A cloud backup strategy refers to the policies, procedures and tools used to protect data stored in the cloud. As more data moves to the cloud, organizations need robust backup plans to ensure they can recover from data loss events like hardware failures, ransomware attacks or accidental deletions.
An effective cloud backup strategy has several key elements:
- Determining backup types – There are different types of cloud backups like full, incremental, differential, etc. Choosing the right backup types is crucial.
- Setting backup frequency – More frequent backups reduce potential data loss but increase costs. The right balance must be struck.
- Choosing backup locations – Backups can be stored in a secondary cloud region, an on-premises data center or with a different cloud provider.
- Encryption and access controls – Backups must be secured against unauthorized access.
- Testing backups – Regular restore tests validate that backups can be used to recover data if needed.
In the cloud, responsibility for backups is typically shared between the cloud customer and the provider. The cloud provider is responsible for infrastructure resiliency and preventing hardware loss, while the customer must implement application-level backups and protect against issues like accidental deletions.
An ideal cloud backup solution provides automation, security and flexibility to backup diverse applications and workloads while minimizing cost and complexity.
Why is a backup strategy important for the cloud?
There are several key reasons why a sound backup plan is crucial for cloud environments:
- Avoid data loss: Backups provide recovery points when data gets corrupted, deleted or attacked by ransomware. Without backups, data loss can be catastrophic.
- Meet compliance regulations: Many regulations like HIPAA require the ability to fully recover data. Backups are often needed for compliance.
- Recover quickly from outages: If a cloud service goes down, backups make it possible to restore to a secondary site quickly.
- Protect against cloud provider loss: While rare, instances where cloud providers permanently lose customer data have occurred. Backups provide redundancy.
- Guard against insider threats: Rogue employees at a cloud provider could potentially access or delete customer data. Backups counter this risk.
Simply relying on a cloud provider for data protection is inadequate. Organizations must implement their own backup strategy for cloud environments.
Types of cloud data backups
There are four primary types of cloud data backups:
Full Backups
A full backup copies all data selected for backup each time it runs. This results in multiple copies of the same file being stored. Full backups provide complete restore ability and are easy to manage, but require more storage capacity.
Incremental Backups
Incremental backups only copy data that has changed since the last backup. This saves storage space compared to full backups. However, restores require chaining multiple incremental backups together, increasing complexity.
Differential Backups
Differential backups copy all data changed since the last full backup. They provide efficiency over full backups but are easier to restore than incrementals since only two backup sets are needed.
Synthetic Full Backups
A synthetic full combines incremental backups with the last full backup to synthesize a new full backup. This avoids storage inefficiency of repeated full backups while retaining simple restore capability.
Here is a comparison of the different backup types:
| Backup Type | Storage Efficiency | Restore Compleixty |
|---|---|---|
| Full | Low | Simple |
| Incremental | High | Complex |
| Differential | Medium | Simple |
| Synthetic Full | Medium | Simple |
Most backup solutions use a combination of these backup types for an optimal blend of efficiency, restore ability and administrative ease.
How often should cloud data be backed up?
Backup frequency represents a tradeoff between potential data loss versus backup overhead. Key factors to consider include:
- Recovery point objective (RPO): The maximum tolerable period of potential data loss in the event of a failure.
- Change rate: How much data changes between backup cycles?
- Resource overhead: Backup processes consume resources which can impact application performance.
- Cost: More frequent backups incur higher storage and network transfer costs.
Here are typical backup frequencies used for cloud data:
- Databases: Backed up every 15-30 minutes to meet tight RPOs.
- Email systems: Backed up every 12 hours. Email can be lost with minimal disruption.
- File shares: Backed up daily. Files don’t change frequently.
- Archival data: Backed up weekly. This data rarely changes.
Mission-critical systems with low RPOs warrant more frequent backup. For less critical data, less frequent backup may be acceptable to reduce costs.
Where should cloud backups be stored?
For maximum data protection, cloud backups should be stored in a different location than the primary data. This prevents a single failure from impacting both primary and backup locations.
Common backup storage targets include:
- Separate cloud region: Provides protection if an entire region goes down.
