The standard file system
backup and restore facilities that native operating systems provide
are generally inadequate for backing up and restoring SPD Server tables.
SPD Server tables can be enormous in size, surpassing the file size
limits maintained by some operating environments. SPD Server is also
dependent on the operation environment's ability to detect a modification
to a table, such as an add, delete, or change of a record. A change
in a table is normally a signal to ensure that the newly modified
file is backed up.
When a standard utility
subsequently performs an incremental backup, it processes the file
change by backing up the entire table. If the table is very large,
the backup time can be lengthy. In addition, the processing can consume
considerable machine resources. For this reason, administrators frequently
struggle with a dilemma: are incremental backups of large tables worth
the resources they consume?
The Scalable Performance
Data Server backup and restore utilities alleviate these problems
because they 'sense' the table data. The backup utility is capable
of a real incremental backup. That is, instead of backing up the entire
table, the utility backs up only the records that changed after the
previous table backup date. Further, if a later restore of the table
becomes necessary, the restore utility can incrementally restore the
table to its last backup state.
By backing up only
the changed records, SPD Server conserves valuable system resources.
This, in turn, encourages more frequent backups. The increased frequency
realizes the ultimate goal of the utilities: to minimize possible
loss or corruption of an SPD Server table for whatever reason. Moreover,
the software gives you a choice for periodic full backups: you can
use the SPD Server full backup and restore capabilities or you can
use your system's full backup and restore facilities.
In summary, the SPD
Server incremental backup and restore facilities, used with the full
backup and restore capabilities of either SPD Server or your system,
can furnish comprehensive backup and restore capabilities.
The SPD Server backup
and restore utilities include:
-
spdsbkup Performs
incremental or full backups of SPD Server tables, storing the information
in an SPD Server backup data file.
-
spdsrstr Performs
incremental or full restores of SPD Server tables using the SPD Server
backup data file created by the utility.