The Backup Process - Essay Example

Data Backup Plan Names Institution Affiliation Introduction Every organization, no matter the size, uses data for their day to day operations. It is important for organizations to ensure that their data is safe from any harm. This can be achieved by having a data back up either locally or on “cloud”. Data backup is the process of ensuring that an organization has a copy of their data in case the original data is harmed. For example, by fire, floods among others. Data backup can be done locally by keeping a copy of files on a different drive, for example, CD, tapes, Flash disk among others. The other way to keep a backup is by the use of a software as a service (SAAS). SAAS can be defined as a software model where applications are hosted by a service provider and a user can access them through the internet. This is a new technology and it is gaining popularity among business. This approach has some benefits associated with it. For example, unlike in the past where companies had to maintain their IT infrastructure, SAAS gives them an alternative whereby they can just plug in and subscribe to the same services over the internet. Another benefit is that it is available from anywhere, anytime from any machine. There is a low cost associated with SAAS this is because the company does not need initial cost to build the IT infrastructure and there is no maintenance cost. Some examples of SAAS are google docs, salesforce among others. Google docs as a SAAS is my choice for this project. Google docs are the largest online document archive cloud platform in the world. There are some benefits associated with google docs. The main benefit is online availability that is, one can work with it from anywhere and easily provided there is an internet connection. Secondly, it supports different file formats. For example, documents, spreadsheets, drawings, presentations and web forms. Thirdly, it makes it easier for corporate communication this is because communication is real time and there is efficient file sharing among the workers. Fourthly, you can edit all your documents online and save them all from a browser. These benefits are making google docs more popular and become the preferred mode of online data storage for many people. Google has over one million servers and several hundreds of millions of customers, Google handles a large amount of data which can make the backup process complicated. Google doesn’t have a defined backup system. It uses the failover strategy whereby once one saves a document on Google docs, it makes copies of the same on two different servers, which are located on two different Datacenters. This covers the whole backup and recovery needs for Google. The RTO for Google is basically zero. It uses instant failover for recovery (Preston & Skelly, 2002). There is no documentation on how google performs their backup process but this is how it can be performed. The backup process has many different ways of execution. You can do an on-site backup or do an off-site backup. In this case, I will use the off-site backup plan. First, I will have to ensure I have a first-level backup which will be located on-site. For an off-site backup, we will need to create a VPN for security purposes. A Virtual Private Network uses the virtual tunneling protocols that ensure the security of data being transmitted via the VPN. The Network attached storage will be located off-site where it will be accessed via the VPN. After that, we will have to decide on the software to use for the actual backup.  We can use third-party softwares like idrive, carbonite or backblaze. Alternatively, we can use the windows backup feature. In my case, I will prefer the windows server backup feature. The central server which will serve as a first level backup option on-site is where all the clients’ machines will be backing up their data from. This will ensure that there will be two copies of the data on-site. One on the client machine, and one on the server. Then I will need to install power backups in the location where the Network Attached Storage (NAS) will be, this will ensure that the offline device will always be online (Woods, 2005). Figue 1 File Precautions For the file precautions first I need to determine the type of files I will backup, the size of the files and the attributes of the files. This will ensure that I don’t back up a lot of junk files or corrupt files. Then I have to identify the service provider for the Antivirus to use. In my case, I will use the Eset Smart Security. This will be installed all the client machines and on the Backup server. This will ensure the security of the data on-site before backing it up off-site. I will then schedule a daily virus scan on all the machines. I will also schedule a support visit by the vendors once every month to counter check the security measures I have put in place and for updates when necessary. I will also have to schedule separate backups of the databases before backing them up on the server. Backing the databases up on the host server before transferring them to the backup server will help me figure out whether the databases are corrupt or whether their structure has changed or been interfered with. (Steps, 2014) Backup After all the above preparations, now the actual backup happens. First, I have to ensure that all the client machines are backing up their data in the backup server daily. This should be incremental and not overwriting, so as to ensure minimal loss of data during the process. This will also ensure that all the data are up to date. I also have to create a separate location to backup all the databases. After the daily files backup, I have to ensure a monthly full machine backup is done on all the machines. The backup server will be stored in the server room which is in a different facility from the client workstations. One very important thing after this is data encryption. All the backed up data has to be encrypted and only the administrator or any other authorized party can have the decryption key. This will act as the first level security to ensure that the data cannot be interfered with by anyone within the organization before being sent off-site. The decryption key must be readily available when needed so as to be able to access the data when the need arises.    