1. Most of our clients use SPS Data Backup/Restore for an initial restore. After this, we use either custom scripts  or sql  Backup. The main issue with the built-in tool is that it doesn’t allow restoring to an existing portal and force you delete the portal first.

2. Most of our clients use a Stand-by server where main production server is being restored automatically on a nightly basis, this allows them to access previous day or point of time backup  to retrieve individual site  and/or documents. We have written scripts to automate SQL restore  from a production environment to a stand-by server.