Our backup runs once a night, 24 hours of data loss is too much.
RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is how much data you may lose. Going from 24 hours to a few hours or minutes is doable, requires more storage and network, and a matching backup architecture.
Try this first
- 1Decide per application what the real RPO requirement is: a file server may handle 8 hours of loss, a SQL server with financial postings only a few minutes.
- 2For Windows files: VSS snapshots every hour on the file server give fast previous-versions, with a daily off-site backup for long-term.
- 3For SQL: Always-On or Log Shipping to a second SQL instance, with log backups every 5-15 minutes. RTO/RPO much lower than a nightly Veeam.
- 4For VMs with fast-changing data: Veeam multi-job with snapshot-only every 4 hours, plus a daily Active Full off-site.
- 5Test the restore procedure: a good RPO only matters if you can actually restore within RTO. Practice a restore monthly, even one VM.
When to bring us in
For RPO in seconds or near-zero: that is not 'backup' anymore but continuous replication or database replication. Check whether that fits your budget and complexity.
See also
- One DC or two DCs for an SMB office?Two is almost always the right answer; one DC is a single point of failure for logon, DNS and GPOs.
- Should I split FSMO roles across two DCs?For a small domain all on one DC is fine; with two DCs splitting is tidier but not required.
- How do I know my AD replication is healthy?Replication errors creep in silently; they only surface when logins or GPOs misbehave.
None of the above fits?
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