From here now I have to create the Virtual Private Network (VPN). The VPN will link the backup server with the Network Attached Storage. To ensure maximum security of data, I have to apply tunneling protocols while creating the VPN. In my case, I will use the Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) protocol. This usually provides a private and secure path where packets can be transported over a public network. It does this by encapsulating the packets which are then transported via the VPN and are de-encapsulated once they get to their destination which in our case is the Network Attached Storage. The reason why I selected to use the GRE protocol is because of the safety measures it insures. Once the data packet is received, it is sent to the tunnel interface, which in turn encapsulates it in a GRE packet. The system in turn encapsulates the GRE packet into an IP packet. This ensures maximum security for the data packet over a public network because it cannot be tapped or intercepted. Google’s approach to this is a bit different though because they don’t use LAN’s and VPN’s but uses the username and password authentication mode to give access to their users (Steinberg & Speed, 2005). Figure 2: (Cisco system 2005)     Our second level storage media will be the Network Attached Storage. This will be located off-site to address the risk of having the both primary and first level storage getting corrupted. In this case, Google has addressed that by ensuring that once a user saves a document in Google Docs, it is replicated into two similar files in two other different servers, in two different datacenters which are located in two different locations (Oltsik, 2015). At this point I have to ensure my bandwidth is sufficient enough to be able to handle all the data. I also have to liaise with my Internet Service Provider for the same and to ensure that no downtime is encountered during the backup hours I have set. The location of the Network Attached storage must be secure and have a power backup to ensure it will remain online all through. The backup plan will be to perform a backup every day from the Backup Server on-site to the network Attached Storage off-site via the VPN. This will be achieved successfully by ensuring this happens during the hours that the network resources are not in use.    After that, I also have to schedule the monthly full backups of the most important machines in the organization for example, the database servers, mail servers and the backup server itself. I also have to enforce the security of both the backup server and the Network Attached Storage itself to prevent unauthorized access to individuals both outside and inside the organization. Unauthorized access could compromise the security and the credibility of the data, hence the need for the restriction. In case of any software upgrade, a copy or a screenshot of the server must be backed up both locally and off-site to ensure that you have something to fall back to in case the upgrade backfires. This can also be done on the Network Attached Storage it self or any other relevant system as the administrator deems fit (Preston, 2007). Figure 3: [Sil04] Documenting Once the backup process is complete, the final step is to document every single detail including the operations and the recovery procedures.    First, you must document how to recover a single file. This is important in the case that a user has one of their files corrupt or distorted and wants to get a copy from the server. This process must also be simple and easy to use.   Next, you must document how to recover a batch or a complete set of files. This can at times be tricky because of the volumes and the size involved. It can take, long or be very slow at times, especially if your internet speeds are down.    Then you must also document how to recover the operating environment. By the operating environment I mean the whole system backup or the snapshots of the systems that you had backed up (Henderson, 2010). This at times can also take time and be slow depending on the size you are trying to recover. Another very important aspect for backups is archiving. You can plan to archive your data every two or three years to create a memory space on both the backup server and the Network attached storage. You can look for a service provider for the same or have a separate storage for archived data. This data needs also to be easily accessible when required. Once all this is done, another important factor before the actual backup is the testing and rehearsal of the same. This is to ensure that the backup process is completed successfully. The recovery process also needs to be tested as well as the security of the process (Rinzler, 2009). Testing Flowchart The diagram below the flowchart used in testing Conclusion In conclusion, the backup process is considered successful if all the data can be backed up automatically, can be restored automatically when required, and is secure from any interference or data loss. Most important is for the data maintain its integrity, quality and accuracy. The data should also be checked on a regular basis to ensure it maintains the three qualities i.e. integrity, quality and accuracy. The documentation of the process is also important to ensure that the process is easily understandable and executable by another party. The VPN must also be monitored regularly to reduce any risks of the security being compromised. Any third party who might deal with the data directly for example the Anti-Virus Vendors, ISP’s must be given proper documented authorization before handling the data directly. There is no well documented information on how google docs, carry out their backup plan. Reference Henderson, M. (2010) How do large companies backup their data?. Available at: http://serverfault.com/questions/203226/how-do-large-companies-backup-their-data (Accessed: 17 May 2015) Oltsik, J., Nuggets, N., Security Snippets By Jon Oltsik Follow About, has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Week, B. and Times, the N. Y. (2015) Google Network Security Sans Perimeter. Available at: http://www.networkworld.com/article/2922061/cisco-subnet/google-network-security-sans-perimeter.html (Accessed: 17 May 2015) Preston, W. C. & Skelly, H., 2002. Backups and recovery. 2002 ed. Berkeley, Calif: USENIX. Preston, W. C., 2007. Backup and recovery. 2007 ed. Sebastopol, CA : O'Reilly. Rinzler, B., 2009. Telling stories : a short path to writing better software requirements. 2009 ed. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Pub. Steinberg, J. & Speed, T., 2005. SSL VPN : understanding, evaluating, and planning secure, Web-based remote access. 2005 ed. Birmingham, UK: Packt Publishing. Steps, S. V., 2014. Backup in Windows 8. s.l.:Visual Steps Publishing 2014.. Woods, S., 2005. The backup plan. 2005 ed. Don Mills, Ont: Mira. Read More