http://vinfrastructure.it/en

Twitter: @Andrea_Mauro

Basic principles of backup policiesAndrea MaurovExpert and VCDX

About the speaker

17 years of experience in IT

Working for Assyrus Srl – Italy● Server, Storage, Networking, Security & Virtualization

Certifications and accreditations

Italian VMUG founder and board member

VMTN Community Moderator

Blogger http://virtual-infrastructure.it/

Agenda

What is a backup policy

Design a backup plan

What defines a backup policy

What is a backup policy

Where do backups go

How will backups be performed

What is a backup policy?

Amount of data

principle or rule to guide decisions and achieve results

procedure or protocol

Backup policy

set of rules to achieve the required backup goals

several aspects:

12

12 • technical

• non technical

Input of backup policies

Requirements● Recovery Point Objective

(RPO)● Recovery Time Objective

(RTO)

Constraints● Business needs● Budget● Max backup window● Technical aspects

Business Continuity Plan(BCP)

Risk analysis

Backupsolutions

and products

Procedures

Requirements/Constraints

Backup policies

Bac

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/Bu

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Co

nti

nu

ity

Pla

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Properties & parameters & dependencies

What Where How, How much, How often Several dependencies

Synthetic Backup Real Time Replication

Tape Backups Vaults ArchivalDisk Backups Staging Off-Host

Protection Methods Recovery Methods

Tape Restores

Bare Metal Recovery

Instant Recovery

Disk Restores

Search & Retrieve

Days MinsHrsWks Secs

Recovery Point

Mins DaysHrsSecs Wks

Recovery Time

Backup as a process

Analysis +

Selectionlist

Backuppolicies

Backupjob

Backupdata

What – Define the sources of the backup

Required protection level

Way to handle the backup tasks

Type of sources

Type of “transport” at source side● Full copy● Incremental transfer● Size of the sources

Files

Virtualmachines

Applications

Systems

Way to handle the backup tasks

Agent vs. Agent-less● Application level● VM level

Hot vs. Cold● Usually agent or specific API are needed for hot-backup

Push vs. Pull● Also other models

Data transfer options important

Type of sources

Files

Application data – Not a simple collection of files

Systems

Virtual Machines – It may include also system, files and applications backup

For details see specific lessons on Backup Academy Which level of consistency?

● Windows● Linux / Unix

● A system is not just a set of files● It may include also files and applications backup

Consistency and integrity

Different levels

Files● Open files dilemma● Windows provide VSS

Application data● Application that are VSS-aware● Application specific solutions

Systems● Problem with the system state

Virtual Machines● Specific hypervisor functions are recommended

For details see specific lessons on Backup Academy

Type of “transport” at source side

Full copy vs. incremental copy LAN based vs. LAN-free

Size of the sources

Amount of data

How data can be transferred from the source● Full copy vs. incremental● Using of compression and/or de-duplication at source side

Data transfer options important

Type of data How data changes Backup consistency

Where – Which kind of backup destination

Disk based● D2D● Logical disk or network shares

Tape based● D2T● Real or “Virtual” tape

Multi-level backup● D2D2T● Other levels

Cloud

D2D

Different type of solutions● DAS or SAN● NAS● Backup Appliance

− Most NAS (and sometime VTL) based

Pros of D2D● Great capacity: 1,5 TB (LTO5) vs. 2-3 TB (SATA disk)● Speed: disks IOPS could scale with RAID● Bigger scalability● Replication and disaster recovery● More flexible

D2T

Type of tape based solutions● Tape unit: DAS with SAS or SCSI cables● Autoloader: DAS or SAN● Tape library: SAN● Virtual Tape Library (VTL): an appliance (hardware or software)

that can be used as an autoloader or tape library but it works usually with disk instead of tapes

Pros of D2T● Speed: throughput of 140MBps for LTO5● Removable support with long life?

VTL

A tape that is a disk

● Can be used as an autoloader or tape library but it works usuallywith disk instead of tapes

Implementation

● Gateway appliance● Implemented in D2D appliances● But could also implemented with software based products

− Virtual appliance

Pros of VTL

● Migration from D2T to D2D● Could be used to scale a D2T solution● Could export to physical tape● Backup over SAN

How – Save to sources to the destinations

Multi-tier (hierarchy backup)● how data are distributed using different type of destinations

Destination “format”:● how data are saved in which format● with which kind of relations with previous data

(full, incremental, differential, de-duplicated, …)

Backup frequency● how often are performed the backup jobs

Backup retention● how old data are removed from the destination● how much data must remain

Multi-tier backup strategies

More techniques, levels or hierarchy organization

D2DT

Storage Snapshots as a first level● But not a true backup!

Offline media

Replication as an additional level of protection

Destination “format”

Format of the backup data depends on the backup program

Common way to store the data● Full● Differential (Cumulative)● Incremental● Reverse incremental● Synthetic

Other aspects● Compression● De-duplication● Encryption

Backup frequency

How much● Job scheduling

Defined by● RPO and business requirements

Different schedules for different format

Backup retention

How much data must be stored?

Depends on● Source type and its size

● Frequency− more backup could mean more data that could limit the retention)

● “Format” type− by using deduplication or incremental backup and/or compression

we can reduce the amount of backup and increase the retention

● Destination type− that could define the amount of data that could be stored)

● Required Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Reclaim of expired data

Retention on D2D and D2T

D2D● Incremental model● Retention vs. Space

− More disks− Compression and/or deduplication

● Reclaim mean usually delete old files

D2T● Full/differential/incremental models● Retention vs. Space

− Using off-line tapes

● Reclaim with media rotation policies

Media rotation policy

Round Robin (FIFO) Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) Tower Of Hanoi More info on

● http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backup_rotation_scheme● http://www.computer-repair.com/Backup.htm

What we covered

What is a backup policy

What make a backup policy● What● Where● How

Why is important● To design a backup solution

− Consider the backup as an entire IT process

● Could be used as a documentation of the backup procedures and jobs

● Could be part of a BCP● High level policy can be adapted to different type of backup products

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