Backups & Monitoring
A stable system is built on reliable backups and sensible monitoring. I design backup and monitoring strategies for .NET and SQL Server systems that match your risk tolerance and budget, without unnecessary complexity.
This is especially important for SMEs running their own Windows servers or using a mix of on-prem and cloud hosting.
Backup strategy
- SQL Server full, differential and log backups configured appropriately
- Automatic backup schedules with clear retention periods
- Encrypted off-site backups to protect against local hardware failure or ransomware
- Backups of application files, configuration and critical documents
- Regular test restores to verify that backups are usable
Monitoring & alerting
- Basic server health monitoring (CPU, memory, disk space)
- SQL Server checks for long-running queries and blocking
- Application-level error logging and exception alerts
- Scheduled “smoke tests” or uptime checks to detect outages
- Clear escalation paths when something looks wrong
Not sure if your backups are working?
I can review your current backup and monitoring setup, highlight gaps, and implement simple improvements that significantly reduce operational risk.