[Dylan16807]

> Figuring out how to do db backups _can_ also be fairly time consuming.

apt install automysqlbackup autopostgresqlbackup

Though if you have proper filesystem snapshots then they should always see your database as consistent, right? So you can even skip database tools and just learn to make and download snapshots.

[ngc248]

nah filesystem snapshots may not lead to consistent DB backups. DB backup software usually use a plugin to tell the DB to coalesce data before taking a snapshot.

[Dylan16807]

Databases have to be ready for power loss, don't they? They might not be happy about it, but if that corrupts anything then the design has failed.

And again I'll emphasize proper snapshot, cutting off writes at an exact point in time. A normal file copy cannot safely back up an active database.

[enronmusk]

> filesystem snapshots may not lead to consistent DB backups

Only if your database files are split across multiple file systems, which is atypical.

[baq]

At least one OS you’ve heard of can quiesce the file system to allow taking a consistent snapshot; I’d be surprised if this wasn’t widely available everywhere.