Author: Craig Thompson

The significance of robust data backup and recovery strategies cannot be overstated. As organizations increasingly rely on complex systems and extensive data repositories, the stakes for maintaining data integrity and availability have never been higher. This is particularly true for IT leadership, who must navigate the myriad challenges that come with backing up not just code, but the critical metadata surrounding it.

The Challenge of Intelligent Backups

At first glance, backing up code might seem straightforward—simply copy your files somewhere safe. However, this process quickly becomes complex when you aim to do it intelligently. Traditional methods often involve taking complete backups at regular intervals, which is not only redundant but also inefficient. This approach fails to account for incremental changes, leading to excessive use of storage and resources by repeatedly backing up unchanged data.

The smarter approach is to implement incremental backups, which only save the changes made since the last backup. This method dramatically reduces the volume of data transferred and stored, resulting in faster backups and less storage usage. However, this strategy requires sophisticated systems to track changes and ensure that no data is overlooked, which can be a significant challenge in itself.

The Complexity of Metadata

While code itself can be challenging enough to back up effectively, metadata presents a whole new level of complexity. Metadata includes information about the code repositories, such as commit logs, configuration data, user permissions, and branch structures. This data is crucial for the restoration of not just the code but the context in which it was developed.

Backing up metadata accurately involves integrating with various APIs to pull this detailed information. Each repository and tool in your stack (like GitHub or Bitbucket) will have its own set of APIs, each with different structures and limitations. Writing and maintaining these integrations can be daunting as it requires constant updates and monitoring to ensure compatibility, especially when APIs are updated or changed by the providers.

Restoration: The True Test of a Backup System

Perhaps the most crucial—and challenging—aspect of any backup strategy is not the backup itself but the ability to restore from it. Restoration is often where the robustness of your backup strategy is truly tested. Considerations include:

• API Limits: Many services throttle the number of API calls you can make, potentially slowing down the restoration process.
• Data Integrity: As your data evolves, so must your backup solutions. Restoration needs to account for changes in data structure and schema.
• API Changes: Service providers, especially large ones like Microsoft or GitHub, frequently update their APIs. These changes can break integrations and render backup scripts useless if not regularly updated.

Why Vendor-Provided Solutions?

Given these challenges, it might seem logical for companies to develop their in-house backup solutions. However, this path is fraught with potential pitfalls:

• Time and Resources: Developing, testing, and maintaining robust backup systems require significant investment in terms of time and financial resources.
• Expertise: Organizations need expertise not only in software development but also in areas like security, compliance, and data management.
• Complexity and Risk: Building and maintaining a reliable backup solution is complex and often comes with high risks of project delays, budget overruns, and unforeseen technical issues.

This is where specialized vendors come into play. By leveraging vendor-provided backup solutions, companies can benefit from:

• Expertise and Experience: Backup vendors bring specialized knowledge and years of experience in developing backup solutions across various platforms and technologies.
• Ongoing Support and Maintenance: Vendors provide continual support and regular updates to their systems, ensuring compatibility with all API changes and new technologies.
• Reduced Burden: Outsourcing backup solutions can significantly reduce the internal workload, allowing IT staff to focus on other critical areas of business.

Conclusion

For IT leaders, the decision to employ a vendor for backup and recovery services isn’t just about outsourcing a task—it’s about partnering with experts who can ensure that your data is protected against the unexpected. In the face of API changes, complex metadata, and the critical need for reliable restoration, the expertise and support offered by specialized vendors are invaluable. By choosing a specialized backup solution, you safeguard not only your data but also the continuity and resilience of your business operations, ensuring that you can recover quickly and efficiently when it matters most.

Ensuring the safety and security of your data in Azure DevOps is crucial for the smooth operations of any organization. Microsoft, the provider of Azure DevOps, emphasizes the importance of backing up your data to prevent any potential loss or disruptions. Here are some key reasons why organizations should prioritize backing up their Azure DevOps data.

1. Microsoft’s Service Agreement

In the Customer Service Agreement, Microsoft explicitly advises customers to regularly back up their content and data stored on the Services using third-party applications and services. This proactive approach can help mitigate risks associated with data loss.

Microsoft Terms of Use: “We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services using Third-Party Apps and Services.”

2. Shared Responsibility Model

Microsoft operates on a Shared Responsibility Model, where both the provider and the customer have specific responsibilities. While Microsoft ensures the security of the service and infrastructure, customers are accountable for safeguarding their data and accounts. Understanding and fulfilling these obligations is essential for maintaining a secure environment.

