Principles and frequency of backups to the cloud

From losing information will save only one thing: backup. Alas, no other effective method has yet been devised. It is important not just to make a backup, but to make it right. In this article, we will look at recommendations for creating and storing backup copies. Ideally, combine several ways, for example, the cloud and NAS for companies and the cloud and external hard drive for individual users. The advantage of a local backup is that you don't need the Internet to access it. The advantage of the cloud is that your backup will not suffer in case of a natural disaster and it will not be able to be stolen during a robbery of the office.

Backup Periodicity

It all depends on how often the processed data is changed. For example, it is advisable to copy the BAS database, the database of the online store once a day.

Here you need to stick to the golden mean. Too often, backups are expensive. After all, precious system resources are being spent on creating a backup, not to mention disk space for its storage.

At intervals, we decided, but how long do you need to keep backup copies? There is a temptation to remove the previous backup, freeing up space to create a new version. But do not do this: you risk losing earlier, but correct data, and instead write data with logical errors. Such errors are not always found.

The following tips will reduce the amount of backup disk space:

• Where possible, use incremental backups. With a full backup, all files are copied, with an incremental backup, only those that have changed. This type of backup is available only for files, a full copy is usually created for the database, since creating an incremental copy of the database is expensive for system resources, and it will also greatly complicate the data recovery process.

• Use compression. Yes, sometimes they forget to turn it on. If you can set the level of compression, select the maximum.

• Set an individual schedule for different data types. For example, on weekends the company does not work, but the online store continues to take orders.

• Sometimes it is advisable not to make a backup copy, but to snapshot a virtual server snapshot, allowing you to return the server to its previous state in minutes. It is advisable to do snapshots before making significant changes to the server configuration. Snapshots may not save money, but they will save time if something goes wrong, then the recovery time from snapshot is significantly less than the recovery time from the traditional backup.