Application Guide: 13 best Practices for data backup

The data center operates a large amount of data. This is a disaster when data is compromised. This is the importance of regular backups. Even if you have a large amount of backup data that is not in use, backups are certainly not a waste of time. You may be lucky to have never experienced data loss. However, since this rarely happens and it is important to maintain the integrity of the data, it seems no problem to "save" time and resources by skipping backups.

Some insiders say the data center backup is very important, and the reason is very obvious, although I have heard from a small company's system administrator that some organizations have not "wasted" time and resources for backup and have been successful. I don't think he understood why I was shocked by this assertion and looked at him in an unbelievable light. I hope that only one million of people believe that backup is useless. I want most IT professionals to believe in the value of backup and make the most of the effort to do the right backup.

If you have never used a backup because of a disaster, you are lucky to have you. However, because of the absence of a timetable for disaster attacks, the latest backup is one of the lifesaving belts for successful disaster recovery when the disaster strikes. The gist of many of the best practices for backup is actually some common sense that everyone knows and uses. Anyway, here are some best practices for backup:

1. Development of rules and procedures. Many technicians hate documents, but the full rules are the key to the success of any action. The rules and procedures for backing up do not have to be a thick book, you can only include it when you make a backup: What time to back up, what content to back up, who is responsible for backup, who can access the backup content, and so on.

2. Test Backup. This rule is a common sense. But the question is worth mentioning. It's definitely useless to have a damaged backup. What's worse is that you think this backup is good and can be used for disaster recovery, but not for the results. Therefore, to avoid this situation, be sure to always test the backup, especially when you are backing up important data.

3. Marking and arranging backups. When you have 2 to 3 backup CDs, it's easy to guess what's on each disc. When you have a number of PT data in a variety of backup media, guessing alone doesn't work. Therefore, you must mark every backup and arrange the backups in a library. A tag backup includes the use of a meaningful name, the date and time the data was backed up, the content of the data, who created the data, and some instructions.

4. Store backups in a safe place. Your security requirements are likely to contain the contents of the backup store. However, if you do not include these elements, you need to make these rules at the right time to correct the problem. A safe place is a broad term that usually means that where you store the backup is protected, preventing illegal access and preventing physical damage from disasters such as fire, floods and earthquakes. Backup data is best not stored in the data center itself. However, if you do have a safe place to store backups, you can store them there. Some data centers, like forts, are safer than other places.

5. Backup in real time. The most recent backup is always useful. For example, in banking, online transactions and so on, only real-time backup is useful. Real-time backups do not require more resources. However, if your data is time-sensitive, then real-time backup is just a choice. Even if your data is not time-sensitive, it has no effect on real-time backups.

6. Back up the data that has been backed up. To add additional protection, you can back up the data that you have backed up. It may seem like you've been backing up your backups all day, but for important data, backing up your backed-up data is not a waste of time.

7. Use Automation. Manual backup is hard work, although it is not unheard of for data centers to use manual backups. However, manual backups are rare because there are now many automated tools. If you don't have these tools, you need to get one of these tools, because that will make your life easier. However, you should not forget to check the results of the backup, as automation is good (saves time and effort), but it is not good to have a backup that is not available. There are few things wrong with the backup tool, but you don't think that this kind of thing will never happen to you.

8. Consider encryption. The backup contains sensitive data. Even if you're not worried about security, you have to think about what might happen if an intruder wants to get backup data. Even if you take strict access control and the risk of other people illegally accessing your backup data is very small, you still need to use encryption. Many automated backup tools provide reliable encryption, so why not?

9. Know what to back up. If you can absolutely back up everything is the best, but the absolute method is not realistic. The second best way is if you can omit data that you can ignore. In any case, you should classify your data according to importance, and at least regularly back up important data and very important data. Indeed, the more data you back up, the better. However, if your operation has serious limitations, you must ensure that important data is taken care of.

10. Destroy any backup media that you no longer use. The use of backup media that you throw into the trash is a huge security risk because unless you make sure that the data on the storage media is completely eliminated and you can't respond with any of the methods, you're giving others an opportunity to access the data illegally. The data on the old backup media may be old, but it is still not able to fall into the hands of illegal visitors.

11. Use of reliable media. This is again a common sense rule. If you use unreliable media for backup, this means you don't actually have a reliable backup. If you use a reusable piece of media, periodically check to see if the media still completes the backup task. If not, you should change it immediately.

12. Regular backups. Backups take time and depend on the specific backup program you are using. Backups can affect the normal work of your data center. You cannot stop the work in progress for backup. Indeed, backup tools generally do not have this requirement. However, some data cannot be backed up while it is running, requiring the machine to stop first and then back up. If possible, plan the backup time for this data, and back up at a time when the machine is not working very well (night and morning).

13. Backup virtual machines. Finally, when making a backup, one thing you should not forget is the virtual machine. Backing up a virtual machine is not a separate science, but it does require some skill. So unless you need to back up the virtual machines, you'll spend some time learning some of the ways to properly back up the virtual machines. In some cases, the virtualization solution manufacturer's documentation provides some guidance, but not every vendor. The techniques for introducing virtual machine backups are not all that detailed. As a result, you need to be more serious when backing up your virtualization solution.

The list of best practices for data backup is not exhaustive. Some of the best practices are useful in some cases, and some rules are always reasonable. In any case, backup is very important and cannot be ignored. So you have to experiment with various methods and see which one works best for you. Repeated experimentation is not the best strategy. Therefore, learn as early as possible in order to avoid some traps.