ByteHouse provides a data backup function, which solves the problem of restoring data after accidental deletion or modification, and enables disaster recovery in extreme cases. ByteHouse supports full and incremental backups. You can configure backup strategies as needed to ensure data security and improve data recovery efficiency. This article will guide you on how to configure backup strategies, restore data, and manage backup sets in the ByteHouse console.

• Version requirements:
  • Before using full and incremental backups, please ensure that your ByteHouse engine version is v2.3.2 or above.
  • You can view your current engine version on the ByteHouse console Tenant management > Basic information page.
• This feature is in Beta. To use it, submit a ticket or contact the ByteHouse team to obtain allowlist privileges.

Enable data backup #

Log in to the ByteHouse cloud data warehouse console, click the top Tenant management, and then click the Data backup tab. When you access for the first time, a welcome prompt will appear. Click the OK button on the prompt page to enable the data backup function. The welcome prompt for first-time access is shown in the following figure.

Create a backup strategy #

1. On the Data backup page, click the Backup policy tab and then the Create backup policy button.
   

2. In the pop-up page, fill in the information to create a backup strategy.

   1. Enter basic information, including the backup strategy name and the virtual warehouse to use.
      

      • The strategy name must meet the following conditions: it supports numbers, letters, and underscores, but cannot start with a number, can be up to 64 characters, and cannot duplicate the name of an existing task.
      • The virtual warehouse is used to execute data backup and restore. If you do not specify a virtual warehouse, the system will use the default virtual warehouse. If the virtual warehouse you select has enabled the "automatic start/suspend" feature, then when a backup task is triggered, a virtual warehouse in suspend state will automatically start.

   2. Select the backup object. You can back up a database or an entire data table.
      

   3. Configure the backup plan.
      

      Parameter	Configuration description
      Backup method	Supports setting as full backup or full backup plus incremental backup. Full backup: Cluster full data backup. Full+incremental backup: The first backup of the cluster uses a full backup, then incremental backups. Incremental backups are performed based on a full backup or the previous incremental backup under the same strategy.
      Backup set retention period	Set the retention duration for the backup set. Supports retention for up to 90 days.
      Execution time zone	Set the time zone referenced for backup execution. This time zone determines the actual execution time of the backup task.
      Execution period	Full backup must be set. Supports setting as one-time or periodic. One-time: The backup is executed only once at the time you set. Periodic: The backup task is executed regularly according to the repeat period you set.
      Execution time	One-time full backup must be set. This parameter is used to set the execution time for the one-time full backup task.
      Repeat period	Periodic full backup and full+incremental backup must be set. This parameter specifies the time for periodic execution of the backup task. You can select the repeat period from the drop-down list as needed.
      Full backup	Full+incremental backup must be set. This parameter is used to set the execution time for the full backup. After configuration is complete, you can check in the preview area whether the configured period meets your requirements.
      Incremental backup	When full+incremental backup and weekly incremental backup are selected, you need to set which day of the week to execute the incremental backup. If you select daily incremental for incremental backup, the execution time for incremental backup each day will be consistent with the time set for the full backup, and no additional configuration is required. After configuration is complete, you can check in the preview area whether the configured period meets your requirements.

3. Click Create.

4. Successfully created tasks will appear in the backup strategy list. When the scheduled time arrives, the system will automatically execute the backup task.
   

5. You can click the Backups tab to view completed backup sets.
   

View backup set status #

After the backup task is automatically completed, you can view the status of the backup in the backup set. If the backup is not successful, you can click the corresponding backup set task name to view task details, including the scope of failed backup data and the reason for failure.

View backup set storage usage #

• After the backup task starts, you can view the storage space currently occupied by all databases, tables, and backup sets at **Tenant management **> **Basic information **> Storage information, and estimate the storage costs generated by all backup sets.
  
• You can also view the storage size occupied by a specific backup data at Tenant management > Data backup > Backups.
  

After executing the backup task, you can restore data in the backup set.
Procedure:

1. Go to the Tenant management > Data backup page, click the Backups tab, and click the restore button on the right side of the data you need to restore.
   
2. Select the virtual warehouse to execute the restore task, and select the database and table information to restore.
   
3. Click Confirm, and the system will start restoring data.
4. After the restore is successful, you can view the history of restored data in the Restoration records tab.

You can view all executed backup sets in the Backups tab. For redundant backup sets that are no longer needed, you can click the Delete button at the end of the corresponding backup set to delete it and reduce storage costs.