023.4 Lesson 1

Data loss can occur due to various reasons, such as hardware failures, software glitches, human errors, or even cyberattacks. Backups are copies of your data that can be used to restore it in case of loss or damage. Here are some key reasons why backups are essential.

Backups allow you to recover your data quickly and efficiently in case of unexpected events such as hardware failures, accidents, or cyberattacks. Backups serve as a safety net for your data.

Backups help maintain the integrity of your data, ensuring that it remains intact and uncorrupted.

For business continuity, backups are critical for maintaining operations and preventing downtime. Losing customer or inventory information could be fatal to a business, so backups are essential.

It is a necessity for an organization to have a good backup plan. A backup plan should be developed to determine what data is important to keep as well as how often that important data is to be copied.

To effectively implement a backup plan, it’s crucial to consider several backup types and strategies alongside establishing a consistent schedule based on your data’s criticality and frequency of change.

A full backup copies all data at a specific point in time. It provides complete data recovery Typically, the first backup in a system will be a full backup. While this method provides the most comprehensive recovery option, it is time-consuming and requires significant storage space. Full backups are typically performed less frequently due to the time and resource demands they require, but are often used as a baseline for other types of backups.

Incremental backups copy only data that has changed since the last backup, whether it was a full or incremental backup. This method is efficient in terms of storage and time, as it requires less space and quicker processing. However, during restoration, you need the last full backup and every subsequent incremental backup, which can make recovery more complex.

A differential backup saves all changes made since the last full backup, regardless of whether previous differential backups have been made. This method requires more space than incremental backups but simplifies the restoration process, as only the last full backup and the most recent differential backup are needed.

Snapshot backups capture the state of a system at a specific point in time. Unlike traditional file-based backups, snapshots can be taken quickly and offer near-instantaneous recovery by rolling the system back to a prior state. However, snapshots require more advanced storage systems and may not offer the same granular recovery options as other methods.

Backups should be treated with the same level of security as primary data.

Thus, they should be encrypted to protect them from unauthorized access.

Access control ensures that only authorized personnel have access to the backups. Depending on the organization, it could be helpful to maintain a log of who accesses the backups and when. This log file could be audited regularly to ensure backup policy compliance.

Additional resilience is created by storing backups in a separate location to protect against physical disasters like fire or theft. Third-party companies are available to take the physical backups (usually written to tape) and store them in an offsite location that has restricted access and is climate-controlled. Such a service can be expensive and is typically employed by large enterprises. Any data stored offsite should be encrypted as a precaution against data theft.

Cloud-based or offsite backups should follow strict security protocols, including encryption, access control, and adherence to data protection regulations.

Backup strategies that are resistant to ransomware attacks include using immutable storage or air-gapped backups to ensure data remains safe in case of an infection.

The following practices help create and securely store backups.

Factors to consider in choosing a backup software or service include the number of systems that a solution can back up and the ease of restoring backups. Some backup solutions provide _ersioning, which allows you to access and restore previous versions of files or data. Synchronization helps to maintain a history of changes, enabling you to roll back to a specific point in time when needed. This is valuable for recovering from accidental deletions or data corruption.

Regularly scheduled backups ensure that your data is up to date. Monitor the backup solution to make sure that the schedule is being followed and that resources are available for the backup.

Reliable and secure storage devices or services use external hard drives, network-attached storage (NAS), or cloud storage for redundancy. Magnetic tape is often used for offsite archival storage.

Backup integrity should be verified to ensure restorability. Set up a schedule where you could test your backups by using them to restore data and systems in a staging environment.

Cloud services offer convenient ways to store, access, and share data. Key concepts include the following.

In this backup model, data is stored on remote servers maintained by cloud service providers. The price of these services often depends on a variety of factors, such as the amount of storage needed for backups, the retention time of the backups, and the speed at which data will be transferred should a backup be utilized to restore a system. Keep in mind that some internet service providers may charge a fee for large amounts of data that traverse their network.

Cloud services offer granular control over who can access your data. An administrator can manage these controls using tools available from the cloud provider, typically via a web interface or a command line utility.

Storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive allow you to easily share files with others. Bear in mind that these services are not necessarily backup solutions, but instead are a means of providing access to files within an organization. When a user deletes a file, either intentionally or accidentally, depending on how the other users' client systems are configured they will likely have the same file deleted from their system. To restore a file that has been removed in this way, it may be necessary to contact the cloud service provider and ask them to restore the file. This might also incur an additional cost.

It is important to understand that cloud solutions are basically “somebody else’s computers.” With that in mind, the cloud storage provider should demonstrate a level of trust to the customer, considering that their systems will be storing copies of the client’s most important data. At the forefront of this trust are the following considerations.

Administrators should evaluate the security measures provided by the cloud service provider and use additional encryption if necessary.

Caution is also required when sharing data, to ensure that only authorized individuals have access. Keep a log of who accesses the backups as well as when the backups were accessed.

When dealing with offsite or cloud solutions for backups, keep the following in mind:

Cloud storage depends on an internet connection. Lack of connectivity may affect access to your data. As stated earlier, some internet service providers may charge a higher fee for extensive use of bandwidth. Also, bear in mind the security concerns that an internet connection entails.

Synchronization ensures that the data stored in your cloud backup matches the data on your local systems. It helps maintain data consistency by keeping the backup copy up-to-date with changes made to the source data. Without proper synchronization, you might have outdated or incomplete backups, which can be problematic during data recovery.