This document discusses point-in-time recovery for databases and operating systems. It describes how to perform point-in-time recovery in DynamoDB, MySQL, and Azure SQL databases. It also explains how to restore a Windows PC to an earlier point in time using tools like System Restore or MiniTool ShadowMaker by creating restore points in advance.

1. Title: Point-in-TimeRecoveryforDynamoDB,MySQL,Azure,andWindows
Keywords: pointintime recovery, pointintime restore, dynamodbpointintime recovery,mysql
pointintime recovery, azure sql pointintime restore,how torestore windows10 to an earlierpoint
intime, howto do pointintime recoveryinoracle
Description: What is point-in-timerecovery?How toperformitincommon databaseslike
DynamoDB,MySQL, or Azure?Howto restore Windowstoan earlierpointintime?
URL: https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/point-in-time-recovery.html
Summary: This article described on MiniTool official web page mainly introduces a kind of database
protection service point-in-time recovery.Itelaboratesonhow thisfeature isappliedinAmazon
Dynamodb,MySQL server,andMicrosoftAzure.Besides,it teachesyouhow torestore your
computerto an earlierpointin time withthe recoverypointcreatedinadvance.
What Is Point-in-Time Recovery?
In the contextof computers,point-in-timerecovery(PITR) involvessystems,usuallydatabases (DBs),
wherebyanadministratorcan recoveror restore aset of data or a particularsettingfroma time
pointinthe past. Once PITR loggingstartsfora PITR-capable database (Oracle, AmazonDynamoDB,
SQL Server,MicrosoftAzure,etc.),adatabase administratorcanrecoverthatdatabase frombackups
to the state that it had at any time since.
A point in time recovery example is Windows XP’s capability to restore operating system (OS)
settings from a past date (before data is lost or damaged). Another example of point-in-time recovery
isMac OSX’s Time Machine.
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/rto-vs-rpo.html

2. DynamoDB Point-in-Time Recovery
AmazonDynamoDBpoint-in-timerecoveryoffersautomaticbackupsof yourDynamoDBtable data.
let’ssee howitworks.
#1 Turn on DynamoDB Point-in-Time Recovery
You can enable point-in-time recovery viathe DynamoDBAPI(applicationprogramminginterface),
AWS (AmazonWeb Services)ManagementConsole,orAWSCLI (CommandLine Interface).Once
switchedon,point-in-timerecoveryprovides continuousbackups until youturnitoff explicitly.
#2 Restore a Table by DynamoDB Point-in-Time Recovery
Withthe point-in-time recoveryservice running,youcanrestore toany pointintime youwithin
LatestRestorableDateTimeandEarliestRestorableDateTime.Usually,the formerisfive minutes
before the currenttime.
For EarliestRestorableDateTime,yourecoverourtable toanypointduringthe last35 days.The
retentionperiodisfixedto35 days(5 calendarweeks) anditcannotbe changed.Anynumberof
userscan run at most 4 concurrent recoveries(anytype of restoration) inagivenaccount.
Note:If you disableand reenablepoint-in-timerecovery,you resetthe starttime forwhich you can
recover thattable.As a result,you can only immediately recover thattable relying on the
LatestRestorableDateTime.
Recoveringusingpoint-in-timerecoveryutility,DynamoDBrestoresyourtable tothe state of your
selecteddate andtime,day:hour:minute:secondtoa NEW table.The restorationwillnotconsume
any provisionedthroughputonthe table.Youcan performa full table recoveryorconfigure the
destinationtablesettingslistedbelow.
 GSIs (global secondaryindexes)
 LSIs (local secondaryindexes)
 Billingmode
 Provisionedreadandwrite capacity
 Encryptionsettings
If you choose a full table restoration,all tablesettingsforthe restoredtable come fromthe current
settingsof the source table at the time of the recovery. Forinstance,suppose the targettable’s
provisionedthroughputiscurrently50readcapacity units.If yourestore itsstate to a monthago
whenitsprovisionedthroughputwas100 readcapacity units,youwill getanew table witha state of
a monthago but withprovisionedthroughput of 50 readcapacityunits.
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/data-replication.html
Besides,youare able torecoverDynamoDBtable data acrossAWS Regionssuchthat the restored
table iscreatedina different regionfromwherethe source table locates.Youcanconductcross-
regionrecoverybetweentwo amongAWScommercial Regions,AWSChinaRegions,andAWS
GovCloud(US) Regions.
As forDynamoDBpointin time recoverycost,youare onlychargedby the data you transferoutof
the source Regionandfor recoveringtoa new table inthe destinationRegion.
Tip: If the sourceor destination region is Asia Pacific (Hong Kong) orMiddleEast (Bahrain),cross-
region restore isn’tsupported.

