EDP Managed Backup and Restore
To secure your data from malware, errors, or disasters, Equinix offers Managed Backup and Restore, a service where data of the Equinix Business Cloud and the Managed Storage service can be protected.
VM Backup and Restore
Back-up and Restore service allows you to secure your virtual environment. It uses VMware snapshots, without the need to install any back-up software within the operating system.
Operation
This service is delivered as fully managed, where Equinix performs the back-up and restore as agreed upon with the user. When applying for the service, a technical interview is conducted during which an agreement is made about the number of VMs and the retention period. In addition to the standard back-up, it is also possible to apply for the Grandfather-Father-Son (GFS) retention to certain VMs that create weekly, monthly and yearly back-up archives.
VMware snapshots create a back-up of the virtual machine, for all files on the hard disk to be backed up at the same time (also known as crash-consistent). Back-ups are stored incrementally by default to minimize the total storage space.
The recovery of a back-up from the operating system is like restarting after an unexpected power failure. We aim to have a maximum Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 4 hours. Achieving this depends on the size of the VM(s) and the chosen storage profile. Equinix advises to periodically perform a back-up recovery test to check whether the backed-up VMs are fully functional again after a restore.
Restore requests are executed by our specialists and can be requested via the change management process. The backup data center is always in a different location than the data center of the EBC Environment. The following system is used:
| EBC location | Back-up data location |
|---|---|
| Amsterdam AM3 | Zwolle ZW1 |
| Zwolle ZW1 | Enschede EN1 |
| Enschede EN1 | Zwolle ZW1 |
The back-up is at the infrastructure level and is not application consistent. This means that no account is taken of running applications. Equinix recommends additional backup by the operating system for certain applications or databases that are (possibly) not recoverable from a crash-consistent back-up. This form of back-up is not supplied by the Back-up and Restore service.
Metering
Actual costs for storage space depend on the storage location and the possible application of a GFS scheme. The service is billed by pay-as-you-go as follows:
- Back-up standard per GB; wherein the amount of the stored back-up data is measured.
- Back-up fee per VM; wherein the number of virtual machines included in the back-up schedule is measured.
Quantity of the variable component consumption is measured with metering tools linked to the service management environment. Only the data required to determine the quantity of service consumed is exported to the Equinix billing system.
Order Variants
- The back-up service can be purchased on the EBC platform that is available within an Equinix data center in Netherlands.
- In addition to a standard retention, it is possible to maintain a GFS rotation. This allows you to save monthly and annual restore points in addition to your standard restore points. These restore points can be saved in a third location.
Reports
Backup and Restore service offers standard reporting options. These reports provide insight into which VMs are being backed up, how many recovery points there are and how much storage is needed for these recovery points. Failed backups will be restarted automatically, in case of an error in the backup job an incident will be logged.
Relations and Dependencies
Backup and Restore service is connected to the following:
The following restore options are supported by the Backup and Restore service –
- Restoring a VM to the same location (overwrite)
- Restoring VMs to another location (within the EBC platform)
- Recovering one or more virtual disks
- Item-level recovery is not supported.
- Application-aware back-ups are not supported.
- A maximum of 200 restore points can be saved (excluding GFS rotation).
File Backup and Restore
In addition to the Managed Storage File Service, a backup can be provided for file systems. This is performed by the File Backup and Restore service, which has the following characteristics:
| Topic | Characteristic |
|---|---|
| File types | NFS, SMB |
| Frequency | Every 8, 12, or 24 hours (default is 24 hours) |
| Retention | 30, 60, 90 days |
| Restore options | * Full Share - entire file system back to a point in time * File - an individual file * Overwrite a new instance |
Operation
During an intake, it is determined which File Shares will be part of the backup job, and which backup frequency and retention will be applied. A job is created per fileshare. The data is initially stored at the source location, then synchronized with the backup data center. The backup is performed on an incremental basis. The backup data center is always in a different location than the data center of the file system. The following system is used:
| NAS System location | Back-up data location |
|---|---|
| Amsterdam AM3 | Zwolle ZW1 |
| Zwolle ZW1 | Enschede EN1 |
| Enschede EN1 | Zwolle ZW1 |
Self-Service Restore
For Self-Service Restore, a machine is set up where the restored files are placed. You can then give your end users rights to this machine for file restoration. For a full-file system restore, a service request must be submitted so our specialists can determine the best restore method for the situation.
Purchase Units
The File Backup service is a pay-as-you-go service. The storage used for the purpose of backup data in GB is charged per month.
Reports
Daily visibility into the backup status is provided with insights into successful and failed jobs, and stored volume. In the case of a failed job, an incident is logged.