Data drives organizations. In today’s environment, it’s crucial to safeguard your data’s accessibility, integrity, and resiliency. Azure Cosmos DB is a globally distributed, multi-model database service provided by Microsoft. It offers high availability, low latency, and automatic scaling, making it an excellent choice for storing and managing large amounts of data. However, with any database, it’s important to have an effective backup strategy to safeguard against any unforeseen events. In this post, we’ll cover what Cosmos DB does, why it’s important to back it up, and suggest some best practices and guidelines for creating robust backups.
There are several reasons that you might need a backup plan for Cosmos DB. In the event of data compromise, corruption, or deletion, a backup provides protection. A backup also provides disaster recovery in the event of a natural disaster or ransomware attack. In some cases, for instance in the medical and financial industries, compliance or regulatory guidelines require data backups. Disaster scenarios aside, backups also provide flexibility so that users can test, change, and experiment with the database without risking damage to the primary product. In short, backing up Cosmos DB ensure that your organization keeps running. Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure can provide this service.
Backup Options
Cosmos DB supports continuous and periodic backup modes. Continuous backups allow restoration to any point in time within a set number of days (generally 7 or 30). These backups can then be restored to new or existing accounts. Configuring a new account with continuous backup allows users to service their own restoration via the Azure portal, PowerShell, or CLI. With periodic backups, backup happens at regular intervals. Data restoration requires a request with the support team. They also require configuration of backup and retention intervals. You can also migrate accounts from periodic to continuous mode; but not continuous to periodic.
Cosmos DB backups are immutable. Since they’re controlled via a permission model that is managed by a database account administrator, they aren’t exposed to users. This reduces the risk of accidental data corruption, deletion, and other acts. Backups are also encrypted and their storage accounts are secured by certificate-based access that changes periodically. Finally, backups are only accessible via the restore module, and any actions taken around them are logged and audited.
Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure offers comprehensive data backup and recovery solutions for different environments, including virtual, physical, and cloud-based platforms. This expands to Azure cloud services, including Azure Cosmos DB. The convenient thing about using Veeam is that it provides seamless integration with Azure Cosmos DB and your existing backup infrastructure. It offers flexible backup options allowing you to customize retention policies, backup schedules, and recovery points that best fit your organization. It also supports granular restores, allowing selective recovery of items and databases. Your data integrity is well-protected through Veeam’s use of point-in-time restores as well as advanced encryption and authentication mechanisms to ensure that your backup data is secure.
Leveraging Backups for Cosmos DB
Backing up your Azure Cosmos DB is a critical piece of a robust and effective data management strategy. By leveraging Azure's built-in features, manual methods, and third-party tools such as Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure, you can ensure your data is protected against a wide range of risks. Regular testing, clear policies, and automation are additional keys to maintaining an effective backup strategy. Implement these practices to safeguard your valuable data and ensure business continuity.
In an upcoming post, we’ll walk through the options for how to set up and use Veeam Backup for Azure with Cosmos DB. Feel free to reach out with any questions or share your experiences with Azure backups in the comments below!