Any company that uses GitHub for critical applications needs a backup that can be restored quickly when needed. Cyberattacks, human errors, or a forced push are just some of the scenarios that can result in the loss of GitHub data. In the event of an emergency, you can’t be wasting time asking which developer has the most recent copy of your code. You need to restore your code, and you need it restored now.
Why do you need GitHub backups?
GitHub is a git repository hosting and version control platform, not a backup solution. GitHub, like most SaaS platforms, follows the Shared Responsibility Model. This model divides the responsibilities of users and the responsibilities of the platform, with account-level data security falling securely in the realm of users.
GitHub’s terms of service specifically states that they are “not liable to you or any third party for any loss of profits, use, goodwill, or data.” This means that the information stored in your GitHub account — all of your repositories including code, issues, pull requests, and other essential metadata — is your responsibility to back up.
Although the most common cause for data loss is human error, malicious attacks are becoming increasingly common. Recently, GitHub reported a phishing attack named SawFish which even worked against some kinds of two-factor authentication (2FA) attack, according to Sophos. Some Rewind customers also reported choosing Rewind after phishing attacks resulted in their GitHub data being stolen.Having a backup of your code protects your business’s intellectual property (IP) ensuring that your critical data is always recoverable no matter what goes wrong.
Regular data backups and other data hygiene principles are also often required for compliance purposes. Required data hygiene may include keeping backups with consistent intervals, having offsite backups, regularly testing restores, having an audit report, and a history of data pull requests among many others.
In-house backup solution — pros and cons
“Build vs. Buy” is a common refrain when investigating new tech tools. After all, why pay for something that you could build yourself? Developing an in-house backup solution for your GitHub repositories and metadata is an option. For teams with developer resources to spare, this can be an economical choice. However, building your own backup solution isn’t as simple as writing a backup script.
In-house backup scripts need to be written, tested, and maintained which has an indirect cost to your business. These scripts are also vulnerable to updates to the GitHub APIs. Since the GitHub API changes periodically, in-house scripts have to be updated and tested to make sure your data is still being backed up. Once you’ve backed up your data, you’ll also need to spend developer resources to figure out how you will restore it quickly in case of an emergency. This is one of the hardest capabilities to build, yet the most important. After all, what good is a data backup if you can’t use it to actually put your data back?
Another thorn to be solved is metadata. Your repo is much more than just code: pull requests, issues, commits, branches and more are all essential to your workflow. Backing up and restoring metadata isn’t the same process as backing up and restoring code. Most companies reported having difficulty with backing up and restoring metadata such as Mercado Libre, which backs up 13,000+ repositories with BackHub by Rewind. Another Rewind customer, a major player in the EdTech space, also reported that they chose Rewind because they were not able to backup their metadata which was essential for their business.
On the other hand, the main advantage of an inhouse backup solution is that you have more control over your backups. This may be the frequency or time of the backups among other things. However, this comes at the cost of using your developer and IT resources for developing, maintaining, and testing your in-house solution. Thus, before deciding to build an in-house backup solution, identify your needs and assess your capabilities. Consider if you need to backup your metadata and what your target for time to recovery is. Then, ensure your team has the necessary resources and time to fully develop and maintain the in-house solution.
Why use BackHub by Rewind for GitHub backups?
BackHub by Rewind automates daily backups of your GitHub repositories, pull requests and associated metadata including:
- Commits (including comments)
- Issues
- Projects
- Releases
- Milestones
- Wikis
BackHub by Rewind is set-up in minutes and allows you to restore your repositories and metadata in a few clicks. As the solution works natively within GitHub, your repositories and associated metadata is directly and securely restored to your GitHub account.
When you do need to perform a data restore, simply install BackHub by Rewind’s dedicated restore app, select the date where everything worked perfectly, and click ‘restore’. Your selected repositories, including associated metadata, will then be pushed and restored directly back into your GitHub account.
BackHub by Rewind follows the security principle of least access, meaning once the app is installed, it only has “read” access to your data. This means that BackHub by Rewind cannot alter, modify, or change the code in your repository in any way.
To restore your data, “write” access is required, and so BackHub by Rewind has a separate app used solely for data restoration that can be deleted once restoration is complete. This provides an additional layer of security and peace of mind that your code is kept safe, secure, and secret.
BackHub by Rewind was built with enterprise compliance in mind. Enterprise plans offer advanced features such as 365 days of data retention, full account activity logs, choice of data storage location (US or Europe), and SLA with 99.9% availability. With over 2 PB of data backed up worldwide, Rewind is SOC2 Type 1 certified, and expects to receive SOC2 Type 2 by the end of 2021.
BackHub by Rewind is a true “set it and forget it” tool, and requires no specialized technical or coding knowledge to operate. Running quietly in the background, BackHub by Rewind backs up your GitHub data everyday and allows you to restore it in a few clicks so that your development team can focus on your core product.
If you are interested in BackHub by Rewind, start your free 14-day trial to test it out yourself.
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