Learn the things to know about Recovery Services vaults in Azure

Azure Recovery Services Vaults are a critical component for managing and protecting data backups and disaster recovery solutions.

They serve as a centralized repository for storing and managing recovery points for various Azure resources.

Here's what you need to know about them.

Purpose of Recovery Services Vaults

1. Data Protection: Used to store and manage backups of Azure VMs, on-premises machines, files, folders, and workloads such as SQL Server and SAP HANA.

2. Disaster Recovery: Integrated with Azure Site Recovery (ASR) for replicating and recovering workloads during disasters.

Features of Recovery Services Vaults

Data Storage

1. Backup Data:

   • Recovery points from Azure Backup for VMs, managed disks, files, folders, and workloads.

2. Replication Options:

   • Locally Redundant Storage (LRS): Replicates data within a single data center.

   • Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS): Replicates data to a secondary Azure region for disaster recovery.

Retention Management

Provides flexible retention policies:

1. Short-term (daily backups retained for weeks/months).

2. Long-term (weekly, monthly, or yearly backups retained for compliance).

Encryption

Backup data is encrypted at rest using Azure Storage Service Encryption.

Supports Customer-Managed Keys (CMK) for additional security control.

Soft Delete

Protects backup data from accidental or malicious deletion by retaining deleted backups for 14 days.

Monitoring and Alerts

1. Built-in Monitoring:

   • Provides backup status, health, and metrics via the Azure portal.

2. Alerting:

   • Configurable alerts for backup job failures, restoration, or any issues.

Support for Various Workloads

Azure VMs, SQL Server, SAP HANA, Azure Files, on-premises servers, and other workloads.

Components of Recovery Services Vaults

1. Recovery Points:

   • A repository of snapshots and incremental backups for protected resources.

2. Backup Policies:

   • Define backup frequency (daily or weekly) and retention periods.

3. Protected Items:

   • Resources configured for backup (e.g., VMs, databases).

Security Features

1. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC):

   • Restricts access to the vault and backup resources.

2. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA):

   • Protects sensitive actions like deletion or modification of backups.

3. Immutable Backups:

   • Ensures that backups cannot be deleted or modified within the retention period.

Key Considerations for Using Recovery Services Vaults

Data Management

1. Separate Vaults for Different Workloads:

   • Organize workloads by region, environment (production/test), or compliance needs.

2. Capacity Management:

   • Monitor vault storage usage to avoid excessive costs.

Cost

Charged based on:

1. The number of protected instances (e.g., VMs or workloads).

2. The amount of storage consumed in the vault (LRS or GRS pricing applies).

Region-Specific Constraints

1. Recovery Services Vaults are region-specific.

2. Backups are stored in the region where the vault is created (except GRS replication).

Restore Scenarios

1. Granular Recovery: Restore entire VMs, disks, or individual files.

2. Cross-Region Restores: Available for geo-redundant vaults during region outages.

Best Practices for Recovery Services Vaults

Vault Management

1. Use Separate Vaults for Critical Workloads: Segregate production and test environments to simplify management.

2. Use GRS for Disaster Recovery: Ensure data redundancy and availability in secondary regions.

Backup Policies

1. Align Policies with Compliance Needs: Define retention periods based on organizational and regulatory requirements.

2. Automate Policy Application: Use Azure Policy to ensure consistent backup configurations.

Testing and Monitoring

1. Test Backup and Restore Processes: Regularly validate backup integrity by testing restores.

2. Set Alerts and Monitor Jobs: Ensure timely action on failures or anomalies.

Security

1. Enable Soft Delete: Prevent accidental or malicious deletion.

2. Use RBAC and MFA: Restrict access to sensitive vault operations.

Common Use Cases for Recovery Services Vaults

1. Backup and Restore: Protect Azure VMs, managed disks, Azure Files, and on-premises workloads.

2. Disaster Recovery: Leverage ASR for site-to-site replication and failover of workloads.

3. Compliance: Retain backups for regulatory requirements.

4. Cost Optimization: Use incremental backups and LRS storage for non-critical workloads.

How Recovery Services Vaults Differ from Other Azure Storage Options

Summary

Azure Recovery Services Vaults are an essential tool for managing backups and disaster recovery in Azure.

By leveraging their flexibility, automation, and robust security features, organizations can safeguard their data against risks, ensure compliance, and maintain business continuity.