Backups in SOFT LINE

At SOFT LINE we provide our clients with the most advanced enterprise-class backup (backups) technology, with NAS systems, VMWare for servers and Acronis, as basic prevention against possible data loss due to human error or hardware failures, and with Cloud replication with data encryption, devices and remote servers, to prevent disasters such as fires or theft, and threats from ransomware and other cybersecurity-related attacks in Mallorca. We work with Windows and Linux servers.

When it comes to web hosting and e-mail or email services, we also offer the best backup solutions: all clients who host their website or email with SOFT LINE enjoy daily backups, with the possibility of data recovery up to one month back.

We also implement other backup and replication systems (mirrors) in cloud web services, such as with our product Perito Line: a comprehensive management program for expert offices, a Software as a Service (SaaS) in the cloud, presented as a web application and featuring a mobile APP for both Android and iOS. Thousands of photographs and documents are uploaded to our platform every day, and hundreds of thousands of database operations are performed.

Below we will discuss the different types of backups and replicas that we implement in our Perito Line program, in order to detail the technologies used, for those curious:

1. Immediate replication of the document file system (documents and photographs). As soon as a user uploads documentation or photos to “Perito Line”, they can be assured that an exact copy exists, not only on redundant RAID-1 hard drives, but also immediately, in another geographically separated location (on another server), a copy of their files as a safeguard against disasters and to allow data recovery from another place in case of serious incidents. We achieve this through the Linux software lsyncd, which makes ingenious use of the tool rsync and event monitoring in directory trees (via inotify or fsevents) to replicate efficiently only the changes among millions of files.

2. Real-time replicas of mysql databases. The program data with information on cases, user activity, and all performed tasks has an immediate “mirror” in another database in another data center, to be able to restore service in case of serious disasters, with minimal possible data loss. This also allows us to optimize “read-only” operations by querying other servers (thus offloading the main ones from certain tasks). For these mirrors, we use MariaDB and its capacity for master-slave replicas from different sources (multi-source replication), in addition to optimizing the process by enabling MariaDB’s parallel replication (multiple threads to distribute the load and speed up synchronization of different databases simultaneously).

3. Nightly incremental backups of all documentation, photographs, and databases. Daily backups with differences up to 14 days back, plus 4 weekly and 3 monthly. This allows us to “go back in time” to recover, for example, a folder that was accidentally deleted and contained valuable files just a few days ago, or specific database information that was removed. Another tool for Linux enables this: rsnapshot, which uses rsync and proprietary SOFT LINE programs. These “snapshots in time” also allow recovering, for example, “data up to an hour of the day” before some software disaster erased all data from a given database (this would be done together with real-time replicas to establish a recovery point before the incident).

4. For clients who prefer the “Perito Line” server in their own office (On Premise), instead of our cloud service, we of course handle disaster recovery with daily backups of the acquired server’s data, through an optional combination of backups with VMWare snapshots, Acronis and/or NAS system backups, in addition to the methods mentioned in previous points (available depending on the service level contracted in the On Premise mode).

5. At the software development level, we mention that we quickly clone any database—at any given time—so we can work on incidents and improvements without affecting the client’s “live or production service”. We consider this of vital importance: first, because it allows us to offer better service by resolving any incident much faster by having data identical to the real ones, and second, it avoids interruptions in our 24/7 service, which needs to be used without issues by many users simultaneously. We do this through proprietary tools developed at SOFT LINE that allow us to create replicas of selected databases, using automated and efficient “hot” mysql backups, both logical (mysqldump) and physical (mariabackup).

We also highlight that we integrate security backups in all the software we develop in our Programming Department, providing daily automated or manual backups to all our applications. These backups can be stored and replicated in different locations, internal local disks, removable media, NAS, Cloud, and remote devices or servers, helping not only with security against data loss or disasters but also with compliance with Data Protection regulations.

As always, NO PROBLEM with SOFT LINE. Ask us about the best backup systems, backups, disaster recovery, and contingency plans for servers and cloud services in Mallorca.