Standard and Enhanced backup policy & storage redundancy in Backup Vault in Azure
In Azure Backup, the Standard and Enhanced backup policies are two different types of backup policies that offer varying levels of flexibility and granularity in defining backup schedules and retention rules. Here’s a detailed explanation of each:
- Standard Backup Policy:
The Standard backup policy is a simple and straightforward option for setting up backup schedules and retention rules. It provides basic capabilities to configure the frequency of backups and the retention period for recovery points.
— Key aspects:
- Backup Schedule: With the Standard policy, you can set a daily backup schedule and specify the time of day when the backups should occur. You have the option to choose a specific time or a range of hours during which backups can be scheduled.
- Retention Range: The Standard policy allows you to define the duration for which backups are retained. You can specify the number of days to retain daily backups within the retention range.
The Standard policy is suitable for simple backup requirements where a fixed daily backup schedule and retention period are sufficient.
- Enhanced Backup Policy:
The Enhanced backup policy provides more granular control over backup schedules and retention rules. It offers advanced features for customizing backup frequencies, specifying retention periods for different backup types, and configuring long-term retention.
— Key aspects:
- Backup Schedule: With the Enhanced policy, you can define custom backup schedules tailored to your specific needs. You have the flexibility to set daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly backup frequencies. You can also set a specific time or range of hours for each backup frequency.
- Retention Range: The Enhanced policy allows you to define separate retention periods for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly backups. This enables you to retain backups for different durations based on your recovery point objectives (RPOs) and compliance requirements.
The Enhanced policy offers more flexibility and control in defining backup schedules and retention rules, making it suitable for complex backup scenarios and organizations with specific compliance or data retention requirements.
It’s important to assess your backup needs and determine which policy best aligns with your business requirements. The Enhanced policy provides more customization options, but the Standard policy may be sufficient for simpler backup requirements.
Retention Rule in Azure backup policy
Retention rules in an Azure Backup policy determine how long backup data is retained and available for recovery. A retention rule defines the duration for which backups are kept and when they are eligible for deletion based on a specified retention period.
In Azure Backup, a backup policy is a configuration that defines the schedule, retention, and other settings for backups. Within a backup policy, you can define one or more retention rules to control the retention period for different types of backups.
Backup storage redundancy in a backup vault in Azure
Backup storage redundancy in Azure Backup Vault refers to the replication and storage of backup data across multiple geographic locations for increased data durability and availability. It ensures that your backup data is protected against failures or disasters in a single location.
Azure Backup Vault offers three types of redundancy for backup storage:
- Geographical
- Zone
- Local
By leveraging backup storage redundancy in Azure Backup Vault, you can ensure that your backup data remains highly available and durable. It provides an extra layer of protection against data loss and enables quick recovery in the event of a failure or disaster, ensuring business continuity and peace of mind.
Backup Costs:
Billing doesn’t start until the first successful backup finishes. Billing continues as long as any backup data for the VM is stored in a vault. If you stop protection for a VM, but backup data for the VM exists in a vault, billing continues.
Billing for a specified VM stops only if the protection is stopped and all backup data is deleted. When protection stops and there are no active backup jobs, the size of the last successful VM backup becomes the protected instance size used for the monthly bill.
