When it comes to data backup, one of the most debated topics is the frequency of full backups. For many users, the choice between weekly and monthly full backups comes down to balancing storage constraints, data restoration speed, and the level of data protection required. While incremental backups help reduce the load on storage, a full backup is essential to ensure a solid recovery point, independent of daily incremental changes.

In this post, we’ll explore the benefits of both weekly and monthly full backups, along with practical tips to help you choose the best backup frequency for your unique data needs.

Why Full Backups Matter

A full backup creates a complete copy of all selected files, applications, and settings. Unlike incremental or differential backups that only capture changes since the last backup, a full backup ensures that you have a standalone version of your entire dataset. This feature makes full backups crucial for effective disaster recovery and system restoration, as it eliminates dependency on previous incremental backups.

The frequency of these backups affects both the time it takes to perform backups and the speed of data restoration. Regular full backups are particularly useful for heavily used systems or environments with high data turnover (also known as churn rate), where data changes frequently and might not be easily reconstructed from incremental backups alone.

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Weekly Full Backups: The Pros and Cons

Weekly full backups offer a practical solution for users who prioritize speed in recovery processes. Here are some of the main advantages and drawbacks of this approach.

Advantages of Weekly Full Backups

• Faster Restore Times

With a recent full backup on hand, you reduce the amount of data that needs to be processed during restoration. This is especially beneficial if your system has a high churn rate, or if rapid recovery is critical for your operations.

• Enhanced Data Protection

A weekly full backup provides more regular independent recovery points. In cases where an incremental chain might become corrupted, having a recent full backup ensures minimal data loss and faster recovery.

• Reduced Storage Chains

Weekly full backups break up long chains of incremental backups, simplifying backup management and reducing the risk of issues accumulating over extended chains.

Drawbacks of Weekly Full Backups

• High Storage Requirement

Weekly full backups require more storage space, as you’re capturing a complete system image more frequently. For users with limited storage capacity, this might lead to increased costs or the need for additional storage solutions.

• Increased System Load

A weekly full backup is a more intensive operation compared to daily incrementals. If performed on production servers, it may slow down performance during backup times, especially if the system lacks robust storage infrastructure.

Monthly Full Backups: Benefits and Considerations

For users who want to conserve storage and reduce system load, monthly full backups might be the ideal option. Here’s a closer look at the benefits and potential drawbacks of choosing monthly full backups.

Advantages of Monthly Full Backups

• Reduced Storage Usage

By performing a full backup just once a month, you significantly reduce storage needs. This approach is particularly useful for systems with low daily data change rates, where day-to-day changes are minimal.

• Lower System Impact

Monthly full backups mean fewer instances where the system is under the heavy load of a full backup. If you’re working with limited processing power or storage, this can help maintain system performance while still achieving a comprehensive backup.

• Cost Savings

For those using paid storage solutions, reducing the number of full backups can lead to cost savings, especially if storage is based on the amount of data retained.

Drawbacks of Monthly Full Backups

• Longer Restore Times

In case of a restoration, relying on a monthly full backup can increase the amount of data that must be processed. If your system fails toward the end of the month, you’ll have a long chain of incremental backups to restore, which can lengthen the restoration time.

• Higher Dependency on Incremental Chains

Monthly full backups create long chains of incremental backups, meaning you’ll depend on each link in the chain for a successful recovery. Any issue with an incremental backup could compromise the entire chain, making regular health checks essential.

• Potential for Data Loss

Since there are fewer full backups, a loss of data between the full backup and the latest incremental backup might increase the recovery point objective (RPO), meaning some data might be unrecoverable if an incident occurs.

Key Factors to Consider in Deciding Backup Frequency

To find the best backup frequency, consider these important factors:

• Churn Rate

Assess how often your data changes. A high churn rate, where large amounts of data are modified daily, typically favors more frequent full backups, as it reduces dependency on long incremental chains.

