DisasterRecoveryasaService (DRaaS)orOn-SiteDRAppliance?
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DisasterRecovery-as-a-Service(DRaaS)deliversserverlessrecoverycapabilities whiledisasterrecovery(DR)appliancesprovidetheon-premsecondarysitethat facilitatesquickrecoveryWhichofthetwoisthebestfitforyou?
BothdeploymentoptionshavetheirprosandconsDRaaSoffloadsbackupand DRmanagementtotheserviceprovider’steamofexpertswhileaDRappliance givesyouthecontrolthatseveralregulatoryrequirementsneed
Inthisblogpost,we’lltakeacloserlookatDRaaSvson-siteDRappliancestohelp youfindtherightfitforyourprojectsandbudget
DRaaS:BusinessContinuityWithoutLocal/Onsite Appliance
Disasterrecoverysolutionsenableorganizationstoquicklyrecoverfromdisasters suchashardwarefailure,ransomwareattack,humanerror,accidental/malicious deletion,etc
Todelivershorterrecoverytimeandpointobjectives(RTPOs),DRappliance(s) requirehighperformanceprocessor(s),memory,highspeedstoragedrives,and networkThehardwarespecificationsincreasetheupfrontcosts(CapEx)andthe maintenancecosts(OpEx)foronsitedisasterrecoverysystemsNottomention, theyrequireexpertise,haveasteeplearningcurve,andittakestimetomanagethe environment
DisasterRecoveryasaService(DRaaS)solutionsdeliverthequickrecovery capabilitiesofanonsiteDRappliancebutwithoutthehardware,time,andresource commitments
Whilesusceptibletonetwork,bandwidthlimitations,andlatency,DRaaSprovidean offsiteinfrastructurethatenablesbackupadministratorstorecovercritical systemswithafewclicksTheabilitytodoisespeciallyusefulintheeventthe primaryproductionenvironmentisunavailable
Dependingonthevendorandthesolution,DRaaSarehostedandoftenfully managedbytheserviceproviderAstheserviceprovidertakescareofhardware
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management,softwareupdates,backupandDRorchestrationandtesting,this freesupresourcesandallowsorganizationstofocusoncoreproject(s)
WhenisDisasterRecoveryasaService(DRaaS)theBestOption?
Here’sabrieflistofsituationswhenDisasterRecoveryasaService(DRaaS)isthe bestoption:
Whenorganizationsdon’thavetheresourcesforasecondaryDRsiteowingto costsordistributedIT
Whenorganizationswanttostoredatainmultipleonsiteand/oroffsitelocations forredundancy,highavailability,anddataprotection
WhenorganizationswanttominimizecomplexitybyreducingphysicalITsystems andcuttingdowncostsonacquisition,management,maintenance,and upgrade
Tosetup3-2-1backupstrategywithacopyofthecriticalbackupsona separateoffsiteDRappliance
Whenvirtualmachinesneedtobeprotectedinthecloudorwhenlocalbackups arenotdesiredandneedtobekeptseparatefromtheproductionenvironment WhenbusinesseshavelimitedITresourcesandbudgetandpurchasinganonsite DRappliancetakesresourcesawayfromcorebusinessactivities
SomeConsiderationsBeforeDeployingDRaaS
ChoosingtherightDRaaSisimportantbutit’snoteasyconsideringthesaturated marketwiththehighnumberofserviceprovidersNavigatingthecomplexbuzzwordrichmarketingofDRaaSserviceprovidersisatime-consumingtaskTomake thejourneyeasier,here’sabrieflistofDRaaSconsiderationsthatcanhelpyoufind therightfitforyourbusiness
DataSecurityforYourCriticalData–AreYourSnapshots/ReplicasProtected fromRansomware?
RansomwareattackstargetproductionandbackupserversThisisespeciallytrue forserviceprovidersbecauseasuccessfulransomwareattackleadstoasupply chainattackWithoutautomatedransomwareprotectionmeasures,suchasairgappingandimmutability,theoffsiterepositoriesusedforDRaaSarevulnerableto ransomware
Thisiswhyit’simportanttofirstfocusonhowsecurethesnapshots/replicaswillbe IftheDRaaSserviceproviderdoesnotofferautomatedair-gapping,immutability, andsnapshotsit’sadvisedtolookforonethatdoesbecauseevenifyour productionisprotected,andyourITpersonnelmakenomistakes,therecovery datastoredoffsitecanendupencrypted,deleted,and/orstolen
InitialDataMigration–Howwillitbedoneandhowlongwillittake?
