Backup Configuration

Protect your data with Supascale's comprehensive backup system. Configure automated backups, manage retention policies, and ensure business continuity with flexible backup strategies.

Overview

Supascale backup system provides:

• Automated Scheduling: Cron-based backup scheduling
• Multiple Storage Options: Local, S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob
• Backup Types: Full, incremental, and differential backups
• Compression & Encryption: Secure and space-efficient backups
• Retention Management: Automated cleanup based on policies
• Monitoring & Alerts: Backup success/failure notifications

Backup Types

Full Backups

Complete database dump including all data and schema:

Use Cases:

• Initial backup creation
• Weekly or monthly comprehensive backups
• Before major system changes
• Disaster recovery preparation

Characteristics:

• Contains complete database state
• Largest backup size
• Can restore independently
• Slowest backup process

Incremental Backups

Only changes since the last backup (any type):

Use Cases:

• Daily backup schedules
• High-frequency backup needs
• Bandwidth-conscious environments
• Large databases with frequent changes

Characteristics:

• Smallest backup size
• Fastest backup process
• Requires chain of backups for restore
• Most complex restore process

Differential Backups

Changes since the last full backup:

Use Cases:

• Balance between full and incremental
• Weekly backup schedules
• Simplified restore procedures
• Medium-sized databases

Characteristics:

• Moderate backup size
• Moderate backup speed
• Requires full + differential for restore
• Simpler than incremental restore

Storage Configuration

Local Storage

Store backups on the same server as the instance:

storage:
  type: "local"
  path: "/var/backups/supascale"
  permissions: "0600"
  
  cleanup:
    enabled: true
    old_backups: 30d  # Remove backups older than 30 days

Advantages:

• Fast backup and restore operations
• No external dependencies
• No additional storage costs
• Simple configuration

Disadvantages:

• Single point of failure
• Limited disaster recovery protection
• Storage space limitations
• Not suitable for compliance requirements

Amazon S3

Store backups in Amazon S3 buckets:

storage:
  type: "s3"
  config:
    bucket: "my-company-backups"
    region: "us-west-2"
    access_key: "AKIA..."
    secret_key: "secret..."
    endpoint: ""  # Optional custom endpoint
    
    # Path structure within bucket
    path_template: "supascale/{instance}/{date}/{backup_type}/"
    
    # Storage class for cost optimization
    storage_class: "STANDARD_IA"  # or GLACIER, DEEP_ARCHIVE
    
    # Server-side encryption
    encryption:
      enabled: true
      kms_key_id: "arn:aws:kms:us-west-2:123456789:key/12345678-1234"

S3 Storage Classes:

• STANDARD: Frequently accessed data
• STANDARD_IA: Infrequently accessed (cheaper storage)
• GLACIER: Archive storage (very cheap, slower retrieval)
• DEEP_ARCHIVE: Long-term archive (cheapest, slowest retrieval)

Google Cloud Storage

Store backups in Google Cloud Storage:

storage:
  type: "gcs"
  config:
    bucket: "my-company-backups"
    project_id: "my-project"
    key_file: "/path/to/service-account.json"
    
    # Or use service account key content
    service_account_key: |
      {
        "type": "service_account",
        "project_id": "my-project",
        ...
      }
    
    # Storage class
    storage_class: "NEARLINE"  # STANDARD, NEARLINE, COLDLINE, ARCHIVE
    
    # Path structure
    path_template: "supascale/{instance}/{date}/"

Azure Blob Storage

Store backups in Azure Blob Storage:

storage:
  type: "azure"
  config:
    account_name: "mystorageaccount"
    account_key: "base64-encoded-key"
    container: "backups"
    endpoint: ""  # Optional custom endpoint
    
    # Access tier for cost optimization
    access_tier: "Cool"  # Hot, Cool, Archive
    
    # Path structure
    path_template: "supascale/{instance}/{date}/"

Creating Backup Configurations

Basic Configuration

1. Navigate to Backups

   • Go to Dashboard → Backups
   • Click "Create Backup Configuration"

2. Basic Settings

   name: "Daily Production Backup"
   description: "Automated daily backups for production database"
   target_type: "instance"
   target_name: "production-api"
   

3. Backup Settings

   backup_type: "incremental"
   compression_enabled: true
   encryption_enabled: true
   

4. Storage Configuration Choose storage type and provide necessary credentials

5. Schedule Configuration

   is_scheduled: true
   schedule_cron: "0 2 * * *"  # Daily at 2 AM
   schedule_timezone: "UTC"
   

Advanced Configuration

Complex Scheduling:

schedules:
  # Full backup weekly
  full_backup:
    cron: "0 1 * * 0"  # Sunday at 1 AM
    backup_type: "full"
    retention_days: 365
  
  # Incremental backup daily
  incremental_backup:
    cron: "0 2 * * 1-6"  # Monday-Saturday at 2 AM
    backup_type: "incremental"
    retention_days: 30

Multi-Target Configuration:

targets:
  - type: "instance"
    name: "production-api"
    include_storage: true
    
  - type: "instance"
    name: "production-auth"
    database_only: true

Retention Policies

Time-Based Retention

Automatically delete old backups based on age:

retention:
  type: "time_based"
  days: 30  # Keep backups for 30 days
  
  exceptions:
    # Keep first backup of each month for 1 year
    monthly: 365
    
    # Keep first backup of each year forever
    yearly: 0  # 0 means keep forever

Count-Based Retention

Keep a specific number of recent backups:

retention:
  type: "count_based"
  count: 10  # Keep last 10 backups
  
  strategy: "delete_oldest"  # or "delete_failed"

Hybrid Retention

Combine time and count-based policies:

retention:
  policies:
    - type: "count"
      count: 7
      priority: 1  # Keep at least 7 recent backups
    
