Backup for Google Workspace

Google Vault is an archiving tool which may seem like a built-in backup utility, but it’s not designed as a backup service to save data from loss or corruption. Instead, it is intended to be an archive location to support eDiscovery. This additional G Suite application mainly works to help organisations with a way to archive data, and use eDiscovery in order to comply with legal requirements. Google Vault provides organisations with the ability to archive data and set retention rules, thus preserving users by placing ‘legal holds’, and also allows for IT admins to search the organisation’s data, export needed data for further processing, and analyse  the activities of other Vault users, via its built-in audit reports.

Plainly put, G Suite – Google Vault is not a backup solution, even if there are methods to use it in order to restore lost data, in some particular situations. Its paramount to understand and differentiate Google Vault from a backup solution, simply because its primary function is to archive and hold data so that it can be found going forward. True backup & restore solutions are setup to maintain the integrity of your business data by continuously replicating a version, which can be used to replace the primary data if and when it is needed, in instances of Malware, malicious deletion, accidental, and or simply software error. IT managers who attempt to make use of Google Vault for backup & recovery instead of a 3rd party backup solution, find it will not function as a true primary data replacement solution. Its restore process and capability is cumbersome and slow.

‘Google Takeout’ is a Google service which allows users the ability to export and also archive their personal data, from Gmail, YouTube, Google Hangouts, Google Photos, Blogger, etc. These exported files are downloadable as.zip or .tgz formats.

The user can select to export all of the available services or choose services from the above mentioned list. Google Takeout will then process the request and put all the files into a zip file. There is an option to send out an email notification once the export is completed, at which point the user can download the archive from the downloads section of the website. The zip file contains a separate folder for each service that was selected for export.

Google Takeout is not designed as a backup solution, and it was developed by an internal engineering team known as the Google Data Liberation Front as a means for users to simply extract their data from within Google applications. And, as such Google Takeout extracts a copy of data that could be used for restoration in a data loss occurrence, but for enterprizes its by far an impractical, outdated solution with severe limitations.

The Google ‘Backup & Sync’ is downloadable software, not cloud based, which takes data stored on their Mac / PC — like; documents, photos, videos, etc. — and systematically sync them to their Google Drive account in the cloud. Backup & Sync was released in July of 2017 (replacing the discontinued Google Drive desktop client). The software main function is to sync data remotely, while safeguarding from hardware failure and risks associated with physical data storage.

Google Workspace is a secure solution, and its data is encrypted ‘at rest’, within backup media, and while in transit between user devices and Google or between Google data centers. Google utilizes a high 2048-bit RSA encryption key model claiming to be; “first major cloud provider to enable perfect forward secrecy,” guarantees the encryption of data even as it moves between Google and other companies on the internet. View more about Google G Suite security.

Google does perform a backup of your G Suite data, emails, docs, and such… so it guarantees that your data remains available, continuously with their own internal backup & disaster recovery SLA. The important issue is that these backups are unavailable to system admins, or for that matter end users, and exist only to safeguard Google from their own data loss occurrences. Hence, Google does not protect data from error for your business organisation, such as accidental and or malicious user deletion, software errors, malware, ransomware, etc.

Before year 2017, Google own policy decleared that it “may terminate your account in accordance with the terms of service if you fail to login to your account for a period of nine months.” Google has removed this statement, and there is no current policy of automatic deletion following a period of inactivity. Thus, inactive Gmail accounts should remain in place, as is.

Google Gmail will keep your emails for an indefinite period of time, and there is no stated policy of deletion, regardless of their date. Hence, all emails are kept forever, unless they are deleted by the user. After deletion the email is kept in the trash folder for a period of 30 days, available for recovery, before it’s deleted permanently. Also, spam emails are automatically deleted after a 30 day’s period, unless the user modifies their status.

The short answer is no. If an email has been permanently deleted, it’s not possible to recover it, without a backup & restore solution, activated prior to the deletion date.  But, the organization’s G Suite system admin, or IT manager, might be able to restore the emails by:

• Using the system admin console within a period of 25 days of deletion. After the 25 day period, the data is purged forever.
• Mailboxes (including deleted messages) from the past 30 days can be recovered using the Email Audit API.

Business which understand that they are responsible for the business data, and wish to enable a restore from any point in time, with an unlimited retention period, realise that ultimately, it’s their own data and that 3rd party solutions are necessary to assist the IT department to restore G Suite data. Google’s document on Privacy and Copyright Protection clarifies this issue:

“When permitted by law, Google, and Google’s suppliers and distributors, will not be responsible for lost profits, revenues, or data, financial losses or indirect, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages.”

“In all cases, Google, and its suppliers and distributors, will not be liable for any loss or damage that is not reasonably foreseeable.” 

Business continuity is assured when the organisation IT understand that the data is the lifeline of the company, and since data loss incidents occur  daily, a 3rd party backup is essential. Google does not take responsibility for the organisation data, and any data loss … and data protection is imperative even when cloud solutions are in place.

Yes, if it’s a sub-domain please contact CloudAlly support support@cloudally.com) and we will activate the backups for you. If you have unique Google Apps domains simply sign in to your Google domain with admin rights and then activate a backup on CloudAlly. You can repeat this process for all your domains.

We backup Gmail, Drive (excluding Google Photos), Sites, Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Chat within Google Apps and personal Google Accounts.

Chat backup can be activated by clicking on “Show in IMAP” on the Chat line of your Gmail Manage Labels page.