Dynamics Community Forum Thread Details

Hello Samantha73,

You're right to be concerned about data recovery and backups, especially when coming from a system like Business Central with granular restore options. Dataverse (which underlies Dynamics 365) does have backup and restore capabilities, but it's important to understand the differences from Business Central.

Dataverse Backup and Restore:

Automated System Backups:
- Dataverse automatically performs system backups of your environment.
- These backups are retained for a limited time, typically a few days.
- Microsoft manages these backups, and you don't have direct control over the backup schedule or frequency.

Restore Point Objective (RPO):
- Dataverse's RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is not as granular as the 5-minute interval you're used to with Business Central.
- The exact RPO can vary, but it's generally in the range of several hours.

Restore Scope:
- Restoring from a system backup typically involves restoring the entire Dataverse environment.
- You cannot restore individual tables or records.

On-Demand Backups (Production Environments):
- In production environments, you can create on-demand backups.
- However, these backups are primarily for disaster recovery scenarios, not for frequent, granular restores.

Scenario: Accidental Deletion of Records:

Not Ideal for Granular Recovery: If you accidentally delete a large number of records, restoring from a system backup is not the ideal solution.
- It would involve restoring the entire environment, which can be time-consuming and disruptive.
- It would also restore the environment to a point in time before the deletion, potentially losing other data changes.

Alternative Approaches:
- Auditing: Dataverse has auditing capabilities that can track data changes, including deletions. If auditing is enabled, you might be able to identify the deleted records and potentially recreate them.
- Data Export/Import: If you have regular data exports, you might be able to import the deleted records from a previous export.
- Third-Party Backup Solutions: There are third-party backup and recovery solutions that offer more granular restore options for Dataverse. These solutions might provide features like point-in-time recovery for individual tables or records.

Key Differences from Business Central:

Granularity: Dataverse's restore options are less granular than Business Central's.
Control: You have less direct control over Dataverse backups compared to Business Central backups.
Purpose: Dataverse system backups are primarily for disaster recovery, while Business Central backups are often used for more frequent restores.

Recommendations:

Enable Auditing: Enable auditing in Dataverse to track data changes.
Implement a Data Export Strategy: Regularly export your Dataverse data to a separate storage location.
Consider Third-Party Backup Solutions: If you require granular restore options, explore third-party backup solutions.
Understand Dataverse Backup Policies: Familiarize yourself with Microsoft's Dataverse backup and restore policies.

In essence, while Dataverse provides backup and restore capabilities, it's not designed for the same level of granular, frequent restores as Business Central. Therefore, it's crucial to implement alternative data protection strategies.

If my answer was helpful, please click Like, and if it solved your problem, please mark it as verified to help other community members find more. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.

My response was crafted with AI assistance and tailored to provide detailed and actionable guidance for your Microsoft Dynamics 365 query.

Regards,

Daivat Vartak

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