Why is performing backups critical for RDBMS?

Performing backups is critical for Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) because it ensures that mission-critical data can be restored if lost. In any organization, databases hold valuable information that can be essential for operations, decision-making, and compliance with regulatory requirements. Data loss can occur due to various reasons such as hardware failures, accidental deletions, corruption, or even cyberattacks. Having a proper backup strategy allows organizations to recover their data efficiently, minimizing downtime and preventing significant business disruptions.

Regular backups not only provide peace of mind that data can be restored when faced with a disaster but also enhance the overall data management strategy by allowing for the retrieval of historical data, which can be valuable for audits, tracking changes, and reporting. Thus, the integrity and availability of data are maintained, which is essential for any database-driven application.