{"id":14248,"date":"2020-01-07T14:54:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T14:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/?p=14248"},"modified":"2020-01-12T05:10:13","modified_gmt":"2020-01-12T05:10:13","slug":"bare-metal-disaster-recovery-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.backupassist.com\/blog\/bare-metal-disaster-recovery-guide","title":{"rendered":"Bare-Metal Disaster Recovery Guide – updated for 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Successfully performing a\u00a0bare-metal recovery involves several important steps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Planning<\/a>: deciding when to do your bare metal backup, and where to put it.<\/li>
  2. The bare-metal backup<\/a>: the steps of creating your system image.<\/li>
  3. The bare-metal recovery<\/a>: the steps of recovering your system image to new hardware. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    This article explains how to do all three steps, and shows how to achieve the\u00a0right backup<\/strong>\u00a0for a successful bare-metal recovery<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note on terminology: a “bare-metal backup” is a backup that can be used to completely rebuild a system from scratch. It’s sometimes referred to as a “system image” in Microsoft’s documentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Planning when <\/strong>and where<\/strong>: backing up your system the\u00a0right way<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Before jumping into the steps of creating bare-metal backups, let’s talk about something even more important: when<\/strong> to backup, and where<\/strong> to put that backup. You’ll need to have a backup schedule<\/strong> that will meet your recovery expectations and a safe location<\/strong> to store the backups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The right backup<\/strong> schedule<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

    Perform regular bare-metal backups on a daily basis, or\u00a0at least\u00a0when major system changes are made.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When a server is recovered, it reverts back to the snapshot in time when the backup was made. This means any changes made to that server after <\/strong>the backup was created will be lost. This means the frequency of your bare-metal backups is important<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    If a backup contains just the operating system and system files, you may only need to create backups before and after changes are made to that system. However, if applications and other data change a lot, then daily backups will give better protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An alternative strategy is to perform less frequent system image backups and more frequent file and application backups. In that case, when you recover, you’ll firstly recover your system, and then perform an incremental update of your files and applications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The right backup <\/strong>contains up-to-date data so a server can resume its operations when it is recovered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The right backup<\/strong> destination<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Use backup destinations that keep your bare-metal backups safe from harm<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Now you should decide where to put your backups. This is an important consideration because bare-metal backups can be your last line of defense<\/strong>, and it’s critical that they are not compromised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The best way to protect bare-metal backups is to use a destination that is offline,<\/strong> offsite <\/strong>or both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n