4.7. Backups and Restores

💡 First Principle: A backup that has never been tested is not a backup—it's a hope. The value of a backup is realized only during restoration. Backup strategy is really restore strategy: design the backup around what recovery looks like, not just around what's convenient to back up.

⚠️ Common Misconception: Full backup every time is the safest strategy. Full backups consume the most storage and take the longest. The "safest" strategy depends on your RTO and RPO requirements. Incremental backups are fastest and smallest but require the full backup plus every incremental to restore—more complex recovery. Differential is a middle ground. The correct strategy matches recovery requirements to backup cost.