Docs / Introduction to SaintBackup
Introduction to SaintBackup
SaintBackup backs up MariaDB from many servers to one management machine, encrypts end to end, and runs a restore test every day to prove the backups are usable.
Two programs
| Program | Installed on | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Agent (free) | The server running the MariaDB you want to back up | Holds the database account, decides which databases to share, runs backups on the schedule signed by the Center, encrypts them and keeps them in the spool until the Center receives them. |
| Center (licensed) | The management machine — an office server, a VPS or a laptop | Chooses databases/tables and the schedule for each Agent, receives and decrypts backups, keeps them prepared, restores, runs daily restore tests, sends alerts. |
One Center manages many Agents. The number of Agents you can pair equals the number of seats in your license.
How a backup travels
- At the scheduled time, the Agent runs the
mariabackupthat matches the server version (full daily, incremental every few minutes). - The Agent includes the table structures, compresses in parallel across multiple threads, then encrypts with AES-256-GCM using the Center's public key.
- The encrypted file stays in the Agent's spool until the Center has received all of it and checked its SHA-256.
- The Center decrypts it, stores the zip in the repository, and immediately merges it into the prepared full backup — so there is no waiting when you need to restore.
- Every day, if enabled, the Center builds a test copy
<db>_yyyyMMddon the Center's MariaDB and counts rows to prove it can be restored.
Design principles
- The SaintBackup server is only a convenience. Backup, prepare and restore run entirely between your own machines. See If SaintBackup shuts down.
- The Agent does not wait for the Center. If the Center is turned off, the Agent still backs up on time and keeps the files in the spool.
- As automatic as possible. It finds the tool with the right version, turns off no-lock mode when MyISAM tables are present, resumes sending after a network drop, and deletes old backups according to the retention policy.
Version 1.0 supports MariaDB. MySQL and PostgreSQL come in later versions — see the Roadmap.