AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam

Configure Backup Policies for Azure Resources

Azure Backup is an essential tool in Azure for protecting your valuable data assets. It supports various workloads and offers flexible backup policies to keep data safe and compliant with organizational needs. Here’s a closer look at how you can configure backup policies for Azure resources.

Backup Policy Essentials

A backup policy in Azure outlines the strategy for when backups are created and how long they should be retained. This policy is applied at the vault level and can cover multiple resources within its scope. The policy has two primary components:

• Schedule: Determines the specific times when backups are performed, which can be set to occur daily or weekly.
• Retention: Sets the duration for which each backup is stored, with options for daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly retention.

On-Demand Backup

On-demand backup is a feature that allows you to perform backups outside of your regular schedule. It's particularly useful when you need more detailed backups, such as taking several daily backups for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) virtual machines (VMs). Unlike scheduled backups, these on-demand backups have unique retention settings separate from scheduled backups.

Optimize Backup Policy

Adjusting your backup policy is crucial as business needs evolve. For example, if you decide to extend retention durations, existing recovery points will be maintained according to the newer policy rules. Conversely, if you shorten the retention period, recovery points are slated for deletion during the next clean-up process. Note that these updates apply to all points except on-demand backups, where original retention settings remain.

Stop Protection Options

There are circumstances where it might be necessary to stop backup protection on Azure. Two options are provided by Azure Backup:

• Stop protection and retain backup data: This option is ideal if there’s a requirement to keep data for audits or compliance reasons, even after stopping new backups.
• Stop protection and delete backup data: This choice halts future backup processes and removes all recovery points, preventing any possibility of restoring the data.

Security Considerations

Ensuring data security is paramount with Azure Backup, which covers confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Key security aspects include:

• Role-based access control (RBAC): Limits permissions so users only have access necessary for their tasks.
• Encryption: Data is encrypted both during transmission and when stored, using either Microsoft-managed keys or customer-managed keys.
• Soft Delete: Protects against accidental or malicious deletion by keeping deleted backup data available for 14 days.

Monitoring and Alerting

Azure Backup comes with built-in job monitoring tools and Backup Explorer, providing detailed analysis and troubleshooting features. Additionally, tools like Log Analytics and Azure Monitor help in maintaining operations oversight, offering insights into activities over longer time spans.

In summary, configuring backup policies for Azure resources demands careful planning around backup schedules and retention periods, responsive management of on-demand backups, and flexibility in optimizing policies as business objectives shift. Moreover, it requires a commitment to robust security practices and vigilant monitoring to ensure data remains protected and accessible when needed.