3. The time to recovera table variesbasedonmanyfactors. The point-in-time recoverytimesare not
alwayscorrelateddirectlytothe size of the table. If youexclude some orall indexesfrombeing
createdon the restoredtable,restorationscanbe fasterandmore cost-efficient.Youhave to
manuallysetonthe recoveredtable the followingitems.
 Point-in-time recoverysettings.
 Streamsettings
 TTL (Time toLive) settings.
 Tags
 Auto-scalingpolicies.
 AWS IdentityandAccessManagement(IAM) policies.
 AmazonCloudWatchmetricsandalarms.
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/backup-as-a-service-baas.html
#3 Delete a Table with DynamoDB Point-in-Time Recovery Enabled
If you delete atable thathas point-in-time recoveryservice enabled,DynamoDBwillautomatically
create a backup that iscalleda systembackupandretainsitfor 35 days at no additional cost.You
can take advantage of the systembackupto restore the deletedtable. All systembackupsare named
followingastandardnamingconventionof table-name$DeletedTableBackup.
Note:When you delete a table,you no longer haveaccessto the tableto carry outa point-in-time
recovery.
Point-in-Time Recovery MySQL
Point-in-time recovery inMySQLmeansrecoveryof data changesupto a givenpointintime.
Typically,thiskindof recoveryisconductedafterrestoringafull backupthatbringsthe serverto its
state of the time the backupwas created. Itbringsthe serverup to date incrementallyfromthe time
of the full backuptoa more recenttime.
In thispart, we will talkaboutpoint-in-timerecoveryrelyingonbinarylogsproducedby
mysqlbinlog.If yourbinarylogcontains 0(null) characters, itwon’tbe parsedbymysql until you
invoke itwiththe --binary-modeoption.
The source of infoforpoint-in-time recoveryisthe setof binarylogfilesgeneratedsubsequentto
the full backupoperation.So, toenable aservertobe recoveredtoa pointintime,binarylogging
mustbe enabledonit,whichisthe defaultsettingforMySQL 8.0.
To recoverdata fromthe binarylog,youhave to know the name and locationof the currentbinary
logfiles.Bydefault, the servercreatesbinarylogfilesinthe datadirectory.Yet,the pathname can
be specifiedwiththe --log-bin optiontoplace the filesinadifferentlocation.
To see a listingof all binarylogfiles: mysql>SHOW BINARYLOGS
To determine the name of the currentbinarylogfile: mysql>SHOW MASTER STATUS
Applyingeventsfromthe binarylogcausesthe datamodificationstheyrepresenttobe re-executed,
whichenablesdatachange recoveryfora givenperiod.Toapplyeventsfromthe binarylog,process
mysqlbinlogoutputwiththe mysql client:
$> mysqlbinlogbinlog_files|mysql -uroot -p

4. If you have multiple binarylogstoapplyonthe MySQL server,use asingle connectiontoapplythe
contentsof all binarylogfilesthatyouwant to process.One statementtoachieve thatis:
$> mysqlbinlog binlog.000001 binlog.000002 | mysql -uroot -p
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/wbadmin.html
Azure SQL Point-in-Time Restore
Point-in-time restore (PITR) isveryusefulinrecoveryscenariosforMicrosoftAzure SQLdatabase,
such as data deletion,incorrectdataloading,anddataerrors.You can alsoapplyit fortestingand
auditing.
PITR createsa database as a copy of anotherdatabase fromsome time inthe past. The backup copy
ismaintainedfor7 – 35 days,dependingonyourdatabase settings.Let’ssee how todoa point-in-
time restore of a database inAzure SQL Managed Instance.
#1 Restore an Existing Database
You can use Azure portal,Azure CLI,or PowerShelltorestore anexistingdatabase tothe same SQL
Managed Instance;or,use Azure CLI or PowerShell torestore anexistingdatabase toa differentSQL
Managed Instance tospecifythe propertiesforthe targetSQL Managed Instance andresource
group.If youdo not customize those parameters,the database will be restoredtothe existingSQL
Managed Instance.
Restore anExistingDatabase viaAzure Portal
1. Signin to the Azure portal.
2. Go to your SQL ManagedInstance and choose the targetdatabase.
3. Click Restore on the database page.
4. On the Restore page,selectthe pointforthe date andtime that youwant to restore the
database to.
5. ClickConfirmto start the restoring.
Alt=restore an existingdatabase viaAzure portal
Restore anExistingDatabase withAzure CLI

