Recently, I was working on a requirement that required me to create an Azure VM Backup Policy and apply it to my Azure Virtual Machine. This article will discuss the complete steps to achieve this functionality.
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Azure VM Backup Policy
Azure VM backup policy is the policy that you define for your Azure Virtual Machine, specifying the frequency of backups.
Why Your Azure VM Backup Policy Matters
Before diving into the technical details, let’s understand why a proper backup policy is essential:
- Business Continuity: Minimize downtime during recovery scenarios
- Regulatory Compliance: Meet industry-specific requirements (HIPAA, SOX, etc.)
- Cost Optimization: Balance protection needs with storage costs
- Operational Efficiency: Streamline backup management across your cloud environment
According to the default backup policy, it backs up your VM once a day.
You can also set your custom backup policy for your Azure Virtual Machine.
How to change backup policy for a VM in Azure
You can follow the steps below to apply the backup policy to your Azure Virtual Machine.
- Log in to the Azure Portal and search for “Backup center”.
- Click on the + Backup button.
3. Select the Datasource type as “Azure Virtual machines”. Click on the Select link to select a Vault. Click on the Continue button.
4. Select the backup policy as DefaultPolicy, or you can create your custom policy by clicking on the Create a new policy link.
9. Click the Add button under Virtual Machines and select the VM you want to back up, applying this policy. Click on the OK button.
Note: Make sure to select the VM in the same region as the Vault you selected.
10. Finally, select the Enable Backup button.
Best Practices
These are the best practices that we should follow.
1. Implement Tiered Backup Policies Based on Workload Criticality
| Tier | Workload Type | Backup Frequency | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | Mission-critical (e.g., databases, key business systems) | Multiple daily | 30 daily, 12 weekly, 12 monthly, 7 yearly |
| Tier 2 | Business-important (e.g., application servers) | Daily | 14 daily, 8 weekly, 6 monthly, 3 yearly |
| Tier 3 | Non-critical (e.g., test/dev systems) | Daily or weekly | 7 daily, 4 weekly, 3 monthly, 1 yearly |
This tiered approach optimizes both protection and cost—a strategy I implemented for a retail client in Seattle that reduced their backup costs by 40% while maintaining appropriate protection levels.
2. Configure Backup Storage Redundancy Appropriately
Azure offers multiple redundancy options for backup storage:
- Locally Redundant Storage (LRS): Three copies in a single data center
- Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS): LRS plus three copies in a paired region
- Zone-Redundant Storage (ZRS): Copies are distributed across availability zones
- Geo-Zone-Redundant Storage (GZRS): ZRS plus geo-replication
For most of my US-based clients, I recommend:
- Mission-critical workloads: GRS or GZRS
- Standard workloads: ZRS
- Non-critical workloads: LRS
This strategy strikes a balance between protection needs and cost considerations.
3. Leverage Instant Restore and Selective Disk Restore
Azure Backup offers powerful recovery options that many organizations underutilize:
- Instant Restore: Allows you to mount backup data directly without waiting for a full restore
- Selective Disk Restore: Restore specific disks rather than the entire VM
I recently helped a healthcare client in Chicago reduce their recovery time from hours to minutes by leveraging instant restore for a database server issue.
4. Enable Soft Delete and Use Role-Based Access Control
To protect against accidental or malicious backup deletion:
- Enable Soft Delete: Retains deleted backup data for 14 days (configurable)
- Implement RBAC: Separate backup administrator roles from VM administrators
5. Regularly Test Backup Restoration
The most comprehensive backup policy is worthless if you can’t restore from it when needed. I implement regular restoration testing for all my clients:
- Monthly test restores of a sample VM
- Quarterly disaster recovery exercises
- Documentation of recovery procedures and SLAs
Wrapping Up
This article discusses the Azure VM Backup Policy. Thanks for reading this article !!!
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I am Rajkishore, and I am a Microsoft Certified IT Consultant. I have over 14 years of experience in Microsoft Azure and AWS, with good experience in Azure Functions, Storage, Virtual Machines, Logic Apps, PowerShell Commands, CLI Commands, Machine Learning, AI, Azure Cognitive Services, DevOps, etc. Not only that, I do have good real-time experience in designing and developing cloud-native data integrations on Azure or AWS, etc. I hope you will learn from these practical Azure tutorials. Read more.
