Backup & Recovery

Comprehensive backup and recovery procedures to protect your Verk data. Learn about automated backups, manual exports, recovery procedures, and disaster recovery planning.

Backup Overview

Verk provides multiple layers of data protection:

Automated Backups:

• Continuous database replication
• Daily full backups
• Hourly incremental backups
• 30-day retention (Pro plan)
• 90-day retention (Enterprise plan)

Manual Backups:

• On-demand data exports
• Project-level exports
• Organization-wide exports
• Custom date range exports

Data Redundancy:

• Multi-region replication
• Geographic distribution
• Real-time synchronization
• Automatic failover

Automated Backup System

Backup Schedule

Free Plan:

• Daily backups
• 7-day retention
• Manual restore via support

Pro Plan:

• Hourly incremental backups
• Daily full backups
• 30-day retention
• Self-service restore (24-hour delay)

Enterprise Plan:

• Continuous replication
• Hourly incremental backups
• Daily full backups
• 90-day retention
• Point-in-time recovery
• Immediate restore

What's Backed Up

Included in Backups:

• All tasks and subtasks
• Projects and project settings
• User accounts and permissions
• Comments and activity history
• Custom fields and schemas
• Workflows and automations
• Integration configurations
• Organization settings
• File metadata (file references)
• Audit logs

Not Included in Backups:

• Actual file contents (stored separately in S3)
• Temporary session data
• Cached data
• System logs older than 90 days

Backup Verification

Automatic Verification:

• Daily backup integrity checks
• Checksum validation
• Restoration test on sample data
• Alert on backup failures

View Backup Status:

Settings → Backup → Status

Check:
- Last backup time
- Backup size
- Status (Success, Failed, In Progress)
- Next scheduled backup
- Retention period
- Storage location

Manual Data Export

Organization-Wide Export

Full Export Procedure:

1. Settings → Data Export → Export Organization
2. Configure export:
 - Date range (All time, Last year, Custom)
 - Include files (Yes/No)
 - Format (JSON, CSV, SQL)
 - Compression (ZIP, TAR.GZ)
3. Click "Create Export"
4. Wait for processing (5-30 minutes)
5. Download when ready
6. Link expires in 48 hours

Export Contents:

organization_export_2024-01-15.zip
├── organization.json
├── users.json
├── projects/
│ ├── project_123.json
│ ├── project_456.json
│ └── ...
├── tasks/
│ ├── tasks_part_1.json
│ ├── tasks_part_2.json
│ └── ...
├── comments.json
├── files/
│ ├── metadata.json
│ └── files/ (if included)
├── integrations.json
├── workflows.json
└── audit_logs.json

Project-Level Export

Export Single Project:

1. Open project
2. Project Menu → Export Project
3. Choose format:
 - Verk Format (JSON) - Full fidelity, re-importable
 - CSV - Tasks and basic fields
 - Excel - Tasks with formatting
 - PDF - Printable report
4. Include options:
 - Comments
 - Attachments
 - Activity history
 - Custom fields
5. Download export

CSV Export Example:

Task ID,Title,Description,Status,Priority,Assignee,Due Date,Created,Updated
TASK-001,Implement login,Add OAuth authentication,In Progress,High,john@company.com,2024-02-15,2024-01-10,2024-01-12
TASK-002,Design homepage,Create Figma mockups,To Do,Medium,jane@company.com,2024-02-20,2024-01-11,2024-01-11

Scheduled Exports

Set Up Automatic Exports:

1. Settings → Data Export → Schedule
2. Configure:
 - Frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly)
 - Day/time
 - Scope (Organization, Specific projects)
 - Format
 - Delivery method:
  * Email link
  * SFTP upload
  * AWS S3 bucket
  * Google Drive
3. Save schedule
4. Receive automatic exports

Example Weekly Export:

Schedule: Every Monday at 2:00 AM UTC
Scope: All active projects
Format: JSON + CSV
Delivery: Email to admins@company.com
Retention: Keep last 4 exports

Recovery Procedures

Point-in-Time Recovery

Enterprise Feature: Restore to any point within retention period

Recovery Process:

1. Settings → Backup → Restore
2. Select recovery point:
 - Browse by date/time
 - View available snapshots
 - Preview backup contents
3. Choose scope:
 - Full organization
 - Specific projects
 - Specific date range
4. Select recovery method:
 - Replace existing data
 - Restore to new organization
 - Restore as copy (archived)
5. Confirm recovery
6. Monitor progress
7. Verify restored data

Recovery Time Estimates:

• Small organization (under 1000 tasks): 5-15 minutes
• Medium organization (1000-10000 tasks): 15-60 minutes
• Large organization (>10000 tasks): 1-4 hours

