What is Backup & Recovery?
Backup and recovery is the practice of regularly copying your data to a safe location and having a tested process to restore it. It's your last line of defense against data loss from bugs, attacks, or human error.
In plain English
Backups are like photocopying important documents and storing the copies in a fireproof safe across town. If your office burns down, you haven't lost everything. The copies only matter if you've actually tested that you can read them — a blurry photocopy is useless in a crisis.
How it works
Backups are taken at regular intervals (hourly, daily) and stored separately from the primary database — ideally in a different region. Point-in-time recovery (PITR) lets you restore to any moment, not just scheduled snapshots. Recovery involves restoring data to a clean instance and verifying integrity before cutting over traffic.
Why it matters for AI-built apps
A bug in AI-generated code could delete or corrupt records before you notice. Without backups, that data is gone permanently. Most managed database services include automated backups, but you need to verify retention settings and actually test restoration — many teams discover their backups are broken only during an actual disaster.
Best practices
Follow the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of data, on two different media, with one offsite. Schedule a quarterly restore drill to verify that backups are usable. Automate backup verification — check that the restored database has the expected row counts and recent timestamps.
Frequently asked questions
Does Supabase back up my database automatically?
Yes — Supabase takes daily backups on the Pro plan and supports point-in-time recovery on higher tiers. Verify your retention period in the dashboard.
How do I test a backup without affecting production?
Restore the backup to a separate staging database and run a checklist of sanity checks — row counts, recent records, login flows. Never test restoration on the production database itself.
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