SharePoint Online Backup

Question

Hi , 

I am still new to SharePoint online and I am worried about the files and documents which are stored in my company's SharePoint. What are the backup policies and if we do get attacked and our files are corrupted or deleted, as part of the IT department what do we need to do to help restore our files ?

Answer 1

Hi Maanoj Kumar Rangan,

As per your description, don’t worry, using SharePoint Online, normally there is no need to backup data because it has already done the backup process periodically, such as: Second-level recycle bins.

Using Preservation Policy to archive critical/long-time docs please see information in this official article Overview of retention policies. This is also the one of the advantages of using cloud service compared with traditional file servers/database.

If the retention policy is not enabled, the deleted items stay in the site recycle bin for the whole time. If they deleted from the site Recycle Bin, they go to site collection Recycle Bin, where they stay for the remainder of the 93 days unless:

1. the site collection Recycle Bin exceeds its quota and starts purging the oldest items
2. the items are manually deleted by the site collection administrator from the site collection Recycle Bin

Besides that, SharePoint Online retains backups of all content for 14 additional days beyond actual deletion. If content cannot be restored via the Recycle Bin or Files Restore, an administrator can contact Microsoft Support to request a restore any time inside the 14 day window .

You could get more information from here:

Restore deleted items from the site collection recycle bin

Restore items in the Recycle Bin of a SharePoint site

Moreover, if lots of your SharePoint files get deleted, overwritten, corrupted, or infected by malware, you can restore an entire SharePoint document library to a previous time. The restore will undo all the actions that occurred on both files and folders in the last 30 days. Reference: Restore a document library.

As this blog says, Protecting your data against file corruption, data loss, and malicious intent is a top priority for Microsoft, and an integral part of the Office 365 service. Our approach to data protection goes beyond high availability and disaster recovery scenarios. Resiliency and recoverability are built into the service.

In addition, as for the MS SLA for backup and restore, you may get it here: SLA for Backup.

I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Best Regards

Waqas Muhammad

Answer 2

Hi Maanoj Kumar Rangan,

Feel free to post back if you need further assistance. 

Best Regards,

Waqas Muhammad