Article

Azure Backup Even More "Enterprise Grade" with New Features

by Dann Anthony Maurno
Assistant Editor, MSDW

Microsoft has released a "slew" of updates to its recently released Azure Backup, it service for the cloud-based backup and protection of application data.

Giridhar Mosay, a Microsoft program manager in Cloud + Enterprise, described on the Microsoft Azure blog the company's "[continuing] journey to make Azure Backup enterprise grade." Included in the newest updates are:

  • Faster backups. Azure Backup now leverages Update Sequence Number Journal (USN journal) technology in Windows to track files that have changed between consecutive backups. USN keeps track of changes to files and directories on the volume that helps to identify changed files quickly, enabling faster backups. Says Mosay, "We've seen up to a 50% reduction of backup times in volumes with two million files utilizing this optimization," but Mosay cautions that individual file server backup times vary depending on number of files, size of each file and directory structure. (So as in weight loss ads, "Results may not be typical.")
  • Reduced cache space. Azure Backup previously required cache space of 15% of volume size, which was generally prohibitive with volumes greater than 10TB. The trick was to reduce the cache space, which consists primarily of a metadata VHD used for cataloguing files being backed up. A new algorithm computes this metadata that utilizes far less disk space for a cache space requirement of less than 5% cache space (a 3X improvement).
  • Increased retention. Azure Backup has increased the number of recovery points for cloud backups. This enables flexible retention policies to meet stringent compliance requirements such as HIPAA for large enterprises. For those curious about what the new maximum number ...

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About Dann Anthony Maurno

Dann Anthony Maurno is a seasoned business journalist who began his career as International Marketing Manager with Lilly Software, then moved on as a freelancer to write for such prestigious clients as CFO Magazine; Compliance Week;Manufacturing Business Technology; Decision Resources, Inc.; The Economist Intelligence Unit; and corporate clients such as Iron Mountain, Microsoft and SAP. He is the co-author of Thin Air: How Wireless Technology Supports Lean Initiatives(CRC/Productivity Press, 2010).

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