In some examples, a method of performing a backup of a group of relational databases comprises identifying the group of relational databases; identifying I/O traffic flowing into or out of the group of relational databases; temporarily freezing the I/O traffic flowing into or out of the group of relational databases; identifying a set of batch backup operations to be performed during the temporary I/O freeze; identifying relational dependencies between at least some databases in the group of relational databases; based on the identified relational dependencies, identifying, among the set of batch backup operations, a first sub-set of backup operations eligible to be performed in parallel, and a second sub-set of backup operations not eligible to be performed in parallel; conducting the backup, wherein conducting the backup comprises performing the identified first sub-set of backup operations in parallel and performing the identified second sub-set of backup operations sequentially; and unfreezing the I/O traffic.