Data store backup: Strategies

A cold backup of the database allows administrators to implement a duplicate database as a safeguard on a regular basis. Generally speaking there are two methods that can be used to perform a cold backup:

• Backup utility. The first option is to use the vendor-specific backup utility that allows the contents of the database to be backed up to a file or device while the system is running. Such a utility is provided with the embedded MariaDB database (see Backing up the data store: Embedded MariaDB database).

• Shut down and copy the database file. The second option involves stopping the database server and any connecting server processes and copying the database files. However, this is only possible where the database vendor recommends such an approach. Normally this is only appropriate if the database is contained in a single operating system file.

  For encrypted databases, also back up the encryption key and password to a secure location!

A warm backup of the disk containing the database used by OneSpan Authentication Server via a RAID hardware configuration or server mirroring is the recommended backup method. It is both entirely up-to-date and incurs no downtime if a single disk failure occurs. This method requires either a software RAID, or for better performance a hardware RAID configuration.

Another technique that achieves the same effect is the shadow database.

However, we still recommend to take a cold backup at intervals, as there is a possibility that a database corruption could be mirrored/shadowed under some circumstances.