Operating System Backup:

Depending on the database system in use different methods must be employed to ensure the project is able to be re-started. The simplest is probably the system backup. The system backup will copy database system executables and the files that are used to store the database data, journals and control files. However, database systems are not static entities. Most database system will undergo at least 2 major upgrades in a year. If a project is mothballed for a year or longer it may be woefully out of date and virtually unrecoverable if this is the only method used for backup of the system files.

For example, on an Oracle system you may have to recover the old database, export it or generate DDL, remove the old database (or upgrade in-place) and then import or re-create the database under the new version if a system backup is all that is done to allow for project recovery. In some cases, operating system changes may prevent the backups from being re-applied.

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