In this lesson,
we're going to cover data backups.
When it comes to data,
our golden rule is to never put all of our eggs
in one basket.
And so in terms of data,
we should never keep all of our data
on a single device or server,
otherwise it could be lost due to an accidental deletion
or the system failing prematurely.
To prevent our data from being inadvertently lost,
it's always considered to be a best practice
to maintain backups of your data.
And in the case of extremely important data,
you should actually create multiple backup copies
of that data too.
So what exactly is a data backup?
Well, a data backup
is the process of creating duplicate copies
of digital information
to protect it against data loss, corruption,
or unavailability.
So in this lesson,
we're going to cover both onsite and offsite backups,
the recommended frequency
that should be used for your backups,
the use of encryptioning your backups,
the concept of a snapshot
and how it's different from a regular backup,
how data recovery is going to be performed,
how replication occurs,
and how journaling can be used
as a form of data backup too.
First, let's talk about onsite and offsite backups.
An onsite or offsite backup refers to a backup of your data
where it's physically going to be stored in some place.
Now, if you utilize onsite storage to hold your backups,
this means your data will be physically located
within your own data center or office environment.
For example, if you conduct a full backup
of your laptop to an external hard drive,
and then place that external hard drive
in the drawer of your desk in your office,
this would be considered an onsite backup
of your laptop's data.
While having an onsite backup can be really convenient
and it works well if you need to quickly restore some
of those files that were accidentally deleted
from your system,
it is important to remember
that your backed up data might be vulnerable to destruction
in the case of an environmental outage or disaster though
if it's onsite.
For example, if your office building
and its equipment was destroyed due to a fire or a flood,
your backups will also be destroyed
because they were sitting in your desk at that facility,
and they were being kept as an onsite backup.
So to overcome this risk,
we want to utilize offsite backups too.
Now, an offsite backup refers to the practice
of storing duplicate copies of data
at geographically separate locations
from the primary data source
in order to provide you with protections
against physical disasters
and to ensure your data continuity.
Often, these offsite backups
are created using cloud-based servers,
so the data is simply backed up to remote server
over the Internet.
Or you can create a physical backup
of the data using backup tapes or external hard drives,
and then move those things physically
by shipping them to a remote facility for storage.
For example, I used to work as the Director
of a Network Theater Security Operations Center
for the US government during a time of war.
Now, our network's data center was located
within striking distance of our enemy's missiles.
And therefore, we provided both onsite and offsite backups.
Each day, we conducted a nightly onsite backup
of all of our data to removable tapes.
Then, once a week, we actually ship copies of those tapes
to another facility
that was located about a thousand miles away
that was outside of the range of those missiles.
That way, if our facility did come under attack,
all of our data would still be available for restoration
at another data center using those offsite backups.
Now, this was all back in the days
before cloud computing and super fast Internet connections.
So these days, instead, we wouldn't ship those tapes off,
and instead we would simply create a high-speed connection
between the two locations
and perform our offsite backups over the Internet
instead of having to physically ship all those backup tapes
to the remote site each and every week.
Now, the second thing we need to talk about
is the frequency of our backups that we need to consider.
When it comes to determining
how often you need to conduct a backup,
you need to ask yourself one simple question,
how much data am I willing to lose?
Now, if you're willing to lose a week's worth of data
or a day's worth or an hour's worth,
that's going to dictate your backup plans
and the architecture you need to build out
to support your backup strategy.
As you build out your backup strategy,
it's important that you consider your organization's RPO,
or recovery point objective.
This will ensure that your backup plan will be able
to maintain the amount of data required
to make sure any data loss
is staying underneath your organization's RPO threshold.
So if your organization is willing
to only accept an hour of data being lost,
then you need to ensure you're conducting backups
at least one time per hour.
If instead, you could lose up to two days worth of data,
you could run your backups every day
or every evening instead.
And that would be totally fine
because you're still underneath the two-day threshold set
as the RPO threshold for your organization.
Now, another consideration is
how frequently your data is going to be changed
inside of your business.
If you change the data every day,
then daily backups may be just fine.
On the other hand, if you're changing
a large amount of data every hour,
then hourly backups
or backups occurring every 30 to 45 minutes
might be more appropriate for your organization.
The key here is to balance your organization's need
for the up-to-date backups
with the amount of resources,
including things like time,
storage space, bandwidth, and cost
that you're willing to assign
to the task of performing all of these backups.
Third, we need to discuss the use of encryption
with your backups.
Now, encryption is a fundamental safeguard
that will help protect your backup data
from unauthorized access and potential data breaches.
By encrypting your backup files,
you can ensure that even if your backup media
or files do fall into the wrong hands,
the data on them will remain unintelligible
without the proper decryption key.
Now, this ensures your sensitive information
remains confidential and safe from prying eyes.
Now, your backups should also use
both data-at-rest encryption
and data-in transit encryption.
Data-at-rest encryption is going to be used
to encrypt the data as it's written to the storage device.