• Restore Time Objective (RTO)

How quickly do you need to restore data after a failure? Faster recovery is often achievable with weekly full backups, while monthly full backups may require more processing time to restore.

• Retention Policy

Your data retention policy will impact how much backup data you’re keeping and for how long. Frequent full backups generally require more storage, so if you’re on a strict retention schedule, you’ll need to weigh this factor accordingly.

• Storage Capacity

Storage limitations can play a big role in determining backup frequency. Weekly full backups require more space, so if storage is constrained, monthly backups might be a better fit.

• Data Sensitivity and Risk Tolerance

Systems with highly sensitive or critical data may benefit from more frequent full backups to mitigate data loss risks and minimize potential downtimes.

Best Practices for Efficient Backup Management

To get the most out of your full backups, consider implementing these best practices:

• Use Synthetic Full Backups

Synthetic full backups can reduce storage costs by reusing existing backup data and creating a new “full” backup based on incrementals. This approach maintains a recent recovery point without increasing storage demands drastically.

• Run Regular Health Checks

Performing regular integrity checks on backups can help catch issues early and ensure that all data is recoverable when needed. Weekly or monthly checks, depending on system load and criticality, can provide peace of mind and prevent chain corruption from impacting your recovery.

• Review Your Backup Strategy Periodically

Data needs can change over time, so it’s important to revisit your backup frequency, retention policies, and storage usage periodically. Adjusting your approach as your data profile changes helps ensure that your backup strategy remains efficient and effective.

Catalogic: Proven Reliability in Business Continuity

For over 25 years, Catalogic has been a trusted partner in data protection and business continuity. Our backup solutions have helped countless customers maintain seamless operations, even in the face of data disruptions. By providing tailored backup strategies that prioritize both security and efficiency, we ensure that businesses can recover swiftly from any scenario.

If you’re seeking a reliable backup plan that matches your business needs, our team is here to help. Contact us to learn how we can craft a detailed backup strategy that protects your data and keeps your business running smoothly, no matter what.

Finding the Right Balance for Your Data Backup Needs

Deciding between weekly and monthly full backups depends on factors like data change rate, storage capacity, recovery requirements, and risk tolerance. For systems with high data churn or critical recovery needs, weekly full backups can offer the assurance of faster restores. On the other hand, if you’re managing data with lower volatility and need to conserve storage, monthly full backups may provide the balance you need.

Ultimately, the goal is to find a frequency that protects your data effectively while aligning with your technical and operational constraints. Regularly assess and adjust your backup strategy to keep your system secure, responsive, and prepared for the unexpected.

As organizations brace for VMware’s licensing changes set for November 2024, IT leaders and system administrators are analyzing how these updates could reshape their virtualization strategies. Driven by VMware‘s parent company Broadcom, these changes are expected to impact renewal plans, budget allocations, and long-term infrastructure strategies. With significant adjustments anticipated, understanding the details of the new licensing model will be crucial for making informed decisions. Here’s a comprehensive overview of what to expect and how to prepare for these upcoming shifts.

Overview of the Upcoming VMware Licensing Changes

Broadcom’s new licensing approach is part of an ongoing effort to streamline and optimize VMware’s product offerings, aligning them more closely with enterprise needs and competitive market dynamics. The changes include:

• Reintroduction of Licensing Tiers: VMware is bringing back popular options like vSphere Standard and Enterprise Plus, providing more flexibility for customers with varying scale and feature requirements.
• Adjustments in Pricing: Reports indicate that there will be price increases associated with these licensing tiers. While details on the exact cost structure are still emerging, organizations should anticipate adjustments that could impact their budgeting processes.
• Enhanced vSAN Capacity: A notable change includes a 2.5x increase in the vSAN capacity included in VMware vSphere Foundation, up to 250 GiB per core. This enhancement is aimed at making VMware’s offerings more competitive in the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) market.

