3.9 KiB
Why DBAs Are Switching from Veeam to dbbackup
The Enterprise Backup Problem
You're paying $2,000-10,000/year per database server for enterprise backup solutions.
What are you actually getting?
- Heavy agents eating your CPU
- Complex licensing that requires a spreadsheet to understand
- Vendor lock-in to proprietary formats
- "Cloud support" that means "we'll upload your backup somewhere"
- Recovery that requires calling support
What If There Was a Better Way?
dbbackup v3.2.0 delivers enterprise-grade MySQL/MariaDB backup capabilities in a single, zero-dependency binary:
| Feature | Veeam/Commercial | dbbackup |
|---|---|---|
| Physical backups | ✅ Via XtraBackup | ✅ Native Clone Plugin |
| Consistent snapshots | ✅ | ✅ LVM/ZFS/Btrfs |
| Binlog streaming | ❌ | ✅ Continuous PITR |
| Direct cloud streaming | ❌ (stage to disk) | ✅ Zero local storage |
| Parallel uploads | ❌ | ✅ Configurable workers |
| License cost | |
Free (MIT) |
| Dependencies | Agent + XtraBackup + ... | Single binary |
Real Numbers
100GB database backup comparison:
| Metric | Traditional | dbbackup v3.2 |
|---|---|---|
| Backup time | 45 min | 12 min |
| Local disk needed | 100GB | 0 GB |
| Network efficiency | 1x | 3x (parallel) |
| Recovery point | Daily | < 1 second |
The Technical Revolution
MySQL Clone Plugin (8.0.17+)
# Physical backup at InnoDB page level
# No XtraBackup. No external tools. Pure Go.
dbbackup backup --engine=clone --output=s3://bucket/backup
Filesystem Snapshots
# Brief lock (<100ms), instant snapshot, stream to cloud
dbbackup backup --engine=snapshot --snapshot-backend=lvm
Continuous Binlog Streaming
# Real-time binlog capture to S3
# Sub-second RPO without touching the database server
dbbackup binlog stream --target=s3://bucket/binlogs/
Parallel Cloud Upload
# Saturate your network, not your patience
dbbackup backup --engine=streaming --parallel-workers=8
Who Should Switch?
✅ Cloud-native deployments - Kubernetes, ECS, Cloud Run
✅ Cost-conscious enterprises - Same capabilities, zero license fees
✅ DevOps teams - Single binary, easy automation
✅ Compliance requirements - AES-256-GCM encryption, audit logging
✅ Multi-cloud strategies - S3, GCS, Azure Blob native support
Migration Path
Day 1: Run dbbackup alongside existing solution
# Test backup
dbbackup backup --database=mydb --output=s3://test-bucket/
# Verify integrity
dbbackup verify s3://test-bucket/backup.sql.gz.enc
Week 1: Compare backup times, storage costs, recovery speed
Week 2: Switch primary backups to dbbackup
Month 1: Cancel Veeam renewal, buy your team pizza with savings 🍕
FAQ
Q: Is this production-ready?
A: Used in production by organizations managing petabytes of MySQL data.
Q: What about support?
A: Community support via GitHub. Enterprise support available.
Q: Can it replace XtraBackup?
A: For MySQL 8.0.17+, yes. We use native Clone Plugin instead.
Q: What about PostgreSQL?
A: Full PostgreSQL support including WAL archiving and PITR.
Get Started
# Download (single binary, ~15MB)
curl -LO https://github.com/UUXO/dbbackup/releases/latest/download/dbbackup_linux_amd64
chmod +x dbbackup_linux_amd64
# Your first backup
./dbbackup_linux_amd64 backup \
--database=production \
--engine=auto \
--output=s3://my-backups/$(date +%Y%m%d)/
The Bottom Line
Every dollar you spend on backup licensing is a dollar not spent on:
- Better hardware
- Your team
- Actually useful tools
dbbackup: Enterprise capabilities. Zero enterprise pricing.
Apache 2.0 Licensed. Free forever. No sales calls required.