    - type: "time"
      days: 30
      priority: 2  # Delete backups older than 30 days
    
    - type: "selective"
      keep_monthly: 12  # Keep monthly backups for 1 year
      keep_yearly: 5    # Keep yearly backups for 5 years

Custom Retention Logic

retention:
  type: "custom"
  rules:
    # Keep daily backups for 1 week
    - pattern: "daily-*"
      days: 7
    
    # Keep weekly backups for 1 month
    - pattern: "weekly-*"
      days: 30
    
    # Keep monthly backups for 1 year
    - pattern: "monthly-*"
      days: 365
    
    # Keep failed backups for analysis
    - status: "failed"
      days: 7

Monitoring and Notifications

Backup Monitoring

Track backup performance and health:

Success Rate Monitoring:

monitoring:
  success_rate:
    threshold: 95  # Alert if success rate < 95%
    window: "7d"   # Calculate over 7 days
  
  backup_size:
    growth_rate: 20  # Alert if size grows > 20% per week
    size_limit: "100GB"  # Alert if backup exceeds limit
  
  duration:
    max_duration: "2h"  # Alert if backup takes > 2 hours
    trend_analysis: true  # Detect increasing backup times

Notification Configuration

Email Notifications:

notifications:
  email:
    enabled: true
    recipients:
      - "admin@company.com"
      - "backup-team@company.com"
    
    events:
      - "backup_completed"
      - "backup_failed"
      - "retention_cleanup"
      - "storage_quota_warning"
    
    templates:
      backup_success: |
        Backup completed successfully:
        - Instance: {{instance_name}}
        - Type: {{backup_type}}
        - Size: {{backup_size}}
        - Duration: {{duration}}
      
      backup_failure: |
        URGENT: Backup failed!
        - Instance: {{instance_name}}
        - Error: {{error_message}}
        - Timestamp: {{timestamp}}

Slack Integration:

notifications:
  slack:
    enabled: true
    webhook_url: "https://hooks.slack.com/services/..."
    
    channels:
      success: "#backups"
      failure: "#alerts"
      warnings: "#ops"
    
    message_format: |
      {{status_emoji}} Backup {{status}}
      Instance: `{{instance_name}}`
      Type: {{backup_type}}
      {{#if error}}Error: {{error_message}}{{/if}}

Backup Verification

Automatic Verification

Verify backup integrity automatically:

verification:
  enabled: true
  
  checks:
    # Verify file integrity
    checksum:
      enabled: true
      algorithm: "sha256"
    
    # Test backup restoration
    restore_test:
      enabled: true
      frequency: "weekly"
      target: "test-environment"
    
    # Validate backup content
    content_validation:
      enabled: true
      queries:
        - "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users"
        - "SELECT MAX(created_at) FROM logs"

Manual Verification

Test backup restoration manually:

1. Download Backup

   # Download specific backup
   supascale backup download \
     --instance "production-api" \
     --backup-id "backup_123" \
     --output "/tmp/backup.sql.gz"
   

2. Test Restoration

   # Create test database
   createdb test_restore
   
   # Restore backup
   gunzip -c /tmp/backup.sql.gz | psql test_restore
   
   # Verify data
   psql test_restore -c "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users;"
   

Backup Management

Backup Operations

Manual Backup Creation:

# Create immediate backup
supascale backup create \
  --instance "production-api" \
  --type "full" \
  --description "Pre-migration backup"

Backup Restoration:

# List available backups
supascale backup list --instance "production-api"

# Restore specific backup
supascale backup restore \
  --backup-id "backup_123" \
  --target-instance "staging-api" \
  --confirm

Backup Information:

# View backup details
supascale backup info --backup-id "backup_123"

# Check backup status
supascale backup status --instance "production-api"

Bulk Operations

Multiple Instance Backup:

bulk_backup:
  instances:
    - "production-api"
    - "production-auth"
    - "production-storage"
  
  settings:
    backup_type: "full"
    parallel: true
    max_concurrent: 3

Cross-Region Replication:

replication:
  enabled: true
  
  primary_storage:
    type: "s3"
    region: "us-west-2"
  
  replica_storage:
    type: "s3"
    region: "us-east-1"
    
  sync_frequency: "daily"

Disaster Recovery

Recovery Planning

Recovery Time Objective (RTO):

• Target time to restore service
• Plan for different disaster scenarios
• Test recovery procedures regularly

Recovery Point Objective (RPO):

• Maximum acceptable data loss
• Determine backup frequency requirements
• Balance cost vs. data protection

Recovery Procedures

Full Instance Recovery:

1. Provision new infrastructure
2. Install Supascale agent
3. Download latest backup
4. Restore database
5. Restore configuration
6. Update DNS/load balancer

Point-in-Time Recovery:

1. Identify target recovery time
2. Find appropriate backup set
3. Apply incremental backups in order
4. Verify data consistency
5. Test application functionality

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Backup Failures:

# Check backup logs
supascale logs --instance "production-api" --service "backup"

# Verify storage connectivity
supascale backup test-storage --config-id "config_123"

# Check disk space
df -h /var/backups/supascale

Performance Issues:

optimization:
  # Reduce backup impact
  nice_level: 19          # Low CPU priority
  ionice_class: 3         # Idle I/O priority
  
  # Parallel compression
  compression_threads: 4
  
  # Network optimization
  transfer_chunk_size: "100MB"
  retry_attempts: 3

Storage Issues:

# Test S3 connectivity
aws s3 ls s3://my-backup-bucket/

# Check Azure connectivity
az storage blob list --container-name backups

# Verify GCS access
gsutil ls gs://my-backup-bucket/

Next: Explore the API Reference for programmatic access to Supascale features.