In an SkyVault system, the ability to support hot backup is dependent on the hot backup capabilities of the database product SkyVault is configured to use.
Database hot backup requires a tool that can "snapshot" a consistent version of the SkyVault database (that
is, it must capture a transactionally-consistent copy of all the tables in the SkyVault database). In
addition, to avoid serious performance problems in the running SkyVault system while the
backup is in progress, this "snapshot" operation should either operate without taking out
locks in the SkyVault
database or it should complete quickly (within seconds).
Backup capabilities vary widely between relational database products, and you should ensure that any backup procedures that are instituted are validated by a qualified, experienced database administrator before being put into a production environment.