When your server crashes and you urgently need to recover data from backups, you want to reduce how long your business is out of action. Restore the critical files first and then gradually recover the rest. Granular recovery technology (GRT) can help with this.
What is granular recovery technology?
Granular recovery is a tech that lets you get back specific files or folders from a complete backup, like individual items from a virtual machine backup. This helps IT admins recover data quicker and more accurately. With faster recovery, it makes disaster recovery simpler and keeps the business running smoothly. Applications Support (GRT)
Lots of people use granular recovery tech in both regular and virtual setups, especially for things like:
- Fixing issues in Microsoft Active Directory
- Sorting out problems in Microsoft Exchange
- Managing staff in Microsoft SharePoint
- Dealing with Microsoft Hyper-V
- Working with VMware ESXi
How does granular recovery technology work
The granular recovery technology is based mainly on one of two methods:
Object recovery
Object recovery is a method suitable for built-in backup solutions that work with an internal structure or a list of objects used by software. The main advantage is clear sorting criteria for restoration. However, the downsides are longer recovery times and the need for more flexibility.
File or folder recovery
This is a “generic” method for recovering a file, folder, website, or SQL table using its name and/or attributes. It’s fast and reliable if you can organize your restoration by filenames, such as timestamps. This method works well for external backup solutions.
Traditional Recovery vs Granular Recovery
With the advent of granular recovery technology, traditional recovery has become less popular. However, many companies still use conventional recovery methods. Why can’t they fully replace each other? The key difference is in the recovery process. For instance, to recover a single file from an image-level VM backup, traditional recovery requires restoring the entire virtual machine first, then locating the specific file. In contrast, granular recovery allows you to directly open the backup and recover just the file you need.
We can sum up their contrasts in three main points
Effectiveness
Efficiency Granular recovery technology enhances efficiency, particularly when recovering specific files, saving time by omitting the retrieval of unnecessary data.
Difficulty
Traditional full backup recovery is a straightforward process achievable in a few steps. In contrast, granular recovery, being a new and innovative technology, may require employee training for proficient operation.
Cost
Traditional recovery primarily incurs expenses related to recovery time and storage space, whereas granular recovery technology, often provided by third-party software, adds additional costs. For organizations that still rely on traditional full backup and recovery methods, this can result in increased expenses.
Traditional Recovery and Granular Recovery
While granular recovery technology enhances efficiency during emergencies, traditional full backup and recovery remains a common necessity, making complete replacement unadvisable. Granular recovery proves invaluable for swiftly retrieving specific files from full backups, especially when prolonged recovery times risk significant losses. However, traditional recovery’s capability to retrieve entire backups simultaneously cannot be replicated. For organizations expanding or migrating numerous workloads, traditional full backup and recovery remains the more efficient choice.
So, many businesses have to stick with the usual full backup and restore methods while trying out granular recovery to work more efficiently. However, doing this costs more for data protection. In Last
In Last
For enterprises, less business downtime means less wasted costs. When you need to recover specific files from a full backup and long recovery times can cause great loss, granular recovery technology is what you need.
In this Blog, I introduced granular recovery technology (GRT) and compared how Granular recovery technology is still being prepared to fully replace old-fashioned backup and recovery methods. Still, it can be really useful in a crisis.
