Best Practice 14.5 – Choose appropriate backup solutions and schedule

Depending on the backup method, there is the potential to dramatically increase both read and write operations on your storage, which can negatively impact the performance of your application. This is particularly true for database level backups which might be large in volume and lengthy in duration.

Suggestion 14.5.1 – Determine a suitable backup window

Define what is the most appropriate window for the running of backup operations aligned to your business requirements. Consider key dependencies such as the overnight batch schedule and the acceptable runtime.

Suggestion 14.5.2 – Consider options to minimize the performance impact of backups

Analyze any storage or network constraints and evaluate options to minimize the impact of the backup. This may include reducing the duration by using delta change backups either at a database or storage level. Refer to the Reliability Pillar to ensure this does not negatively impact the consistency of backups or the overall restoration time.