How are databases, such as Oracle, Sybase and others, handled?
Databases have special backup requirements. To properly backup a database, you must be able to take a “snapshot in time” of the database. Traditional database backups are done in one of two ways, online backups via special API functions provided by the database vendor or full database exports to tape/disk. A third alternative is to use special device driver software that allows you to bypass locking issues. Database APIs (Online Backup) Some database vendors provide special APIs that support the backup of their databases. For example, the Oracle and Sybase database products can do an online backup if the backup software properly interfaces with their backup APIs. Any update transactions that are applied during the backup process are handled specially to avoid inconsistencies in the backup. The database vendors often supply backup software that will backup their databases to temporary files on disk. For 7-day/24-hour operations, it is common to do an online backup to disk and then use a
