Sensible arrangements without a specialist.
WHAT MATTERS MOST WITH LIMITED TIME
Backups that work Not being exposed to the internet Minimum privileges Indexes on what is queried
WHY THOSE FOUR
They prevent the failures that cannot be recovered from.
WHAT TO AUTOMATE FIRST
Backups, their verification, and their transfer off the machine.
WHAT TO SCHEDULE MONTHLY
A restore test.
WHY MONTHLY IS ENOUGH
It is infinitely better than never, and it fits in an hour.
WHAT TO ENABLE AND ACTUALLY READ
The slow query log.
HOW OFTEN
Weekly, briefly.
WHAT TO DO WITH IT
Fix the worst one.
WHY THAT ALONE WORKS
Performance problems accumulate slowly, and fixing the worst regularly keeps ahead.
WHAT TO AVOID BUILDING
Replication, clustering or sharding you cannot maintain.
WHY
Complexity you do not understand fails at the worst time.
WHAT TO PREFER
A simple, well-backed-up single server.
WHEN TO USE A MANAGED SERVICE
When nobody has time to operate one properly.
WHAT TO STILL DO ON A MANAGED SERVICE
Take your own independent backup.
WHAT TO DOCUMENT
How to restore, so it does not depend on one person.
WHAT TO REVIEW QUARTERLY
Growth, cost and access.
