Associate Data Practitioner

Compare backup and recovery solutions offered as Google-managed services

Google Cloud offers backup and recovery tools that are fully managed, so you don’t have to plan schedules or maintain servers yourself. Automated backups run on a fixed schedule, and you can also create on-demand backups whenever you need a fresh copy of your data. These services ensure your data is safe by storing copies in durable storage.

For Cloud Storage, you can enable object versioning to keep old file versions automatically. You set a retention policy to control how long old versions stick around. This helps you recover from accidental deletions or unwanted changes without extra effort.

In Cloud SQL, automated backups happen daily, and you can store them for up to 7 days by default. You can also request point-in-time recovery to restore your database to any moment within the retention window. This minimizes data loss if something goes wrong between scheduled backups.

When you need to restore data, you simply choose the backup and start the recovery process through the Google Cloud Console or the gcloud CLI. The service handles the details, spinning up a new instance or writing restored objects for you. Overall, these managed solutions help minimize downtime and simplify disaster recovery planning.

Determine when to use replication

Replication means keeping multiple copies of data in different places at the same time. You use replication to boost availability, support disaster recovery, and improve read performance by sending queries to replicas. It’s a key tool for meeting tight recovery point objectives (RPO).

In Cloud SQL, you can set up read replicas or cross-region replicas. Read replicas help with high read traffic, while cross-region replicas keep a copy of your database in another region. If the primary instance fails, you can promote a replica to take over, reducing downtime.

Cloud Storage uses replication by default in multi-region and dual-region storage classes. These classes automatically store your data in at least two locations, giving you extra fault tolerance without extra setup. You get global access and low latency by choosing the right class for your needs.

You should choose replication when you need:

• Fast failover and minimal downtime
• Read scalability for heavy or distributed workloads
• Geographic resilience to guard against regional outages
  Understanding your application’s RPO and recovery time objective (RTO) helps pick the right replication strategy.

Distinguish between primary and secondary data storage location type (e.g., regions, dual-regions, multi-regions, zones) for data redundancy

A region is a specific geographic area, while a zone is an isolated location within that region. Zones help protect your data from failures in one part of a region. When you pick a primary zone, you decide where most requests go; picking a secondary zone gives you a backup in case one zone fails.

Multi-regional storage stores data across a wide area, like multiple continents, giving you maximum availability. Dual-regional storage keeps data in exactly two regions you choose. This balances data locality with redundancy and can help meet compliance requirements.

For Cloud SQL and Compute Engine, you choose a primary region and zone for your instance, then pick a secondary region or zone for failover replicas. If the primary goes down, the secondary can take over, ensuring your application stays online.

When choosing locations, think about:

• Latency: closer regions give faster access
• Cost: cross-region traffic might add charges
• Compliance: some data must stay within certain borders
  By matching your needs to the right mix of regions, dual-regions, and zones, you build resilience into your system.

Conclusion

In high availability and disaster recovery, backups, replication, and the correct choice of storage locations work together to keep your data safe. Google-managed backup services for Cloud Storage and Cloud SQL handle the technical details for you. Replication gives you live copies in different places to meet tight RPO and RTO targets. Finally, understanding regions, dual-regions, multi-regions, and zones ensures you place your primary and secondary storage where it best serves your performance, cost, and compliance needs. Together, these strategies form a solid foundation for resilient data systems on Google Cloud.