SHAREPOINT BACKUP STRATEGY

1) Introduction
A backup is a copy of data that is used to restore and recover that data after a system failure. While
backups allow you to restore data after a failure they are also useful to keep for routine purposes. These
purposes include copying a database from one server to another, setting up database mirroring, and
archiving to comply with regulatory requirements.
If you make appropriate backups, you can recover from many system failures, such as the following:
 Media failure
 User errors (such as deleting a file by mistake)
 Hardware failures (such as a damaged hard disk or permanent loss of a server)
 Natural disasters

2) Performance best practices for SharePoint backup and

restore operations
Best practices for backup and restore help make sure that backup and restore operations in SharePoint
2013 are successful and that the environment is protected against data loss or continuity gaps.
Backup and restore operations consume server resources and limit server performance while the
operations are running. Follow these best practices to reduce resource usage and increase the
performance of servers and the backup or restore task.

2.1) Minimize latency between SQL Server and the backup location

 In general, it is efficient to back up to a local disk on the database server instead of a network
drive. You can then copy the data later to a shared folder on the network. Network drives with 1
millisecond or less latency between them and the database server perform well. To avoid I/O
bottlenecks, perform the main backup to a separate disk from the disk running SQL Server 2008
R2 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and SQL Server 2012.

 Do not run backup jobs during times when users need access to the system. Typically, systems
run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2.2) Backup ULS trace logs

 The SharePoint 2013 backup process doesn't back up the Unified Logging Service (ULS) trace
logs. Data in ULS trace logs can be useful for performance analysis, troubleshooting, and
monitoring compliance with service level agreements. Therefore, protect this data as part of the
routine maintenance.
 By default, SharePoint log files are at C:\Program files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web
Server Extensions\15\Logs. The files are named with the server name followed by the date and
 time stamp. The SharePoint trace logs are created at set intervals and when you use the
IISRESET command.

2.3) Store a copy of backup files off-site

 To safeguard against loss from a natural disaster that destroys the primary data center, maintain
duplicate copies of backups in separate locations from the servers. Duplicate copies can help
prevent the loss of critical data. As a best practice, keep three copies of the backup media, and
also keep at least one copy offsite in a controlled environment. This should include all backup
and recovery materials, documents, database and transaction log backups, and usage and
trace log backups.

3) Requirements to back up and restore SharePoint 2013

 Before you back up data, create a shared folder that stores the data. For best performance, create
this folder on the database server. If you want to archive the backups to another server, you can
copy the whole backup folder to that server after backup is complete. Be sure to copy and move
the whole backup folder and not the individual backup folders under this folder.
 The SQL Server VSS Writer service, which is available with SQL Server 2008 R2and SQL Server
2012 database software, must be started for the SharePoint 2013 VSS Writer service to work
correctly. By default, the SharePoint 2013 VSS Writer service is not automatically started.
 Make sure that the user accounts that you want to perform a backup have access to the shared
backup folder.
 The database server and farm server that you want to back up must be able to connect to one
another.

3.1) Restrictions when you backup and restore SharePoint 2013

 You cannot use a backup made from one version of SharePoint to to restore to another version.
 You can use a backup made from one version to upgrade to another version.
 The update level of the farm to which you restore cannot be lower than the update level of a
backup.
 The destination farm must have the same or newer update level.
 If you perform a backup while a task that creates or deletes databases is running, pending
changes might not be included in the backup.
 Do not modify the spbackup.xml file. SharePoint 2013 uses this file. A change can make the
backups unusable.

How to create a shared folder

Use this procedure to create a shared folder on the network that can receive and hold backed up data.
You can also use this shared folder when you restore data. If you already have a shared folder that
serves this purpose, you do not have to perform this procedure. By performing the following procedure,
you ensure that you can access the shared folder from the computer that runs SQL Server database
software and from the computer that hosts the SharePoint Central Administration website.

To create a shared folder

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the
Administrators group on the computer on which you want to create the shared folder.

2. If you create the shared folder on a computer other than the one running SQL Server, make
sure that the service account for SQL Server (MSSQLSERVER) is using a domain user account
and that it has Full Control permissions on the shared folder.

3. On the server on which you want to store the backup data, create a folder.

4. On the Sharing tab of the Properties dialog box, click Advanced Sharing, and then click
Permissions, add the following accounts and assign them Full Control of the shared folder:
 SQL Server service account (MSSQLSERVER)
 The SharePoint Central Administration application pool identity account
 The SharePoint 2013 Timer service account (if you are using SharePoint Server 2013
to perform backups)

4) Backup farms in SharePoint 2013

You can back up a SharePoint 2013 farm by using the SharePoint Central Administration website,
Windows PowerShell, or SQL Server tools. 

Use Central Administration to back up a SharePoint farm

You can use Central Administration to back up the farm.

To back up a farm by using Central Administration

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm
Administrators SharePoint group.
2. In Central Administration, on the home page, in the Backup and Restore section, click Perform a
backup.
3. On the Perform a Backup — Step 1 of 2: Select Component to Back Up page, select the farm from
the list of components, and then click Next.
4. On the Start Backup — Step 2 of 2: Select Backup Options page, in the Backup Type section,
select either Full or Differential.
5. In the Back Up Only Configuration Settings section, click Back up content and configuration
settings.
6. In the Backup File Location section, type the UNC path of the backup folder, and then click Start
Backup.
If you use a shared network folder for the backup, the following accounts need to have write
access to this share:
 o Search Service application account
o SQL Server service account (MSSQLSERVER)
o Farm Administrator account
o
7. You can view the general status of all backup jobs at the top of the Backup and Restore Status
page in the Readiness section. You can view the status for the current backup job in the lower
part of the page in the Backup section. The status page updates every 30 seconds automatically.
You can manually update the status details by clicking Refresh. Backup and recovery are Timer
service jobs. Therefore, it may take several seconds for the backup to start.
If you receive any errors, you can review them in the Failure Message column of the Backup and
Restore Job Status page. You can also find more details in the Spbackup.log file at the UNC path
that you specified in step 6.

