Optimizing the number and type of database backups to achieve a given recovery time objective (rto)

Abstract

A method of optimizing the number and type of database backups to achieve a given RTO is provided and may include receiving a RTO and receiving a heuristic for determining an amount of unencumbered processing time. A type of next backup, (i.e., a next backup), is determined wherein the type of next backup is an incremental backup when the sum of the heuristic, and the times to: restore the latest full backup, restore zero or more incremental backups, complete a current incremental backup, and perform a full backup is less than the received RTO, else the type of the next backup is a full backup. A time to schedule the next backup is scheduled based on the received RTO being a total of an amount of time to: complete the type of next backup; rollforward zero or more transaction log records; and to restore at least one backup.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for optimizing the number and type of database backups to achieve a given recovery time objective (RTO), the method comprising:
 receiving, by the DBMS, a heuristic for determining an amount of unencumbered processing time and an RTO;   determining a type of next backup corresponding to a next backup, wherein the type of next backup is an incremental backup when a sum of recovery times totals less than the received RTO, else the type of the next backup is a full backup; and   scheduling a time for the next backup based on the received RTO being a total of:
 an amount of time to complete the type of next backup; 
 an amount of time to rollforward zero or more transaction log records wherein the amount of time to rollforward is calculated as: tracking and storing, in a persistent storage, a count and type of recoverable operations as they occur during database execution; extracting from the persistent store a recovery cost associated with each of the recoverable operations; and for each of the recoverable operations, multiplying the count by the associated recovery cost; and 
 an amount of time to restore at least one backup. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sum of recovery times further comprises a total of:
 an amount of time required to restore a latest full backup,   an amount of time to restore zero or more incremental backups,   an amount time to complete a current incremental backup,   an amount of time corresponding to the heuristic; and   an amount of time to complete a full backup.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the type of next backup further comprises:
 calculating a total amount of time by aggregating:
 an amount of time to restore a full backup; 
 the amount of time to restore zero or more incremental backups; 
 the amount of time to complete an incremental backup; 
 the amount of time to complete a full backup; and 
   determining the type of next backup based on the calculated total amount of time and the received RTO.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining a time to schedule the next backup further comprises:
 when the received RTO is less than the total of:
 the amount of time to complete the type of the next backup; 
 the amount of time to rollforward the zero or more transaction log records; and 
 the amount of time to restore the at least one backup; 
   issuing a message that the database is out of compliance with the received RTO; and   determining to start the next backup immediately.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the amount of unencumbered processing time is an amount of processing time during which a transaction executes without competing for resources with an active concurrent backup process. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the recovery cost comprises a number of units wherein each of the number of units is a multiple of base operations, and wherein a base operation is a least resource-intensive operation in the DBMS. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 grouping recoverable operations into a plurality of recovery classes, wherein each of the plurality of recovery classes includes:
 a class identifier; 
 a class name, wherein the class name corresponds to a grouping of recoverable operations by recovery cost; 
 a cost range, wherein a range of the cost range begins at a low and ends at a high value; and 
 an operation count, wherein the operation count is an accumulated count of recoverable operations in a class. 
   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a content and a number of the plurality of recovery classes is customizable.