Implications for Organizations

Organizations with active VMware environments or those considering renewals need to take a strategic approach to these changes. Key points to consider include:

1. Subscription Model Continuation: VMware has shifted more decisively towards subscription-based licensing, phasing out perpetual licenses that were favored by many long-term users. This shift may require organizations to adapt their financial planning, transitioning from capital expenditures (CapEx) to operating expenses (OpEx).
2. Enterprise Plus vs. Standard Licensing: With the return of Enterprise Plus and Standard licenses, IT teams will need to evaluate which tier aligns best with their operational needs. While vSphere Standard may suffice for smaller or more straightforward deployments, Enterprise Plus brings advanced features such as Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS), enhanced automation tools, and more robust storage capabilities.
3. VDI and Advanced Use Cases: For environments hosting virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) or complex virtual machine configurations, the type of licensing chosen can impact system performance and manageability. Advanced features like DRS are often crucial for efficiently balancing workloads and ensuring seamless user experiences. Organizations should determine if vSphere Standard will meet their requirements or if upgrading to a more comprehensive tier is necessary.

Thinking About Migrating VMware to Other Platforms?

For organizations considering a migration from VMware to other platforms, comprehensive planning and expertise are essential. Catalogic can assist with designing hypervisor strategies that align with your specific business needs. With over 25 years of experience in backup and disaster recovery (DR) solutions, Catalogic covers almost all major hypervisor platforms. By talking with our experts, you can ensure that your migration strategy is secure, and tailored to support business continuity and growth.

Preparing for Renewal Decisions

With the new licensing details set to roll out in November, here’s how organizations can prepare:

• Review Current Licensing: Start by taking an inventory of your current VMware licenses and their usage. Understand which features are essential for your environment, such as high availability, load balancing, or specific storage needs.
• Budget Adjustments: If your current setup relies on features now allocated to higher licensing tiers, prepare for potential budget increases. Engage with your finance team early to discuss possible cost implications and explore opportunities to allocate additional funds if needed.
• Explore Alternatives: Some organizations are already considering open-source or alternative virtualization platforms such as Proxmox or CloudStack to avoid potential cost increases. These solutions offer flexibility and can be tailored to meet specific needs, although they come with different management and support models.
• Engage with Resellers: Your VMware reseller can be a key resource for understanding the full scope of licensing changes and providing insights on available promotions or bundled options that could reduce overall costs.

Potential Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits:

• Increased Value for Larger Deployments: The expanded vSAN capacity included in the vSphere Foundation may benefit organizations with extensive storage needs.
• More Licensing Options: The return of multiple licensing tiers allows for a more customized approach to licensing based on an organization’s specific needs.

Drawbacks:

• Price Increases: Anticipated cost hikes could challenge budget-conscious IT departments, especially those managing medium to large-scale deployments.
• Feature Allocation: Depending on the licensing tier selected, certain advanced features that were previously included in more cost-effective packages may now require an upgrade.

Strategic Considerations

When evaluating whether to renew, upgrade, or shift to alternative platforms, consider the following:

• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Calculate the potential TCO over the next three to five years, factoring in not only licensing fees but also potential hidden costs such as training, support, and additional features that may need separate licensing.
• Performance and Scalability Needs: For organizations running high-demand applications or expansive VDI deployments, Enterprise Plus might be the better fit due to its enhanced capabilities.
• Long-Term Viability: Assess the sustainability of your chosen platform, whether it’s VMware or an alternative, to ensure that it can meet future requirements as your organization grows.

Conclusion

The November 2024 changes to VMware’s licensing strategy bring both opportunities and challenges for IT leaders. Understanding these adjustments and preparing for their impact is crucial for making informed decisions that align with your organization’s operational and financial goals. Whether continuing with VMware or considering alternatives, proactive planning will be key to navigating this new landscape effectively.

