EducationGitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities or external Github backup solution - differences

GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities or external Github backup solution – differences

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GitHub ensures development teams with faster and more efficient DevOps processes. With GitHub Enterprise Server your team can make a private copy of GitHub as a virtual appliance hosted as a SaaS service or on-premise. It provides your team with flexibility, better security, collaboration, full customization and effective administration. Today we will discuss security and data protection. Let’s compare GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities – a backup software included in GitHub Enterprise account and its comparison with third-party GitHub backup software, like https://gitprotect.io/github.html

GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities – what is it?

In short: GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities is set data protection of tools that make application-aware and consistent snapshots of a given GitHub Enterprise instance in regular intervals, over SSH. Those incremental snapshots are performed in regular time intervals, include only changes in data. GitHub treats it like a disaster recovery tool so in the event of failure you can restore your GitHub instance to the prior state or make a new one. 

GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities – technical tips to keep in mind

Backup Utilities should be run on a separated host, with a long-term storage possibility, network connectivity, and obviously – GitHub Enterprise appliance. Operating system? Linux or modern Unix. 

Please remember to include other storage locations for your copies. GitHub and basically every cybersecurity specialist recommend having your backups in at least two separated locations and at least one in the cloud. In case of any possible infrastructure disaster, there is still another place you can recover your data from.

GitHub Enterprise Server Backup Utilities vs. third-party GitHub backup software 

Let’s start this battle! In the corners please welcome – Backup Utilities and GitHub backup solution. Gong! 

First of all, an external GitHub backup solution like GitProtect.io is compatible with all GitHub packages – not only GitHub Enterprise. It means that you can freely use it even if you have only a free account. No matter which GitHub account you use, you can perform full and incremental backups. It offers also strong AES encryption, long-term retention, backup plan fully customization, many rotation schemes (Grandfather-Father-Son /GFS including), compression, and central management. It offers two deployment models – SaaS or on-premise installed on your infrastructure. Whichever model you choose you can keep your copies locally or in any S3 compatible cloud, or both – add as many storage instances as you want. 

Most importantly, it’s a Disaster Recovery solution. Of course, you can recover only specific repositories and metadata from any point-in-time but it enables you to instantly restore your entire GitHub data directly to the new instance, the same one, cross-over to another hosting platform (GitLab/Bitbucket) or your local machine. Then any service outage, human error, or cyberattack won’t interrupt your DevOps pipeline. Your GitHub account is always recoverable and accessible so your team can keep on coding!

Michal Pukala
Electronics and Telecommunications engineer with Electro-energetics Master degree graduation. Lightning designer experienced engineer. Currently working in IT industry.

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