5. Firstof all,specifyyourvaluesforthe parametersinthe followingcommand.Then,runthe
command.
az sql midb restore -g mygroupname--mi myinstancename|
-n mymanageddbname--dest-nametargetmidbname--time"2022-01-19T15:17:38"
To restore the database to anotherSQL ManagedInstance,also,youneedtospecifythe namesof
the target resource groupand SQL ManagedInstance.
az sql midb restore -g mygroupname--mi myinstancename-nmymanageddbname|
--dest-nametargetmidbname--time"2022-01-19T15:17:38" |
--dest-resource-groupmytargetinstancegroupname|
--dest-mi mytargetinstancename
Restore anExistingDatabase byAzure PowerShell
Firstly,youneedtospecifyyourvaluesforthe parametersinthe below command-line andthenrun
it.
$subscriptionId= "<SubscriptionID>"
$resourceGroupName= "<Resource groupname>"
$managedInstanceName= "<SQL ManagedInstancename>"
$databaseName= "<Source-database>"
$pointInTime= "2022-01-19T15:17:38.3882806Z"
$targetDatabase = "<Nameof new databaseto be created>"
Get-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId$subscriptionId
Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId$subscriptionId
Restore-AzSqlInstanceDatabase-FromPointInTimeBackup`
-ResourceGroupName$resourceGroupName`
-InstanceName$managedInstanceName`
-Name$databaseName`
-PointInTime$pointInTime`
-TargetInstanceDatabaseName$targetDatabase`
To restore the database to another SQL ManagedInstance,youalsoneedtospecifythe namesof
the target resource groupand targetSQL Managed Instance.
$targetResourceGroupName= "<Resource groupof target SQL ManagedInstance>"

6. $targetInstanceName= "<Target SQL ManagedInstancename>"
Restore-AzSqlInstanceDatabase-FromPointInTimeBackup`
-ResourceGroupName$resourceGroupName`
-InstanceName$managedInstanceName`
-Name$databaseName`
-PointInTime$pointInTime`
-TargetInstanceDatabaseName$targetDatabase`
-TargetResourceGroupName$targetResourceGroupName`
-TargetInstanceName$targetInstanceName
https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/hot-backup-vs-cold-backup.html
#2 Restore Deleted Database
To restore a deleteddatabase tothe same instance,use eitherAzure Portal orPowerShell.To
restore a deleteddatabase toanotherinstance,use Azure PowerShell.
Restore DeletedDatabase UsingAzure Portal
1. Go to SQL Managed Instance overviewpage.
2. ClickDeleteddatabases.
3. Selectadeleteddatabase thatyouwouldlike torestore.
4. Specifythe name forthe newdatabase or justkeepthe defaultname.
5. Finally,click OK.
Alt=restore deleteddatabase usingAzure portal
Restore DeletedDatabase ThroughPowerShell
Use the followingcommandtorestore a deleteddatabase tothe same instance.Itwill alsoupdate
the parametervalues.

7. $subscriptionId= "<SubscriptionID>"
Get-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId$subscriptionId
Select-AzSubscription -SubscriptionId$subscriptionId
$resourceGroupName= "<Resource groupname>"
$managedInstanceName= "<SQL ManagedInstancename>"
$deletedDatabaseName= "<Source databasename>"
$targetDatabaseName= "<target databasename>"
$deletedDatabase = Get-AzSqlDeletedInstanceDatabaseBackup -ResourceGroupName
$resourceGroupName`
-InstanceName$managedInstanceName-DatabaseName$deletedDatabaseName
Restore-AzSqlinstanceDatabase-FromPointInTimeBackup -Name$deletedDatabase.Name`
-InstanceName$deletedDatabase.ManagedInstanceName`
-ResourceGroupName$deletedDatabase.ResourceGroupName`
-DeletionDate$deletedDatabase.DeletionDate `
-PointInTimeUTCDateTime`
-TargetInstanceDatabaseName$targetDatabaseName
For restoringthe database toanotherinstance,youneedtospecifythe namesof the targetresource
groupand instance.
$targetResourceGroupName= "<Resource groupof target SQL ManagedInstance>"
$targetInstanceName= "<Target SQL ManagedInstancename>"
Restore-AzSqlinstanceDatabase-FromPointInTimeBackup -Name$deletedDatabase.Name`
-InstanceName$deletedDatabase.ManagedInstanceName`
-ResourceGroupName$deletedDatabase.ResourceGroupName`
-DeletionDate$deletedDatabase.DeletionDate `
-PointInTimeUTCDateTime`
-TargetInstanceDatabaseName$targetDatabaseName`
-TargetResourceGroupName$targetResourceGroupName`
-TargetInstanceName$targetInstanceName

