Cloud backup and disaster recovery for your business
If important data disappeared today, what would you need back first? Start there when choosing a backup service.
Begin with the restore, not the backup
Anvil helps businesses discuss backup options for their environment, from cloud applications to information stored on computers and servers. We begin with what needs protecting and how your organisation would recover it.
Know what needs to be restored
List the information and systems your team relies on, where they are stored and who owns them. Email, shared files, application data and system configurations may need different protection.
Decide how much you could lose
Identify how much recent work your organisation could afford to lose and how long it could operate without the information. Those requirements guide the choice of service, backup frequency and recovery approach.
Understand your provider's features
Cloud platforms include resilience and recovery features, and some offer additional backup products. Those features have specific coverage, retention periods and restore methods.
Native features are not automatically enough. Microsoft offers Microsoft 365 Backup, while Google Workspace also provides recovery options for certain deleted data. Your decision should be based on whether the configured service meets your requirements — including what happens after an accidental deletion, account compromise or wider disruption.
Specify the backup before relying on it
A useful proposal identifies exactly what is covered and who does what. If any of these are missing, the proposal is not yet specific enough to rely on.
- The workloads included, and the ones deliberately excluded
- Retention settings and how long each version is kept
- Storage location and who can reach it
- Access controls on the backup itself
- Restore options, and which of them you have actually tested
- Who checks backup jobs, who can request a restore and who performs it
Test the recovery you expect to use
Successful backup jobs are useful evidence, but a restore exercise shows whether the recovery approach works for the information selected. Agree which scenarios to test and who will carry out that work.
Whole-system recovery is a bigger question
If you need recovery of complete systems, describe the applications, infrastructure and supplier dependencies involved. A file backup alone does not define how the whole business will resume operating.
Follow the NCSC guidance
New Zealand's National Cyber Security Centre recommends regular backup testing. Your test schedule and recovery objectives should match your organisation's needs.
$ anvil backup --restore-test
Scenario: accidental deletion, 30 days ago
> Locate restore point ....... ok
> Restore to staging ......... ok
> Verify file integrity ...... ok
> Time to usable data ........ recorded
A successful job is not a successful restore.
Bring your current arrangement
Tell us your existing backup product, the services and devices covered, your retention settings if known, and the last restore you tested.
We can discuss gaps in the information and the next step towards an appropriate solution.