Key Points
- Defining server backups: A server backup is the process of copying critical data, applications, configurations, or system images from your organization’s servers to safeguard them in case of data loss or system failure.
- Importance of server backups: Regular backups help prevent data loss during natural disasters, prolonged power outages, or cyberattacks. Organizations can use backups to quickly restore critical data, minimizing operational disruptions.
- How server backups work: Server backups can use full, image-based, file-level, or incremental backup methods. Incremental backups capture only data changes, which can reduce backup time, bandwidth use, and storage requirements.
- Server backup storage solutions: Organizations can choose among local, cloud, and hybrid storage backup solutions. Each solution presents its own strengths and risks. Consider your needs when choosing among the three solutions.
- Creating a server backup strategy: When deciding on your server backup strategy, consider your recovery requirements, and always incorporate automation, monitoring, and testing to cover your bases.
Server backups are the process of duplicating critical business and network data stored on a company’s servers. These copies are then stored in a separate storage location or system so they can be accessed even if the original data is lost, compromised, or corrupted. This makes server backups a key part of a solid data backup and recovery plan.
In this article, we discuss the importance and benefits of server backups and how to choose the proper tools for the process.
Deploy a server backup solution with flexible storage options
Why server backups are important
Servers are central to IT environments because they provide data and services to other machines and manage network resources. They can support functions such as data storage, application hosting, authentication, and other critical services.
This organizational data can be extremely vulnerable and, without a functional server, organizations risk their operational downtime, unavailable services, and the loss of large amounts of data. These backups are an essential precaution for worst-case scenario events, such as:
- A hurricane
- Extended power outages
- Cyberattacks
If and when any of these scenarios occur, a server backup can be used to restore affected data or systems to a previous state, ensuring data safety and the continuity of business operations.
How a server backup works
Server backups work by duplicating the server data and storing it in internal or external storage. How frequently server backups should be performed depends on factors such as the importance of the workload, how frequently its data changes, and the organization’s recovery point objective (RPO). Critical servers may require more frequent backups to minimize potential data loss.
To best understand how a server backup works, it’s best to know the different types of backups:
- Full Backup: A full backup copies all data in a system, creating a complete replica of the dataset. It’s the most comprehensive backup type and serves as the baseline for other backup methods.
- Incremental Backup: Incremental backups save only the data that has changed since the last backup. This reduces storage and backup time but requires multiple backup sets to fully restore data.
- Differential Backup: A differential backup captures all changes made since the last full backup. It simplifies restoration compared to incremental backups but uses more storage over time.
- Mirror Backup: A mirror backup continuously duplicates data in real time to another location, providing immediate redundancy. However, replication shouldn’t replace backups because unwanted changes, deletions, or corrupted data may also be replicated to the secondary location.
- Snapshot: Snapshot backups create a point-in-time representation of data that can provide fast and storage-efficient recovery points. However, snapshots stored on the same system shouldn’t replace independent backups because they may remain vulnerable to storage failures, cyberattacks, or other system-level disruptions.
- Continuous Data Protection (CDP): CDP records every data change in real time or near real time, enabling extremely granular recovery. It’s best suited for mission-critical systems that require minimal data loss.
Most server backups start with a full image backup. Afterward, IT teams can use smaller, incremental block-level backups that capture only changed data, enabling more frequent backup creation while minimizing storage requirements, bandwidth use, and backup time.
How to choose a server backup solution
Selecting the ideal server backup software for your organization’s needs requires considering factors such as your organization’s size, the type of data, how much server data needs to be backed up, and how frequently you want the server backups performed.
Look for a server backup solution that offers full-image backup, as it provides comprehensive protection for server data and supports bare-metal restoration when disaster strikes.
If, however, you want more frequent backups but don’t have the storage or bandwidth available to store full-image backups, you can consider choosing a backup solution that also uses incremental backup.
How to choose a server backup storage solution
When choosing a server backup solution, you will also need to decide where copies of server data will be stored. A server backup, no matter how it is conducted, must be stored in a location separate from the server itself. The three main options available for server backup storage are:
Cloud-only storage
Cloud-only storage means your server backups are transferred over the internet to the cloud. It is a convenient form of storage because it doesn’t require any local hardware, but restoring data can unfortunately take longer.
Local-only storage
Local-only storage means your server backups are stored on-site. Recovery times can be shorter because the data is available locally, but local backups may be exposed to the same physical or security risks as the production environment, such as hardware failure, natural disasters, theft, or ransomware.
Hybrid storage
Hybrid storage combines cloud and local storage. It provides the benefits of both types while helping to diversify your backups and protect your server data.
Deploy a server backup solution with flexible storage options
3 tips for creating a server backup strategy
1. Implement automated server backups
Using automation is one of the easiest ways to consistently back up server data while reducing manual intervention. Select a server backup tool that provides automation capabilities, schedule your server backups, and frees up IT administrators to work on high-value tasks.
2. Monitor server backups
While automation is a beneficial tool, you might encounter unexpected issues during the server backup process. Monitor your server backups to verify that scheduled backup jobs complete successfully and that recovery points are available. Additionally, you can set alerts in backup software to notify you of problems.
3. Test your server backup restores
A server backup is only helpful if it can be restored. Test the restoration process for your server backups regularly to ensure the data can be properly reinstated.
Why customers choose NinjaOne for server backup
NinjaOne makes server backup fast and simple.
NinjaOne’s Remote Server Backup is a fully automated backup and alerting system. It’s designed to simplify ongoing server backup management through automated backup schedules, centralized monitoring, alerts, and recovery options.
Customers choose Ninja Backup for its powerful automation and its dashboard, which centralizes management for multi-server environments. As Joseph Pafundi, a level 2 configuration engineer at Nerds That Care, put it: “The best part about NinjaOne Image Backup is that it’s 90% faster than our previous tool. NinjaOne’s server backup software also offers flexibility with local, cloud, or hybrid storage options.
Sign up for a free trial today to explore the many benefits of using NinjaOne Server Backup to safeguard server data.