Broadcom’s Strategic Acquisition of VMware: Navigating the Evolving Technology Landscape 

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware signifies a major shift in the tech industry, focusing on streamlined products, subscription models, revised pricing, and improved customer support. This strategy, emblematic of Broadcom’s adaptability, emphasizes flexibility in the changing market. CEO Hock Tan’s decision to divest VMware’s non-core units including EUC (end-user computing),  further aligns with this approach, prioritizing their core cloud services. 

From Perpetual to Subscription: A New Era for VMware 

Transitioning from traditional perpetual licenses to subscription models, Broadcom confronts customer and partner concerns regarding predictability and financial implications. To ease this transition, Broadcom is offering robust support and incentives, aligning with broader industry trends. However, this shift also raises questions about future pricing and support strategies, highlighting Broadcom’s strategy to establish predictable revenue streams through subscription licensing. 

Exploring Alternatives: Hyper-V, Nutanix, and Proxmox 

Amidst VMware‘s licensing model change, users are actively evaluating alternatives such as Hyper-V, Nutanix, and Proxmox. Hyper-V, a Windows-based hypervisor tightly integrated with Microsoft Azure Cloud, provides cost-effective and scalable solutions. Nutanix stands out for its hyperconverged infrastructure, offering ease of management and cloud-like capabilities. On the other hand, Proxmox VE, an open-source platform, is renowned for its scalability, flexibility, and cost-efficiency. 

Hyper-V is a Windows-based hypervisor that offers integration with Microsoft Azure Cloud. It is a cost-effective option, as it is a bare-metal hypervisor that does not require new hardware. Hyper-V also provides high availability and scalability.

Nutanix is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) platform that offers simplified management and cloud-like capabilities. It also provides financial incentives for migration, such as discounts on its software and hardware. Nutanix Cloud Clusters facilitate the migration of apps and workloads to the cloud without the need for re-architecting or replatforming.

Proxmox VE is an open-source hypervisor that provides scalability and flexibility. It can support up to 32 nodes and 16,000 virtual machines in a single cluster. Proxmox VE also offers licensing cost savings.

The choice of platform depends on the specific needs and existing infrastructure of the organization. Organizations that need tight integration with Microsoft Azure Cloud should consider Hyper-V. Organizations that want simplified management and cloud-like capabilities, and that are willing to pay for these features, should consider Nutanix. Organizations that need scalability and flexibility, and that are budget-conscious, should consider Proxmox VE.

Catalogic’s Role in Seamless Migration 

As a data protection leader with over 30 years of experience, Catalogic has helped numerous customers navigate the migration process. While there are various third-party and vendor-provided migration tools available, backup remains a critical step in ensuring data integrity and business continuity during the migration journey. Catalogic’s DPX solution offers a streamlined approach for VMware backup through its Agentless VMware Backup feature, eliminating the need for agent installation and management on individual virtual machines. For Microsoft Hyper-V environments, Catalogic provides both DPX Block and Agentless options, simplifying backup processes and minimizing impact on production systems. DPX vPlus, an agentless backup and snapshot-management solution, caters to virtual environments and cloud, enhancing backup performance and automation, enabling efficient recovery testing, and delivering significant resource, time, and cost savings. With its agentless design and ability to integrate into Nutanix clusters, DPX vPlus optimizes backup performance and seamlessly integrates with Nutanix’s Changed Region Tracking feature, ensuring comprehensive data protection throughout the migration process.

As businesses increasingly adopt Microsoft 365 services and applications, it’s essential to use cost-effective, fast, and reliable data backup solutions. While many assume that Microsoft 365 has built-in data protection, it’s important to remember that data protection is always the responsibility of your company, especially when it comes to meeting traditional backup, regulatory, and compliance policies. That’s where Catalogic DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365 comes in to provide a comprehensive Microsoft 365 backup solution. 

