Setting Up Automated Backups

The Story: When "I'll Do It Later" Becomes a Problem

Meet Taylor, a developer who knows backups are important but often forgets to create them regularly. Taylor's workflow involves frequent database changes, and while the intention to backup is always there, the execution often falls through the cracks.

⏰ Monday, 9:00 AM - The Good Intention

Taylor starts working on a new feature. "I should backup the database before I start," Taylor thinks. But there's a meeting in 10 minutes, and the backup can wait. "I'll do it after the meeting."

⏰ Monday, 2:00 PM - The Busy Day

After the meeting, Taylor gets pulled into fixing a critical bug. The backup is forgotten. The day gets busier, and by 5 PM, Taylor has made significant database changes but still no backup.

"I'll backup tomorrow morning," Taylor thinks.

⏰ Tuesday, 10:00 AM - The Disaster

Tuesday morning, Taylor continues working. A migration script has a bug, and the database gets corrupted. Taylor needs to restore from a backup, but the last backup was from last Thursday—4 days ago.

All of Monday's work is lost. Taylor has to:

Restore from the old backup
Recreate all the work from Monday
Explain to the team why the feature is delayed
Deal with the frustration of lost work

The Lesson

Manual backups rely on human memory, which is unreliable. Even the most disciplined developers forget. Automated backups with timers ensure your data is protected consistently, without relying on remembering to do it manually.

Why Automated Backups Matter

Never Forget Again

Set it once, and backups happen automatically. No more relying on memory or sticky notes. Your data is protected on a schedule you define.

Consistent Protection

Automated backups ensure regular snapshots, creating a reliable timeline of your database states. Whether it's daily, hourly, or weekly, you'll always have recent backups available.

Peace of Mind

Work confidently knowing that even if you forget to backup, your automated system has you covered. Focus on development, not backup reminders.

Recovery Points

With regular automated backups, you have multiple recovery points. If something goes wrong, you can restore to any point in your backup timeline, not just the last manual backup.

How to Set Up Automated Backups

1

Create a Backup Flow

First, create a backup flow that defines what gets backed up:

Open Quemsi web UI
Navigate to "Flows"
Click "Create Backup Flow"
Select your datasource (the database to backup)
Select your storage destination
Configure any processing steps (e.g., compression)
Save the flow with a descriptive name like daily-backup-production

# Example: Create backup flow via API
quemsi flow create \
  --type backup \
  --name "daily-backup-production" \
  --datasource prod_db \
  --storage prod_backup_storage \
  --processing zip
        

2

Create a Timer

Now create a timer that defines when the backup should run:

Navigate to "Timers" in Quemsi web UI
Click "Create Timer"
Choose your schedule:
- Daily: Every day at a specific time
- Weekly: On specific days of the week
- Hourly: Every hour
- Custom: Cron expression for advanced scheduling
Set the time (e.g., 2:00 AM daily)
Save the timer with a name like daily-2am-backup

# Example: Create daily timer (runs at 2 AM)
quemsi timer create \
  --name "daily-2am-backup" \
  --schedule "0 2 * * *" \
  --description "Daily backup at 2 AM"
        

3

Link Timer to Flow

Connect the timer to your backup flow:

Edit your backup flow
Add the timer you created
Configure automatic tagging (optional):
- Tag format: auto-daily-{date}
- This helps identify automated backups in the timeline
Save the flow

Your automated backup is now set up! It will run automatically according to your schedule.

4

Verify It Works

After setting up, verify your automated backup:

Wait for the first scheduled run (or trigger it manually for testing)
Check the "Data" section in Quemsi
Look for the new backup with your automatic tag
Verify it completed successfully

Once verified, you can rely on automated backups running on schedule.

