Progress
Database Administration
Guide and Reference


Determining the Type Of Backup

It is possible to use either a Progress backup (the PROBKUP utility) or a non-Progress (Operating System) backup. Which you choose depends upon the needs of your business. Table 6–1 contrasts Progress with non-Progress backups.

Table 6–1: Backup Options
Progress
Non-Progress
Online or Offline
Offline Only
Full or Incremental
Full Only

To determine whether an online or offline backup should be used, ask:

To determine whether a full or incremental backup is best, ask:

Progress Software recommends that you use the Progress Backup (PROBKUP) utility to perform database backups for the following reasons:

If you choose not to use PROBKUP, you can use an operating system backup utility, but you cannot perform online or incremental backups. Table 6–2 lists the backup utilities for various operating systems.

Table 6–2: Operating System Backup Utilities 
Operating System

Backup Utilities
UNIX
tar, cpio, or a manufacturer-supplied backup utility
Windows
Windows backup or any backup utility that can back up and restore individual files

CAUTION: Backups performed by an operating system utility must be done offline, unless the PROQUIET utility is used with disk mirroring. Be sure that the backup utility you choose backs up the entire set of files. Backing up a partial database provides an invalid result.
NOTE: If you do not use the Progress backup utility and chose to use another mechanism, Progress Software Corporation recommends that you take great care to ensure that the other mechanism provides a valid backup. Regardless of the backup method chosen, perform a complete database restore using PROREST to test all backups and validate that the database is correct.

A full backup backs up all of the data of a database, including the BI files. You can perform a full backup using either the PROBKUP utility or an operating system utility. Ideally, you should perform a full backup of your database every day. However, depending on your recovery plan, you might decide to do less frequent full backups and more frequent incremental backups, or use after-imaging.


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