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The original was posted on /r/mysql by /u/UpperDelay6105 on 2023-08-11 18:49:24+00:00.


hello everyone,

right now I am doing full backups of my mysql servers using percona xtrabackup, each an every night. it has been suggested that I use incremental backups, but I don’t understand how that would help me. here’s my situation:

  1. sunday - full backup, not prepared
  2. monday - incremental backup
  3. tuesday - incremental backup
  4. wednesday - oh no, the server has crashed and I must rebuild. but I can’t use my incremental backups because they are not prepared, and they must be prepared before they can used to restore the server. but I can’t prepare them, b/c the server has died, never to return.

what am I missing here? I’m tired of doing full backups every night, but it seems to be the only way to guarantee that I can restore a crashed server.

help!