Database Backup and Recovery: 10 Best Practices for Preventing Data Loss and Ensuring Business Continuity

Introduction

In today’s world, data is a valuable asset for all organisations. Many businesses will store valuable data within databases such as customer information, financial records, staff records, stock records and other important data. In situations where hardware failures occur or you’re hit by a cyber attack, you may lose or lose access to this valuable data. 

Database backups and recovery allow businesses to create copies of the data they hold so they can recover it if anything happens. By setting up regular automated backup scheduling, organisations can ensure they have continual protection. Having an efficient recovery strategy will help to minimise downtime, protect customers and ensure important parts of your organisation are running.

Database Backup and Recovery

Database backup and recovery allows organisations to create copies of their data. If the data becomes unavailable, corrupted or damaged within the database, they can recover it. Depending on the type of backups you set-up, your backups will either be a full copy of your database, incremental (only the changes made since the last backup) or transaction logs (helps to recover to a certain point). Recovery is when you have to retrieve your backup files and apply the changes to get your database working again. Organisations commonly use this to protect their important data from technical issues, security threats and human error.

These two are linked together but serve different purposes. Backup allows you to protect data whereas recovery allows you to get it back. Having backup files doesn’t always guarantee you can recover your data, it needs to be accessible, complete and compatible with your database. Having procedures in place will help. For example, an online retail organisation may carry out daily backups of their customer records, product information and sales. If there was an issue with their server and their main database became corrupted, the administrator can use the backup files and transaction logs to recover the data. This helps to reduce the risk of losing data permanently and reduces the financial impact of any unexpected issues.

Common Reasons for Database Issues

To create an effective backup strategy organisations need to understand what issues can occur with their database. There are many reasons why you may have issues with your database. Some issues may only affect a few records whilst others may cause your databases to become unavailable. 

Knowing what can go wrong will help businesses decide how often they want to back up their data, where to store it and how quickly you want to recover. You should consider both everyday issues and serious issues when creating an efficient backup and recovery strategy.

1. Hardware Issues

One of the most common reasons for downtime and data loss is due to hardware issues. The hard drive, solid state drive, storage controller, server and other hardware can all fail due to age, overheating, electrical issues and unexpected damage. If there is an issue with any storage devices that hold your database files then you may lose access to your data. 

This can occur even if you have reliable hardware as no hardware will ever be perfect. An example would be if a financial organisation had an issue with their storage and couldn’t access customer transaction records. If there were no separate backup copies then it could be difficult and costly to recover. Having regular backups that aren’t part of your main database will help organisations recover their important records.

2. Human Error

Human error can cause serious issues with your database. If staff have the ability to edit or delete important data then they may accidentally delete an entire table, overwrite records, run an incorrect command or change important settings without knowing what they’re doing. This can happen to even the most experienced technical team if they’re under pressure or doing something they’re not familiar with. 

For example, an employee may have been editing their database for an online store and accidentally delete customer order records. If the organisation had regular backups and transaction logs then the administrator may be able to recover the data. Having regular backups, limiting access and having procedures in place will help reduce the impact of human error.

3. Cyber Attacks

Another common issue organisations face with their databases is cyber attacks. Attackers may gain unauthorized access to your database, steal sensitive data, alter records or use ransomware to stop you from accessing your business data. In some instances they may cause issues with your backups so they’re harder to recover. You shouldn’t assume that having backups on the same network as your database will be safe enough. 

You should make sure your backups are encrypted, have limited access, are stored separately and have extra protection against unauthorised changes. For example, if a healthcare organisation was attacked by a cyber attack they may need to recover patient records from their secure backups. Having secure independent backups can help organisations recover their data.

4. Software Corruption

Sometimes issues can occur with your database software. This can cause issues with the accuracy of your data. This can occur due to failed software updates, incompatible applications, coding errors, crashed database engine or corrupted database files. Sometimes this will not be noticed until you try to access the data through an application. 

If a business updates their database management system and doesn’t properly test the changes then they may experience unexpected issues affecting their important data. Having backups will help you recover however you should ensure you have compatible versions of software, monitor your database and test major updates. This will help reduce the chances of issues caused by software.

10 Best Practice Tips for Database Backup and Recovery

Having reliable backups for your database requires careful planning. Below are 10 best practice tips that will help businesses create an effective strategy:

1. Select Appropriate Backup Types

The first thing to do when creating a reliable database protection strategy is to select appropriate backup types. There are different types of backups and each will offer benefits depending on your storage space, recovery requirements and how active your database is. 