Movingterabytesofdatatoanoffsiteserviceprovideriscostly,timeconsuming, andcomplexifnotdonerightMostorganizationscannotsparethebandwidth neededfortheinitialdatamigrationThisposesachallengeforbackup administrators
Oneofthebestwaystomigratethisinitialbigdataistousearentalappliance, moveyoursnapshots/replicastothehardwarelocally,andthenshipthehardware totheDRaaSserviceprovider’sdatacenter
Typically,thisisadisruptiveprocessespeciallyforcriticalvirtualmachines(VMs) However,withStoneFly’sLiveVMmigrationdatatransferdevices(DTDs),youcan migrateyourcriticalVMswithouthavingtoturnthemoff
Dependingonthevendor,thevolumeofdata,thelocationoftheDRaaSservice providerdatacenter,andproductioncomputecapabilities,theinitialmigration cantakefromafewdaystoaweek
CriticalWorkloads–IdentifytheApplications,Databases,andWorkloadsYou
NeedtoContinueOperations
Takestockofmission-criticalworkloads,whichstorageprotocolstheyuse,andthe storagecapacitytheyneedThisinformationwilldeterminethespecificsforthe DRaaSsolutionanditwillalsohelpforecastthetotalcostofownership(TCO)
Moreover,itwillalsoguidetheserviceprovidertodecidewhichdatagoesonhottierSSD-basedstoragemediaversuswhichgoesoncoldcapacity-tiersusingdiskbasedSASorSATAortapearraysWithhot/coldstoragetiering,theDRaaSwill focusperformancecapabilitiesoncriticalworkloadsThiswillimproverecovery speedsandwillreduceRTPOs
It’simportanttonotethathot/coldstoragetieringismosteffectivewhen automatedWithoutautomation,theprocessistimeconsuming,andproneto errors
DataRetentionPolicies–Howlongshouldsnapshots/replicasberetainedbefore they’reoverwritten/deleted?
Longerdataretentionspansfacilitatecomplianceallowingbackupadministrators toarchivelargevolumesofdata,inlessstoragespace,foryearsWhilelonger retentionspansareusefulforbackups,thepurposeofdisasterrecoveryisquick recoveryofcriticaloperationswithminimumdataloss(shortRTPOs)
ForDRaaS,it’simportanttoknowthenumberofcopiesthatshouldberetained, andhowfarbacktheyneedtobe:fiveminutes,anhour,severalhours,oraday Themorefrequentthesnapshot/replication,themorecompute,networking,and bandwidthresourcesit’llconsume,thecostlierit’llget
Themorecopiesthereare,themoreopportunitiesforthebackupadministratorto recoverdataThisisespeciallyusefulifone,ormore,snapshots/replicasare corrupted,encryptedbyransomware,oraccidentally/maliciouslydeleted
Aclearideaofdataretentionpoliciessimplifiestheprocessoffindingtheright DRaaSsolution
SecondaryOn-PremSitewithDisasterRecovery Appliance(s)
On-premisesdisasterrecoveryappliancesprovideasecondarysitetorestoreand runcriticaloperationsintheeventtheproductionhardwareisunavailableThis makesphysicalDRappliancesagoodfitfororganizationsthatneedtomaintain controlofconfidentialcustomerandemployeeinformationasperregulatory requirements
Todelivershortertherecoverytimeandpointobjectivesrequired,theDRappliance requireshighcomputecapabilitiesinadditiontohigh-speednetworkingThis increasestheperTBcostoftheDRapplianceespeciallywhencomparedto backupappliancesortapearchivesButthereareadvantagestohavinga secondaryDRsiteon-premises
Intheeventtheproductionhardwareisunavailable,whetherforscheduled maintenanceoraransomwareattack,businessoperationscancontinuewithout disruptionSecondly,therearenolatencyissuesoregresscostsinvolved
Moreover,ascomparedtoDRaaS,on-premDRappliancesgenerallyofferfaster recoverytimesandshorterRTPOsaslongasthelocalnetworkspeedcanhandle theI/Otrafficwhenneeded
WhenisaDisasterRecoveryAppliancetheBestOption?
Here’sabrieflistofuse-caseswheredisasterrecoveryappliancesarethebestfit:
Whenthebusinessneedstosetupshorterrecoverytimeandpointobjectives (lessthan15minutes)forterabytesofdatabyconfiguringreal-timesynchronous replication
Fororganizationsthatmustcomplywithstrictregulationsthatrequirestoring dataon-siteandphysicallysecuringthehardwarewiththeDRrepositories Tomeetcyber-insurancerequirementsthatrequireorganizationstohavea secondaryair-gappedandimmutableapplianceforcriticalbackups, snapshots,andreplicas
WhattoConsiderBeforeSettingUpaDisasterRecovery Appliance
Thedecisiontobuyandsetupadisasterrecoveryappliancecanbedifficult consideringthenumberofvendorsinthebillion-dollarmarketTohelpyoufindthe rightDRappliance,here’swhatyouneedtokeepinmindwhenchoosingyour vendor:
DataSecurityofCriticalDataStoredontheDRAppliance
Whetherit’sDRaaSoranon-premDRappliance,it’sequallyimportanttomake surethattherecoverydataisprotectedfromransomwareattacksIfyou’re lookingintoaDRappliance,thefirstthingtokeepinmindisransomwareprotection
Helpfulquestionstoask:
Doestheappliancehavebuilt-inautomatedair-gapping?
Canbackupadministratorsmakecriticalsnapshots/replicasimmutablefora certainperiodoftime?(forbothfileandobjectdata)
Isthedataencryptedatrestandduringtransit?(end-to-endencryption)
Aresnapshotsimmutable?
