Backup and Recovery What is backup and recovery?
What is backup and recovery?
Backup and recovery are data management practices for the purpose of protecting data from loss or corruption and ensuring data availability in the event of a disaster. These practices are critical for business continuity and data integrity.
- Backup is the practice of creating copies of data so the copies can be used to restore data in the event of data loss or corruption.
- Recovery is the practice of restoring data from backup copies to its original or a usable state following data loss, corruption, or disaster.
- What are common backup types and methods?
- What are common recovery types?
- What are backup and recovery best practices?
- How can HPE help with backup and recovery?
Common backup types and methods
Common backup types are:
- Full Backups: These are complete copies of all data. This type is the simplest to restore but requires the most storage space and time to complete.
- Incremental Backups: These are copies of only the data that has changed since the last backup (whether full or incremental). This method is faster and uses less storage but can be more complex to restore.
- Differential Backups: These are copies of all data that has changed since the last full backup. It strikes a balance between full and incremental backups in terms of storage space and restoration complexity.
- Mirror Backups: This is an exact copy of the source data, typically without any compression or encryption. It is quick to restore but requires a significant amount of storage space.
Common backup methods are:
- On-Premises Backups: Backups are stored on local hardware such as tapes, disks, or dedicated backup appliances.
- Cloud Backups: Data is backed up to a remote cloud storage service.
- Hybrid Backups: Combines both on-premises and cloud backup solutions to offer the benefits of both methods.
Common recovery types
Common recovery types are:
- File-Level Recovery: Restoring individual files or folders from a backup.
- System-Level Recovery: Restoring entire systems or servers, including all files, applications, and settings.
- Application-Level Recovery: Restoring specific applications and their data, such as databases or email systems.
- Disaster Recovery: Restoring critical IT systems and data after a catastrophic event, ensuring that business operations can continue.
Best practices for backup and recovery
To protect data and minimize the impact of data loss events, organizations should use the following best practices for backup and recovery:
- Regular Backups: Schedule and perform regular backups to ensure that data is always up-to-date and protected.
- Offsite Storage: Store backups in a different physical location or in the cloud to protect against local disasters.
- Data Encryption: Encrypt backup data to protect it from unauthorized access during storage and transmission.
- Automated Backup Solutions: Use automated tools to minimize human error and ensure consistent backup schedules.
- Testing and Validation: Regularly test and validate backup and recovery processes to ensure that data can be restored effectively and efficiently.
- Retention Policies: Implement data retention policies to manage the lifecycle of backup data, ensuring compliance and optimizing storage usage.
- Documentation: Maintain detailed documentation of backup and recovery procedures, configurations, and schedules.
- Disaster Recovery Plan: Develop and maintain a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that outlines the steps to be taken in the event of a data loss, ensuring quick and effective recovery.
Regular review and testing of backup and recovery processes are crucial to maintaining the integrity and availability of data.
Featured HPE backup and recovery products and solutions
HPE has a range of products and solutions for backup and recovery that are designed to meet the needs of enterprises. See featured HPE backup and recovery offerings:
- HPE Zerto offers recovery with industry-leading RPOs of seconds and RTOs of minutes to dramatically limit data loss and downtime.
