Backup data
Backup data refers to copies of files, databases, or entire systems that are created to protect against data loss caused by hardware failures, software errors, accidental deletions, cyberattacks, or natural disasters. Backup data is a critical component of disaster recovery and business continuity strategies, ensuring that important data can be restored to its original state after an incident. It can also be used to meet legal or regulatory requirements for retaining specific data or if you want to use backups of production data for testing new features or applications in a safe environment.
Backup data is typically stored in a secure location, separate from the primary data, such as on external drives, cloud storage, or dedicated backup servers.
Backup data typically includes:
- File-level backup: A backup of individual files or folders, often used to protect specific critical documents or data
- Full system backup: A complete backup of an entire system, including the operating system, applications, settings, and user data, allowing for full system restoration
- Database backup: A backup of a database, including its schema, tables, and data, ensuring that critical application data can be restored
- Application backup: A backup of application-specific data, configurations, and settings
- Virtual machine (VM) backup: A backup of virtual machines, including the virtual disk, configuration, and state
- Incremental backup: A backup method that saves only the data that has changed since the last backup, reducing storage space and time required
- Differential backup: A backup that saves changes since the last full backup, growing in size until the next full backup is performed
- Cloud backup: A backup where data is stored in a cloud service rather than on local or on-premises systems
- Disaster recovery backup: A backup specifically designed for disaster recovery, often including data replicas stored in geographically separate locations
- Real-time/continuous backup: A backup method where data is continuously copied as changes occur, offering minimal recovery point objective (RPO)