Features of Azure Backup You Should Know About
Tags: azure
Published: 2019-08-29 11:21:59

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If you live in the 21st century, you know that you need to back up your work. Still, there are still many companies that do not have an adequate disaster recovery strategy in place. The effects of a severe data loss on a business are enormous, and [most](https://consoltech.com/blog/10-common-causes-of-data-loss/) small and medium businesses that suffer a significant data loss will end up closing down.

It all starts with poor backup practices. The most effective backup system involves using a cloud, this means backing up your data with a third party. While this reduces some of your control over your data, the benefits far outweigh the shortfalls. 

Backing up your data to a cloud is cost-effective, secure, and scalable. [Azure Backup](https://cloud.netapp.com/blog/5-considerations-before-you-backup-on-azure) is one of the most popular backup solutions on the market. In this article, we will explore five features that you should probably know about Azure Backup so that you can take full advantage of their backup solution.

## Features of Azure Backup You Should Explore
### Complementary solutions 
When it comes to disaster recovery, you want to make sure all your bases are covered. Azure backup provides you with two [complementary backup solutions](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/site-recovery/site-recovery-overview): Azure Backup and Azure Site Recovery. Their backup scopes are slightly different, providing a combination of complementary backup systems. 

**Azure Backup** backs up your data from your VM as well as from your on-premise servers. This backup system is best for backing up detailed data, rather than your entire machine. For example, if you want to backup transaction data for compliance reasons, then Azure Backup would be the right tool. 

**Azure Site Recovery**, on the other hand, is also used to backup VM and on-premise servers, but basically copies the whole machine to another location. Should a disaster occur, you can failover to the secondary machine then failback to the original once it becomes operational again.

### Restore your entire machine or individual files
Azure Backup does not force you to restore the entire machine, you can choose to restore simply an individual file if you prefer. This provides you with substantial flexibility and can seriously reduce the backup time, as it is not always necessary to back up the entire machine. 

### Redundancy options
Azure Backup provides you with [four different ways](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-introduction) of backing up your data, depending on your needs and budget. 

**Locally-redundant storage (LRS)** is the cheapest way to backup your data. In this storage system, your data is replicated three times but stored in the primary region. This means that should a natural disaster (like flood or fire) strike the data center, you have a higher risk of all the replicas of your data. 

**Zone-redundant storage (ZRS)** is a good option for backing up data that requires high availability. This solution includes three replicas of your data being stored in the primary region, but in different storage clusters. Each cluster is in a different availability zone and is physically separate from the other clusters. 

**Geo-redundant storage (GRS)** is more expensive than the other options, but also provides the most redundancy. With GRS your data is replicated locally to the primary region like with LRS. A second copy is also made to a secondary region, which is physically distant from the first data center. This is the safest option as it protects against any regional natural disasters. It is also the default setting for Azure Backups.
 
### Security 
Your data is one of your most valuable assets, and in today’s world, security is one of the top concerns. Azure Backup provides security at different levels. For the transmission and storage of data, Azure Backup uses encryption. Only you have the encryption passphrase (Azure does not have access to it), making sure that even in the extremely unlikely event that Azure is breached, your data would still be secure.  

Azure requires authentication to make high-risk changes, preventing users without the required permissions from making changes related to backup. Azure will also notify you any time and an unusual change is made that could affect backups. Moreover, should the previous two safeguards be insufficient, any data that is deleted is stored by Azure for 14 days.

### Multiple ways to backup
Azure Backup offers multiple ways of backing up your workloads so that you can do it in the most convenient way. The first way is through the Azure portal. You can easily access it from your browser and gives you a consolidated view of all your Azure services. 

If you are technical savvy, you can also access Azure through a shell, such as PowerShell AZ. If you are directing Backup through the shells, you can use API calls and scripts to manage and schedule your backups, giving you greater control and freedom.

## Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced, digitized environment, most of our work involves some type of data. Having a solid disaster recovery plan for this data can make the difference between businesses who fail and those who thrive. One data-loss disaster, such as a crashed server, can bring a company to its feet.

Backing up your work to a public cloud is one of the best ways to protect yourself from possible data loss, without having to break the bank or compromise on security. Azure Backup offers a secure and user-friendly backup solution. To take full advantage of Azure Backup, be sure to explore the features listed above.