Manage Backup and Recovery for Windows Server
Organizations can protect against data loss by using the practice of backup and recovery. A backup creates a copy of data that can be recovered in the event of a failure. Recovery involves restoring lost or damaged data to the original location from a backup.
Azure provides several different tools and services for backup and recovery. I am going to discuss three of these:
■ Azure Backup: An Azure-b ased service that can back up and restore your data in the Microsoft cloud
■ Azure Backup Server: Allows you to protect application workloads such as Hyper-V VMs, Microsoft SQL Server, SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange, and Windows clients by using a single console
■ Azure Recovery Services Vault: A management entity that stores recovery points that are created over time and that provides an interface to perform backup- related functions
Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery use a centralized management interface, known as the Backup Center, to make it easier to create policies to protect, monitor, and manage enterprise workloads across hybrid and cloud networks. This will be discussed in greater detail later in this chapter.
I am going to start by discussing Azure Backup.
Azure Backup
Azure Backup is an Azure- based service that you can use to back up and restore your data in the Microsoft cloud. By isolating backup data from original data and using accidental delete protection and multifactor authentication, you can protect your data from deletion and ransomware. You can manage and monitor Azure Backup by using the Backup Center. Azure Backup can be used on a pay- as- you- go basis to protect your workloads deployed in Azure, multicloud, and hybrid cloud deployments.
There are a number of items that you can back up using Azure Backup:
Azure Blobs You can back up the overview of operational backup for Azure Blobs.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL Servers You can back up Azure PostgreSQL databases and retain the backups for up to 10 years.
Azure Files Shares You can back up the Azure File shares to a storage account.
Azure Managed Disks You can back up the Azure Managed Disks.
Azure VMs You can back up the entire Windows/Linux VMs (using backup extensions) or back up files, folders, and system state using the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent.
On- premises You can back up files, folders, and system state using the MARS agent. Or you can use the System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) or Microsoft Azure Backup Server (MABS) agent to protect on- premises VMs (Hyper-V and VMware) and other on- premises workloads.
SQL Server in Azure VMs You can back up the SQL Server databases running on Azure VMs.
Azure Backup Pricing
The size of the data you have backed up will determine the price. For VMs, the size calculation is based on the actual size of VM. This is the sum of all data in the VM, excluding temporary storage. When you back up files and folders, it’s the size of the configured files and folders. When you back up a SQL Server, the size of the configured databases determine the size. For more information about pricing, please go to Microsoft’s website at https:// azure.microsoft.com/en- us/pricing/details/backup.
Azure Backup Key Benefits
There are a number of benefits to working with Azure Backup:
Automatic Storage Management Hybrid environments often require heterogeneous storage— some on- premises and some in the cloud— but with Azure Backup, there is no charge for using on- premises storage devices. Azure Backup automatically allocates and manages backup storage, and it uses a pay- as- you- use model so that you pay only for the storage you use.
Backs Up Azure IaaS VMs Delivers independent and isolated backups to help protect against accidental deletion. The backups are stored in a Recovery Services Vault (which will be discussed in greater detail a bit later in this chapter).
Centralized Monitoring and Management Provides built- in monitoring and alerting capabilities in a Recovery Services vault. By using Azure Monitor, you can also increase the scale of your monitoring and reporting.
App- Consistent Backups Application- consistent backup means that a recovery point has all the needed data to restore the backup copy quickly.
Keeps Data Secure Provides solutions for securing data in transit and at rest.
Multiple Storage Options Offers three types of replication options in order to keep your storage/data highly available:
Geo- redundant Storage (GRS) The default and recommended replication option. GRS replicates your data to a secondary region, which is typically hundreds of miles away from the primary location of the source data. GRS provides a higher level of durability for your data, even if there’s a regional outage, and it costs more than LRS.
Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) Replicates your data by creating three copies and places them within a storage scale unit in a datacenter. All copies exist in the same region. LRS is a low- cost option for protecting your data from local hardware failures.
Zone- Redundant Storage (ZRS) Replicates your data in availability zones; guarantees data residency and resiliency in the same region. ZRS has no downtime.
Offload On- premises Backup Provides an easy solution for backing up your on- premises resources to the cloud. It is also scalable.
Retain Short and Long- Term Data Use Recovery Services Vaults for short-t erm and long- term data retention.
Unlimited Data Transfer There is no limit to the amount of inbound or outbound data you can transfer, and no charge for the data that’s transferred. Outbound data refers to data that is transferred from a Recovery Services Vault during a restore operation.