8. https://www.minitool.com/backup-tips/mirroring-harddrive.html
#3 PITR to Azure SQL Managed Instance Limitations
Pointintime restore toSQL Managed Instance hassome limits. Onthe one hand,currently,itdoes
not supportcross-subscriptionorcross-regionrestore. Onthe otherhand,itcan onlyrestore a
database hostedonSQL Managed Instance andcan’t restore a whole SQLManagedInstance.
Belowisa table comparingthe statusof point-in-time restoreviadifferentplatforms.
Azure portal Azure CLI Azure PowerShell
Restore existingDBto
the same instance of
SQL Managed
Instance
Yes Yes Yes
Restore existingDBto
anotherSQL Managed
Instance
No Yes Yes
Restore droppedDB
to same SQL Managed
Instance
Yes No Yes
Restore droppedDB
to anotherSQL
Managed Instance
No No Yes
Alsoread:How to dopoint-in-time recoveryinOracle?
Windows PC Point-in-Time Recovery
How to restore yourPCto an earlierpointintime?Firstly,youshouldhave the restorepointsof your
computer.If not,you needtocreate themfor future PCpoint-in-timerecovery.
#1 How to Create Restore Points for Windows?
There are manyprogramsand servicesthatyoucan relyonto make computerdata restore points
like SystemRestore,BackupandRestore,File History,andMiniTool ShadowMaker.Here,we will
take MiniTool ShadowMaker,aprofessionalandreliable files/folders/system/partitions/diskbackup
software,forexample toshowyouhowtobuild Windowsrestore points.
SM-Trial
1. Download,install,and launchMiniTool ShadowMakeronyourcomputer.
2. Clickthe KeepTrial optionif itrequirespurchase.
3. In itsmaininterface,choose the Backuptab from the top menu.
4. In the Backup tab,it will automaticallyselectsystem-relateditemsas the source.If youdon’t
wantto create a systemrestore point,youcanmanuallychange the selectionbyclickingon
the Source module.
5. Clickon the Destinationmodule to define the targetplace.

9. Alt=databackupin MiniTool ShadowMaker
6. Clickon the Schedule buttonbelow totriggerthe automaticrestore pointcreation.
7. Switchon the schedule settingsinthe popupandspecifyaproperschedule,daily,weekly,
monthly,oron event.

10. Alt=schedulebackupinMiniTool ShadowMaker
8. Clickon the Scheme buttonto determinethe future backuptype, full,incremental,or
differentialbackup.

11. Alt=specify the backuptype inMiniTool ShadowMaker
9. Finally,click Backup Now to performthe initial full backup.
Afterthe firstfull backup,itwill performthe definedbackuptype andcycle inthe future
automatically.
#2 How to Restore Windows 10 to an Earlier Point in Time?
To restore thiscomputerto an earlierpointintime,youneedtorelyonthe programthat youuse to
create the restore point.
1. OpenMiniTool ShadowMakerandgoto its Restore tab.
2. Findthe full backuptaskyou usedto create the initial restore point.If youaccidentally
deletedthe fulltaskbutyoustill can findwhere the recoverypointsare,youcanmanually
add itby clickingthe AddBackup buttoninthe upper-right.

12. Alt=MiniTool ShadowMakerRestore tab
3. Clickthe Restore buttonfor the target backuptask.
4. In the nextwindow,selectarestore pointtoproceed.

13. Alt=selectrestore point
Then,justfollowthe on-screeninstructiontocomplete the restoration.
Conclusion
That is all we’dlike toshare aboutpoint-in-time recovery.If youhave additional informationto
share or want to say somethingaboutthe contentinthisarticle,feel freetoleave acommentbelow.
If you encounteranyproblemusingMiniTool ShadowMaker,justcontact support@minitool.com.