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How do I build data protection policies in SCDPM 2016?
One size does not fit all when administrators develop a protection policy for specific applications. Learn about the configuration options in System Center DPM 2016.
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2016 provides flexibility for administrators who need to finely tune data protection policies for their organizations.
In System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2016, a protection policy is not the same for all the data or every application. Different protection groups need policy settings best-suited to the business. Just as important as protecting data is deciding how long to retain it.
Data protection policies include three main components: the length of time to store the data, recovery point frequencies and tolerance for data loss -- or how often the organization runs backup or synchronization jobs.
Determine the retention period
The retention period defines how long an organization must hold a backup. Retention can range from a few days to several years. Business continuance and regulatory compliance considerations should guide the length of the retention period.
DPM agent deployment instructions
For example, a business that develops the designs for a new product might retain all the design and test data for many years to provide support for patents and other related business uses. Conversely, data protection policies for a virtual machine used for test and development might not need a retention period longer than a few weeks.
Set up an adequate backup frequency
The backup frequency relates to synchronization frequency -- how often the organization journals data changes and makes updates to the protected replica. Companies synchronize data from more important applications and data more often, while secondary data needs synchronization on a less frequent basis.
The frequency settings in System Center DPM 2016 range from 15 minutes to 24 hours. Instead of a set schedule, the administrator can choose the synchronization to run before DPM generates a recovery point.
Recovery points in System Center DPM 2016
Data protection policies define the number and frequency of recovery points for each protection group. For general purpose file backups, administrators select the days and times to build recovery points.
To guard data in applications that work with incremental backups, System Center DPM 2016 creates a recovery point for every synchronization or full backup depending on the application. For example, DPM sets the retention and recovery points during the full backup schedule to protect a SQL Server database that does not operate with incremental backups.