Azure DevOps is hosted entirely on Microsoft Azure and is subject to the Microsoft Azure Shared Responsibility model.

Microsoft themselves stipulate, “for all cloud deployment types, you own your data and identities. You are responsible for protecting the security of your data and identities”.

“Whatever your approach, you should consider all data potentially “at risk”, no matter where it is or how it is being used. This is true for both data in the cloud as well as data stored in a private data center.”

3. Data Deletion

Deleted data in Azure DevOps may not be retrievable indefinitely. Microsoft cautions users that data may be permanently removed after a certain period. To avoid accidental data loss, it is recommended to back up your data consistently.

Microsoft openly warns, “Remember, we might get rid of data for good after it’s been deleted for a certain time. Always back up your data to avoid losing it by accident.”

4. Microsoft 28-day Recovery Timeframe

Microsoft enforces a 28-day policy for recovering deleted files from projects. Beyond this period, data may be irreversibly lost if not promptly addressed. Timely backups can serve as a safety net in such scenarios.

5. Organization-wide Restoration

In the event of data loss, Microsoft offers restoration at the organizational level rather than individual file recovery. Understanding this approach can influence the backup strategies implemented by organizations.

6. Support Response Time

Given Microsoft’s vast customer base, support response times can vary, days to weeks. Delays in addressing data loss incidents impact business continuity. Proactive data backups will reduce dependency on external support for data recovery.

7. Outage Concerns

During service outages, retrieving stored content or data from Azure DevOps may not be feasible. This highlights the significance of having independent backups to maintain access to critical information.

Microsoft advice on outages in their documentation “In the event of an outage, you may not be able to retrieve Your Content or Data that you’ve stored.”

Conclusion

Microsoft encourages to explore reliable backup solutions for Azure DevOps. Backrightup offers global support for protecting Azure DevOps data, addressing issues for customers that are not be publicly disclosed but are prevalent in daily operations. Incidents that we hear of daily, such as project data deletion by a Financial Insurer employee and having to wait days before this organisation managed to get the right support. These incidents occur often and underscore the importance of organisations to be proactive in their own data protection measures.

By heeding Microsoft’s advice on data backup and leveraging third-party solution like Backrightup, organizations can mitigate risks to business continuity and safeguard their intellectual property stored in Azure DevOps.

Microsoft: “We recommend that you regularly backup Your Content and Data that you store on the Services using Third-Party Apps and Services,”.

If Microsoft advises their customers to back up their data with third party solutions to minimize the risks of business continuity, and there’s inexpensive solutions, verified by Microsoft, which protects critical data, what are you waiting for? – Contact Backrightup.com for an inexpensive enterprise-grade solution, used by likes of Assurant, Nuvei, Allianz, Isuzu, Department of Defense, Telstra to name a few, that ensures quick and seamless data protection.

Assurant is a US Fortune 500 Firm with millions of customers, tens of thousands of employees, and relies on thousands of repositories of code to help the entire organization function smoothly. They trust Backrightup to protect:

• 5000+ Repositories
• 1000+ Work Items, Pipelines, etc.

The Challenge

Assurant uses Azure DevOps across their organization and needed more protection than offered by Microsoft’s default 28 day policy. They also wanted a comprehensive solution that made restoring data as easy as backing it up. After assessing the price of building and maintaining an internal solution they realized it was more cost effective and secure to partner with Backrightup.

The Solution

Assurant selected Backrightup to provide daily, automated, secure backups for all the crucial data they keep in Azure DevOps. Assurant have a comprehensive backup, instant restore, and enterprise level support whenever they need it.

The Benefit

Comprehensive Backup

In addition to repositories we backup work items, pipelines artifacts, wikis, and more. Assurant knows their projects are more than just the source code, and it’s vital to maintain a comprehensive backup of the whole project.

Granular Restore

Assurant now have the ability to restore single repos, work items, or entire projects at once depending on their needs. Making sure they can easily restore what they want, when they need it, is just as important as backing it up in the first place.

Business Continuity

Assurant doesn’t want to let an Azure outage, an employee mistake, or a malicious actor cause downtime for their business. They know data loss doesn’t have to equal lost time with the right backup solution.

