Implement backup and recovery
📘Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104)
In Azure, performing backup and restore operations means saving your data and recovering it when needed. This is crucial for protecting your applications, virtual machines, and files from accidental deletion, corruption, or disasters.
1. Azure Backup Overview
Azure Backup is a cloud-based service that helps you back up data from Azure or on-premises resources to a secure location in Azure called a Recovery Services Vault.
Key points for the exam:
- Recovery Services Vault: A storage entity in Azure that stores backup data.
- Supported workloads:
- Azure VMs: Back up the entire virtual machine.
- Files and folders: Back up specific files or folders.
- SQL databases: Back up SQL databases hosted in Azure VMs.
- Azure File Shares: Back up files in Azure Storage Accounts.
2. Backup Types
Azure supports two main types of backup:
- Full Backup
- A complete copy of the resource (VM, files, or database).
- First backup is always a full backup.
- Incremental Backup
- Only backs up changes since the last backup.
- Saves storage and reduces backup time.
Exam Tip: Azure Backup automatically uses incremental backups for VMs after the initial full backup.
3. Performing Backup Operations
Step 1: Create a Recovery Services Vault
- Go to Azure portal → Recovery Services vault → Create
- Choose:
- Name for the vault
- Resource group
- Region
- This vault will store your backups securely.
Step 2: Configure Backup
- Open the vault and click + Backup.
- Choose the where your workload is running:
- Azure for Azure VMs, databases, file shares.
- On-premises for servers outside Azure.
- Choose what to back up:
- Azure VM (full VM)
- Files and folders
- SQL in VM
- Azure File Shares
Step 3: Set a Backup Policy
- Backup policy defines when and how often backups happen and how long they are kept.
- Key settings:
- Frequency: Daily, weekly, monthly
- Retention: How long backup is stored (days, months, years)
- Policies automate the backup so you don’t have to manually do it every day.
Step 4: Start Backup
- Click Backup now to trigger an immediate backup.
- After completion, Azure stores the backup in the Recovery Services vault.
Exam Tip: Backups are encrypted in transit and at rest using AES 256-bit encryption.
4. Restore Operations
Restoring means recovering data from a backup. Azure provides flexible restore options.
Restore Azure VMs
- Navigate to Recovery Services Vault → Backup Items → Azure Virtual Machine
- Select the VM and click Restore
- Choose restore options:
- Create new VM: Restore backup as a new VM
- Replace existing VM: Restore backup over the current VM
- Restore disk only: Restore VM disks for attaching later
Restore Files and Folders
- Open the vault → Backup Items → Files and folders
- Click Restore VM
- Choose files or folders to restore
- Download the restored files locally or to a VM
Restore Azure File Shares
- Open vault → Backup Items → Azure File Share
- Click Restore
- Choose:
- Restore point (date of backup)
- Restore location (original or new file share)
Restore SQL Databases in VM
- Vault → Backup Items → SQL in Azure VM
- Choose Restore point
- Decide on restore type:
- Restore database to existing database
- Restore database as new database
Exam Tip: Always check restore points—these are snapshots of your backup at specific times. You can only restore to available restore points.
5. Important Features for the Exam
- Instant Restore
- Quickly restore files or disks without restoring the full VM.
- Cross-region restore
- If you have geo-redundant storage (GRS), you can restore backups in a secondary region in case the primary region fails.
- Backup monitoring
- Use Azure Backup reports and alerts to monitor backup status.
- Soft Delete
- Deleted backups are retained for 14 more days to prevent accidental deletion.
6. Exam Tips & Focus Areas
- Know the different backup workloads and which are supported.
- Understand backup policies: frequency and retention.
- Be familiar with restore options for:
- Azure VMs
- Files and folders
- Azure File Shares
- SQL in VMs
- Remember encryption and security features.
- Understand soft delete and cross-region restore.
✅ Summary Table
| Operation | Key Steps | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Backup Azure VM | Vault → Backup → Select VM → Policy → Backup Now | Uses incremental backups after first full backup |
| Restore VM | Vault → Backup Items → VM → Restore → Options | Can restore new VM, existing VM, or disks |
| Backup Files/Folders | Vault → Backup → Select Files → Policy | Incremental backup supported |
| Restore Files/Folders | Vault → Backup Items → Files → Restore → Choose files | Can download or restore to VM |
| Backup Azure File Share | Vault → Backup → File Share → Policy | Supports GRS for cross-region restore |
| Restore File Share | Vault → Backup Items → File Share → Restore | Can choose original or new location |
| Backup SQL in VM | Vault → Backup → SQL DB → Policy | Supports full and differential backups |
| Restore SQL in VM | Vault → Backup Items → SQL → Restore | Can restore to new or existing database |
