Backup Solutions: Cloud & On Premise

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High-Level Backup Strategy

Veeam + Cloud + On-Premises Website

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1. Goals & Requirements

• Define RPO (data loss tolerance) and RTO (restoration time).

• Establish retention periods (daily/weekly/monthly/yearly), compliance standards, and encryption needs.

• Identify critical assets: website files, databases, VM images, configurations, TLS keys, DNS info, and backup data.
   

2. Backup Topology (3-2-1-1 Rule)

• Maintain 3 copies of data on 2 different media, with 1 offsite, and 1 immutable or air-gapped copy.

• Example setup:

  • Primary data on production servers.

  • Local on-prem backup for quick recovery.

  • Cloud backup to Backblaze B2.

  • Immutable/archival copy stored securely (WORM or isolated storage).
     

3. Roles of Key Components

• Veeam:

  • Manages VM, physical server, and database backups.

  • Handles local repositories, offsite copy jobs, and retention policy enforcement.

• Backblaze B2:

  • Stores offsite backup copies and long-term archives, with lifecycle and immutability features.

• On-Premises Backups:

  • Conduct application-aware backups (web files + database dumps).

  • Store daily snapshots locally for speed, weekly full backups, and version control of code & schemas.
     

4. Backup Schedule & Retention (Example)

• Web files + database snapshots every 4 hours, retained for 7 days.

• Full VM/image backup nightly, with incremental backups every 4–12 hours; retain for 14–30 days.

• Cloud copies: nightly or hourly, retained for 3–12 months or as needed.

• Monthly immutable snapshots kept for 1–7 years.
   

5. Security & Compliance

• Encrypt backups both at rest and in transit using Veeam and B2 encryption features.

• Use strong credentials, MFA, and least privilege access.

• Enable object lock or retention policies to protect from ransomware.
   

6. Testing & Validation

• Regularly test restores: files, databases, entire VMs or sites.

• Use Veeam SureBackup for automated verification.

• Track backup success rates, durations, storage, and RTOs.
   

7. Automation & Monitoring

• Monitor backup jobs with alerts for failures or issues.

• Automate backing up configurations (DNS, load balancers, TLS certificates).

• Maintain detailed runbooks for restore procedures.
   

8. Cost & Optimization

• Tier data: keep recent data on-premise for speed, older data in B2.

• Use compression, deduplication, and synthetic full backups.

• Apply lifecycle policies in B2 for cost-effective storage.
   

9. Disaster Recovery & Failover

• Develop and maintain a DR plan with step-by-step restore procedures.

• Consider warm standby (replicated VM) for critical systems.

• Keep recovery access methods (VPN, console) separate from production credentials.
   

10. Documentation & Governance

• Maintain an inventory of backups, schedules, retention policies, and contact info.

• Review policies quarterly and after major changes.

• Train staff on restore and failover procedures.
   

Implementing a comprehensive, multi-layered backup strategy is vital for safeguarding your critical assets and ensuring business continuity. By defining clear goals, adopting a robust topology like the 3-2-1-1 rule, and leveraging secure, automated, and tested backups across on-premises and cloud environments, you can effectively minimize data loss and recovery time.

 

Prioritizing security, regular validation, and cost optimization further strengthens your resilience. Ultimately, a well-structured backup plan provides peace of mind, empowering your organization to handle unexpected disruptions confidently and efficiently.

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We can help configure, manage & maintain a robust backup solution for your business.

 

Need help?  Contact us today!

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