Backing up Google Apps files

[localzuk]

So I am doing some bluesky thinking and looking at how easy/costly it would be to roll out chromebooks across our Trust.

 

One big sticking point that I can see - backups. The built in backups for Google Apps file storage is 25 days after deletion. Which is nowhere near good enough. I keep a year+ with our existing systems.

 

I have had a look around and it seems that third party backup systems are outrageously expensive. Like $60,000 a year for 2000 users outrageous.

 

What are people who have jumped in with Chromebooks doing on this front?

[fiza]

We dont have any external backup. If a user deletes a file then it goes in their trash for 30 days. If it goes from trash then you as Admin have another 25 days to restore it.

 

We have used Chromebooks and G Suite for over 3 years and this has been enough of a restore window.

[theeggmaster]

We dont have any external backup. If a user deletes a file then it goes in their trash for 30 days. If it goes from trash then you as Admin have another 25 days to restore it.

 

We have used Chromebooks and G Suite for over 3 years and this has been enough of a restore window.

 

On top of this, you also have Google Vault, which archives email, chats, groups, Google Drive, Team Drives and conversations/recordings in Hangouts Chat and Meet for as long as you want the retention period to last.

[dhicks]

What are people who have jumped in with Chromebooks doing on this front?

 

We currently have our "media" store (around 4TB of photos and videos) syncing to/from Google Drive and local storage via InSync (£100 or so one-off cost for the "pro" version). That then gives us a bunch of local files to back up, which we currently do to both off-site backup (a server in another school somewhere) and AWS. AWS is costing us around £120 a month for storage backing up that media store plus our main file server (another 3 or 4TB) and our Exchange server (around 800GB) with full grandfather/father/son versioned backups.

[peej2k]

I've been working with a GfE Partner as well as my current in school job and we have steadfastly not sold backup solutions.

Google's solution gives you enough of a restore window, and it feels like daylight robbery to offer backup solutions for Google Drive. The built in solutions have been more than adequate. Google's redundancy setup alone is absolutely second to none.

[localzuk]

I've been working with a GfE Partner as well as my current in school job and we have steadfastly not sold backup solutions.

Google's solution gives you enough of a restore window, and it feels like daylight robbery to offer backup solutions for Google Drive. The built in solutions have been more than adequate. Google's redundancy setup alone is absolutely second to none.

Around 70% of all backup restore requests come from user error. Google's redundancy doesn't help with that.

 

I regularly get requests for files to be restored that were in a folder last year (the last time a topic was taught). I need the same ability to restore stuff from a year ago. No-one would think a 25 day restore window was acceptable with in-house servers!

[IrritableTech]

Around 70% of all backup restore requests come from user error. Google's redundancy doesn't help with that.

 

I regularly get requests for files to be restored that were in a folder last year (the last time a topic was taught). I need the same ability to restore stuff from a year ago. No-one would think a 25 day restore window was acceptable with in-house servers!

 

As mentioned above - although not really a backup solution by design, Google Vault allows you to restore files and emails from way back when (assuming you don't change the default setting).

[PrimaryNetMan]

So I am doing some bluesky thinking and looking at how easy/costly it would be to roll out chromebooks across our Trust.

 

Welcome to the greener side

 

You do have to change your mindset when going Google. Our Trust is slowly moving over to G Suite, currently all pupil devices are Chromebooks and next phase is staff. Have looked in to backup, but as you have found it's £££££. Have to agree with the others above that Googles Bin & Vault have been enough for us over the past two years. Trust me file deletion won't be your biggest problem it will be users losing / missing files when someone changes the sharing permissions or moves a file from a shared resource!

 

The 25 day limit is for files that have been deleted from the users bin (Team Drive Bins clear after 30 days) So just train your staff never to empty their bin and those files will still be there for them to restore.

 

That's the thing with G Suite, the onus is put on the user.

[peej2k]

Around 70% of all backup restore requests come from user error.

 

PEBKAC then. Put the onus back on the user.

You also need to check what your file retention policy is post GDPR, as that applies to your backups as well as live data. If your retention policy suggests that you'll get rid of evidence a future staff member emails in once you've confirmed it, for example, your retention of that data on a backup would be breaching that policy.