DPX vPlus provides continuous protection for critical business data in Microsoft 365, including file versioning and optional compression and deduplication. With DPX vPlus, businesses get the whole package of necessary tools to backup and recover Microsoft cloud application and services data, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams. With granular and point-in-time restore options, flexible retention and backup schedules, and automatic protection of new users, DPX vPlus makes it easy to backup and recover Microsoft 365 backup data. 

But what about software and storage costs? That’s where this joint solution shines. DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365 with Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage offers the least expensive backup solution to lower your costs for backing up your Microsoft 365 data. DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365 is a comprehensive data protection solution for businesses that need to backup and recover their critical data. With granular and point-in-time restore options, flexible retention and backup schedules, and automatic protection of new users, DPX vPlus makes it easy to backup and recover Microsoft 365 backup data.  

With Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage, businesses can store their backups off-site in a fast, affordable, and secure way. Wasabi’s simple pricing model with no hidden fees means that businesses only pay for the cloud storage they use, making it the perfect solution for cost-conscious businesses.  

In conclusion, DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365 and Wasabi as a cloud storage provider offer the least expensive joint solution to lower your cost for Microsoft 365 backup. With the comprehensive data protection features of DPX vPlus and Wasabi’s affordable and secure cloud storage, businesses can backup and recover their critical data without breaking the bank. 

Resources for further learning:

Datasheet: Catalogic DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365

Demonstration video: Video for DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365

Setup Guide: How To Use Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage for DPX vPlus Backup Storage 

SharePoint has been the go-to-service for organizations when it comes to managing large volumes of shared data in the cloud. The SharePoint platform makes sharing of documents amongst teams an easy process, especially since remote team-work has become the norm. Because of this, SharePoint oftentimes contains essential, business data, and this exposes a major gap in the SharePoint on-line platform: risk of data loss if you don’t do Microsoft 365 backups.  

Now, if you’ve ever experienced losing a document that wasn’t backed up, imagine how much worse it can be when an organization’s entire SharePoint site at risk! SharePoint does not provide any native backup and restoration features to protect the data contained in it. Data loss in SharePoint can be caused by a number of different factors, accidental or otherwise, including threats from inside and outside of your organization. This is why a SharePoint backup solution is a necessity. (You can click here to request a MS365 Backup demo)

How Microsoft 365 Protects Your Data 

Like the other applications in Microsoft 365, SharePoint does provide built-in data protection tools that may feel like SharePoint backup. Features like the Recycle Bin, and the ability to set up retention policies for deleted data can help you restore information that was inadvertently deleted. However, these features have limitations when files are not used on a regular basis and when they have been deleted for a longer period of time.  

Recycle Bin

When SharePoint files are deleted, they are moved to the Recycle Bin, where they are stored for 93 days. If an end user were to empty their personal Recycle Bin, the items are transferred to the second-stage Recycle Bin. The second-stage bin is hidden from the end user, only accessible by your Microsoft 365 administrator, and will retain the files for the remainder of the 93 days. Regardless of the Recycle Bin that holds the files, after the 93 days, the files will be purged and cannot be recovered by the administrator. Another important thing to consider is that files in Recycle Bins still count against storage quota. When your total volume of your data exceeds your storage quota, files are removed from the Recycle Bin in order to make space for new items. 

Retention Policies 

Retention policies including litigation holds, can be applied to an entire SharePoint site to prevent data deletion of any kind. As long as the hold policy is in effect, data in the site cannot be deleted by the user. However, this leaves a vulnerability where rogue administrators, or infected end users with privileged access can still delete items from a site. SharePoint does provide Retention Lock, which will ensure that no one can manipulate an existing retention policy. One thing to keep in mind when considering Retention Lock, is that enabling this feature is an irreversible action. While a site sit in the locked state and no data is being cleaned/deleted, storage space can quickly be consumed, requiring you to purchase additional storage space. 

