Data Protection
  • 10 May 2023
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Data Protection

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Article summary

Service Overview

Cloud Data Protection is Backup as a Service that allows clients to protect their data while removing the overhead of maintaining capacity and management of the platform itself. As a managed service, Expedient maintains the platform and manages capacity so that clients can focus on what data and applications they're protecting and not the platform doing the protection. Clients have full access to recover data on their schedule and Expedient is available to assist with recoveries, providing a layer of support in a critical situation. With support for multiple operating systems, databases, and even cloud resources, clients can rest easy knowing their data is safe in case of accidental deletion or ransomware attack.

Service Features

  • Pay per TB used
  • Encryption at rest
  • Immutable backups
  • Deduplication and compression
  • Available as a multi-tenant or dedicated platform
  • Easy to use management portal
  • 24x7x365 support for backup and restore assistance
  • Can be deployed on-site for ROBO needs
  • Replication to Expedient and between Expedient locations for resiliency
  • Customizable retention schedule
  • Archive to object storage

Default Deployment Settings

  • 2 week or 4 week retention
    • Custom retention periods available
  • All Enterprise Cloud VMs backed up from creation
  • Deduplication, compression and erasure coding enabled
  • Encryption-at-rest and in-flight enabled

Use Cases

  • Virtual Machine backups
    • On-premises virtual machines
    • Expedient virtual machines
    • Hyperscale virtual machines
  • Operating system backups
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • AIX
  • NAS backups
    • File servers
    • Expedient Cloud File Storage
    • NAS appliances
  • Database backups
    • Microsoft SQL
    • Oracle
    • DB2
  • Application backups
    • Microsoft 365 (Exchange, OneDrive, Sharepoint)
  • Long term archive to object storage
    • Expedient Cloud Object Storage
    • Amazon S3 and S3-compatible storage

Responsibility and Accountability Matrix

Cloud Data Protection Responsibility Matrix
TaskExpedientClientCo-ManagedCo-Managed tasks can be performed by Expedient or Client based on Client's preference
Procure, Install, Configure, Manage and Maintain Hosted HardwareX


Procure, Ship, Configure, Manage and Maintain HardwareX


Procure, Install, Configure, Manage and Maintain SoftwareX


Capacity Management & ReportingX


Management Console User and Access ManagementX


Define Backup and Replication Retention Policies

XExpedient creates default policies of 2 weeks and 4 weeks. Clients can create additional policies to meet retention needs.
Maintain Backup Retention Policy Compliance

X
Configure & Manage Retention Policies

X
Configure & Manage Backup Jobs

X
Configure and Manage Replication Jobs

X
Install Agents - Windows

XExpedient will not have OS access without OS Management service
Configure Agents - Windows

X
Install VMware integrationX
XExpedient will configure the VMware integration for Expedient Enterprise Cloud, Dedicated Private Cloud and vColo. This becomes a shared responsibility on ROBO and on-site clusters.
Configure VMware integration

XAfter installation all new VMs will be automatically added to the "default" policy, Client or Expedient can move VMs to a specific policy
Install Agents - SQL

X
Configure Agents - SQL

X
Install Agents - AIX
X

Configure Agents - AIX
X

Monitoring and alerting for failed backups jobsX


Troubleshoot failed backups

XExpedient services are limited to tasks inside the backup management console and guidance on tasks inside the OS, Expedient can provide OS management for Windows and would include backup job troubleshooting
Restores - VMware

XRecovery can be initiated by Expedient via the management console
Restores - Windows

XRecovery can be initiated by Expedient via the management console
Restores - AIX/DB2
X
Recovery can be initiated by Expedient via the management console
Recovery testing

X
Rack, Stack, and Cable on-premises hardware (ROBO and On-site clusters only)
X
Expedient provides detailed instructions

Supported Platforms

Applications/Platforms Supported

Expedient Services

  • Expedient Enterprise Cloud
  • Expedient Enterprise Workspace (gold images, persistent desktops)
  • Expedient Dedicated Private Cloud
  • Expedient vColo
  • Expedient Cloud File Storage

Applications

  • Exchange 2010 SP3-2016 (for log truncation on virtual servers, DAG and standalone)
  • M365 (OneDrive, Mailbox, Sharepoint)
  • Active Directory*

*We leverage a combination of full VM backups and the AD recycle bin for this functionality
*Granular restoration of Active Directory is not supported.

Databases

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2008+ (64-bit only)
  • Oracle 18c for single instance and Oracle RAC Databases (with RMAN)
  • MySQL and PostgreSQL for dump to file
  • IBM DB2

Guest Operating Systems

  • Windows Server 2008 to 2022
  • Linux: RHEL/CentOS 6.6+ | SUSE 11 SP4+ | Ubuntu 14.04+
  • BSD

Hypervisors

  • Versions: ESXi 5.5+

Physical Servers

  • Windows Server 2008 R2+ (64-bit only)
  • Linux: RHEL/CentOS/Oracle 6.0+ | SUSE 11 SP4, 12.3, 15.0 | Ubuntu 14.04 to 18.04
  • UNIX: AIX 6.1 TL8 and TL9, AIX 7.1 TL3 SP0+, 7.2 | Solaris 10, 11 (64-bit only)
  • AS400 (IBM i)
  • BSD

*Files System only; no bare metal restores but we can restore to VM
*Servers with multiple NICs cannot be supported at this time

Hyperscale Cloud

  • AWS EC2 Instances
  • Azure Virtual Machines

Notable Applications/Platforms NOT Supported

Applications: Microsoft Teams

Hypervisors: Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV