“Backup Types” is our eight point. This is more of a caution about understanding what your backup solution can do and the impact it can have on you. Once again, this is important in order to meet any Recovery Time Objective (RTO), Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Service Level (RSL) requirements you may have defined. Disclaimer: Take these as basic starting templates and get local legal advice, as local jurisdictions may require specific changes.

December 14, 2012

3 Min Read
Top 10 Things You Want in Your Backup Contract (Part 8)

By Zenith Infotech 1

“Backup Types” is our eighth point, and this is more of a caution about understanding what your backup solution can do and the impact it can have on you. Once again, this is important to meet any recovery time objective (RTO), recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery service level (RSL) requirements you may have defined.

Disclaimer: Take these as basic starting templates and get local legal advice, as local jurisdictions may require specific changes.

Native OS vs. Virtual Machine (VM): If your backup solution only operates at the guest level of a hypervisor, you must be sure to define that you are only restoring the guests themselves and not the core virtual operating system.

File vs. Block: File-based backups and block-level backups each have their own unique issues:

File backup concerns:

  • Accidental Exclusion of Data: Many file-based systems are only allowed to back up files based on the backup agent’s administration rights. If someone changes those rights (the overzealous security administrator), it could change what you are backing up instantly.

  • Deliberate Exclusion of Data: This can be much trickier. If you get into situations where you become severely limited by what the local administrator allows you to back up, you should define a schedule that lists either the directories you are allowed to back up or the directories and files that are excluded. If the administrator says you cannot back up the CEO’s data and he will handle it himself, make sure you have that defined.

  • Locked Files: If you are expecting files to be open and available during your backup window, you should have a clause that excuses you if the files are locked and your backup solution cannot access them to back them up.


Block-level backup concerns:

  • Deliberate Exclusion of Volumes: This is just like the file backup concern; however, this can be covered by defining the volumes you DO back up (greatly preferred over listing what you DON’T back up).

  • Throughput: Allow yourself a clause that notes that if the server cannot sustain the required throughput to meet the RPO of the server, you are not responsible for meeting the RPO.  

VSS-Compliant vs Crash-Consistent: You need to define when you will take VSS-compliant backups for each and every server. Most block-level backups offer what is called a “crash consistent” backup state. That means that your standard backups (usually the 15-minute ones) are in a state that would be similar to the state of the data if the client were to pull power from the server at any given moment. This really gets at the heart of data integrity. Data integrity should be defined so that any and all processes that need the data to be in a verified state must support VSS compliance.

Local Copy Option: If your backup solution is appliance-based (basically holding all of your backup history) and it allows a local copy (USB or NAS) of the backup image, I would suggest that you protect yourself by enforcing the use of that option to have a “second” copy of their entire history that is not dependent upon the appliance.

Bottom Line: Know the strengths and weaknesses of your solution, and keep those in mind for your contracts. Next week, we will talk about the length of history you maintain.

If you are interested in finding more about Zenith’s TigerCloud with built-in business continuity, click HERE.

Rich Reiffer

Rich Reiffer is VP of Cloud Practice at Zenith Infotech. Rich has been in the business of technology since the dark ages starting with Burroughs Corp., spending time with Steve Jobs (NeXT) and Ray Noorda (Novell). Rich has been in the VAR channel since the mid 80's with companies like Inacomp and Businessland finally forming his own company, Trivalent, in 1991. After 20 years of building data centers, etc. Rich has come on board with Zenith to head up the Cloud group. Monthly guest blogs such as this one are part of Talkin' Cloud's annual platinum sponsorship.

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