Selective Data Recovery

Restore Specific Items:

1. Settings → Backup → Selective Restore
2. Choose what to restore:
 - Specific projects
 - Deleted tasks
 - Removed users
 - Integration configurations
 - Custom fields
3. Select backup date
4. Preview items to restore
5. Confirm restoration
6. Items restored with "[RESTORED]" prefix

Example Use Cases:

Accidentally Deleted Project:

1. Navigate to Backup → Selective Restore
2. Select "Projects" tab
3. Find deleted project in list
4. Choose backup date (before deletion)
5. Click "Restore Project"
6. Project restored to Projects list

Recover Deleted Tasks:

1. Backup → Selective Restore → Tasks
2. Filter by date range or project
3. Select tasks to restore
4. Choose restoration location
5. Restore tasks

Full System Recovery

Disaster Recovery Scenario:

Situation: Complete data loss or corruption

Procedure:
1. Contact Enterprise Support immediately
2. Provide:
 - Organization ID
 - Incident details
 - Desired recovery point
3. Support team initiates recovery:
 - Restore from backup
 - Verify data integrity
 - Test system functionality
4. Validate restored data:
 - Check critical projects
 - Verify user accounts
 - Test integrations
5. Resume normal operations

Time: 2-8 hours depending on organization size

File Backup & Recovery

File Storage Architecture

S3-Based Storage:

• Files stored separately from database
• Redundant storage (3 copies minimum)
• Geographic distribution
• Automatic replication
• Version control (Enterprise)

File Backup Strategy:

Primary Storage: AWS S3 (US-East)
Replica 1: AWS S3 (US-West)
Replica 2: AWS S3 (EU-Central)
Backup: AWS Glacier (90-day retention)

File Recovery

Recover Deleted File:

1. Navigate to Files section
2. Click "Show Deleted"
3. Find file in trash
4. Click "Restore"
5. File restored to original location

Trash retention:
- Free/Pro: 30 days
- Enterprise: 90 days

Recover File Version (Enterprise):

1. Open file details
2. Click "Version History"
3. View all versions with:
 - Upload date
 - Uploaded by
 - File size
 - Change description
4. Select version to restore
5. Choose:
 - Restore as current version
 - Download this version
6. Confirm restoration

Data Integrity

Integrity Checks

Automatic Validation:

• Daily database integrity checks
• Checksum verification on all data
• Referential integrity validation
• File consistency checks
• Backup restoration tests

Run Manual Integrity Check:

Settings → System → Data Integrity → Run Check

Checks:
- Orphaned records
- Missing references
- Corrupted data
- Invalid relationships
- Duplicate entries

Report generated with:
- Issues found
- Severity level
- Recommended actions
- Auto-fix available

Data Validation

Pre-Restore Validation:

Before any restore operation, Verk validates:

1. Backup file integrity
2. Data format compatibility
3. Version compatibility
4. Sufficient storage space
5. No conflicting records

Post-Restore Validation:

After restore:

1. Record count verification
2. Relationship integrity check
3. File availability check
4. User access validation
5. Integration connectivity test

Disaster Recovery Planning

Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Target RTO by Plan:

• Free: 24-48 hours (manual restore via support)
• Pro: 4-8 hours (self-service with support)
• Enterprise: 1-2 hours (priority support)

Factors Affecting RTO:

• Organization size
• Backup age
• Network speed
• Restore scope
• Support availability

Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

Target RPO by Plan:

• Free: 24 hours (daily backups)
• Pro: 1 hour (hourly incrementals)
• Enterprise: Near-zero (continuous replication)

What RPO Means:

• Free: May lose up to 24 hours of data
• Pro: May lose up to 1 hour of data
• Enterprise: Minimal to no data loss

Disaster Scenarios

Scenario 1: Accidental Data Deletion

Risk: High
Frequency: Common
Recovery: Minutes to hours
Method: Selective restore from recent backup
Prevention: User training, permission controls

Scenario 2: System Corruption

Risk: Medium
Frequency: Rare
Recovery: 1-4 hours
Method: Point-in-time recovery
Prevention: Automated integrity checks

Scenario 3: Regional Outage

Risk: Low
Frequency: Very rare
Recovery: 30-60 minutes
Method: Automatic failover to replica region
Prevention: Multi-region architecture

Scenario 4: Complete Data Center Failure

Risk: Very Low
Frequency: Extremely rare
Recovery: 2-8 hours
Method: Full system recovery from remote backup
Prevention: Geographic redundancy

DR Testing

Regular DR Tests:

