Backup Planning for Your Enterprise Infrastructure

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Status: Final Blueprint

Author: Shahab Al Yamin Chawdhury 

Organization: Principal Architect & Consultant Group

Research Date: April 5, 2023

Version: 1.0

Executive Summary

This document provides a condensed overview of the comprehensive “Backup Planning for Your Enterprise Infrastructure” blueprint. It distills the core strategies, architectural principles, and tactical guidance necessary for building a modern, cyber-resilient data protection program. The focus is on moving beyond traditional backup to a business-driven, security-centric model that addresses today’s sophisticated threat landscape, particularly ransomware.

Part I: Strategic Foundations

A modern backup strategy is a cornerstone of cyber resilience, not just an IT task. It must be grounded in business objectives and global governance standards.

• Guiding Frameworks:
  • NIST Cybersecurity Framework: Aligns backup with the ‘Recover’ (RC) function, ensuring tested plans for timely restoration, continuous improvement, and clear stakeholder communication.
  • ISO 27031: Provides the technical blueprint for ICT Readiness for Business Continuity (IRBC), translating business needs into specific IT requirements for skills, facilities, technology, data, processes, and suppliers.
• Business-Driven Metrics (RTO/RPO):
  • Recovery Time Objective (RTO): Maximum acceptable downtime. “How quickly must we recover?”
  • Recovery Point Objective (RPO): Maximum acceptable data loss. “How much data can we afford to lose?”
  • These metrics must be derived from a formal Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and used to tier applications, aligning protection investment with criticality.

Table 1: Application Tiering and RTO/RPO Matrix

Tier	Description	RTO Target	RPO Target	Implied Technology Class
0	Mission-Critical	< 10 minutes	< 1 second	Active-Active Clustering, Sync Replication
1	Business-Critical	< 4 hours	< 15 minutes	Automated Failover, Async Replication
2	Business-Important	< 24 hours	< 12 hours	VM Replication, Regular Snapshots
3	Non-Critical	< 72 hours	< 24 hours	Daily/Weekly Full Backups

Part II & III: Architecture and Tactical Protection

Core principles and specific tactics ensure the resilience of all infrastructure and data tiers.

• Core Architectural Principles:
  • The 3-2-1-1-0 Rule: The modern standard: 3 copies of data, on 2 different media, with 1 copy offsite, 1 copy immutable or air-gapped, and 0 errors (verified backups).
  • Zero Trust Architecture: Apply “never trust, always verify” to the backup system itself through MFA, network isolation, least privilege, and immutable storage.
  • Automation & Orchestration: Eliminate human error and reduce RTO by automating not just individual backup jobs, but entire end-to-end recovery workflows.
• Protecting Infrastructure Tiers:
  • Application Code (Git): Use git clone --mirror for DR and git bundle with API exports for long-term archival.
  • Servers: Prioritize Infrastructure-as-Code (IaC) over image backups. Back up the configuration scripts in Git.
  • Kubernetes: Use application-aware tools (e.g., Kasten, Portworx) to back up Kubernetes objects, container images, and persistent data as a single unit.
  • Network Devices: Implement a Network Configuration Management (NCM) solution for automated, versioned backups of router, switch, and firewall configs.
  • SIEM Logs: Use a tiered storage strategy (Hot, Warm, Cold) to balance cost and compliance for long-term log retention.
• Protecting the Data Tier:
  • Backup Methodologies: A balanced strategy often uses a mix of full, differential, and incremental backups to meet RTO and RPO goals.
  Table 2: Backup Methodology Comparison

Metric	Full Backup	Differential Backup	Incremental Backup
Backup Speed	Slow	Moderate	Fast
Storage Used	High	Moderate	Low
Restore Speed	Fast	Fast	Slow
Restore Complexity	Low (1 file)	Moderate (2 files)	High (N files)

* **Database Clusters:** Use cluster-aware agents for Failover Cluster Instances (FCIs) and carefully consider backup preferences for Always On Availability Groups (AGs) to balance performance and consistency.
* **NoSQL/Big Data:** Use platform-specific tools (`mongodump`, `nodetool snapshot`) orchestrated to ensure cluster-wide consistency.
* **Multi-Site Resiliency:** Employ synchronous replication for zero RPO in metro-clusters and asynchronous replication for DR to geo-distant sites.

Part IV & V: Modern Platforms and Implementation

• Analytics & Streaming Platforms:
  • Power BI: Protect semantic models (.abf), reports (.pbix), dataflows (.json), and gateway recovery keys.
  • Tableau: Use tsm maintenance backup for data (.tsbak) and tsm settings export for configuration (.json).
  • Kafka/Elasticsearch: Use replication (MirrorMaker) for HA and native snapshot APIs to object storage for archival and DR.
• Vendor Selection & Implementation:
  • Market Leaders: Leverage Gartner and Forrester analysis. Key vendors include Veeam, Commvault, Rubrik, and Cohesity.
  • Roadmap: Implement in phases: 1) Foundation: BIA, vendor selection, protect Tier 0/1. 2) Expansion: Protect Tier 2/3, harden security. 3) Optimization: Automate testing and orchestrate recovery.
  • Testing: A rigorous testing cadence is mandatory: daily monitoring, quarterly restore tests, and annual full-scale DR exercises.
  • Governance: Define clear ownership with a RACI matrix.

Table 3: Roles and Responsibilities (RACI Matrix)

Task / Process	CISO/CTO	Backup Admin	App Owner	Network Team	SecOps
Define Policy	A	R	C	C	C
Monitor Jobs	I	A/R	I	I	I
Perform Tests	I	A/R	C	I	I
Declare Disaster	A	C	C	I	I
Execute Recovery	A	R	C	R	C

Final Recommendations

1. Be Business-Driven: Let the BIA define RTO/RPO targets.
2. Adopt 3-2-1-1-0: Make immutable, air-gapped copies and verified recoveries the standard.
3. Architect Before Buying: Define principles (Zero Trust, Automation) before selecting a vendor.
4. Be Application-Aware: Use tools that understand modern, distributed applications.
5. Test Relentlessly: An untested backup is not a backup.