Recommended Backup Schedules

📅 Production Database

Schedule: Daily at 2:00 AM

Why: Low-traffic time, ensures daily recovery point

Tag format: auto-daily-{YYYY-MM-DD}

Retention: Keep last 30 days, then weekly for 3 months

📅 Development Database

Schedule: Every 6 hours

Why: Frequent changes, need multiple recovery points

Tag format: auto-dev-{YYYY-MM-DD-HH}

Retention: Keep last 7 days

📅 Test/Staging Database

Schedule: Daily at midnight

Why: Regular snapshots for testing scenarios

Tag format: auto-test-{YYYY-MM-DD}

Retention: Keep last 14 days

📅 Critical Feature Development

Schedule: Every 2 hours during work hours

Why: Frequent checkpoints during active development

Tag format: auto-feature-{feature-name}-{timestamp}

Retention: Keep until feature is complete

Best Practices for Automated Backups

🏷️ Use Consistent Tagging

Configure automatic tags that make it easy to identify automated backups:

auto-daily-{date} - Daily automated backups
auto-hourly-{timestamp} - Hourly automated backups
auto-weekly-{date} - Weekly automated backups

This helps distinguish automated backups from manual ones in your timeline.

⏰ Schedule During Low-Traffic Times

For production databases, schedule backups during low-traffic periods:

Early morning (2-4 AM) for daily backups
Weekends for weekly backups
Avoid peak business hours

This minimizes impact on application performance.

📊 Monitor Backup Success

Set up alerts or regularly check that backups are completing successfully:

Review backup timeline weekly
Set up notifications for failed backups
Verify backup sizes are reasonable (not zero or suspiciously small)
Test restore process periodically

🗑️ Implement Retention Policies

Don't keep backups forever. Set up retention policies:

Keep daily backups for 30 days
Keep weekly backups for 3 months
Keep monthly backups for 1 year
Automate cleanup of old backups

This saves storage space while maintaining recovery capability.

🧪 Test Your Backups

Regularly verify that your automated backups work:

Test restore from an automated backup monthly
Verify data integrity after restore
Check that all tables and data are present
Document the restore process

A backup is only as good as your ability to restore from it.

📝 Document Your Backup Strategy

Document your automated backup setup:

List all automated backup flows and their schedules
Document retention policies
Note any special configurations
Include restore procedures

This helps your team understand the backup strategy and troubleshoot issues.

Real-World Scenarios

Scenario 1: The Forgotten Backup

Problem: Developer forgets to backup before making risky changes. Database gets corrupted, and the last backup is 5 days old.

Solution with Automation: Automated daily backups ensure there's always a backup from the last 24 hours. Even if the developer forgets, the automated system has a recent backup available.

Result: Restore from yesterday's automated backup, lose only 1 day of work instead of 5 days.

Scenario 2: Multiple Recovery Points

Problem: A bug was introduced 3 days ago, but you're not sure exactly when. You need to find the exact point when the bug appeared.

Solution with Automation: With daily automated backups, you have recovery points for each of the last 3 days. Restore each one and test to find when the bug was introduced.

Result: Pinpoint the exact day the bug was introduced, making it easier to identify the problematic change.

Scenario 3: Team Coordination

Problem: Multiple developers work on the same database. Manual backups create confusion about who backed up when.

Solution with Automation: Automated backups run on a consistent schedule, independent of who's working. Everyone knows backups happen at 2 AM daily.

Result: Clear, predictable backup schedule that the whole team can rely on.

Scenario 4: Compliance Requirements

Problem: Company policy requires daily backups, but manual backups are inconsistent.

Solution with Automation: Automated backups ensure compliance. Set up daily backups, and they run automatically without human intervention.

Result: Consistent compliance with backup policies, with audit trail showing regular automated backups.

Advanced: Multiple Backup Schedules

For critical databases, you might want multiple backup schedules:

🔄 Tiered Backup Strategy

Hourly backups: During business hours (9 AM - 5 PM) for critical work

Daily backups: At 2 AM for full daily snapshots

Weekly backups: Sunday at midnight for long-term retention

Tagging: Use different tags for each tier (auto-hourly, auto-daily, auto-weekly)

This gives you:

Frequent recovery points during active work
Daily snapshots for standard recovery
Weekly snapshots for long-term retention
Flexibility to choose the right recovery point for any situation