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Leveraging Database Replication for Incremental Backup

Regular backups are a common technique to protect critical data from hardware failure. But for embedded devices that continuously collect and analyze IoT sensor data for months or years at a time, a full backup is often too large to run frequently. Instead, incremental backups ensure that new data is continuously protected. Devices also need to run autonomously, without a system administrator, so any backup solution needs to be easy to automate.

Database replication makes it easy to back up any ITTIA DB SQL database file to a second storage device, such as a removable MicroSD card. A full database backup can be created at any time, which can then be configured to replicate changes from the original database, enabling incremental backup. If the original database is lost for any reason, the backup copy can be either accessed directly or copied to restore the original.

Incremental Backup Scenario with ITTIA DB SQL Replication

ITTIA DB SQL can perform both full backup and replication exchange in the background, without blocking access to the main database. This makes it easy to keep backup copies up to date without interrupting other application tasks. And because ITTIA DB SQL is fully configurable from C or C++ code, embedded applications have complete control over the backup and restore process.

Source code showing how to enable and use incremental backup is available in the ITTIA DB SQL Replication Examples, and you can request an evaluation of the ITTIA DB SQL SDK for your preferred target platform today.