Disaster recovery is a crucial aspect of any company’s IT infrastructure. In the past, this was typically done with a backup strategy that involved storing backups in data centres or on-site storage devices.
However, traditional disaster recovery solutions have high rates of partial or even total failure; a recent study reported that 75% of IT managers surveyed stated they their backup system couldn’t restore all their lost data, and 23% couldn’t restore any data at all.
Cloud disaster recovery solutions provide an alternative to traditional strategies and are able to provide better availability and protection for data. These solutions can also offer faster restoration times in the event of an outage.
What is cloud disaster recovery?
Cloud disaster recovery (DR) is the process of transferring data and applications between two separate locations to ensure continuity of operations in the event of a disaster.
It’s often used to protect data stored in a geographic location away from the office. When a disaster strikes at your business location, you can use a remote cloud data centre to continue operations.
Cloud DR can be implemented as a service on demand, a recurring subscription, or a hybrid model that combines both subscription and on-demand models. There are different service models for cloud DR depending on your organisation’s specific needs and budget.
Cloud DR VS traditional DR
Cloud DR uses a cloud-based disaster recovery service to provide secondary storage and processing resources to help an organisation recover from a disaster.
Traditional disaster recovery is the process of replicating critical data and systems from a business location to another. The downside of this approach is that you need to be 100% sure of the availability of certain resources at the secondary location in order to initiate the recovery process.
With cloud DR, you don’t have to worry about hard drive failure; 96% of companies recently surveyed were able to survive ransomware attacks
Benefits of cloud DR
Reduced Risk: By using a cloud-based secondary storage system, you can be certain that your data is safe and secure. Traditional backup systems are often housed in the same physical location as the data they’re backing up. This can increase the risk of physical damage to the equipment and data loss.
Reduced Costs: As with any backup system, cloud-based DR services typically involve an upfront investment. However, they can save you time and money when it comes to ongoing maintenance and management costs associated with managing dedicated on-site systems.
Increased Flexibility: A key benefit of cloud-based DR is its flexibility. You can have your secondary data stored in a location where it’s close to your primary data centre, and have the ability to quickly transfer the data to another location if required. This flexibility can help you meet business needs that are highly dependent on data, such as operating a remote sales force or conducting research and development.
Increased Availability: Another advantage of cloud-based DR is the increased availability of your data. Because it’s hosted in a remote location, a cloud-based system is less likely to suffer a hardware or software failure than a traditional backup system.
Improved Security: Security is one of the biggest concerns for businesses when it comes to managing backup systems. The more centralised the backup system is, the greater the risk of a data breach because it means your backup system is connected to the network and exposed to hackers.
Cloud DR providers
A cloud DR provider stores the data on behalf of the customer in one of its data centres. The provider then provides access to these data centres via a network connectivity solution. The level of redundancy that a provider offers depends on the type of service model they offer.
In a single-cloud model, the provider has a single data centre where it stores the customer’s data. In a multi-cloud model, the provider stores the data in multiple data centres.
Public cloud providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure offer a Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) model. 93% of DRaaS users surveyed recently reported that its performance is acceptable, with less than 7% saying their backups failed.
DRaaS lets you quickly and easily create a DR plan and then, if required, implement it within minutes. You can also manage the process, including evaluation of DR options, through a cloud-based management console.
Cloud providers have a number of different options for handling cloud DR, including replication and snapshots. You can also choose to implement a hybrid model that combines both replication and snapshots. Hybrid models are fast becoming the most popular method of providing DR functionality. This is because they offer the best of both worlds: they are both cost-effective and provide high availability.
Creating a cloud-based DR plan
Before you implement a cloud-based DR strategy, you need to assess the current state of your organisation’s IT environment, including existing risks and the availability of your primary data centre.
A business continuity plan, with key business functions and data points mapped to your IT infrastructure, goes hand-in-hand with a DR plan. It will help you identify critical applications, data points, and geographic locations.
You can also use a cloud-based business recovery simulation tool to test your DR plan. This way, you’ll know how your business would cope if your primary data centre or any one of its geographical locations were to suffer a disaster. You can use a business recovery simulation tool to test your disaster-recovery plan and determine which cloud-based DR options are best for your organisation.
Find the right solution with the cloud DR experts
The digital transformation has presented businesses with a number of challenges. A key part of being prepared for these challenges is disaster recovery. With the help of a professional service provider, you can successfully implement a DR plan that ensures continuity of operations in the event of an outage.
The DR and business continuity strategists at Lindentech can help you find the right cloud-based backup solution based on the needs of your business.