As a SaaS solution, SharePoint functions using a “share responsibility” model when it comes to data protection. This essentially states that Microsoft is responsible for keeping the SharePoint application and the underlying infrastructure running, but Microsoft 365 subscribers are responsible for securing and backup up their own data. If an organization were to suffer a data loss event within the Microsoft 365 cloud, it is up to the organization, not Microsoft, to recover the lost data from their own Microsoft 365 backups 

Lack of Microsoft 365 Backup Leaves You Exposed 

As mentioned above, SharePoint is a great solution for sharing documents and other crucial information in a collaborative environment. However, since the data is available to be used, modified, and deleted by multiple remote end users, the data can be exposed to several different dangers. However, no matter how severe these dangers are, all of them can be dealt with by simply having a functional SharePoint backup ready to be rolled back in case a serious data loss occurs. Here are some of the worst dangers, which can easily be prevented with a SharePoint backup: 

Accidental Deletion 

Human error remains the leading cause of most data loss. A user may delete a file by accident, or perhaps overwrite good data with something that is incorrect. Since SharePoint is commonly used for team-related work and utilized by many different employees simultaneously, it is not unusual for data to shift places, or to be removed by someone once it becomes redundant or outdated.  

While Microsoft offers features like the Recycle Bin to restore recently deleted data, it is very common for files to be deleted, or data to be overwritten without anyone noticing. Also, data that was once deemed unnecessary, or outdated, may become relevant again in the future. However, restoring such data, which was deleted for a longer time period, is not possible in SharePoint unless you have a third party SharePoint backup in place. Even worse, this type of data is often removed in bulk, which can, in turn, lead to the unintended deletion of large amounts of important information. 

Malware/Ransomware 

Ransomware represents one of the single biggest threats to SharePoint data. Because data is accessed from several different endpoints, SharePoint is vulnerable to possible malware and ransomware attacks from external sources. If a user accidentally opens an infected link or a file with malware inside, they can infect all of the documents and information stored within SharePoint.  

Once ransomware infects a SharePoint site, it can spread to other files, causing them to become encrypted. If this happens, very little can be done to retrieve this data. However, utilizing an external and air-gapped SharePoint backup can be a simply way to restore the effected data back to a point-in-time before the attack occurred.  

Internal Threats 

Malicious threats of data loss don’t always come from outside the organization. A disgruntled employee, or administrator may take it upon themselves to delete large amounts of data before leaving the organization. They may also empty the Recycle Bin or modify existing retention policies which can make recovery of the data very difficult. Having a SharePoint backup solution with file-level recovery capabilities can easily recover those files to the original location, or even migrate that data to a new owner or a new SharePoint site.  

Effective SharePoint Backup and Recovery 

SharePoint, as well as the rest of the applications making up the Microsoft 365 suite, provides great value for organizations, especially those working collaboratively from various locations and endpoints. However, Microsoft leaves end users vulnerable to data loss because its native data protection features do not fully protect you from all data loss scenarios. With that in mind, it is imperative that SharePoint users, and Microsoft 365 users in general, utilize a third-party backup solution for those disaster recovery and day-to-day recovery situations.  

That is where DPX vPlus comes in. DPX vPlus is a Microsoft 365 backup and recovery solution for SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, and Teams. It provides the ability for granular backup and recovery of all aspects of the Microsoft 365 suite. This means that if a SharePoint item, email, contact, calendar item or file is accidentally deleted, modified, or lost, that data can be recovered to its original location, to an alternate user in the cloud, or downloaded locally. A modern, web-based user interface makes administration and backup scheduling simple and efficient. Deduplication, compression and encryption (in transit and at rest), ensures that your data is not only protected, but limits storage requirements and provides a scalable architecture. 

If you would like to learn more about DPX vPlus for Microsoft 365 backup, you can request a live demo or even get a 30-day trial copy to try it for yourself. You can also watch a pre-recorded demonstration of vPlus backup and recovery for Microsoft 365. We’ll be happy to help you set things up.