| Backing
Up
Why
Back Up with Web Crossing?
How Web Crossing Backup Works
Making a Backup
How Often Should You Back Up?
Automating Backups
Using
Mirroring for Backups
Resources
Why
Back Up with Web Crossing?
The
Web Crossing database can be lost for a number of reasons. Hardware
problems with the server, database corruption, and attacks by
hackers are just a few of the many ways database loss can occur.
Most
web server network administrators provide automatic tape backups
of their web pages. So why back up using Web Crossing's own backup
system?
The
problem is that if your database is written to (i.e. someone posts
or makes a change) while a tape backup or other type of copy is
being made, it will produce an unusable backup file. There are
two ways to back up without encountering this problem:
- Shut
down the Web Crossing server before the backup copy is made
- Or,
back up using the Control Panel > Backup
function within Web Crossing
How
Web Crossing Backup Works
If you
enable roll-forward logs (and you should!), Web Crossing saves a file
called a "roll-forward log" containing all transactions
since the last backup. This file is written to every time the
database is changed. At backup time, Web Crossing makes a backup
copy of the active database, and starts a new roll-forward log.
In the event of a database loss, you can ask Web Crossing to combine
the corresponding backup database and roll-forward log to create
a functional database.
The
most recent backup database and roll-forward log are named webxdb.1
and webxroll.1. The next oldest copy is named webxdb.2
and webxroll.2. You can choose to have Web Crossing keep additional
backup copies if you desire. Any backup copies older than the
number of backups you've chosen will be deleted.
At the
time of the next backup, the webxdb.1 file is renamed to
webxdb.2, and so on, and a new webxdb.1 file is
created.
Since
the webxdb.1 and webxdb.2 files and webxroll.2 are
never active files, you can copy them to another media or another
machine at any time.
Leave
the webxroll.1 file in the webx directory at all
times, since the file is written to (in append mode only) each
time a change is made to the database.
Making
a Backup
(1)
To make a backup using Web Crossing's backup function, go to the
Control Panel > Backup.
Figure
1 - Backup pane from Control Panel
(2)
The number of backup databases to keep is 2, by default.
Make sure the roll-forward log checkbox is checked.
| Note:
The default number of backups to keep is 2. That's also the
minimum. If you're running low on disk space and have a large
database you may be forced to save some space by keeping only
one backup copy. In that case, you'll have to delete your
webxdb.1 and webxroll.1 files just before backing up to prevent
them from being renamed to webxdb.2 and webxroll.2. |
(3)
Choose a directory for your backup files, if you don't
want them to appear in the Web Crossing program directory itself.
You can skip the options for day and time unless you're also setting
up automatic backups (see below).
(4)
Click Backup.
(5)
The page will reload, and every ten seconds you'll be shown an
update of backup progress. When the backup is 100% complete, you'll
be told.
The
Backup with Repack option goes one step further - it rewrites
the active database to reclaim space from deleted objects and
reduce fragmentation. It is slower than a regular backup (can
take several minutes up to several hours), and should be done
only occasionally. You can do a backup
with repack off-line, if you wish.
Web
Crossing will sometimes be unresponsive during a backup. This
is normal.
After
the backup is finished, the backup files should be copied off
the server and kept on removable media, a tape drive, or other
backup system. That way if something happens to the disk holding
the original database, you won't lose your backups too. It's also
wise to keep a backup copy off-site in case of disaster.
| Note:
Make sure you have enough disk space to rewrite the whole
database before you backup with repack. |
How
Often Should You Back Up?
Backing
up every few days should be sufficient, but it depends on the
size and activity of your site. Some sites might want to back
up every day, but for others once a month would be sufficient.
Do what's comfortable for you.
Automating
Backups
You
can have Web Crossing automatically back up your database on a schedule
you set up. In the Control Panel > Backup
pane (see above) you can choose Never (meaning you
always do a manual backup), or Daily, Weekly, or
Monthly. You can choose the time of the day (in server
time, expressed as military time) for the backup. For Weekly
you can also choose the day of the week. You will probably want
to choose whatever time is least busy for your server.
Resources
Sysop
Documentation
Sysop
Control Panel
Web Crossing
FAQ
|
