How did the MySQL ZRM do the job?

Did I use the correct method to backup?

The mysql-zrm-reporter tool provide backup statistics about the MySQL backup run. It is a good idea to review the backup-time, read-locks-time, flush-logs-time and backup-size to determine whether the method used by MySQL ZRM is appropriate for the backup set. The predefined backup-performance-info report is a useful tool to tune backup process or switch to a different backup method.

An example command displaying backup size and backup time for a backup set backupSet2:

# mysql-zrm-reporter  --fields backup-date,backup-level,backup-size,backup-time \
  --where backup-set=backupSet2
         backup_set  backup_date                             backup_level  backup_size  backup_time
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
         backupSet2  Sat 09 Sep 2006 10:00:37 AM PDT                    0     54.26 MB  00:00:33
         backupSet2  Sat 09 Sep 2006 10:01:41 AM PDT                    0     64.23 MB  00:00:50
         backupSet2  Sat 09 Sep 2006 10:03:30 AM PDT                    0     74.98 MB  00:01:03

Using mysql-zrm-reporter tool, you can figure out what backup method was used to do the backup (backup-method-info report). You can override the backup method by setting backup parameters - replication, logical-backup, lvm-snapshot in MySQL ZRM configuration for the backup set.

Can I make backups more efficient?

The time taken to do a backup (backup window) and backup image size depends on various factors:

• Backup method used for each database - logical backups, raw backups, lvm snapshot, MySQL replication
• Backup level for the backup set
• Size of the database
• Database activity - read-only, read/write ratio
• Database transaction rates
• Recovery requirements - how often do you recover data? What is the reason for data recovery?

Use mysql-zrm-reporter tool and mysql-zrm logs to analyze the backups. The backup-performance-info report is a good starting point to analyze the bottlenecks in the backup strategy. It is possible to change all the MySQL backup parameters using the configuration file. Often, it takes multiple backup runs to arrive at a good parameters for a backup set.

Example: Backup performance report

# mysql-zrm-reporter --where backup-set=backupSet1 --show backup-performance-info
backup_set  backup_date      backup_level  backup_siz  backup_time      read_locks_time  flush_logs_time                                                                      
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
backupSet1  Sat 09 Sep 2006             0    54.26 MB  00:00:33         00:00:12         00:00:08
            10:00:37 AM PDT
backupSet1  Sat 09 Sep 2006             0    64.23 MB  00:00:50         00:00:21         00:00:10
            10:01:41 AM PDT
backupSet1  Sat 09 Sep 2006             0    74.98 MB  00:01:03         00:00:29         00:00:09
            10:03:30 AM PDT