Backup
ELI5 — The Vibe Check
A database backup is a saved copy of your data at a specific point in time. If something goes catastrophically wrong — data corruption, accidental DELETE, ransomware — you restore from the backup. No backup = no safety net. Supabase does this automatically.
Real Talk
A database backup is a copy of data that can be used to restore the original after data loss. Backup types include full (entire database), incremental (changes since last backup), and differential. Common tools: pg_dump (PostgreSQL), mysqldump (MySQL). Cloud databases usually handle backups automatically.
Show Me The Code
# PostgreSQL dump
pg_dump -U postgres mydb > backup.sql
# Restore
psql -U postgres mydb < backup.sql
When You'll Hear This
"Take a backup before running the data migration." / "Automated daily backups with a 30-day retention period."
Related Terms
Database
A database is like a super-organized filing cabinet for your app's data.
Replication
Replication means automatically copying your database to one or more other servers in real time. If the main server dies, a replica takes over.
Restore
Restore means loading a backup back into your database to undo something bad. Someone deleted the production data? Restore from last night's backup.