There are 3 common types of backups; full, incremental and differential. Understanding how these work will help you decide what combination will best suit your organisation. This will help to balance your storage requirements, how long your backups take and how quickly you can recover your data.

Full Backup

A full backup is when you create a full copy of your database. This helps to make recovery simple as you can recover from one full backup. Full backups are great to use as a base for your backup schedule. For example, a company may do a full backup of their customer database every Sunday. 

This will ensure they have a full copy of all their customer records, transaction details and other important information. However, this can cause you to use a lot of storage and can take longer to complete. You should plan your backups carefully to avoid causing unnecessary interruptions.

Incremental Backup

This is when you only backup the changes that have occurred since your last backup. This means you won’t have to store as much data and can make frequent backups quicker. For example, a business may do a full backup on Sundays and incremental backups on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays etc. 

This means you have a record of all the changes made to your database each day. However, you will typically need to have your full backup plus all the incremental backups to recover your data. If one of the backups you need is missing or damaged then this may cause issues.

Differential Backup

This is when you backup all changes since your last full backup. Unlike incremental backups it won’t reset. For example, if your organisation does a full backup on Sundays then your differential backup on Mondays will include everything that changed since Sunday. Your differential backup on Tuesdays will include everything that changed on Monday and Tuesday. Your differential backup on Wednesday will include everything that changed since Sunday. This means recovery is fairly simple as you will typically only need your latest full backup and differential backup. However, your backup file can become larger.

2. Set Up Automated Backups

By setting up automated backups organisations can ensure they have regular backups. This means you don’t have to have your administrator manually perform any backups. You can set your database management system and backup software to automatically perform backups at certain times. Depending on your requirements they may be done hourly, daily, weekly or other appropriate times. This is particularly useful for organisations that deal with a lot of data throughout the day such as banks, online retailers, hospitals and telecommunication companies. For example, an e-commerce company may set their full backup to run every weekend, differential backups every night and shorter transaction log backups. This will ensure important data is regularly backed up and reduce the chances of missing any.

When setting up automated backups you should consider how busy your database is, how long your backups take, how much storage you have and how important your data is. Doing backups during off-peak times may reduce the impact on your database. However, if you have critical systems that constantly process transactions then you may need to do more frequent backups. You should also set up alerts and monitoring tools. Just because you have automated backups doesn’t mean they will always run. For example, if your automated backups fail due to your storage location being unavailable then your administrator should receive an alert. Monitoring your backups regularly will ensure they are reliable.

3. Use Transaction Logs

Transaction logs are another way to protect your database. This is particularly useful if you have a high volume of transactions. A transaction log is used to keep track of changes made to your database. This includes adding, updating and deleting records. By backing up these logs you can ensure your administrator has a record of any changes made to your database since your last full or differential backup. This means you can reduce the amount of recent work you may lose. For example, if you have a banking application with thousands of transactions between full backups, using transaction logs will help protect your data. If your database becomes damaged or unavailable you have extra options to recover.

How often you do transaction logs depends on how much data you can afford to lose and how quickly you want to recover your database. If you have strict recovery requirements then you may want to do them every few minutes. Other organisations may do them less frequently. Your database administrators will need to manage your logs. You may need to apply the correct backups in the correct order to recover your database to a certain point. Microsoft SQL Server does support transaction logs. These can be used along with full and differential backups in the correct recovery setup. You should understand the requirements of your database management system before doing this. Managing your logs will make it easier to recover recent transactions.

4. Use Database Replication

Database replication means keeping copies of your database data on multiple servers. This can help organisations keep access to their important data if there are technical issues with their database. Depending on how you set your replication up changes made to your main database may be copied across to your secondary systems automatically or at set times. This is particularly useful for organisations that need high availability such as financial organisations, online retailers and service providers. For example, an online shopping platform may have a secondary database in a separate data centre so they can still provide their services if their database server becomes unavailable. This can help reduce downtime.

However, you shouldn’t rely solely on database replication. Unwanted changes can be copied across such as accidental deletion, corrupted records and malicious changes. If your administrator accidentally deletes important data from your main database then this may also be copied across. You should ensure you have independent backups. Businesses should also monitor how delayed your replication is, ensure your secondary databases are in sync and test your failover. Using a combination of database replication and regular backups will give you better protection.

