User's Guide
PART 4. Database Administration and Advanced Use
CHAPTER 20. Backup and Data Recovery
Adaptive Server Anywhere has features to protect your data from two categories of computer failure: system failure and media failure.
System Failure A system failure occurs when the computer or operating system goes down while there are partially completed transactions. This could occur when the computer is inappropriately turned off or rebooted, when another application causes the operating system to crash, or because of a power failure.
Media Failure A media failure occurs when the database file, the file system, or the device storing the database file becomes unusable.
When failures occur, the recovery mechanism treats transactions properly, as atomic units of work: any incomplete transaction is rolled back and any committed transaction is preserved in the transaction log. This ensures that even in the event of failure, the data in your database remains in a consistent state.
You should make regular backups of your database files so that you can recover your database in the case of a media failure. The transaction log (which you should store on a separate device from the database for greater security) is used to recover information put into the database since the last full backup.