Isthereananti-ransomwarefeaturethatautomaticallydetectsandremoves malware?
Canbackupadministratorsscheduleautomatedthreatscansthatdetectand removedormantmalware(sleeperransomware)?
Note:StoneFlybackupandDRappliances,suchasDR365V,DR365,andDR365VIVA, offeralloftheabovefeatures,andmore
DataRecoveryOptions–WhatOptionsareThereandHowLongwillRecovery Take?
Justbecauseit’sanon-premiseDRappliancedoesn’tmeanitwillofferfasterdata recoveryThespeedofdatarecoverydependsonthecomputecapabilitiesand read/writespeedsinadditiontotherecoveryfeaturesofthebackupandDR software
FeaturessuchasdirectVMspinup,granularfile-levelrestore,instantmulti-VM recovery,instantdiskrecovery,instantdatabaserecovery,andinstantNAS recoveryarenecessaryforareliabledisasterrecoveryappliance
Tomakesurethattheserecoveryfeaturescandeliverthedesiredrecoverytime andpointobjectives,it’simportantthattheDRappliancesupportshigh performanceprocessorsandhighspeedflash/SSDstorage
Note:Theabovementionedrecoveryfeaturesareofferedasbuilt-incapabilitiesof StoneFly’sVeeam-readybackupandDRappliance(DR365V)
HigherUpfrontCosts–AretheROIsWorthit?
Asageneralruleofthumb,thecostofacquiring,managing,andmaintainingan on-premiseDRapplianceisconsiderablyhigherthanthatofadisasterrecoveryas-a-servicesolution
Theon-premisedisasterrecoverysetuprequiresaserver,softwarelicense(s),incurs maintenancecosts,generatesheatandconsumespowerAdditionally,expertIT teamneedstoregularlyinvesttimetomonitorandmanagetheDRapplianceto ensuresmoothandquickrecoveryintheeventofadisaster
NotonlyisaDRapplianceexpensivefromanupfrontcost(CapEx)standpointbut theoperationalexpenses(OpEx)canalsobeconsiderablyhighThismakesitallthe moreimportantthattheDRappliancehasthenecessaryfeatureswhichdeliverthe ROIsasrequiredbytheDRplan
Thedatasecurity,ransomwareprotection,anddatarecoveryfeaturesmentioned abovecansetyouontherightpathtomakingsurethattheROIsareworthitand thesolutioniswithinyourrequiredbudget
StoneFlyDisasterRecoverySolutions:Custom-Build YourDRApplianceorGetFullyManagedDRaaS
StoneFlyoffersbothon-premisebackupanddisasterrecoveryappliancesand fullymanagedDRaaSOurcustomerscancustom-buildtheDRappliancetofit theirbudgetoroffloadthetime-consumingDRmanagementtoourteamof experts
On-PremStoneFlyBackupandDisasterRecoveryAppliance(s)
StoneFlyDR365V:8,12,16,24,36-bayVeeam-readyfullyair-gappedand immutablebackupandDRapplianceswithmulti-VMrecovery,SnapLock,file lockdown,objectlockdown,andoptionalSAN,NAS,andS3supportLearnmore StoneFlyDR365VIVA:8,12,16,24,36-bayautomatedfullyair-gappedand immutablenodescompatiblewithVeeam,Commvault,Veritas,RubrikandZerto, withbuilt-innetworkandpowermanagementcontroller(s)Learnmore StoneFlyDR365:8,12,16,24,36-bayDRsiteinaboxwithbuilt-inransomware detectionandremoval,air-gappedandimmutablestorage,andoptionalSAN, NAS,andS3supportLearnmore
StoneFlyBackupandDisasterRecoveryasaService(BDRaaS)
Centralizedremotebackupanddisasterrecovery(DR)solutionwithautomated air-gapping,immutablestorage,and1-clickdirectrestoreforyourmobile workforce,ROBOenvironments,andemployeesworkingfromhome
AvailablewiththreeremotebackupandDRmanagementoptionsthatinclude SmartProtectSilver,Gold,andPlatinum
Conclusion
DisasterRecoveryasaService(DRaaS)providesserverlessrecoverycapabilities whileanon-premdisasterrecoveryapplianceprovidesthesecondarysiteyoucan usetorestorecriticaloperationsquicklyintheeventofadisasterBothDRaaSand anon-siteDRappliancehavetheirprosandconsandarefitforawiderangeof use-casesandbudget
Ifyouneedhelpfindingtherightdisasterrecoverysolution,StoneFlyoffersboth turnkeydisasterrecoveryappliancesandfullymanagedDRaaSTalktoourexperts todiscussyourprojectstoday
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Founded in 1996and headquartered in Castro Valley – StoneFly,Inc wasestablished with thevision to simplify optimizeand deliverhigh performancebudget-friendly datacentersolutionsforSMBs,SMEs,and largeenterprises Beginning with its registration oftheiSCSI com Internet domain namein March 1996 StoneFly has madeiSCSI into astandard which isnow used by ITprofessionalsaround theworld
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