5. Point in Time Recovery

Point in time recovery allows you to recover your database to a specific time. This can be useful if you have unwanted changes after a certain time. For example, an employee may have accidentally deleted important customer records at 2.30pm. However, you may not realise until later in the day. If you have the correct full backups and transaction logs then your administrator may be able to recover your database just before the unwanted change was made. This will reduce the need to manually add the missing records and will help protect legitimate transactions. This is useful for databases with frequently updated business data.

You will need to set up your database to keep track of the correct transaction information. This will depend on what database management system you’re using. Your administrator should understand what recovery models, backup types and recovery options you have. You should also be aware that recovering your entire production database to an earlier time may remove legitimate changes after that time. Sometimes organisations will recover their backup to a separate environment, find the records they need and carefully add them back into their production database. Regularly testing your point in time recovery will help your administrator understand the limitations.

6. Encrypt Backups and Limit Access

Often your backups will contain the same sensitive data as your production database. If your backup files are accessed by someone who shouldn’t have access then customer details, financial records, staff information, business documents and other confidential data may be exposed. By encrypting your backups you’re converting your readable data into an un-readable format unless you have the correct decryption key. You should consider encrypting your backups whilst transferring and when they are stored. This is particularly important if you’re using cloud storage or transferring between different data centres.

Limiting access is also important. Even if you have encryption in place you should only allow staff who really need to manage your backups. You should also ensure you have strong authentication processes for your administrator accounts. Separating your backup administration from your regular database administration can provide extra protection. You should also ensure your encryption keys are kept secure and have secure copies of your essential recovery credentials. You should also monitor any unusual access. For example, if a healthcare organisation were to store their patient database backups in the cloud they should ensure only authorised technical staff can access/decrypt the files. By using encryption, limiting access, authentication and monitoring you can protect your backup data.

7. Offsite Backups / Cloud Backups

By having your backups offsite you can ensure information is protected. If your production database and backups are kept on the same server then if there is a large issue like hardware failure, fire or flood you could lose your original data and backups. Having backups offsite ensures there are extra copies of your data being kept safe. This could mean storing them on another data centre, secure offsite storage or using a cloud backup. An example of this could be if your company is a retail company who only has one office. They would keep your main database onsite however would keep encrypted copies of their backups in a separate cloud. In the event of a serious interruption to your office, your administrators can retrieve the protected data from elsewhere.

Using cloud backups can help provide flexibility to businesses. Using cloud services such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud can provide storage and backup. Cloud services may also have features such as automated backups, encryption, access controls and regional storage. Before choosing a cloud backup you should consider how much it will cost to store your data, transfer costs, security settings, data retention and how quickly you can download large databases. A reliable cloud backup should ensure there are independent copies, suitable access controls and regular testing.

8. Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO)

These are important metrics to determine how quickly you need to get your database back and how much data you can afford to lose. Both Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) help with disaster recovery planning. RTO stands for the maximum allowable downtime your system can be down for. RPO stands for the maximum allowable data loss measured in time. Having RTO and RPO will help you decide what type of backup, storage and recovery you should implement. Without clear objectives you may invest in a backup that does not meet your needs.

If you run an online banking platform you may have an RTO of 30 minutes as you don’t want your database down for too long and stop customers from accessing important services. You may also have an RPO of 5 minutes to ensure you limit your data loss to just the last 5 minutes of changes. A smaller business with an internal inventory database may have a larger RTO of several hours and RPO of 1 day. Different databases will require different recovery methods. It is important to set RTO and RPO objectives based on the importance of the system, cost of downtime, customer expectations and regulations. You should also test your recovery methods.

9. Create a Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan will give you clear steps to take to get your database systems and business running again after a major issue. Whilst having backups will protect your data, a disaster recovery plan will tell you how you will recover using the backups. A good disaster recovery plan should include identifying key databases, who is responsible for recovery, where your backups are stored, technical requirements, communication processes and the order in which your systems should be recovered. It should also take into consideration the interdependencies between databases, applications, networks, authentication and other systems. For example, an online retail company may need to recover their customer database, product inventory, payment application and order management before they can get their website running again. Just recovering the database may not be enough.

