Cloud data backup and recovery: insights and best practices

Once a niche concern, cloud computing is now as ubiquitous as WhatsApp and people having private conversations on speakerphone. 

Its praises are sung regularly and loudly – and here at Ascend Cloud Solutions, we stand by them all. Migrating to the cloud allows a business of any size to unlock cost savings and take advantage of high levels of availability, accessibility and scalability. 

But like all novel tech, it presents its own unique challenges and risks. The cloud sector is engaged in an arms race with cyber criminals, who sleep with one eye open, wanting nothing more than to find new and innovative ways to make your life a misery. 

As a consequence, tech departments up and down the land are having to adjust to the new normal. A big part of that has involved learning how to troubleshoot common cloud issues. Companies need to be able to resolve problems quickly and painlessly – because a problem for your cloud solution is a problem for your productivity and profits. 

But all is not lost. There are a number of simple steps you can take to keep these risks to a minimum. 

Before we take a deep dive into the best practices for cloud data backup and recovery, let's clear up a few terms. What do we mean by cloud backup, anyway? 

What is cloud backup? 

Long before broadband, two-factor authentication and other staples of modern life, physical records of data had to be copied out. Duplicates and triplicates were essential to ensuring that data was safe from flood, fire and shady characters with bags marked "swag".

Today, your software and data will most likely be stored on the cloud. But even there, it's vulnerable to several threats – from accidental deletion and file corruption to cybercrime and natural disasters. 

Cloud backup is essential to minimise these risks. Running a business without cloud backup is like having just one copy of grandma's recipe for tiramisu – once it's gone, it's gone. 

So far, so simple. Your cloud provider will offer backup as part of their package. Simply sign on the dotted line and kick back with a good book – right? 

Sadly, it's not quite that simple. The precise nature of your cloud backup solution will depend on several factors. 

It depends on the size of your company and how much software and data it handles. It depends on the speed and reliability of your internet connection. And it depends on how secure and reliable your cloud provider is. 

That's cloud backup – but what about recovery? 

What is cloud recovery? 

Without cloud backup, what's lost is lost. But with a sturdy backup solution, you can recover data from your cloud backup to your on-prem data centre or other cloud solution. 

As with cloud backup, this takes different forms depending on the nature of your business. There are three main flavours: 
 

1. Full recovery. This is where you restore all your data – for instance, if you've suffered total system failure.
2. Incremental recovery. This is where you restore only data that's changed since your last backup. It's faster than full recovery – but its success depends on a well-maintained backup history.
3. Selective recovery. This is where you restore only the specific files and folders that you need.

 
To achieve any of these three types of recovery, you need an on-site copy – but a copy of that copy in the cloud is just as important. 

This ethos is sometimes known as the 3-2-1 rule. It may sound like a dietary fad, but in fact, it refers to having two copies of your data stored in separate formats and one stored off-site in the cloud. 

By following the 3-2-1 rule, you make cloud recovery easier to manage – so you're less likely to be brought to your knees by the accidental deletion of data or its intentional hijacking by cyber crims. 

What are some best practices for cloud data backup and recovery? 

When you migrate to the cloud, you need first to establish how it's going to meet your business goals. The same is true of cloud backup and recovery. 

You need to find the solution that best serves your business size, requirements, procedures and goals. Otherwise, you're forking outfor a thousand spoons when all you need is a knife.

Relatedly, you should shop around for the right cloud provider. The major public cloud providers all offer good services but one may meet your requirements more precisely than another. 

Once you've got your solution, testing is critical. You should test your backup and recovery procedures regularly – at least once a month. Only this way can you stay on top of any pesky issues. 

There are two main kinds of test: a full system restore (including your OS) and a partial file restore. 

Your cloud backup also needs to be exhaustive. To get technical for a moment, that means data  and metadata need to be backed up – because without metadata, your files can be harder to recover. 

All data should be encrypted – and if it's sensitive, you might want to consider getting immutable storage. This is where data is stored in such a way that it can't be tinkered with, so you know you won't fall foul of any compliance or regulatory standards. 

Who's responsible for backup and recovery? It's not just the person who executes the recovery. Like health and safety, it needs to be a whole company concern. 

In practice, this means that strong passwords and authentication methods should be standard – and staff should be primed to report any suspicious events in the cloud. 

Finally, there's the question of when to back up. Just as your WhatsApp messages tend to back up overnight, so it makes sense to schedule backup and recovery for out-of-office hours when network traffic is low. That way, it won't soak up internet resources and slow down your staff's work. 

Do you need help creating a robust cloud backup policy? Here at Ascend, we're cloud computing experts with extensive experience in migration, backup and security. Get in touchfor a no-obligation consultation.