Backup and Restore Requests

This page explains how backup and restore requests are normally handled. Backup scope, retention, recovery objectives, and costs depend on the contracted service.

Backup Scope

Backup services are only included where explicitly contracted.

Where backup services are included, CFTS may provide:

backup orchestration
backup monitoring
retention scheduling
restore assistance
backup storage or archive storage where quoted

Backup services may not include application-consistent backup unless this is designed and agreed for the workload.

Client Responsibilities

Clients should confirm:

what data is critical
what systems require backup
what retention period is needed
how much data loss is acceptable
how quickly systems need to be restored
whether databases need application-aware backup
whether restored data must be validated by the client

CFTS strongly recommends that clients maintain independent copies of critical data where appropriate.

Restore Request Information

A restore request should include:

affected service, hostname, domain, or system name
requested restore point or approximate time
files, folders, database, mailbox, VM, or service to restore
reason for restore
urgency and business impact
whether the restore should overwrite current data or be restored separately
contact person who can validate the restored data

Restore Options

Depending on the service and backup design, restore options may include:

file or folder restore
database restore
mailbox restore
VM or system restore
restore to alternate location for review
full service recovery after major failure

Not all restore options are available for every service.

Application Consistency

Infrastructure-level backup can protect disks, files, or systems, but some applications require special handling to ensure consistency.

Examples include:

databases
mail systems
accounting systems
transactional applications
applications with active file locks

Unless agreed otherwise, clients remain responsible for validating application consistency after restore.

Recovery Objectives

Recovery Time Objective and Recovery Point Objective depend on:

backup frequency
backup retention
data size
storage platform
application behaviour
network conditions
restore destination
complexity of the failure

RTO and RPO are not guaranteed unless explicitly stated in a service agreement.

Backup Limitations

Backups may not protect against every scenario.