Table of Contents

How Your Data is Backed Up

Mitchell Ivany Updated by Mitchell Ivany

Read Time: 9 mins

Sonar stores your instance data redundantly on Microsoft Azure and gives you a Data Exports tool for taking your own copy of that data. This article explains how that redundancy works, what a data export contains, and how to run exports manually, on a schedule, and to external storage. It is written for administrators responsible for data retention, reporting, or migrating Sonar data into another system.

How Sonar stores your data

Sonar is hosted on Microsoft Azure, so the data we host is available across multiple distinct servers. Your data is stored redundantly, which means that even in the event of a total server or system failure, your instance data is not lost.

This redundancy protects against infrastructure failure. It is not the same as a restorable backup of your instance, which is covered next.

Backing up your Sonar instance

Sonar does not support recoverable backups of instance data. Instead, you can export a copy of everything your instance contains, including customer data, account notes, settings, and user data.

Data exports are one directional. An export cannot be loaded back into Sonar and is not a restore point.

If you need a data snapshot before a mass data edit, contact your CSM so we can help you through that process.

What is a Data Export

A data export saves the information stored on your instance in a format you can use elsewhere, with other services or applications. Each export is a password protected ZIP archive of comma separated value files, one file per table.

To open the Data Exports page, select the Settings gear, then Data Exports.

What is included in a data export

A data export contains the tables listed below, one CSV file per table. The groupings are for readability only and do not reflect how the files are named or ordered in the archive.

