This page provides an overview about Google Cloud Backup and DR Service capabilities, key benefits, what you can back up, and how it works.
What is Backup and DR Service?
Backup and DR Service is a managed service that provides backup and recovery of workloads running in Google Cloud. Backup and DR Service provides centralized management, monitoring, and reporting of day to day backup operations all from one place. The service supports seamless integration with existing automation using Terraform and APIs.
Backup and DR Service provides the following capabilities:
- Centralized backup management
- Policy-based backup management
- Comprehensive monitoring and reporting
- Incremental backups for faster RPO and lower TCO
Backup storage: the service supports two types of storage for backups:
A backup vault is a Google-managed secured and isolated storage resource, managed by Backup and DR Service. Backup vault provides the following features:
- Immutability: your data cannot be changed
- Indelibility: your data cannot be deleted
Backup vault storage is supported for Compute Engine instances, Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs, and self-managed Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server databases running inside VMs or Bare Metal Solution.
Self-managed storage refers to storage resources, excluding backup vaults, that you can directly access and manage yourself. Because you manage the storage, it can be deleted prematurely by any user who has sufficient storage permissions.
Capability Backup vault storage Self-managed storage Immutable and indelible backups Yes No Multi-region backups No Yes CMEK-encrypted backups No Yes
Whether using backup vaults or self-managed storage, you create backup plans for your data resources that you have to protect. A backup plan defines when to back up a resource, where to store the backup, and how long to retain the backups.
Backup vaults
A backup vault is secured and isolated storage, managed by Backup and DR Service. Backup vaults are designed with features that support resilience against malicious or accidental deletion of backups, supporting a variety of data protection use cases including cyber recovery. A backup vault can only store backups in the same region as that of the workload. If you need to store your backups across multiple regions or in a region different than that of the workload, use self-managed storage. Backup vault is supported in these supported regions.
The minimum enforced retention period, a property of backup vault, ensures that backups are strongly secured against modification and deletion for the timeframe you define. You can specify the minimum enforced retention period up to 99 years.
You create, access, and manage backup vaults using Backup and DR Service in the Google Cloud console.
For full details on backup vaults, see Backup and DR Service backup vault storage.
Self-managed storage
Self-managed storage includes Persistent Disk snapshots and backups in Cloud Storage buckets that are created to store backup data in your Google Cloud projects.
- The Backup and DR management console is an interface for managing backup to self-managed storage.
Backup plans
There are some important differences between backup plans created in the Google Cloud console and backup plans created in the management console, as described in the following table.
| Supported workload | Backup plan in Google Cloud console | Backup plan in management console |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Engine VMs | Yes | Yes |
| Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs | No | Yes |
| File systems and self-managed databases, such as Oracle, SQL Server, SAP HANA, IBM Db2, MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SAP ASE, SAP IQ, and SAP MaxDB, can run on virtual machines (VMs) or on Bare Metal Solution. | No | Yes |
| Minimum RPO | 6 hours | 15 mins |
Backup plans created in the Google Cloud console use backup vault storage.
Backup plans created in the Google Cloud console
When you create a backup plan in the Google Cloud console, it consists of the following:
- A backup vault storage destination for the backups.
One or more backup rules. Backup rules define the following:
- The frequency of backup creation: hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly.
- The backup window, the specific day and time of day for the backup job to start and the time by which it must be finished.
- How long to retain the backup before automatically expiring it.
Backups automatically expire and are deleted after the backup retention period is reached. Backups stored in backup vaults are immutable and indelible; they cannot be modified or deleted for the duration of the backup vault's minimum enforced retention period.
You create a backup plan with backup vault storage from the Backup and DR product in the Google Cloud console.
When you create a backup plan with backup vault storage, you must select an existing backup vault as the storage location for your backups. The backup plan and backup vault must exist in the same region that the workload is running in, and the backup vault must exist when you create the backup plan.
Backup plans created in the management console
Backup plans are created in the Backup and DR management console and the backup jobs are run on specialized Google Cloud VMs called backup/recovery appliances that you deploy in your own Cloud projects. The management console Backup Plans tab provides two easy-to-use wizards to create a data-handling policies that will be applied to your applications:
- Templates: Use the Templates wizard to control the frequency and retention of data. You can also perform data tiering and replication using the Templates wizard, for more information see Create a backup template.
- Profiles: Use the Profiles wizard to control the physical location and storage pools where data is stored. For more information, see Create a resource profile.
Backups automatically expire and are deleted after the backup retention period is reached.
Back up Compute Engine instances
Compute Engine instances can be backed up using the Backup and DR management console into self-managed storage, and using the Google Cloud console into backup vaults.
Back up Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs
Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs are fully supported in the Backup and DR management console for both backup vault and self-managed storage.
Back up self-managed Oracle and SQL Server databases
Self-managed Oracle and SQL Server databases are the following databases running inside a VM or Bare Metal Solution in your project:
- Oracle databases running on Bare Metal Solution, Compute Engine VMs, or Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs
- SQL Server databases running on Compute Engine or Google Cloud VMware Engine VMs
These self-managed databases can be backed up from the Backup and DR management console into backup vaults or into self-managed storage.
Pricing
Refer to Backup and DR Service pricing for pricing details.
What's next
The following quickstart guides can help you begin a backup and recovery workflow for your application: