I'm not very familiar with MariaDB yet. If I migrate a MariaDB database to a virtual machine in Azure, what are my options for backing it up and restoring it? Azure VM backups are available, but I'd also like a database-level backup and restore method. Does Azure provide a native MariaDB backup solution, or should I use MariaDB tools or a third-party product?
2 Answers
For a managed backup workflow, a third-party product such as Acronis can also back up and restore MariaDB running on an Azure VM. Whichever approach you choose, keep multiple copies in separate storage and regularly test restoring the database—not just restoring the VM disk.
An Azure VM is essentially an IaaS server, so MariaDB backup works much like it would on a physical or other virtual machine. Use a database-aware tool such as mariadb-dump or MariaDB Backup for logical or physical backups, and store the backup files on separate Azure storage. Azure VM Backup protects the disks and is useful for full-machine recovery, but it shouldn’t be your only database backup because it may not provide the database-level consistency and restore flexibility you need.
That makes sense. I was mainly checking whether Azure had a native MariaDB-specific backup service, or whether I should handle it with MariaDB’s own tools.