Different Types of Cloud Services

cloud services

Introduction

Azure Backup is a service that allows you to protect your data from accidental deletion, accidental corruption, malicious attacks and other common issues. The solution has been designed so that administrators can create custom backup policies as well as deploy them across their organization using an easy-to-use interface. Backup policies allow you to define the type of backup you want (full, differential), when it will be performed (on demand or scheduled), how often it should occur (daily/weekly/monthly).

Backup of Azure Virtual Machines

If you have a virtual machine, then you can use this backup service to back up your Azure Virtual Machines and the data they contain. You can also use this service to back up your Azure SQL Database, but keep in mind that if your database contains sensitive information like passwords or Social Security numbers, then only the entire database will be backed up. 

If you don’t need an automated restore process but still want some level of redundancy between different machines (e.g., if one machine fails), then consider using VMs as a storage target for Hyper-V snapshots instead of just backing them up directly on disk as they’re currently done today with traditional backups systems such as those offered by Veeam Backup & Replication 

Azure File Sync

Azure File Sync is a service that enables you to sync your on-premises files to your cloud files. It’s an Azure service that allows you to sync your local files with Azure Files. Azure File Sync integrates with on-premises file servers and networks, such as those running Microsoft Office 365 or SharePoint Online, so that the content of these environments can be stored in the cloud at high speed and low cost. 

vCenter Plugin for Microsoft Azure

There are several backup products that allow you to back up your virtual machines in Microsoft Azure, including: 

  • VMware vCenter Server Plugin for Microsoft Azure 
  • VMware vCenter Server 
  • VMware ESXi (formerly known as “VirtualCenter”) 
  • VMware vCloud Director (formerly known as “VMware Cloud Automation Center”) 
  • VMware vRealize Automation 
  • VMware vRealize Operations Manager 
  • VMware vRealize Log Insight 

Microsoft SQL Server in an Azure VM

You can also use TI Infotech’s Azure Backup to back up your SQL Server databases. If you have a local storage account, you can use it for backups by using the standard Windows backup tools (such as Windows Server Backup). If you don’t have a local storage account or need more capacity than what’s available in the on-premises limits of 1TB per VM/server, then consider using an Azure storage account instead. 

To restore your SQL Server database from an existing backup file: 

  • Copy over any files that were modified since creating the original backup (for example, files created by users during normal usage) 
  • Recreate all tables necessary for restoring all data back into its original location 

Application-Consistent Snapshots

When you want to create an application-consistent snapshot, you’ll be creating a point-in-time copy of your VM and saving it to Azure. The next time your VM is restarted, it will boot from the saved state. 

Snapshots are created at regular intervals (every few minutes or hours) so that they’re always up-to-date with what’s happening on your server. You can use this feature to recover from problems or take advantage of new features in Windows Server 2019 because you can revert back to earlier versions of Windows Server if needed! 

The best part? If there’s still room left on your plan when taking a snapshot, we’ll let you keep using any remaining space until its full capacity is reached (up until 50% used). That way no matter how much disk space ends up being taken up by snapshots over their lifetime—it won’t cost extra! 

VSS MySQL and PostgreSQL in an Azure VM

If you have a VSS-enabled SQL Server database, you can create consistent backups of your data by leveraging Azure’s VSS feature. This allows you to create backup jobs for databases that are backed up by Windows and SQL Server Agent jobs.

VSS is part of the SQL Server implementation of snapshots, which allow administrators to take an image of a database at any point in time. Snapshots are used by developers to test their applications or scripts before they are deployed on production servers.

SQL Server on Amazon RDS for SQL Server

Amazon RDS for SQL Server is a backup solution that lets you backup and restore your Azure databases. It’s available as part of the Amazon RDS service, which provides scalable, reliable, and durable cloud computing services to help you run your applications at scale. The backup functionality is included in the standard tier of all Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) plans and is available through any one of the supported backup destinations: Windows Azure Blob Storage; AWS S3; and local storage devices such as hard drives or network attached storage (NAS). 

You can perform backups using one or more methods: using Windows PowerShell scripts; using a command line interface (CLI); or importing data directly into an instance through iSCSI target connectivity if it supports this feature. 

SQL Server on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

SQL Server on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is an operational service that allows you to use your existing SQL Server databases in the cloud. It provides a fully managed, low-cost solution for storing, accessing and processing data wherever you need it—in the cloud or on-premises. The service uses industry standard software from Microsoft and Google—Google Cloud SQL runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses for its own products like Gmail and YouTube.

MySQL on Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

This is a type of backup that can be used for any MySQL database. It provides the same level of protection as the other types of backups, but it only supports one instance at a time and has greater limits on how many databases you can use in one region. 

Oracle Database on Amazon EC2

Oracle Database on Amazon EC2 is a cloud computing service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). You can use Oracle Database on AWS backup service to store your data in the cloud. This type of backup will allow you to store your database files and their backups in the cloud, which helps reduce costs and increases security.

AWS Storage Gateway

This feature allows you to connect your on-premises data to Amazon S3, Microsoft Azure Blob Storage and Amazon Glacier. This means that it allows you to access your on-premises data from two different clouds in one location. The benefit of this is that all of the storage needs are taken care of by AWS instead of having a third party manage them for you. Azure Backup is a cloud-based backup and disaster recovery service. You can use TI Infotech help to protect your data, protect against ransomware attacks and recover from hardware problems. 

You can: 

  • Back up virtual machines (VMs) in Azure through the VHD file format 
  • Back up Microsoft SQL Databases by using SQL Database Backup as an option for each database you want backed up 
  • Protect data with encryption when backing up files from your local computer. 

Conclusion

That’s the end of our list of all the different types of backups that you can have for your Azure platform. We’ve covered 11 different types, so there’s quite a lot to choose from and explore. TI Infotech can help businesses with Azure Backups. We have a team of experienced professionals who can help you with all aspects of Azure Backup. We can help you choose the right Azure Backup solution for your needs and budget, and we can work with you to ensure that your backups are properly configured and managed.

Read More: What to consider when Migrating to AWS? What can help you achieve your Migration goals? | TI Infotech Blog