Backrightup are currently looking at ways Artificial Intelligence (AI) can transform the way we run our Azure DevOps backup and restore processes. Can we provide more advanced capabilities that significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of Azure DevOps backup and restore operations? Our findings show how AI not only can boost data protection strategies but also ensure high-quality, secure backup processes. Here’s how we think AI could play a crucial role across various facets of Azure DevOps backup and restore:

AI-Powered Monitoring and Predictive Capabilities

AI thrives in its role of continuously monitoring Azure DevOps backup environments. Leveraging historical data and ongoing trends, AI predicts potential system issues and storage needs before they pose a risk, allowing for:

• Proactive identification of patterns indicating possible incidents, preventing data loss.
• Forecasting resource demands to maintain efficient backups without disrupting ongoing operations.

Streamlining Operations through Automation

One of the core benefits of AI in Azure DevOps backup and recovery is automation. AI-driven systems enhance Azure DevOps backup processes by:

• Scheduling backups intelligently based on the criticality and usage patterns of the data.
• Optimizing backup timings to minimize the load on networks and systems during peak periods.
• Ensuring backups are complete and data can be successfully restored without manual oversight.

Advanced System Assessments

AI technologies are adept at evaluating the health and performance of Azure DevOps backup systems, which includes:

• Assessing the effectiveness of backup processes and recommending enhancements.
• Keeping a check on the health of storage systems, signalling when maintenance or upgrades are required.
• Evaluating how changes within systems impact backup and recovery operations.

Maintaining High Data Quality

AI ensures the integrity and quality of backup data by:

• Detecting and resolving data corruption or duplication.
• Regularly validating the integrity of backup data to match it with original sources.
• Securing high-value or sensitive data through prioritization and secure handling.

Optimal Recovery Path Identification

In critical recovery scenarios, AI aids in making strategic decisions by:

• Analyzing various recovery options and recommending the most efficient paths.
• Selecting the best data storage solutions based on cost-effectiveness and accessibility.
• Prioritizing the recovery of critical systems and data to reduce downtime during disasters.

Enhancing Data Recovery Processes

AI significantly boosts the recovery phase by:

• Choosing the most relevant recovery points to minimize data loss.
• Automating the recovery process to speed up the return to normal operations.
• Learning from previous recovery experiences to continually refine future strategies.

AI in Security Monitoring

AI is indispensable for maintaining security within backup and recovery frameworks:

• Detecting anomalies such as unusual access patterns or unexpected file changes that may indicate a security threat.
• Triggering immediate alerts to facilitate rapid investigation and response.
• Implementing adaptive security measures, including isolating compromised systems or restoring from uncontaminated backups.

Conclusion

Integrating AI into your “Azure DevOps backup and restore” strategy not only streamlines operations but also enhances data security and recovery capabilities. As organizations increasingly depend on Azure DevOps for critical operations, adopting AI-driven backup and recovery methods can be key for maintaining operational resilience and data integrity.

Organisations heavily rely on Azure DevOps for their software development and delivery processes. However, ensuring the protection and integrity of the codebase is often overlooked by IT leaders without prior experience in backing up code. This article explores the significance of Azure DevOps backup and restore testing, emphasising the importance of not only data protection but equally disaster recovery strategies.

Understanding Azure DevOps Backup

Azure DevOps backup refers to the process of safeguarding your code, repositories, work items, build pipelines, and other critical components within the Azure DevOps platform. By implementing an automated backup solution, organisations can mitigate the risks associated with data loss, system failures, accidental deletions, or security breaches.

The Benefits of Automated Backup

Automated backup solutions in Azure DevOps offer invaluable advantages to IT leaders seeking to protect their code effectively:

1.  Minimise Downtime: Automated backups ensure that valuable code and associated data are readily available for restoration, reducing downtime in the event of a system failure or data loss.

2. Enhanced Data Protection: By automating the backup process, IT teams can eliminate human error and ensure that backups are performed consistently, minimising the risk of data loss.

3. Improved Compliance: Many industries have regulatory requirements for data protection and disaster recovery. Automated backup solutions help organisations meet these compliance standards by providing a reliable backup and restore testing mechanism.

Restore Testing for Code Integrity

Implementing a backup solution is only one part of the equation. The ability to restore those backups is arguably more important. Especially when disaster strikes. Therefore, Regular restore testing is equally crucial to validate the integrity and recoverability of the backed-up code. By conducting restore tests, organisations can identify any potential issues or gaps in their backup strategy and make necessary adjustments or improvements.