Enterprise plan includes:
- Quarterly DR drills
- Full recovery simulation
- Performance testing
- Documentation updates
- Team training

Test Procedure:
1. Select test date/time
2. Coordinate with support team
3. Execute recovery to test environment
4. Validate all functionality
5. Document lessons learned
6. Update DR plan

Best Practices

Backup Strategy

3-2-1 Backup Rule:

• 3 copies of data
• 2 different storage types
• 1 copy off-site

Verk implementation:

1. Primary database
2. Continuous replica
3. Daily backup to remote storage

Regular Validation:

Weekly:
- Check backup status
- Verify last backup time
- Review backup size trends

Monthly:
- Test restore procedure
- Review retention policy
- Audit backup logs

Quarterly:
- Full restoration test
- Update DR documentation
- DR team training

Export Recommendations

Regular Exports:

Recommended schedule:
- Critical data: Daily
- All data: Weekly
- Historical archive: Monthly

Storage:
- Local copy (immediate access)
- Cloud storage (redundancy)
- Offline copy (ransomware protection)

What to Export:

Essential (Daily):

• Active projects
• In-progress tasks
• Recent activity

Important (Weekly):

• All projects and tasks
• User accounts
• Comments and history
• Integration settings

Archive (Monthly):

• Complete organization export
• All files included
• Full audit logs
• System configurations

Security Considerations

Backup Encryption:

• All backups encrypted at rest (AES-256)
• Encrypted in transit (TLS 1.3)
• Encryption keys rotated monthly
• Separate key storage

Access Control:

Backup access restricted to:
- Organization admins
- Designated backup administrators
- Support team (with approval)
- Audited access logs

Secure Export Handling:

Best practices:
- Download over secure connection
- Encrypt exported files
- Secure storage location
- Delete after import
- Track export access

Compliance & Retention

Data Retention Policies

Default Retention:

Active data: Indefinite
Deleted items: 30-90 days (plan-dependent)
Backups: 7-90 days (plan-dependent)
Audit logs: 1 year (Enterprise)
Files: Same as retention policy

Custom Retention (Enterprise):

Settings → Compliance → Retention Policy

Configure:
- Default retention period
- Per-project retention
- Legal hold exemptions
- Auto-deletion rules
- Archive policies

Legal Hold:

Preserve data for litigation:
1. Settings → Compliance → Legal Hold
2. Create hold:
 - Hold name
 - Projects/users affected
 - Effective date
 - Expiration date (optional)
3. Data preserved regardless of retention policy
4. Cannot be deleted until hold released

Compliance Requirements

GDPR Compliance:

Backup features:
- Right to access (export user data)
- Right to deletion (remove from backups)
- Data portability (standard formats)
- Retention limits (configurable)

SOC 2 Compliance:

Backup controls:
- Automated backup processes
- Integrity verification
- Restoration testing
- Audit logging
- Disaster recovery plan
- Annual third-party audit

Troubleshooting

Common Backup Issues

Backup Failed

Possible causes:
- Insufficient storage
- Network connectivity issue
- System maintenance
- Resource limits

Solutions:
1. Check system status
2. Verify storage quota
3. Review error logs
4. Retry backup
5. Contact support if persists

Restore Failed

Possible causes:
- Corrupted backup file
- Insufficient space
- Version incompatibility
- Concurrent operations

Solutions:
1. Try earlier backup
2. Check storage space
3. Verify backup integrity
4. Stop other operations
5. Contact support

Missing Data After Restore

Possible causes:
- Incorrect date range
- Selective restore scope
- Data created after backup
- Archived items

Solutions:
1. Verify restore timestamp
2. Check archived items
3. Try different backup date
4. Review audit logs
5. Contact support

Slow Restore Performance

Possible causes:
- Large data volume
- Network latency
- System load
- Concurrent users

Solutions:
1. Schedule during off-hours
2. Restore in smaller batches
3. Use selective restore
4. Upgrade plan for priority
5. Contact support

Getting Help

Self-Service Resources:

- Knowledge base articles
- Video tutorials
- Community forum
- Status page
- Documentation

Contact Support:

Free plan: Email support (48-hour response)
Pro plan: Priority email (24-hour response)
Enterprise: Phone + email (4-hour response)
Critical issues: Emergency hotline (immediate)

Information to Provide:

When requesting restore:
- Organization ID
- Desired recovery point (date/time)
- Scope (what to restore)
- Urgency level
- Business impact
- Contact information

Related Documentation

• Admin Controls - Administrative settings
• Security - Security best practices
• Data Migration - Import/export procedures
• Compliance - Compliance features

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Need backup assistance? Contact enterprise support for immediate help.