For organizations operating in sovereign and disconnected environments, resilience is more than keeping infrastructure available. It also means having a reliable way to recover critical platform services when something goes wrong.
Backup and restore capabilities of the control plane for the Azure Local with disconnected operations is available today. Operators can create an on-demand backup of the control plane and use it to recover the environment when needed.
With the Azure Local 2609 release, we are building on this foundation by introducing scheduled backups. We built this capability to reduce reliance on manual backup processes and help customers maintain recovery points more consistently. By automating backups on a defined cadence, organizations can improve recovery readiness and better align protection of the control plane with their recovery objectives.
From on-demand recovery to routine protection
On-demand backup and restore established an important recovery path for the disconnected operations control plane. However, the value of any backup depends on having an appropriate recovery point available when an incident occurs. When backups depend entirely on manual execution, they can be delayed or missed. Scheduled backups help address this operational risk by automatically creating control plane backups at a defined cadence.
This moves the experience from:
“An operator can create a backup”
to:
“Backups run automatically as part of regular platform operations.”
Operators can continue to initiate on-demand backups whenever they need an additional recovery point.
What scheduled backups provide
With scheduled backups, operators can:
- Configure recurring control plane backups
- Select a frequency ranging from twice-daily, daily, weekly, or monthly
- Use the default backup configuration or create named configurations
- View the current schedule and its next planned run
- Pause, resume, update, or remove the schedule
- Continue creating on-demand backups when needed
Backup schedules are managed through PowerShell. A schedule can reference either the default backup configuration or a named configuration, giving operators flexibility in how backup destinations are organized.
Supporting recovery objectives
Scheduled backups make it easier to maintain recovery points at a consistent cadence. They provide a more predictable and an automated mechanism to implement the recovery point objectives as required by the organization.
- Reduced manual dependency: Backups run automatically after the schedule is configured.
- More consistent recovery points: Organizations can establish a cadence aligned with their operational requirements.
- Greater flexibility: On-demand backups remain available before significant changes or whenever an additional recovery point is needed.
- Simpler operations: Operators can manage the schedule and backup configurations through a consistent PowerShell experience.
Continuing the resilience journey
Backup and restore established a supported recovery foundation for the Azure Local disconnected operations control plane. Scheduled backups strengthen that foundation by making backup creation automatic, recurring, and easier to incorporate into regular operations.
This is an important step toward greater recovery readiness, helping operators maintain more consistent recovery points and reduce reliance on manual processes.
Learn more in the Azure Local documentation:
Microsoft