You should regularly review your disaster recovery plan to ensure the steps are up to date with your technology. The plan should also tell you who is responsible for making decisions around recovery, contacting stakeholders and technical recovery. It should also tell you how your organisation will run if your main office, data centre or cloud goes offline. You may have alternative sites to run from or secondary systems in place so you can still provide essential services. For example, a telecoms company may have a separate data centre so they can continue to provide important customer services if there is a major issue with their main site. A well maintained disaster recovery plan will ensure there is less confusion in an emergency and will help you plan your recovery.

10. Test Backups

Having backups in place will not help you if you cannot recover them. Your backup files may have become damaged, incomplete, unusable or not compatible with the software. Sometimes businesses will only realise there is an issue when an emergency happens and they do not have much time to look for alternative recovery options. Testing your recovery regularly will help identify any issues. You should regularly choose a backup file, recover it in a test environment and ensure the database has the correct data. Administrators should check that the database applications can connect, important records are accurate and operations can be resumed.

When testing your recovery you should test for different failures such as accidental deletion, database corruption, hardware failure and loss of access to your main storage. You should also time how long it takes you to recover your systems and compare this to your RTO and RPO. You should also note any issues that you had whilst testing and improve your processes. For example, you may find that you can recover your database but the application cannot connect as some configuration files were not included in your backups. By identifying this in your testing you can fix this issue before a disaster actually happens. Regular testing, training and good documentation will make your database recovery more predictable and reliable.

Example Scenario – Creating a Database Backup and Recovery Strategy

Say you have an e-commerce company who has a central database to manage customer accounts, product information, inventory, payment and order history. As customers will be ordering throughout the day you cannot afford to lose lots of data or have downtime. To ensure you protect your business, you have created a backup strategy that uses full, differential, transaction log backups and database replication. Every Sunday you perform a full backup, every night you perform a differential backup and throughout the day you perform transaction log backups at regular intervals. Extra encrypted backups are sent to a separate cloud storage.

You have set your RTO to 1 hour and RPO to 10 minutes based on how much disruption you can realistically have. You have a secondary database server to ensure availability if your main database is not available. You also have independent backups to provide extra recovery options if your records become damaged or accidentally deleted. Your administrators have set up automated backups and will be alerted if there are any failures. You regularly recover your backups in a test environment. You also have a disaster recovery document to tell you who is responsible for recovery and how to recover essential applications. This has helped give a more reliable way to protect customer data, reduce downtime and ensure essential services remain available in case of unexpected database issues.

Benefits of Having a Reliable Backup and Recovery Strategy

Having a reliable backup and recovery strategy can provide many benefits. One of the most important is preventing permanent data loss. Businesses rely on having accurate records to run their business, provide customer service, process transactions and make informed decisions. If you lose this data it can cause financial issues. Having regular backups means you have points to recover from in the event of technical issues, human error and security issues. Another major benefit is reducing downtime. Having a strategy in place means your administrators know exactly what to do and will not have to try and recreate the data from scratch. This can help get your operations running again quickly.

Having an effective backup and recovery strategy can help you keep your data secure, comply with regulations and give you customer confidence. If you are handling sensitive data you may have a legal or contractual obligation to protect your records. Having secure backups, encryption, access controls and documentation will help you meet this requirement. Having a well planned recovery strategy can also reduce the financial impact of unexpected issues. Limiting the amount of transactions lost, downtime and costly emergency fixes. Having regular testing will also help improve your preparedness. Employees will understand what their role is in the event of a technical issue. Whilst creating a full backup strategy will take time and resources it can provide many benefits in the long run to prevent serious and avoidable data loss.

Conclusion

Backups and recovery are an essential part of protecting your organisation’s information. Databases can be affected by unexpected issues such as hardware failure, accidental deletion, cyber attacks and software corruption. Having a reliable recovery strategy in place will help you. Having full, incremental and differential backups alongside transaction log backups, automated backups, database replication and point in time recovery will help you have multiple layers of protection. Having encrypted backups, offsite backups and secure cloud storage will also reduce the risk of losing important records. You should also have realistic RTO and RPO objectives and disaster recovery plans.

Whilst creating backups will help you, you should regularly test your backups. Ensuring you can recover them, monitoring your automated processes and updating your recovery strategy. This will help ensure you can easily access your important data. Whatever size your database is, whether it is just for customers or a large enterprise, investing in reliable backup and recovery strategies can help protect your valuable data, reduce downtime and give you customer confidence. Overall if you treat backups and recovery as an ongoing task you will be better prepared for any unexpected issues.