Backup & Disaster Recovery

Version 1.3 | Last Updated: January 2025

ClientFlow implements automated, encrypted backups with geographic redundancy to ensure your data is never lost, even in catastrophic scenarios.

Backup Strategy

Backup Type	Frequency	Retention	Location
Real-time Replication	Continuous	N/A	Frankfurt → Helsinki
Daily Snapshot	2:00 AM UTC	7 days	Frankfurt + Helsinki
Weekly Full	Sunday 3:00 AM	4 weeks	Frankfurt + Helsinki
Monthly Archive	1st of month	3 months	Frankfurt + Helsinki

Recovery Objectives

Scenario	RTO (Time)	RPO (Data Loss)
Database Failover	<5 minutes	<1 second
Daily Backup Restore	<1 hour	<24 hours
Full Disaster	<4 hours	<24 hours
Ransomware Attack	<4 hours	<7 days

Geographic Redundancy

• Primary Site: Frankfurt, Germany (Hetzner Datacenter)
• Secondary Site: Helsinki, Finland (Hetzner Datacenter)
• Distance: ~1,200 km (protects against regional disasters)
• Latency: ~20ms between datacenters

What Gets Backed Up

• Database: All user accounts, client records, payments, appointments, audit logs
• File Storage: Client files, uploaded documents, profile photos
• Settings: All integrations and preferences

Encryption & Security

• Algorithm: AES-256-CBC (NIST FIPS 140-2 approved)
• Key Management: HashiCorp Vault (encrypted at rest)
• Key Rotation: Every 90 days
• Transmission: TLS 1.3 for replication, SSH for backup uploads

Automatic Failover Process

1. Monitoring detects Frankfurt database unreachable (30 seconds)
2. Health check confirms outage (90 seconds)
3. Promote Helsinki standby to primary (60 seconds)
4. Update DNS to point to Helsinki (60 seconds)
5. Restart application servers (30 seconds)

Total failover time: ~5 minutes

Ransomware Protection

• Immutable Backups: Stored in append-only mode (cannot be encrypted)
• Air-Gapped Archives: Monthly archives use separate credentials
• Versioning: 5 versions per backup file retained

Self-Service Recovery (PRO/Team)

1. Navigate to Settings → Backups → Restore
2. Select restore point (last 7 days)
3. Choose what to restore (single client, all clients, payments, files)
4. Click "Preview Restore" then confirm
5. Receive email when complete (~10-30 minutes)

Testing & Validation

• Monthly Restore Tests: Random backup restored to isolated environment
• Quarterly DR Drills: Full disaster simulation with team
• Daily Integrity Checks: SHA-256 checksum verification

Contact

Backup/Restore Questions: support@clientflow.center

Disaster Recovery Hotline (Team tier): Emergency phone provided after signup

Compliance Questions: compliance@clientflow.center

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Read time: ~10 minutes | Audience: IT Teams, Compliance Officers