5) Restore farms in SharePoint 2013

Before you begin
Farm-level recovery is usually performed only after a failure that involves the complete farm, or where
partial recovery of part of the farm is not possible. If you only have to restore part of the farm, a specific
database, a service application, a list, or document library, or a specific document, use another recovery
method.

Farm recovery is usually performed for any of the following reasons:

 Restoring a farm after a fire, disaster, equipment failure, or other data-loss event.
 Restoring farm configuration settings and data to a specific previous time and date.
 Moving a SharePoint 2013 deployment from one farm to another farm.

Before you begin this operation, review the following information about how to recover a farm in
SharePoint:
 You cannot restore a multiple-server farm to a stand-alone farm or a stand-alone farm to a
multiple-server farm.
 You cannot back up from one version of SharePoint 2013 and restore to another version of
SharePoint 2013.
 Backing up the farm will back up the configuration and Central Administration content databases,
but these cannot be restored using SharePoint 2013 tools.
 When you restore the farm by using SharePoint 2013, the restore process will not automatically
start all of the service applications. You must manually start them by using Central Administration
or Windows PowerShell. Do not use SharePoint Products Configuration Wizard to start the
services because doing this will also re-provision the services and service proxies.

Using Windows PowerShell to restore a farm in SharePoint

You can use Windows PowerShell to restore a farm.

To restore a farm by using Windows PowerShell

1. Verify that you have the following memberships:

o securityadmin fixed server role on the SQL Server instance.
o db_owner fixed database role on all databases that are to be updated.
o Administrators group on the server on which you are running the Windows PowerShell
cmdlets.
2. On the Start menu, click All Programs .
3. Click Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products.
4. Click SharePoint 2013 Management Shell.
5. At the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following command:
6. Restore-SPFarm -Directory <BackupFolder> -RestoreMethod Overwrite [-
BackupId <GUID>]<Type the appropriate cmdlet, including parameters and
values, and enclose the values for the parameters in "placeholder" tags
>
Where:
o <BackupFolder> is the path of the folder you use for storing backup files.
o <GUID> is the identifier of the backup to restore from.
o If you do not specify the BackupId, the most recent backup will be used. To view the
backups for the farm, at the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following
command:
o Get-SPBackupHistory -Directory <BackupFolder> -ShowBackup [-
Verbose]
o Where:
 <BackupFolder> is the path of the folder you use for storing backup files.
You cannot use a configuration-only backup to restore content databases together with
the configuration.
7. To restart a service application, at the Windows PowerShell command prompt, type the following
command:
8. Start-SPServiceInstance -Identity <ServiceApplicationID>
Where:
o <ServiceApplicationID> is the GUID of the service application.

Using Central Administration to restore a farm

You can use the Central Administration Web site to restore a farm.
To restore a farm by using Central Administration

1. Verify that the user account that is performing this procedure is a member of the Farm
Administrators SharePoint group.

2. In Central Administration, on the home page, in the Backup and Restore section, click Restore

from a backup.
 3. On the Restore from Backup — Step 1 of 3: Select Backup to Restore page, from the list of
backups, select the backup job that contains the farm backup, and then clickNext. You can view
more details about each backup by clicking the (+) next to the backup.

Note:

If the correct backup job does not appear, in the Backup Directory Location text box, type the Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) path of the correct backup folder, and then click Refresh.
You cannot use a configuration-only backup to restore the farm.

4. On the Restore from Backup  — Step 2 of 3: Select Component to Restore page, select the check
box that is next to the farm, and then click Next.

5. On the Restore from Backup — Step 3 of 3: Select Restore Options page, in the Restore
Component section, make sure that Farm appears in the Restore the following component list.
In the Restore Only Configuration Settings section, make sure that the Restore content and
configuration settings option is selected.
In the Restore Options section, under Type of Restore, select the Same configuration option. A
dialog box will appear that asks you to confirm the operation. Click OK.

Note:

If the Restore Only Configuration Settings section does not appear, the backup that you selected is a
configuration-only backup. You must select another backup.

Click Start Restore.

6. You can view the general status of all recovery jobs at the top of the Backup and Restore Job
Status page in the Readiness section. You can view the status for the current recovery job in the
lower part of the page in the Restore section. The status page updates every 30 seconds
automatically. You can manually update the status details by clicking Refresh. Backup and
recovery are Timer service jobs. Therefore, it may take several seconds for the recovery to start.
If you receive any errors, you can review them in the Failure Message column of the Backup and
Restore Job Status page. You can also find more details in the Sprestore.log file at the UNC path
that you specified in step 3.

7. When the restore process has completed, you may need to restart one or more service
applications. In Central Administration, on the home page, in the Application
Management section, click Manage services on server.

8. On the Services on Server page, start any services related to service applications that you want to
run by clicking Start in the Actions column next to the service application.