Those of you that have worked with me will know my feeling about data backups – they are one of the less interesting aspects of IT, but also one of the most important. It is all too easy to run the scheduled backup job and assume you have a secure copy of your data. However, unless you regularly check the backups and test restores and recovery scenarios, you cannot be sure you really have the data you need.

With the adoption of cloud-based hosting services, it is all-too easy to assume that your service provider is backing-up your systems.

Surely my Cloud service provider backs-up my data?

Most Cloud service providers backup their systems and your data. However, there are some providers who don’t perform any backups or test their integrity – thankfully these are in the minority now. Even if a Cloud service provider performs backups, they may not be available for you to access.

As an extreme example, suppose that Microsoft’s Hotmail service suffered a huge failure. You would expect Microsoft to recover it back to a specific point in time. However, suppose that you accidentally deleted all of your inbox – could you call Microsoft and ask them to restore it for you?

The purpose of this illustration is to show that although providers perform backups, it is likely to be for their own use. If you need to access a backup of your data, you need to separately provision for it.

Different types of Cloud service providers have different approaches to backups:

Cloud service type	Backup service provided
Budget or free services	Often there is no backup of your data taken
Commodity services	Backups taken but you cannot access them
Premium services	Fixed/tailored backup service available

Why might you need to access a backup of your system?

Here are some example scenarios:

You make a change to your system that causes an issue and you need to roll-back the change.
A System Administrator accidentally deletes a program or data.
Malicious code such as a virus of a Trojan infects your system and causes damage.
A legal or regulatory investigation requires you to recover deleted data or recover your data to a historical position in time.

Some hosting providers will try and tell you that you don’t need backups because your data is replicated to another site. This isn’t a backup! It will provide continuity if the live site fails, but if you accidentally delete data, the ‘accident’ will be replicated to the other site before you can catch it.

What options do you have?

Perform backups yourself

Backup your own Cloud data

If the Cloud service is a utility ‘clickwrap’ service which is low cost of even free, you will have little flexibility with backup options. The provider will perform backups for their own use, but you are unlikely to be able to access these.

The easiest way is to perform regular backups yourself. Using something as basic as a secure FTP tool, will allow you to take copies from the provider to your own local storage.

For : For a low cost or free Cloud service, the quickest and easiest method of backing-up your data.
For : You get peace of mind in having your data on your hardware.
Against : Data volumes may prohibit this option for corporate use.
Against : You need infrastructure on your site to securely store the data.
Against : Depending on your data volumes, this option may require a large amount of Internet bandwidth.
Against : Having chosen to host your data in a Cloud, it could be seen as an unusual step to backup your data on your own infrastructure.

Backup provided by your Cloud service provider

As Cloud services mature, they are starting to offer backups as part of the service. It is worthwhile looking at this option as it may offer the least hassle.

Be careful to ensure that the service provider doesn’t host your Cloud service and backups on the same infrastructure, otherwise a fault with it could result in no service and no backup. See this article for suggested due-diligence questions.

For : This may be the easiest option, as all the services are from on supplier.
Against : If the supplier charges by storage capacity, the data volumes and your chosen backup retention could make this an expensive option.
Against : All your data is held with one provider. There is a potential risk of your provider having a problem, going out of business or deciding they don’t want to host you anymore (yes, this does happen).

Backup provided by another Cloud service provider

This option is well worth considering. You have probably chosen your primary Cloud service provider for their hosting capabilities. If their backup solution doesn’t match your requirements, use a Cloud services provider who specialises in backup services.

Read this article for more information about Cloud backup services.

For : Your data is stored with an alternative provider. This mitigates against the risk of your primary Cloud services provider having a problem, going out of business or deciding they don’t want to host you anymore.
Against : If the supplier charges by storage capacity, the data volumes and your chosen backup retention could make this an expensive option.

What next?

It’s your data and only you and your organisation know how important your data is and the level of backup required. It’s a question of assessing the risk and putting in place suitable preventative measures.

It is all too easy to forget about securing your data when it is hosted elsewhere. Unless backups are tested, you will never know if they are working until you urgently need to use them after an incident.

Backups are a very important insurance – make sure you are properly covered!

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