Data Protection Strategies

To ensure comprehensive data protection within Azure DevOps, organisations should consider the following strategies:

1. Incremental Backups: Instead of performing full backups every time, incremental backups only capture and store changes made since the last backup. This approach optimises storage space and reduces backup time.
2. Offsite Backup Storage: Storing backups in the same location as the primary codebase can lead to complete data loss in the event of a catastrophe. Offsite backup storage ensures that backups are secure and accessible even in the face of physical damage or natural disasters.
3. Encryption: Encrypting backups adds an extra layer of security, ensuring that sensitive code and data remain protected even if unauthorised access occurs.

Disaster Recovery Planning

In the event of a catastrophic failure or data breach, having a well-defined disaster recovery plan is crucial. IT leaders should consider the following aspects when formulating a disaster recovery strategy:

1. Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The RTO defines the maximum acceptable downtime for your Azure DevOps environment. By setting realistic RTOs, organisations can prioritise the restoration of critical code and minimise the impact on productivity.

2. Recovery Point Objective (RPO): RPO determines the maximum acceptable data loss in the event of a disaster. By aligning RPOs with business requirements, organisations can ensure that data is backed up frequently enough to minimise potential data loss.

3. Documentation and Communication: A disaster recovery plan should be well-documented and communicated to all relevant stakeholders. This ensures a swift and coordinated response in the event of a disaster, minimising downtime and ensuring a successful recovery.

Protecting your code and associated data within Azure DevOps is paramount to maintaining business continuity and minimising potential risks. By implementing automated DevOps backup solutions, regularly conducting restore testing, and formulating a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, IT leaders can safeguard their code and ensure a smooth recovery in the face of adversity. Prioritising data protection and disaster recovery strategies with Azure DevOps will help organisations maintain their competitive edge when it’s needed the most. Contact [email protected] for more information.

In this blog, we delve into the critical importance of implementing proper backup and data protection measures within Azure DevOps, drawing a clear distinction between operating without backups versus with backups. Simply illustrating a scenario where an organization falls victim to a malicious actor’s infiltration, resulting in the compromise and deletion of crucial data from their Azure DevOps instance, akin to the unfortunate incident experienced by Microsoft in 2022. The consequences are preventative, ranging from operational disruptions and intellectual property theft to compliance violations and reputational damage.

With one social engineering attack, a malicious actor gains access to your Azure Devops instance. 

Just ask Microsoft who had exactly this happen to them in 2022.

With nefarious intent, the actor downloads your critical data and proceeds to delete it from your Azure DevOps instance.

In a blink of an eye, your organization’s valuable IP is compromised, and the attacker demands a hefty ransom for their return. Without any backups, you’re left scrambling to mitigate the damage and facing the daunting prospect of paying the ransom and losing crucial data. And that is not all. Your organization faces the consequences of:

• Data Breach
• Operational Disruption
• Intellectual Property Theft
• Compliance Violation
• Financial Loss
• Reputational/brand damage

Without any DevOps backup:

1. A malicious actor gains access to Azure DevOps. They can do this by:

• Phishing Attacks
• Credential Theft
• Social Engineering 

2. They download all data and delete it from Azure DevOps.

• The ease of such an attack ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the organization’s security measures and the attacker’s capabilities.

3. They are in a position of power to demand a ransom and compromise code.

Now, let’s consider the concept with Azure DevOps backup and data protection from Backrightup:

1. As a customer, you set up your Azure storage to enable the WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) state – learn more at Microsoft’s documentation.

2. Add the storage to Backrightup, and your backups run daily. This is enabled in a few simple steps.

3. If a malicious actor deletes your Azure DevOps data you have your backups to restore from. In the case where they gain access to the backups themselves, with backup immutability via Azure storage, also known as WORM, even if they access your Azure storage (where the backups are stored), they cannot delete from it as it’s write-only (non-deletable).

Bulletproof Azure DevOps

It’s a quick and easy way, not to mention proven by the world’s largest organizations. The immediate strength of Backrightup with Azure Storage WORM state and making these simple changes include:

• Mitigating Data Breach Risks and Operational Disruption: Setting up Azure storage with WORM state and integrating it with Backrightup for daily backups ensures that even if a malicious actor deletes critical data from Azure DevOps, the backups remain intact and non-deletable.
• Safeguarding Against Intellectual Property Theft and Compliance Violations: Prevents potential data breaches and operational disruptions but also protects against intellectual property theft and compliance violations by ensuring data integrity and regulatory compliance.
• Minimizing Financial Loss and Reputational Damage: In a ransomware attack, retaining backups helps minimize the risk of financial loss and reputational damage associated with paying the ransom or public disclosure of the attack.

