Understanding backup options
FileMaker recommends that you back up your hosted databases. FileMaker Server 16 provides two ways to perform database backups:
•Scheduled backups: Use the Schedule assistant to create a scheduled task that defines which databases are backed up, and how often the databases are backed up. Every time the scheduled task runs, FileMaker Server checks whether the selected databases have changed since the last backup. FileMaker Server creates a full copy of the databases that have changed and creates
hard links to the backed-up databases that have not changed.
•Progressive backups: FileMaker Server starts by creating a full backup of all hosted databases. After the initial full backup is complete, the Database Server only copies the changes from the hosted file to the progressive backup folder. Progressive backups can run more quickly than a scheduled backup, with less impact on server performance.
Progressive backups keep two copies of the backup files: a timestamped copy that is available for you to use as a backup, and an in-progress copy that gets updated with the accumulated changes. (FileMaker Server refers to these accumulated changes as the redo logs.) The Save interval setting controls how often the timestamped copy is updated.
You can use both scheduled backups and progressive backup to ensure a comprehensive backup strategy for your hosted databases.
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