Best Practices

Backup Strategy

Recommended Backup Schedule

Retention Policy Guidelines

• Production: 30 days minimum, 90 days recommended
• Staging: 14 days
• Development: 7 days
• Compliance: Follow regulatory requirements (often 7 years)

Performance Optimization

Backup Window Planning

Schedule backups during low-traffic periods:

• Analyze database load patterns
• Avoid peak business hours
• Consider timezone differences for global operations
• Stagger backups across multiple servers

Resource Allocation

# Recommended settings for large databases (>1TB)
process-max=8
compress-type=lz4
compress-level=1
buffer-size=16MB

Network Optimization

• Use dedicated backup network when possible
• Enable compression for remote backups
• Consider bandwidth throttling during business hours
• Use local staging for cloud uploads

Security

Encryption Standards

• At rest: AES-256-CBC minimum
• In transit: TLS 1.3 for all connections
• Key management: Use HSM or cloud KMS for production

Access Control

# Principle of least privilege
backup_user:
  - Can read database
  - Can write to backup location
  - Cannot modify production data
  - Cannot access other databases

Audit Requirements

Log and monitor:

• All backup operations (success and failure)
• Restore operations
• Configuration changes
• Access to backup files
• Encryption key usage

Disaster Recovery

RTO and RPO Targets

DR Testing Schedule

• Monthly: Verify backup integrity
• Quarterly: Full restore drill
• Annually: Complete DR failover test
• After changes: Test any infrastructure modifications

Monitoring

Critical Alerts

Configure immediate alerts for:

• Backup failure (any type)
• No successful backup in 24 hours
• Storage capacity > 80%
• Backup duration increase > 50%
• Replication lag > 5 minutes

Dashboard Metrics

Monitor these KPIs:

• Success rate: 7-day rolling average
• Backup size trend: Predict storage needs
• Duration trend: Identify performance degradation
• Recovery time: Track restore performance

Compliance

GDPR Requirements

• Implement data retention policies
• Support right to erasure (backup deletion)
• Encrypt personal data in backups
• Document data processing activities
• Maintain audit logs for 3 years

SOC 2 Controls

• Encrypt backups at rest and in transit
• Implement role-based access control
• Enable comprehensive audit logging
• Test disaster recovery procedures
• Document backup policies and procedures

HIPAA Compliance

• Encrypt all PHI in backups (AES-256)
• Implement access controls and audit logs
• Sign Business Associate Agreements
• Conduct regular risk assessments
• Maintain backup integrity verification

Cost Optimization

Storage Tiering

• Hot storage: Last 7 days (fast access)
• Warm storage: 8-30 days (moderate cost)
• Cold storage: 31+ days (lowest cost)
• Archive: Compliance retention (cheapest)

Compression Strategy

# Balance speed vs. size
Recent backups: lz4 (fast restore)
Older backups: zst (better compression)
Archive: zst level 9 (maximum compression)

Operational Excellence

Documentation Requirements

• Backup architecture diagram
• Restore procedures (step-by-step)
• Escalation contacts
• Configuration management
• Change log

Team Training

• Quarterly restore drills for all team members
• Document lessons learned from incidents
• Cross-train team members on backup operations
• Maintain runbooks for common scenarios