorry I slipped into a 1990's rant there, just glad I do not have to deal with this type of thing anymore.  Not making fun of anyone who still has to deal with tape backups I know their value to large organizations and disaster recovery plans.

 

 

[dormky 2]

It totally is an incompetent IT service. I've told management that they should just backup the server itself, but apparently that's not sufficient. Mind-boggling stuff.

[Fr0sT.Brutal 900]

I'd go with mysqldump if it doesn't have built-in service controlled via remote calls (like Firebird has Service API).