Databases

You can use the Database Backups app to create and restore database backups of non-production and production planets.

Check database settings

You can check the following database settings:

• Whether you can delete the database for a planet.
• RDS cluster assignment.
• Status of snapshot mechanism.

To check the database settings for a planet:

1. Select a star system.
2. From Apps, select Planets or select it from your pinned apps.
3. Select a planet.
4. From Applications and add-ons, select InsuranceSuite.
5. Go to Settings.

Delete the database for a planet

When the Block database drop option is set to Off, the database is deleted during the following activities:

• Deployment of InsuranceSuite apps.

  For deploying InsuranceSuite apps, a Drop database checkbox is displayed, so you can choose if you want to deploy with or without dropping the database. If you choose to drop the database, the existing database is deleted and a new database is created immediately.

• Undeployment of InsuranceSuite apps.

• Deleting of InsuranceSuite apps.

When the Block database drop option is set to On:

• You can't delete or undeploy InsuranceSuite apps.

• You can only deploy InsuranceSuite apps without dropping the database.

For production planets, the Block database drop option is set to On by default.

For non-production and pre-production planets, the Block database drop option is set to Off by default.

RDS cluster assignment

Every planet is assigned to an AWS Postgres Aurora cluster. The following rules apply:

• By default, planets share a common cluster.

  More planets can be added to this cluster.
  For such planets, the only possible backup mechanism is pg_dump.

• Snapshot-enabled planets have individual assignments to clusters.

  A snapshot-enabled planet is the only planet assigned to a cluster. To guarantee that a planet is snapshot-enabled at all times, the RDS cluster should be dedicated. For dedicated clusters, no other planet can be assigned.

For details, see:

• Backup mechanisms.
• Snapshot status.

Backup types and retention policy

There are three types of database backups:

• Permanent

  Permanent backups are created manually and retained until you delete them.

• Temporary

  Temporary backups are created manually and removed automatically after the retention period ends.

• Scheduled

  Scheduled backups are created automatically and then removed after the retention period ends.

The retention period determines for how many days your database backups are kept. You can define its length when creating a temporary or scheduled backup. To modify the maximum length of this period or configure different values for each star system, contact Guidewire.

Backup mechanisms

You can back up your databases using one of the following mechanisms:

	pg_dump	Snapshot
Availability	Default for every planet.	Only for planets assigned to an individual AWS Aurora Postgres cluster (snapshot-enabled).
Stability	Stable for databases smaller than 500 GB.	Stable for all databases.
Backup time	Depends on the size of the database.	Fixed, less than 10 minutes.
Restore time	Depends on the size of the database.	Fixed, 30–50 minutes.
Parallel restores	For databases smaller than 1 TB, many restores in one RDS cluster. For databases larger than 1 TB, one restore in one RDS cluster.	No restrictions.
Planet to restore	Any planet within a star system.	Only planets that are snapshot-enabled.

Check snapshot status

To check if your planet is snapshot-enabled:

1. Select a star system.

2. From Apps, select Planets or select it from your pinned apps.

3. Select a planet.

4. From Applications and add-ons, select InsuranceSuite.

5. Select Settings and go to the Database settings tile.

6. Check the status in RDS cluster assignment and Snapshot mechanism.

   If your planet is snapshot-enabled, the RDS cluster assignment shows the name of the assigned cluster and the Snapshot mechanism is Enabled.

   

Enable snapshot mechanism

To enable the snapshot mechanism for a planet, submit a case in Guidewire Community.

Data deletion

By deleting a backup or dropping a database during a deployment, you ensure that the data is no longer available.

Note that these actions don't guarantee the complete data deletion from Guidewire Cloud Infrastructure. To ensure recoverability, Guidewire might still store internal backups for up to 35 days.