What is the downtime for Confluence backup(s) server/data center?

[Jason Duncan]

Hi All,

I would like to inquire about downtime during a Confluence full backup with the following questions:

1) Is there any downtime involved when performing a full backup of a Confluence server/data center?

2) Should I schedule Confluence backup every several days, or is the backup every 14 days sufficient in a DevOps environment?

3) Would I need to inform my organization ahead of time to avoid losing any work progress and impact on my organization?

4) Also, any available supportive links would be helpful?

Any feedback is welcomed.

Thanks,

JD

[Arshad Rashdi]

The downtime for Confluence backup in a server or data center environment can vary depending on several factors, such as the size of the Confluence instance, the backup method being used, the server configuration, and the network infrastructure.

In general, the downtime for backups should be minimized to ensure continuous availability of the Confluence application. Many organizations implement backup strategies that utilize techniques like hot backups, where backups are taken while the system is running, to minimize downtime. Additionally, some backup solutions offer incremental backups, which only backup the changes made since the last backup, reducing the time required for backup operations.

To get a precise estimate of the downtime for Confluence backups in your specific environment, it's best to consult the documentation provided by Atlassian, the company behind Confluence, or reach out to their support team for guidance tailored to your setup.

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

For the downtime question, It depends on the database you are using and if it allows for live backups.

    Usually if done correctly there is no downtime for backups.

I like to backup things daily, every 14 days is too risky for me.

If you are using the DB backup tools and can do live backups, there is no need to inform, however, it's good to be transparent and post somewhere how backups are happening, maybe put it in a confluence page.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/doc/backup-and-restore-163578.html

[Jason Duncan]

Thank you responding. I have one additional question, what is the best alternative to to backup data for my Confluence version 8.6.2; manually or scheduled? 

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

It depends on your needs. 

However, I would schedule a nightly backup.  I would do it via the supported backup solution for your DB.  I would also coordinate it with your backup and recovery team at your company to be sure that you put the backup someplace the corporate backup solution will find it so that you have that second layer of redundancy/insurance. 

Manual backups are good if you are about to make major changes or do an upgrade/patch in case you need to roll back.  

[Jason Duncan]

One last question, I keep reading scheduled backups are no longer available for data/server Confluence environment. In addition, scheduled backups are not recommended due to prior bugs and large backups. 

I work in a large robust organization, so I plan on conducting full XML backups weekly. Can you give me any advice on this matter?

[Jason Duncan]

Q: You mentioned backing up my Confluence version 8.6.2 data/server via the supported backup solution for my organizations database. I have an idea of the location, however can you confirm if the attachment below is the right area?

Admin Console> General Configuration> Backup & Restore:

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

You want to schedule a nightly backup of the underlying DB with the DB backup method.  This would be outside of confluence.