This list reflects the export contents as of the date shown at the top of this article. Tables are added and renamed as the product changes, so the archive you download may not match this list exactly. Open the archive to confirm the contents of any specific export.
Accounts and customers
  • Accounts
  • Account Billing Parameters
  • Account Events
  • Account Groups
  • Account Service
  • Account Statuses
  • Account Types
  • Account Adtran Mosaic Service Details
  • Account Calix Service Details
  • Account Voice Service Details
  • Contacts
  • Contracts
  • Contract Templates
  • Custom Fields
  • Custom Field Data
  • Disconnection Logs
  • Disconnection Reasons
  • Handwritten Signatures
  • Signatures
  • Notes
Addresses and serviceability
  • Addresses
  • Address Lists
  • Address Statuses
  • Serviceable Address Account Assignment Future
  • Serviceable Address Account Assignment Histories
  • Network Site Serviceable Address Lists
  • Service Eligibility Rules
  • Map Overlays
  • Geofences
Billing, services, and packages
  • Billing Settings
  • Billing Defaults
  • Billing Packages
  • Billing Services
  • Packages
  • Package Service
  • Services
  • Service Metadata
  • Service Metadata Values
  • Recurring Service Details
  • Data Service Details
  • Expiring Service Details
  • Overage Service Details
  • Adjustment Service Details
  • Voice Service Details
  • Voice Service Generic Parameters
  • Usage Based Billing Policies
  • Usage Based Billing Policy Free Periods
  • Data Usage Histories
  • Data Usage Top Offs
  • Monthly Billing Completions
  • Subscriptions
  • Delinquency Exclusions
  • General Ledger Codes
Invoicing and financial transactions
  • Invoices
  • Invoice Attachments
  • Invoice Messages
  • Invoice Templates
  • Invoice Template Versions
  • Printed Invoice Batches
  • Debits
  • Fractional Debits
  • Credits
  • Discounts
  • Payments
  • Refunded Payments
  • Reversed Payments
  • Voided Payments
  • Disputes
  • Deposit Slips
  • Disbursements
  • Disbursement Details
  • ACH Batches
  • EPCS
Payment processing
  • Bank Accounts
  • Bank Account Processors
  • Bank Account Processor Credentials
  • Credit Cards
  • Credit Card Processors
  • Credit Card Processor Credentials
  • PayPal Credentials
Taxes
  • Taxes
  • Tax Exemptions
  • Tax Overrides
  • Tax Transactions
  • Fractional Tax Transactions
  • Tax Providers
  • Tax Provider Credentials
  • Service Tax
  • Service Tax Definition
  • Geo Tax Zones
  • Avalara Tax Categories
  • Avalara Tax Definitions
  • Voice Service Generic Parameter Tax
  • Voice Service Generic Parameter Tax Definition
Communication and messaging
  • Emails
  • Email Messages
  • Email Message Contents
  • Email Domains
  • Email Locations
  • Email Opens
  • Email Clicks
  • Mass Emails
  • SMTP Events
  • Inbound Mailboxes
  • SMS Messages
  • SMS Message Contents
  • SMS Outbound Messages
  • SMS Settings
  • Message Categories
  • Saved Message Categories
  • Triggered Messages
  • Notifications
  • Notification Settings
  • Call Logs
  • External Marketing Providers
  • External Marketing Provider Credentials
  • Print To Mail Orders
  • Print To Mail Order Errors
  • Print To Mail Batches
  • Print To Mail Settings
Ticketing
  • Tickets
  • Ticket Categories
  • Ticket Category Families
  • Ticket Comments
  • Ticket Groups
  • Ticket Recipients
  • Ticket Replies
  • Ticket Resolution Reasons
  • Ticketing Settings
  • Canned Replies
  • Canned Reply Categories
Inventory and purchasing
  • Inventory Items
  • Inventory Item Events
  • Inventory Locations
  • Inventory Models
  • Inventory Model Categories
  • Inventory Model Fields
  • Inventory Model Field Data
  • Inventory Model Min Maxes
  • Global Inventory Model Min Maxes
  • Generic Inventory Items
  • Generic Inventory Item Action Logs
  • Generic Inventory Assignees
  • Non Inventory Items
  • Internal Locations
  • Manufacturers
  • Stock Keeping Units
  • Deployment Types
  • Device Interface Mappings
  • Uninventoried MAC Addresses
  • Vendors
  • Vendor Items
  • Purchase Orders
  • Purchase Order Items
Jobs, scheduling, and fleet
  • Jobs
  • Job Types
  • Job Service
  • Job Check Ins
  • Tasks
  • Task Groups
  • Task Templates
  • Task Template Items
  • Scheduled Events
  • Scheduled Event Account Calix Service Details
  • Scheduled Event Account Voice Service Details
  • Schedule Addresses
  • Schedule Availabilities
  • Schedule Availability Day Times
  • Schedule Blockers
  • Schedule Blocker Day Times
  • Schedule Blocker Overrides
  • Schedule Time Offs
  • Calendar Icals
  • Vehicles
  • Vehicle Location Histories
  • GPS Tracking Providers
  • GPS Tracking Provider Credentials
Networking
  • Network Sites
  • IP Pools
  • IP Assignments
  • IP Assignment Histories
  • Subnets
  • Supernets
  • DHCP Servers
  • DHCP Server Credentials
  • DHCP Server Identifiers
  • Radius Accounts
  • Radius Groups
  • Radius Group Reply Attributes
  • Radius Servers
  • Radius Server Credentials
  • Radius Session Histories
  • Inline Devices
  • Inline Device Credentials
  • Cable Modem Provisioners
  • Cable Modem Provisioner Credentials
  • LTE Providers
  • LTE Provider Credentials
  • Preseems
  • Netflow On Premises
Monitoring and alerting
  • Pollers
  • Poller Settings
  • Network Monitoring Graphs
  • Network Monitoring Templates
  • SNMP OIDs
  • SNMP OID Thresholds
  • SNMP OID Threshold Violation
  • SNMP Overrides
  • Daily Aggregate Values
  • Alerting Rotations
  • Alerting Rotation Days
  • Alerting Rotation Inventory Item
Voice
  • Voice Providers
  • Voice Provider Rates
  • Voice Provider Rate Imports
  • Voice Provider Rate Import Recipes
  • DIDs
  • DID Assignments
  • DID Assignment Histories
  • DID Import Recipes
  • Phone Numbers
  • Phone Number Types
  • Local Prefixes
  • Rate Centers
  • Call Data Records
  • Call Data Record Imports
  • Call Detail Records
  • Call Detail Record Imports
  • Call Detail Record Import Recipes
Integrations
  • Adtran Mosaic Settings
  • Adtran Mosaic Audits
  • Adtran Mosaic Kafka Events
  • Adtran Mosaic Workflow Events
  • Calix Integrations
  • Calix Cloud Settings
  • Calix Cloud Audits
  • Fibermap Integrations
  • Fibermap Plans
  • Fibermap Service Locations
  • Towercoverage Configurations
  • Towercoverage Submissions
  • Integration Field Mappings
  • Integration Service Mappings
Companies, users, and access
  • Companies
  • Company Department
  • Departments
  • Users
  • Roles
  • Order Groups
  • Order Group User
  • Auth Providers
  • Authentication Factors
  • Identity Providers
  • Identity Provider SAML Details
  • Identity Provider Google Details
  • Identity Provider Microsoft Details
  • Identity Provider Active Directory Details
  • MFA Admin Settings
  • Password Policy
  • Access Logs
  • Application Firewall Rules
Reporting, views, and system
  • Stored Views
  • Stored View User
  • Stored Filters
  • Stored Groups
  • Search Filters
  • Recent Items
  • Looker View Licenses
  • FCC Form 477 Reports
  • Files
  • Imports
  • Custom Links