Enhancing Resilience Against Cyber Threats: Enhance the ability to maintain data integrity, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder trust.

Conclusion:

The reality without backups, organizations are left vulnerable, scrambling to mitigate the fallout and potentially facing hefty ransom demands. Conversely, with Azure DevOps backup solutions like Backrightup, paired with Azure storage’s WORM (Write-Once, Read-Many) state, organizations can bulletproof their defenses. By seamlessly integrating daily backups and leveraging immutability features, they can effectively mitigate data breach risks, safeguard against IP theft and compliance violations, minimize financial losses, and enhance resilience against evolving cyber threats. The transformative power of embracing Azure DevOps backups underscores a pivotal decision in safeguarding your organizational assets and integrity, in a few steps.

Thankfully we are seeing more and more Azure DevOps leaders looking at ways to protect their most critical IP. For more information on how to protect Azure DevOps get in touch.

Since originating from the collaboration with the US Department of Defense through Microsoft, Backrightup has evolved to secure Azure DevOps and GitHub environments globally, serving the most compliance-driven sectors, including financial services, government, engineering, and healthcare. This DNA underscores its capability to safeguard the most sensitive and critical data against a broad spectrum of DevOps risks, ranging from inadvertent deletions to sophisticated cyber threats. Trusted by the world’s largest organizations, Backrightup stands as a testament to Microsoft for unmatched security and resilience, ensuring that Azure DevOps data remains protected under all circumstances.

Comprehensive Coverage for Work Items and Boards

Backrightup’s unlimited backup for Work Items and Boards ensures that every attachment and interlinked item is meticulously preserved. This level of detailed backup maintains the integrity of complex project workflows, guaranteeing full recovery capability with top-tier encryption for utmost security.

Unmatched Git/TFVC Repository Backup

Acknowledging the critical value of source code, Backrightup delivers robust backup solutions for Git and TFVC repositories. It secures every line of code with unique encryption keys, offering developers the assurance that they can securely revert to any version at any time.

On-Demand Backup Usage

Integration with existing pipelines for unlimited on-demand backup capabilities demonstrates Backrightup’s flexibility. This allows teams to implement backups at any developmental stage, providing immediate data protection and peace of mind.

Full Spectrum Backup and Restore

Backrightup extends its protection to every component of Azure DevOps, from Pipelines and Releases to Wikis. This comprehensive approach ensures that the entire DevOps ecosystem is covered, leaving no aspect of your operations vulnerable.

Round-the-Clock Technical Support

Global technical support and restore assistance ensure that help is readily available, minimizing potential downtime and keeping business operations running smoothly.

Data Sovereignty and Flexible Retention

Backrightup’s flexible data retention policies and compliance with data sovereignty laws offer customizable solutions to meet a variety of organizational needs, aligning with legal and regulatory standards. As an example, Backrightup work with Financial Service organizations in the US, Canada, EU, Australia and New Zealand.

Continuous Innovation

A commitment to continuous improvement ensures that Backrightup remains at the industry forefront, with regular feature updates and product strategy reviews to meet evolving customer needs. Backrightup understand that every organization is different so work with customers to customization so the solution is integrated into their data governance and compliance requirements.

Dedicated Account Support

Dedicated training and support are provided to maximize the potential of Backrightup, ensuring a smooth onboarding process and optimized data protection strategies.

Proactive Reporting and Notifications

Comprehensive reporting and real-time notifications offer robust data monitoring and governance, keeping organizations management informed about the health and security of their data.

Tier 1 Security for Regulated Organizations

Backrightup meets the highest security standards required by regulated organizations, providing custom contracts, security assessments, and onboarding to ensure compliance and data protection.

Dedicated Restore Testing

Backrightup guarantee efficacy and work with their customers on restore testing and full reporting services, offering an additional layer of assurance during a disaster in the reliability of the backup and restore processes.

Conclusion

Backrightup is not merely a backup tool; it’s a comprehensive solution that underpins the data protection strategy, developed from high-stakes origins and trusted by leading organizations across the most regulated industries worldwide. Its coverage, flexible backup options, and dedicated support make it the definitive choice for securing Azure DevOps environments against any threat. With Backrightup, organizations ensure the continuity, integrity, and security of their most valuable digital assets, addressing compliance demands, and solidifying its status as the preferred Azure DevOps data protection solution.

For more information, get in touch to speak with one of our Azure DevOps Experts.