4 Signs You're Outgrowing Velero Backup

You may have looked into an open-source backup solution like Velero while testing a Kubernetes project on a smaller scale. Velero may have been a suitable solution while the project remained within your team, but if the project is moving into production or broadening in scope, you may discover Velero has several limitations that make it difficult to scale with. That’s when a Velero backup alternative from a reputable provider can help create a better system for keeping your data backed up and secure.

With Velero backup, you might be missing out on what an enterprise-grade data protection solution can offer, like

• A centralized view of all your Kubernetes clusters
• Self-service UI with single-click restores
• Role-based access controls to meet compliance requirements

Read on to learn some of the signs that you might be outgrowing Velero. If any one of these warning signs rings true, it might be time to look into Velero alternatives to handle data protection for your cloud-native applications.

1) It’s time to move a project into production

Once your Kubernetes project is moving into production or broadening in scope, you need to integrate your backup solution into existing processes within your company.

However, customizing Velero to work within your organization is no simple task. It will likely require many manual workarounds to adhere to existing compliance requirements—like role-based access controls (RBAC). Velero may also present challenges when the number of stakeholders increases, with more people within your organization requiring visibility into data protection.

Any enterprise backup solution needs to adhere to existing compliance requirements—like security governance. Most enterprises require RBAC that dictate which roles can access a specific functionality within your backup solution. For example, you likely don’t want everyone on your team to have full access to delete or edit existing backup or restore operations. It opens the potential for human error, such as deleting or corrupting a backup file.  Without an audit trail, it will also be impossible to target what happened in the event of an accidental delete.

Portworx offers out-of-the-box RBAC as well as APIs that can integrate with existing SSO tools, making it simpler to adhere to any compliance requirements. This offers peace of mind that functional access is limited based on role, so only the right people can change backups within the organization.

2) You have a small backup team or no dedicated backup team at all

Everyone needs a backup plan, but not everyone has the luxury of a large, dedicated backup team. Often, especially for busy DevOps teams where application development is the priority, data protection in the form of backup and recovery can be an afterthought. Although it’s a known necessity, there simply aren’t enough resources to dedicate to data protection.

What your team needs is the simplicity of a managed service like Portworx. You need to be able to set and forget backup policies, knowing that your backups are happening at predefined schedules. And, as you add additional clusters, you need the ability to easily add backups to existing schedules in minutes.

It’s also important to have a centralized view of all your backup and restores. Portworx is a Velero backup alternative that offers a central dashboard that acts as a single pane of glass to view and manage all your clusters and backup files.

Fully managed Portworx Backup also handles all the administrative management to the software. No need to manage software updates or installations—with every new release, you have all the latest feature sets automatically. Onboarding is quick and easy, so your teams can get ramped up right away with no install required. Quickly set up backup schedules with a point-and-click UI, and get your team working on what really matters—developing applications.

3) Troubleshooting backups is taking too much time

Especially if you don’t have dedicated resources to manage your backups, trying to customize your backup solution to fit your team’s needs or troubleshooting failed backups can be time consuming. With an open-source solution like Velero, this can look like scouring community-based forums to find similar answers you can tailor to fit your needs or waiting for community members to answer your questions for you. Most enterprises and teams simply don’t have that much time available.

Every application is different, and you need customized support for your backup solution. An enterprise-grade solution like Portworx offers boutique support for your needs. With Portworx solutions experts, you can get customized solutions for your precise needs. This eliminates the time you might have to spend hunting down issues on your own, so your team can concentrate on higher value work.

4) You need easy, simple restores across environments

Open-source solutions like Velero can be excellent tools to get started on backing up your applications. However, as your containerized applications grow in scale and complexity, so does the complexity of backing up all your applications.

Velero requires users to code on the command line to run backups, select backup and restore locations, and restore applications. At the beginning of your Kubernetes journey, this process may be good enough. However, this Velero backup on Kubernetes method requires significant manual effort from developers. Further, if you store your backups in multiple environments, like private cloud or several public clouds, there is no simple way to migrate applications.

With Portworx, a simple UI makes restoring applications as easy as a single click. And, you can even set up an individual backup schedule within minutes. Portworx also provides robust cross-cloud support—allowing you to easily migrate applications by running backup in one environment and restoring in another.

Portworx Backup is the easy button for Kubernetes data protection—offering a simple, scalable, and secure solution in as little as a single click. Enterprise needs call for enterprise solutions, and global Fortune 2000 companies trust us to protect their mission-critical Kubernetes applications. With an easy-to-use UI, Portworx helps you achieve

• Self-service access for users to restore applications in a single click
• Application migration within minutes
• Safe and secure data with 3-2-1 compliance and ransomware protection
• Zero RPO disaster recovery with Portworx Enterprise

Portworx Backup is also available in a free forever tier. You can protect up to 1TB of backup data at no cost, giving you the ability to work with a solution that will scale with your growing business. Avoid the trouble of switching backup solutions as your needs change and grow with Portworx. Sign up for the free tier today.