Why Virtual Machine Snapshots May Not Replace Database Backups
Virtual machines provide exciting possibilities concerning backup, recovery, and cloning of databases. Convenient mechanisms are available for obtaining consistent snapshots of data volumes in virtual machines. Correctly implemented and tested snapshots can significantly simplify backup tasks. These snapshots can also clone databases to other environments. Snapshots of virtual machines to backup databases may be undoubtedly suitable for test and development environments. Such snapshots of virtual machines are popular with system administrators because they standardize implementations of backups across organizations and remove the need for application-specific backup configurations.
While virtual machines offer exciting mechanisms for backing up databases, there is usually no substitute for the flexibility and safety provided by tools dedicated to backing up and recovering databases, especially for production databases and high-performance workloads.
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Topics: Database Backup Products: SQL Safe Backup