Backup Strategies For Data Centers

Even for the smallest scale enterprise, the practice of making regular, clean, and tested backups of essential information is fundamental to ensuring business continuity, data integrity, and security.

 

When an organization is of a size that warrants the use of a full-blown data center, this ups the game considerably. After all, the information being stored and processed may not only include transactional and operational data for the enterprise, itself. Customer records, supply chain data, and information required for auditing and regulatory compliance may also be involved.

 

At a practical level too, the procedures involved in backing up data center information take on a degree of complexity which requires planning, a strategic approach, and the utilization of the appropriate tools and technologies.

 

In this article, we’ll be considering some strategies and best practices for performing and managing data center backups.

Speeding Up Data Retrieval

Having one or more redundant copies of critical business data to call upon in the event of problems is all well and good. But if it takes so much time to restore that essential information from its backup media that business opportunities are lost or operations are negatively impacted, then having a backup becomes redundant, in itself.

 

To a large extent, retrieval times will depend on what kind of backups are being implemented. With incremental backup (where the organization’s data archive effectively becomes a volume built of mutually dependent “chapters” representing backups taken at set intervals), more time is needed for a full restoration. Differential backup strategies (where “last saved” versions of files may be backed up on a piecemeal basis) require less.

 

For a truly effective backup strategy, it’s necessary to ensure that data retrieval can be achieved in a timely and efficient manner. Finding the correct balance between backup software and storage media is key to this.

 

Indexing of files for rapid retrieval is possible using backup solutions which have disk or SSD storage in the data path. This form of storage may also act as a buffer for data transfers to slower media, such as magnetic tapes or cloud storage.

 

The compression and deduplication of data which disk or SSD storage can perform before sending information to the final backup medium can reduce transmission times and cut the cost of backed-up data by a significant margin.

 

Finally, with the right software implementation, storage in the backup path can act as a cache which improves the quality of service (QoS) of the response to data retrieval requests.

Disk-to-Tape

Disk-to-tape backup solutions are most suitable for offline processes, with alterations to data requiring manual procedures and offline access. Backup strategies involving tape may be readily secured against physical interference and hacking – as long as storage sites exercise good inventory control practices.

Disk-to-Cloud

Disk-to-cloud solutions facilitate the recovery of individual files which may have been corrupted or accidentally erased – a process that’s unduly time-consuming with simple tape backups. Recovery times with cloud backup may be in the order of seconds, rather than the hours or more it might take to sort through tapes.

 

Encryption of data at the source helps resolve any nagging issues about the security of what’s essentially a third-party storage medium. However, the risk remains of accidental or deliberate corruption of information which is held online.

 

Named as a leader in Gartner’s 2016 Magic Quadrant for Data Center Backup & Recovery for the upper-end mid-market and larger enterprise environments, Veeam Backup & Replication provides in-place recovery for fast recovery times, in what the vendor describes as an offering of ‘Availability for the Always-On Enterprise’. It’s capable of protecting and recovering an entire virtual machine (VM), as well as individual files.

Backup Of Mobile Devices

As enterprise networks expand to embrace remote and distant sites, mobile working, and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies, allowances must be made for the backing up of data from a range of mobile or non-standard hardware devices.

 

Under these conditions, much of an organization’s data may already be resident in the cloud – and backups to this environment will need to form part of an ecosystem which also includes more localized deployments of backup hardware and software.

Backup For Recovery

Finding a balance between the blanket archiving of everything under the enterprise hood, and a selected sub-set of information most critical to the survival of the business is what will tip the scale one way or the other, as regards data recovery.

 

As a rule of thumb, the data that’s backed up should at minimum be capable of restarting the enterprise from scratch, should disaster strike. Enough information needs to be included to satisfy ongoing requirements for regulatory compliance and other legal obligations, including the ownership of encryption keys.

 

Data sets should be segregated wherever possible, to allow the replacement of complete servers in one operation.

 

HPE Data Protector is an industry-leading backup solution for more complex environments and VMs. Its integration with business applications extends server backup, automated point-in-time recovery, and granular restores to individual application users, while standardizing protection across physical and virtual environments, various operating systems, and critical business applications. .

Security Considerations

Problems of slow data retrieval aside, tape and other offline backup strategies achieve a segregation between archived data and active systems, which is often preferred in enterprise security.

 

Though backups to the public cloud allow for easier disaster recovery, many organizations still opt for private cloud deployments or disk-based systems such as MAID (massive array of idle disks) which, though faster, may miss out on the “physical firewall” protection of an offline backup strategy.

Criteria For Backup Software

Backup software should allow for data encryption at the source, with multiple encryption keys under the stewardship of the backup team.

 

Transmission time, storage space, and time to reload may all be drastically reduced by compression and deduplication features, which may be deployed in a local storage pool on the server where the backup gateway is installed, or on an allocated networked space.

 

The number of backup windows may be reduced via a software module which supports multiple parallel backup operations.

 

WAN optimization tools can ensure data transmission during low congestion times, or at lower connection tariffs.

 

From the leader in market share for backup and recovery software, Veritas NetBackup covers Windows, Linux, Unix, and other platforms, and provides online protection for major databases like Oracle and Microsoft SQL. The software also has comprehensive integration with VMware and Hyper-V.

Criteria For Recovery Tools

The ease with which files, folders and volumes may be recovered is the litmus test for recovery software. Key metrics to watch for here include:

 

· RTO (Recovery Time Objective): How long it should take to get everything back in order

 

· RPO (Recovery Point Objective): How much data the enterprise can stand to lose, and still remain viable

 

From a user perspective, the software should have controls for allocating and managing access rights and privileges.

 

For virtual desktops, mobile workspaces, or web-server farms and other systems requiring heavy replication, facilities for compression and deduplication, together with the capturing of roll-back snapshots representing stable configurations are also a plus.

Cost Considerations

Competition in the backup solutions market is making more affordable options available to enterprise buyers.

 

Microsoft Azure Backup is notable here, aiming its pitch not only in terms of cost savings, but also in its assurance of meeting regulatory demands, with the most comprehensive compliance portfolio on the market. Backup-as-a-service (BUaaS) and hybrid storage options are available, with customers able to get more than 99 years of retention for backup data, and their choice of Azure regions for backup and archive location.

 

There’s typically a bit of a balancing act required regarding costs, efficiency, and functionality, but the one thing you must include in your budget is an effective backup strategy, with related tools, policies, and practices.