The foundational full backup from which differential or incremental backups are derived, representing the complete state of the database at a specific point in time.
- A base backup captures the entire database: It includes all data files and their contents and serves as the starting point for a restore sequence.
- Differential backups are applied on top of the base backup: They restore changes made after the base backup was taken, reducing overall restore time.
- DBAs typically schedule base (full) backups weekly and differential backups daily: This balances backup window duration against recovery complexity.
- Base backup frequency should align with RPO requirements: The more data that can be lost, the less frequent the full backup needs to be.
- Related terms: Differential Backup, Transaction Log Backup, Restore, Full Recovery Model.
