DCBackup and DCRestore

Implementing a periodic backup schedule protects you from data loss and keeps a record of important sessions for future reference. Although backing up and removing session data on a daily basis is the ideal scenario, you should implement a backup plan that is appropriate for your production environment.

Depending on the volumes of data you are backing up, you may find it better to perform a partial backup instead of a full backup. A partial backup saves all canister data files that have not been previously archived.

Other parameters to consider:

• Frequency - The frequency at which you back up data depends on several factors: the number of interesting sessions you have chosen to archive, the amount of traffic your Web site has, and the number of sessions you can afford to lose. If you have a low tolerance for data loss, you should schedule backups every day. You can schedule Canister backups by creating a scheduled task. See Scheduling Canister Backups.
• Retention - Determine the length of time you want to keep backup data.
• Location - In most cases, you should have a designated backup computer on which to store backups. You can install DCBackup on all Canister machines and specify to back up to the same remote backup machine.

DCBackup can perform both full and incremental backups of canister data and various configuration files.

For more information on configuring DCBackup jobs, see Discover Configuration Manual.