> In order to guarantee a 'live' DB is backed up in a consistant state, we need to
> make sure it is quiesced at backup time.
> We need to configure the Storagecraft ShadowProtect backup job to run a
> pre-snapshot script that quiesces the Firebird Database, followed by a post-
> snapshot script that brings the DB backup out of this state.

As long as ShawdowProtect uses disk volume snapshots to prepare the volumes for backup (ie. Windows VSS Provider or similar Linux technology) , there is no requirement for quiescing.

Firebird databases are always in a consistent state. Unlike order database engine, Firebird employs "careful write order" logic to ensure that partial changes do not destroy database validity.

The backup file will contain valid details of all committed transactions as of the start of the volume snapshot. If at the time, there are transactions which have not finished committing. When the database is restored and the engine restarted, it will silently/seamlessly 'rollback' incomplete changes as they are encountered.

> Can anyone provide these scripts or tell us where they could be downloaded.
> The version of Firebird we are running is 1.5.2.4731

Although Firebird v1.5 supports the appropriate functionality (see nbackup documentation), it is only reliable in v2.1.4 or later.


Sean