Best way of backing up mysql clustered database

Question

I have a mysql cluster database spread on 2 servers.

I want to create a backup system for this database based on the following requirements: 1. Recovery/restore should be very easy and quick. Even better if i can switch connection string at any time i like.

2. the back up must be like snapshots, so I want to keep copies of different day (and maybe keep the latest 7 days for example)

3. the copy database does not have to be clustered.

Answer 1

The best way to back up a MySQL Cluster is to use the native backup mechanism that gets initiated with the START BACKUP command in the `ndb_mgm.

Backup is easy (just a single command) and relatively quick. Restore is a bit more tricky, but is at least faster and more reliable than using mysqldump. See also:

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/mysql-cluster-backup.html

and

http://dev.mysql.com/doc/refman/5.5/en/mysql-cluster-programs-ndb-restore.html

2) The backups are consistent snapshots and are distinguishable by an auto-incrementing backup ID, so having several snapshots is easily possible

3) The backup is clustered by default (every data node stores backup files on its own file system), but you should either have the backup directory pointing to a shared file system mount, or copy files form all nodes to a central place once a backup has finished