Monday, August 6, 2012

Backup Essentials Part Two

For part two of this series we will begin the planning phase. In this phase we'll take an inventory, categorize our data, decide backup types, figure out our backup window, and figure out storage requirements. For this example we will use a small test environment representing the size of a 10 employee company as mentioned in the introduction.

First we'll knock out the inventory. The test infrastructure has a mix of desktops, servers, and remote laptops. I've gone ahead and included a list of these below:

6 desktops of a similar configuration (general user machines)
1 SQL Server (HR)
1 Exchange Server
1 Web server
1 Domain Controller
3 Remote laptops

Having this list we will now need to set priorities. To do this we need to break down an analyze what this business would need to operate, and what it has that merely makes it operate better/more efficiently. While simple, the prioritization below will help us in making decisions on backup types as well as scheduling and storage.

Need to operate:
Domain Controller
Exchange Server
SQL Server
Web Server

Makes business more effective:
Desktops
Remote laptops

Next we need to discuss what backup types are available to us. In general the various backup solutions will give you the ability to do file level backups, service/application backups, and image level backups. In general the decision of which level to use with which machine depends on what expectation of recovery time you have, the location of the machines, and what the machine is being used for. In our case the desktops, and the remote laptops will require a file level backup. The servers will all require an image level backup, a file level backup, and a service level backup.

After deciding what backup types we're using we also need to decide how this fits into our disaster recovery strategy. Do we need any of this data to be backed up to an offsite location? In our scenario it seems clear that the SQL Server,Exchange Server, Domain Controller, and Web Server all need to be backed up to a remote location. These services should be able to be brought backup at a remote office or home office in the event that the main office is brought down by a disaster of some sort for any extended period of time.

The last two factors to consider are scheduling and storage. For scheduling you have to figure out what your organization's 'production' hours are. This will allow you to create a backup window that will exist to minimize the impact your backup jobs have on the ability of  users to operate. For example if the office is open from 8am-5pm then an effective backup window might be from 7pm-6am. This will give a 2 hour buffer both on the beginning and ending side of the window in case someone stays late, or a backup job runs too long. A lot of the decision is going to be unique to your organization and its needs. Storage is also going to be a bit unique as the requirements are going to be different from backup solution to backup solution. Depending on if you choose to go with an appliance, or software you may or may not have to purchase your own hardware. To fully implement a backup and recovery policy however you are going to want to arrange for some sort of storage system on site at your office, as well as another one at some off site location be it an off site data center, or even someone's home office.

That about covers are basic planning stage. The next article will cover what we need to consider in order to pick and implement a solution. There may even be pictures in that one (screenshots).

No comments:

Post a Comment