- Separate cloud account: Protects against account-level access or deletion issues.
- On-premises data center: Reduces dependence on any single cloud provider.
- Another public cloud provider: Mitigates vendor lock-in risks.
- Offline storage: Guards against malware or ransomware attacks.
Multi-targeting cloud backups across two different locations, such as a separate cloud region and on-premises data center, provides a sound hybrid approach.
Securing and controlling access to cloud backups
Backups contain copies of an organization’s most important data making them a target for cyber criminals. It is essential to secure backups against unauthorized access.
Best practices for securing cloud backups include:
- Encrypting backup data in transit and at rest using AES-256 or similar encryption.
- Requiring multi-factor authentication to access backups.
- Applying principle of least privilege in granting backup access.
- Creating immutable backups which cannot be deleted or modified.
- Implementing strong network access controls to backup systems.
Backup systems should undergo rigorous security reviews and testing to identify and close potential security gaps. Unsecured backups can cause immense harm if compromised.
Importance of testing cloud data backups
Testing backup integrity is a crucial step that organizations often neglect. If backups are not tested, then an organization cannot be confident in their ability to recover data from them when needed.
Some ways to test cloud data backups include:
- Restoring sample files or databases from backups to check recoverability.
- Simulating emergency scenarios like ransomware attacks and Primary site failures.
- Periodically restoring full systems from backup to isolate any potential issues.
- Checking backup logs for indications of errors or incomplete backups.
- Validating that encryption keys for backups are safely stored and accessible.
Tests should be run regularly, such as quarterly or after significant system changes. Failed tests indicate problems with the existing backup configuration that must be addressed.
Choosing a backup solution for the cloud
Cloud data can be backed up using cloud-native tools offered by providers like AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Alternatively, third-party backup products tailored for the cloud are available.
Factors to consider when selecting a backup solution include:
- Support for cloud resources: Backups should include databases, object storage, serverless and PaaS.
- Ease of use: Look for simple, automated backup policies to reduce management overhead.
- Security capabilities: Select a solution with encryption, access controls and security auditing.
- Cost structure: Backup costs can vary greatly between tools. Compare pricing carefully.
- REST API integration: APIs ease third-party integration and automation of complex backup workflows.
The best solutions will also provide analytics and dashboards to monitor backup status across multiple cloud accounts and regions in a unified view.
Best practices for cloud backup strategy
Recap of top best practices for a robust cloud data backup strategy:
- Leverage a mix of full, incremental and synthetic backups balancing storage efficiency and restore ability.
- Adjust backup frequency based on RPO requirements and how often data changes.
- Store backups in multiple locations to avoid single points of failure.
- Encrypt backups to secure them against unauthorized access.
- Perform regular test restores to validate recoverability.
- Choose a dedicated cloud backup solution with security, automation and central monitoring.
Additional considerations include meeting regulatory compliance, adequate networking capacity for transfers, vetting access privileges, documenting recovery plans and integrating with business continuity workflows.
The future of cloud data backup
As cloud adoption continues to accelerate, data volumes requiring backup will grow exponentially. This will drive innovations in backup technologies including:
- More scalable and distributed backup architectures able to handle huge cloud data sets and traffic.
- Expanded use of containerization, microservices and functions to embed backup processes in cloud-native environments.
- Greater adoption of immutable and air-gapped backups on emerging media like tape and disconnected devices.
- Backup-as-a-Service offerings enabling greater flexibility and OpEx models.
- More advanced cyber protection for backups using behavioral analysis and threat intelligence.
The importance of robust, automated cloud backup capabilities will only increase over time. Organizations must adapt their data protection strategies accordingly. Backup and recovery is an indispensable pillar of any cloud or digital transformation initiative.
Conclusion
A comprehensive cloud backup strategy is critical given the risks inherent in storing data in the cloud. By using the right backup approach, frequency, location, security controls and monitoring tools, organizations can effectively mitigate data loss risks in the cloud. Backup planning and testing is essential. With strong backups in place, companies can fully leverage the cloud while safeguarding their most valuable data assets.