Free Backup Management Policy Builder

1. Purpose

We need to protect our data and ensure we can recover quickly if something goes wrong—whether it's accidental deletion, system failure, or a disaster. This policy keeps our operations resilient and checks the SOC 2 box.

2. Scope

Covers all production systems, databases, application data, configuration files, and critical business documents that require protection. This includes on-premises systems, cloud infrastructure, and SaaS applications.

3. Roles

• Infrastructure Lead – owns this policy, ensures backup systems are functioning, reviews backup reports
• DevOps/SRE Team – configures and maintains backup infrastructure, monitors backup jobs
• Security Team – verifies backup encryption and security controls, participates in restoration testing
• System Owners – define backup requirements for their systems based on criticality and recovery needs

4. Core Principles

• 3-2-1 Rule – 3 copies of data, on 2 different media types, with 1 copy offsite
• Automated backups – no manual processes that can be forgotten
• Tested regularly – untested backups are not real backups
• Encrypted in transit and at rest – protect backup data like production data

5. Backup Requirements by Data Classification

Critical Systems & Data (RTO: 4 hours, RPO: 1 hour)

• Production databases with customer data
• Authentication and authorization systems
• Payment processing systems
• Backup Frequency: Continuous replication or hourly backups
• Retention: 30 days of daily backups + 12 months of monthly backups

Important Systems & Data (RTO: 24 hours, RPO: 24 hours)

• Application servers and services
• Internal business systems
• Configuration management repositories
• Backup Frequency: Daily backups
• Retention: 14 days of daily backups + 6 months of monthly backups

Standard Systems & Data (RTO: 7 days, RPO: 7 days)

• Development and staging environments
• Non-critical documentation and archives
• Backup Frequency: Weekly backups
• Retention: 4 weeks of weekly backups + 3 months of monthly backups

6. Backup Configuration

• All backups are automated through approved backup solutions (AWS Backup, Azure Backup, Veeam, etc.).
• Backup jobs are scheduled during off-peak hours when possible to minimize performance impact.
• Incremental backups run daily; full backups run weekly.
• Backup storage is geographically separated from primary data (different region/availability zone).
• Backups are encrypted in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256 or equivalent).

7. Backup Monitoring and Alerting

• Automated monitoring alerts Infrastructure Lead and DevOps team of backup failures within 30 minutes.
• Backup job logs are retained for 12 months and reviewed weekly.
• Key metrics tracked:
  • Backup success/failure rate
  • Backup completion time
  • Backup size and growth trends
  • Time since last successful backup
• Failed backup jobs are investigated and resolved within 24 hours.
• If a backup fails twice consecutively, it's escalated to Infrastructure Lead immediately.

8. Backup Restoration Testing

• Restoration tests are performed at least annually for all critical systems.
• Each test includes:
  • Restoring a full backup to a non-production environment
  • Verifying data integrity and completeness
  • Measuring actual recovery time vs. target RTO
  • Documenting any issues encountered
• Test results are documented and reviewed by Infrastructure Lead and Security Team.
• Any identified issues are remediated and re-tested within 30 days.
• Restoration procedures are updated based on test findings.

9. Recovery Objectives

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO): Maximum acceptable time to restore a system after failure
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO): Maximum acceptable data loss measured in time
• System owners define RTO/RPO for their systems based on business impact analysis.
• Backup frequency and retention align with defined RPO requirements.
• Infrastructure capacity planning accounts for RTO requirements during recovery.

10. Cloud-Native Backup Strategies

• Infrastructure-as-Code: All infrastructure definitions stored in version-controlled repositories
• Database Snapshots: Automated snapshots for RDS, Aurora, Cosmos DB, etc.
• Object Storage Versioning: S3/Blob versioning enabled for critical buckets
• VM/Container Snapshots: Regular snapshots of compute instances and volumes
• Cross-Region Replication: Critical data replicated to secondary region for disaster recovery

11. Backup Security

• Access to backup systems and data restricted to authorized personnel only (least privilege).
• Backup storage accounts use separate credentials from production systems.
• Immutable backups or versioning enabled to protect against ransomware.
• Backup retention locks prevent premature deletion of critical backups.
• Access to backup infrastructure is logged and monitored for suspicious activity.
• Multi-factor authentication required for all backup system access.

12. SaaS Application Backups

• Critical SaaS applications (Salesforce, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, etc.) are backed up using third-party backup solutions.
• SaaS backup frequency: Daily for critical data, weekly for standard data.
• Retention: 30 days minimum for compliance and recovery purposes.
• Regular testing of SaaS data restoration capabilities.

13. Backup Retention and Disposal

• Backups are retained according to the retention schedule defined for each data classification.
• Legal hold requirements override standard retention schedules when applicable.
• Expired backups are automatically deleted by the backup system after retention period.
• Backup disposal is logged for audit purposes.
• Emergency restoration needs may extend retention on a case-by-case basis with approval.

14. Exceptions

Need an exception? Infrastructure Lead must pre-approve and document it with business justification, compensating controls, and expiry date.

15. Enforcement

Systems without proper backup coverage cannot be promoted to production. Violations may result in system access restrictions or HR action per the Employee Handbook.

16. References

• SOC 2 – Backup and Recovery Controls
• [Your Company] Information Security Policy
• [Your Company] Business Continuity Plan
• [Your Company] Disaster Recovery Plan
• [Your Company] Data Classification Policy

17. Revision History

Date	Version	Author	Description
[Date]	1.0	Infrastructure Lead	Initial release