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Cloud Data Retention

Redundancy and Availability

  • Geo-Replication: Azure SQL employs geo-replication to ensure data availability by actively replicating databases across multiple regions. This guarantees business continuity even in the event of regional outages.

  • Availability Zones: databases are distributed across multiple Availability Zones within the EU region, providing an additional layer of redundancy and resilience.

Data Security

  • Data Encryption: data is protected both at rest, through Transparent Data Encryption (TDE), and in transit via SSL/TLS, ensuring confidentiality and integrity against unauthorised access.

  • Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): permissions are centrally managed through Azure Active Directory (AAD), enabling granular control over data access rights.

Backup and Recovery

  • Automatic Backups: Azure SQL automatically performs full, differential, and transaction log backups.

    • Full backups: weekly.

    • Differential backups: every 12 hours.

    • Transaction log backups: every 5–10 minutes.

  • Point-in-Time Restore: enables restoration of the database to any specific point within the configured backup retention period, up to 35 days.

Resilience and Disaster Recovery

  • Disaster Recovery Plans: Azure SQL Database incorporates disaster recovery strategies to maintain data availability in the event of critical failures or catastrophic incidents.

  • Automatic Failover: in case of service interruption or system failure, the platform automatically performs failover to a replica instance without manual intervention, minimising downtime.

Monitoring and Management

  • Continuous Monitoring: Azure Monitor can be used to track performance metrics in real time, identify bottlenecks, and detect anomalies.

  • Alerts and Automation: Alert Rules may be configured in Azure Monitor, and Azure Automation or Azure Logic Apps can be used to automate corrective actions, such as scaling operations, notifications, or execution of runbooks when specific events occur.

Compliance and Certifications

Azure SQL Database complies with the following standards and regulations:

  • ISO/IEC 27001

  • ISO/IEC 27018

  • SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3

  • HIPAA

  • GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

Details

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