What type of backups are considered valuable for quick restoration of a failed cloud service?

Configuration backups are essential for quick restoration of a failed cloud service because they contain the settings, policies, and operational details required to restore applications and services to their intended state after a failure. When a cloud service fails, it’s not just the data that needs to be recovered but also the specific configurations that dictate how that service operates. This includes aspects like network settings, user permissions, and environment configurations, all of which are crucial for a seamless and effective restoration process.

While data backups are critical for recovering the actual information processed by the services, they don't address how that data should be used within the applications. Incremental backups can speed up the recovery process for data but still require configuration settings for full service restoration. Synced backups, meanwhile, could be useful for maintaining real-time data but lack the necessary configurations that ensure the data is functional within the cloud environment.

In summary, configuration backups enable the recovery of the entire service, including essential operational parameters, significantly reducing downtime in the event of a failure.