Implement backup and recovery
📘Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
In Azure, monitoring backup operations is critical. You need to know the status of your backups and get notified if anything fails. Microsoft provides tools for this, mainly through Recovery Services Vault and Azure Backup Reports.
Here’s a structured guide:
1. Understanding Backup Monitoring in Azure
When you back up resources (like VMs, SQL databases, or files), Azure allows you to:
- Track success or failure of backups.
- Get notified if a backup fails.
- Analyze backup trends over time.
Monitoring ensures your backups are reliable and recoverable, which is essential for compliance and disaster recovery.
2. Reports for Azure Backups
Azure provides backup reports using Log Analytics and Recovery Services Vault.
Types of Backup Reports
- Backup Items Report
- Shows all resources being backed up.
- Includes:
- Resource name
- Backup status (Success, Failed, or In progress)
- Last backup time
- Next scheduled backup
- Backup Job Report
- Shows individual backup jobs.
- Includes:
- Job start and end time
- Status (Completed, Failed, Canceled)
- Duration of each job
- Protected Instances Report
- Shows the total number of instances being protected.
- Helps track which resources are covered by your backup policies.
- Recovery Points Report
- Displays available recovery points for each resource.
- Helps in planning restores and retention compliance.
How to Access Backup Reports
- Via Recovery Services Vault
- Go to Recovery Services Vault → Backup Reports.
- Select the scope (subscription or vault).
- Download or view reports directly in the portal.
- Via Log Analytics
- Enable Diagnostic Settings in the vault.
- Send backup data to a Log Analytics workspace.
- Use pre-built queries or Power BI to create custom backup reports.
- Example metrics you can see:
- Failed backups per day
- Backup duration trends
- Success rate percentage
3. Configuring Alerts for Backups
Alerts notify you immediately if something goes wrong. This ensures quick corrective action, reducing downtime risk.
Types of Backup Alerts
- Backup Job Alerts
- Triggered when a backup fails.
- Can monitor:
- Failed backups
- Missed backups
- Job duration exceeding thresholds
- Vault Health Alerts
- Triggered if the Recovery Services Vault experiences issues.
- Helps identify vault-level problems.
- Retention Alerts
- Triggered if backups do not meet retention policies.
- Important for compliance and auditing.
Steps to Configure Alerts
- Go to Recovery Services Vault
- Navigate to Alerts & Events.
- Create an Alert Rule
- Choose Backup Job Failure or another condition.
- Set conditions:
- e.g., Trigger if a backup job fails more than once in 24 hours.
- Define Action Group
- Specify who should be notified:
- Email, SMS, or webhook.
- Multiple people or systems can be included.
- Specify who should be notified:
- Test Alerts
- Simulate a failed backup to ensure the alert triggers correctly.
4. Interpreting Reports and Alerts
Once configured, you need to understand the data:
- Success Rate
- Check the percentage of successful backups. A rate below 95% may require investigation.
- Failed Jobs
- Identify patterns. For example, if all failed jobs are for a single VM, the problem may be with that VM configuration.
- Retention Compliance
- Ensure recovery points are available as per your retention policy. Alerts can help identify missing recovery points.
- Trends Over Time
- Reports help predict storage needs and detect recurring backup failures.
5. Exam Focus Points for AZ-104
For the exam, remember:
- Backup Reports
- Know how to access, configure, and read reports from Recovery Services Vault.
- Understand types of reports: backup items, backup jobs, recovery points.
- Alerts
- Know how to create alerts for:
- Backup failures
- Vault health issues
- Retention policy compliance
- Know how to create alerts for:
- Integration
- Understand that Log Analytics and Power BI can enhance backup reporting.
- Corrective Actions
- Alerts must trigger action, e.g., notify the admin for failed backup jobs.
- Practical Skills
- Portal navigation: Recovery Services Vault → Backup Reports → Alerts & Events.
- Basic configuration of alert rules and action groups.
6. Key Terms to Remember
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Recovery Services Vault | Azure container to store backup data for VMs, databases, and workloads. |
| Backup Job | The process of copying data to a secure location. |
| Recovery Point | A snapshot of data at a specific time, used for restoring. |
| Alert Rule | Condition that triggers a notification when a backup fails or an issue occurs. |
| Action Group | Set of recipients (email, SMS, webhook) notified when an alert occurs. |
| Log Analytics Workspace | Azure service to store and query monitoring data for reports. |
✅ Summary:
Configuring and interpreting backup reports and alerts ensures your Azure environment remains protected, compliant, and recoverable. For AZ-104, you must know how to access reports, create alerts, and read the data to take corrective action quickly.
