Parallel Backup Schedules

The parallel backup schedule feature ensures that scheduled backups happen consistently, even when a prior backup process is still in progress. This feature is designed to address scenarios where larger volumes or limited bandwidth cause delays, leading to schedule violations.

Previously, scheduled backups could be skipped if a current backup (snapshot creation or upload) was not completed within the backup interval. This limitation impacted reliability, especially for customers managing large datasets or relying on consistent backup schedules.

This feature addresses a critical gap in backup reliability, ensuring users can meet compliance, recovery, and operational goals without interruptions or skipped schedules.

caution

Limitations — review before enabling

• Parallel schedules apply only to backups that contain Portworx volumes exclusively. Backups that include non-Portworx volumes or a mix of Portworx and non-Portworx volumes will not trigger parallel schedules.
• Parallel uploading of individual volume snapshots is not supported.
• Backups are queued if a snapshot upload is still in progress when the next interval begins (that is, when snapshots are not completed within the backup interval).
• Restoring from local Portworx snapshots created by parallel backup schedules requires assistance from Pure Storage support.

If any of these limitations affect your use case, do not enable this feature.

Enable or Disable Parallel Backup Schedules

To enable parallel backup schedules, select the Allow parallel backups option in the Create Backup Schedule window of the Portworx Backup web console. For step-by-step instructions, see Create a scheduled backup.

To disable parallel backup schedules, edit the backup schedule and deselect the Allow parallel backups option.

How it Works

1. Parallel backup trigger: if the current backup is still uploading but the backup interval has expired, the system can start the next backup.

2. Specific to Portworx volumes: applies to backups containing only Portworx volumes where all snapshots for Portworx volumes are completed within the backup interval.

3. Seamless integration: the feature works automatically once enabled, ensuring efficient backup scheduling without user intervention.

Restore considerations

Parallel backup schedules create local Portworx snapshots at each interval. Restoring from these local snapshots requires assistance from Pure Storage support. To restore from a local snapshot created by a parallel backup schedule, contact Pure Storage support.