Data Exports dashboard overview

The Data Exports page contains the following controls.

  1. Create Data Exports manually initiates a data export, which is stored on the instance and available for download on demand.
  2. Automatic Exports tells your instance to create an export of your data every night at midnight UTC.
  3. Upload Automatic Exports tells the instance to send those exports to your configured storage.
  4. Maximum exports sets the number of exports preserved. Any export beyond this number is removed to make room. If you are using configured storage, this limit applies to those locations as well.
  5. Backup Timeout sets how long, in minutes, an export may run before it is considered failed. The value must be between 60 and 1440 minutes, or 1 to 24 hours, and defaults to 60 minutes. An export running longer than this value is marked as failed and restarted.
    If all of your data exports are failing, increase the Backup Timeout before contacting Support. Large instances frequently need more than the default 60 minutes.
  6. Configured Storage adds an off instance location for your exports to be duplicated to.
    When configuring your external Data Export Storage, your provider may require that Sonar's Egress IP Address be whitelisted. For the most up-to-date list of IP Addresses, you can review the Sonar IP Addressing article.

    As information can flow between IP Addresses interchangeably, ensure that all addresses are whitelisted.
  7. Data Export History displays all exports stored on your instance, up to the maximum you set, with the export name, creation date, file name, and file password. The Export button above the table exports the history list itself, not the data exports it contains.

Running a manual data export

A manual export is the simplest use of the tool and requires only a name for the export. It is a quick way to move instance data to another platform or third party software.

Manual exports are also sent to any enabled storage location. Data transfer and storage charges from your storage provider may apply.
Windows File Explorer cannot open password protected ZIP files. Use 7-Zip or WinZip to extract your export.

Using Automatic Exports

Automatic exports create a copy of your data every night at midnight UTC. Use them when an external application needs regular access to the customer data hosted in Sonar, or when you want a standing copy of your data without running exports by hand.

Configuring a Storage Location

Configuring a storage location adds an external destination for your exports. Exports are then stored both on the instance and in the configured storage location.

The maximum number of exports applies to instance storage and configured storage alike. Any export past that maximum deletes the oldest export and replaces it.

Your storage provider may require that Sonar egress IP addresses be allowed through its firewall. Because traffic can originate from any address in the range, allow all of them. For the current list, see the Sonar IP Addressing article.

Each provider requires the following credentials.

Provider
Required credentials
Amazon S3
Account key, account secret, region, API version, bucket, and the base path for storing exports
Azure Blob Storage
Account name, account key, container, and the base path for storing exports
DigitalOcean Spaces
Account key, account secret, region, API version, endpoint, bucket, and the base path for storing exports
Dropbox
Account authorization token and the base path for storing exports
Google Cloud Storage
Project ID, the contents of your Google Cloud Storage key file, bucket, and the base path for storing exports
Rackspace
Identity endpoint, username, password, region, and the base path for storing exports
Scaleway Object Storage
Account key, account secret, region, API version, endpoint, bucket, and the base path for storing exports
SFTP
Host, port, username, password, and the base path for storing exports

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