Video Transcript (English)

Data is incredibly valuable. It’s also impossible to recreate without a backup. In this video, you’ll learn what a backup plan is and the key elements of a backup plan. You’ll also become familiar with the terms Recovery Point Objectives and Recovery Time Objectives.

An important part of being a database administrator is formulating a backup plan in case of a disruption. A backup plan usually involves defining a process for: How to back up data, How often data is backed up, How long to retain backup data, And where to store backup data.

These factors also help you determine what type of backup you need to use, whether it’s snapshots, built-in tools like mongodump and mongorestore, or another type of tool.

These tools all have different tradeoffs and features, such as the amount of time it takes and what they back up, whether data files or the entire database.

For example, mongodump is a type of backup that isn’t ideal for large systems but may be appropriate for small IoT devices.

Having a well-prepared backup plan has many benefits, whether it’s keeping your business functional during an unforeseen event or satisfying regulatory obligations.

For example, if a bank suddenly loses the ability for users to access their funds or information, their reputation could be severely tarnished. In a worst-case scenario, they could go out of business.

This scenario could be applied to any business, with similar consequences. A well-defined backup plan can minimize and, in some cases, eliminate consequences.

Regulatory obligations are another important factor to consider when developing your backup plan. Some governments or regulators may require data to be backed up for a certain amount of time, or limit where that data is stored.

For example, the Healthcare Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is a law in the United States that has specific requirements for storing and accessing patient data.

Business needs and regulatory obligations are good reasons to begin formulating a backup plan, but now let’s focus on how to formulate one.

Two terms that are crucial to know when formulating a backup plan are: Recovery Point Objective, or RPO, And Recovery Time Objective, or RTO

A Recovery Point Objective is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss that a business is willing to tolerate in the event of a disruption, expressed as an amount of time.

RPO is determined based on a variety of factors, including the criticality of the data, the time and effort required to recreate or re-enter lost data, and the cost of downtime.

For example, let’s say a business decides that two hours worth of data loss is acceptable and they experience an outage at 12 PM. This means the business needs to recover all data that was recorded before 10 AM.

Next, a Recovery Time Objective is the maximum amount of time that a business can tolerate after an outage before the disruption makes normal business operations intolerable.

RTO is determined based on several factors, including the criticality of the systems, the recovery process, the availability of resources, and the cost of downtime.

For example, if a business has an RTO of three hours, this means all systems need to be running by three hours after an outage, at most.

As you probably understand by now, developing a backup plan takes some time and involves multiple parties. There are a lot of considerations that go into formulating a backup plan.

Nice work! In this video, we discussed what a backup plan is and the factors that go into developing one.

You learned that a Recovery Point Objective is the maximum acceptable amount of data loss that a business is willing to tolerate in the event of a disruption, expressed as an amount of time.

Finally, you learned that the Recovery Time Objective is the maximum amount of time that a business can tolerate after an outage before the disruption makes normal business operations intolerable.