1.0Sterlinghttps://sterling.comSterlinghttps://sterling.com/author/admin/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="BKnwzv2Fmx"><a href="https://sterling.com/diversifying-your-backups/">Diversifying Your Backups</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://sterling.com/diversifying-your-backups/embed/#?secret=BKnwzv2Fmx" width="600" height="338" title="“Diversifying Your Backups” — Sterling" data-secret="BKnwzv2Fmx" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); </script> Diversifying Your Backups: I have already discussed how backups are an integral part of recovery after a cyberattack, in my Sterling blog on VCDR (VMware Cloud Disaster-Recovery). Backing up your environment is the first step for protection from ransomware, bad updates, bad patches, and many other bad things that can happen daily. In code we refer to backups as ‘versions,’ and each code version is held to a specific standard that, if not upheld, would need to be rolled back to stable versions from faulty ones. When we look at backups and the orchestration, infrastructure, and automation needed to perform them, we must start by asking some very basic questions: "Where do these need to be stored?" "How long do we need to keep these backups? and "How often would we/do we use these backups?" Your answers will help determine your solution. The end goal here should not be just disaster recovery (DR). I believe that combining backups and DR creates a rather lukewarm solution and that you should probably look at each as an individual solution. However, some customers may use backup solutions as an extension of DR, and that's where cloud backups come in.