Data-in-transit encryption, on the other hand,
is going to be used to protect the data
during its transmission to or from the backup destination
in order to maintain the confidentiality
and integrity of your backups
while they're moving across your network
or across your system's internal data bus.
Fourth, let's explore how snapshots are going to be used
as a form of data backup.
Now, snapshots are point-in-time copies of your data
that captures a consistent state
that's going to be essentially a frozen in time copy
of your data.
Unlike traditional backups
that involve copying all of your data
at a specific moment,
snapshots are much more efficient
because they're only going to record the changes made
since the previous snapshot.
This efficiency not only reduces your storage requirements,
but it also allows for a quicker backup process
and more frequent capture of any data changes.
Snapshots are particularly valuable for systems
where data consistency is considered to be critical,
such as the inside of databases or file servers,
because this will enable you to restore your data
to a specific point in time
to effectively roll back to a known good state
in case of any kind of data corruption,
accidental deletions, or other issues
that might have occurred.
Fifth, we need to consider
how data recovery is going to be performed.
Recovery is the ultimate goal of any backup strategy
that's used within our organization
because recovery is used to regain access to your data
in the event of a data loss or a system failure.
A well-defined and thoroughly tested recovery plan
is essential for ensuring a swift and effective response
to any unexpected data incidents.
There are several key steps in the data recovery process,
including the selection of the right backup,
initiating the recovery process,
data validation, testing and validation,
documentation and reporting, and notification.
Now, depending on the nature of the data loss or issue,
you must first identify the appropriate backup copy
to restore from.
This selection may involve choosing from a snapshot,
an offsite backup, or another copy onsite
based on the specific circumstances of your organization.
Then once the appropriate backup copy is chosen,
the recovery process will be begun
by accessing the backup storage location
and initiating the restoration of that data.
After that, the data must be validated
to verify the integrity
and consistency of the restored data.
This validation will ensure
that the recovered data matches the expected state
and hasn't been corrupted during the restoration process.
In addition to data validation,
testing the entire recovery process is also essential.
By regularly testing your recovery procedures,
you can help to identify any potential issues or bottlenecks
that may arise during a real recovery scenario.
Next, you must perform documentation and reporting
by keeping detailed records of the recovery process
for post-incident analysis and compliance purposes.
Documenting the steps taken,
the time required for recovery,
and any challenges encountered can provide valuable insights
for refining your backup and recovery strategy.
Finally, depending on the nature of the incident,
it may be necessary to notify relevant stakeholders,
such as information technology teams, management,
or your end users about the data loss
and the progress of your recovery efforts.
Now, ensuring that you can effectively recover your systems
using data backups is also really essential,
because otherwise, your backups are going to be useless
if you're not able to recover the data from them
when a disaster actually occurs.
This is why practicing your data recovery
at least once per month
is considered to be a best practice
in the world of cybersecurity and information technology.
Sixth, we have replication.
Now, replication involves making real-time
or near real-time copies of your data.
Unlike backups which are periodic in nature,
replication will keep your data stored
in two places simultaneously.
If one server crashes,
the other will be able to continue without interruption.
A replication approach is a really good idea
when you're architecting a high availability environment
or for those who cannot afford any downtime
or interruptions to their systems or their data.
One of the primary benefits
of using replication though lies in its ability
to provide seamless data continuity.
So keep that in mind too.
Seventh, we have journaling.
Now, journaling, also known as change tracking
or logging, will involve maintaining a meticulous record
of every change made to an organization's data over time.
This comprehensive journal or log will serve
as a historical account of the data modifications
and will offer valuable insights
to be able to enable the precise data recovery
to a specific point in time if a disaster strikes.
Journaling is really beneficial in scenarios
which require a more granular data recovery capability,
such as during a legal proceeding
or a compliance audit.
With a well-maintained journal,
you're going to be able to track
and roll back individual changes to ensure
that data integrity and compliance is being maintained
within the applicable regulatory standards.
Journaling is a particularly valuable thing to use
inside of your databases
and for critical systems
because it allows an organization
to maintain a detailed audit trail
of all of your data modifications and alterations.
Journaling can be implemented effectively
if you maintain a strong attention to detail,
including selecting the appropriate
data tracking granularity,
managing the journal size and retention policies,
ensuring its security to prevent any kind of tampering.
By embracing journaling as part
of your data management strategy,
you not only enhance data recoverability,
but you also reinforce the accountability
and transparency in your data handling practices.
So remember, data backups aren't just
about copying your organization's data,
but they're also focused instead
on creating a robust, multi-layered strategy
to combat any potential data loss.
Data backup plans are created by mixing
and matching different techniques,
including onsite and offsite storage,
setting the right frequency,
encrypting your sensitive data, using snapshots,
planning and recovery,
and maybe even incorporating replication and journaling
into your organization's backup strategy.
By understanding and implementing these concepts,
you're not just backing up data,
but you're also securing your business's continuity
and integrity well into the future.
After all, in today's modern digital environments,
there is nothing more valuable
than your organization's data.