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Cloud Based Disaster Recovery

Tina Ready
ECPI University
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Even though services and products are still new to a cloud-based disaster recovery. A lot

of companies are starting to convert over to cloud-based services for their recovery solutions. They say

having a DR site in the cloud reduces the need for the data space needed that traditional equipment would

need. It also creates a reduction in costs and allowing smaller companies to engage with the same

recovery options that only a larger enterprise would have had the advantage of using. “Cloud-based DR

moves the discussion from data center space to one cloud capacity planning”. (Lauren Whitehouse Senior

analyst).

One option and a more popular one is to have both the primary production and DR instances in

the cloud and then managed by a service provider. By doing so you can reap more benefits, and usage-

based costs by eliminating an on-site infrastructure. But keep in mind your choice of a provider and the

negotiations of SLA’s are very important because you have to make sure that it can provide uninterrupted

service within the service level agreements.

Another option would be to backup data to the cloud which the data and applications would

remain on site and when a disaster occurs the data would have been backed up to the cloud and then

restored on site, meaning that the cloud is a substitute for tape based off-site backups. All the while its

pretty straight forward, the cloud moves data deduped, compressed and encrypted. There are some

challenges that will have to be faced such as the recovery, because bandwidth would be limited. Even

some cloud service provides offer the option to restore on a disk, or the cache on a recent backup can also

be used for local restores.

A cloud-based disaster recovery service provides virtual snapshots of the physical or virtual servers at the

data center. The business would then have to pay to store the snapshots, app data in a suspended state, and

replication of data from primary to the secondary for synchronization. All cloud solutions are built

different , meaning the vendor don’t follow the same protocols when it comes to supporting the business.

Providers will differ in what they deem to be necessary or safe. When it comes to backing up the data via
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cloud it may feel like you no longer have control. So, reading the fine print would be the smart thing to do

so you’re not faced with any surprises down the road. One of the main benefits to backing up to the cloud

is that you will have access to it at all times. Even though cloud platforms have more things to offer, there

are still risks involved with totally relying on the cloud to hold business data.

Deciding whether the cloud is the champion of choice for my organization. There are still things

to consider but from research there are many, many benefits why I wouldn’t convert to the cloud. The

main advantage to a cloud backup is that service providers will automate the management so that way in-

house won’t have to. The process to restore can be automated that requires less expertise to get the data

back up and running. The recovery time is also cut short since there isn’t any servers to load with

application software in order to patch the previous configuration used for production. You can also

replicate virtual machines which will protect on premise and cloud production.

My opinion on a managed disaster recovery is this, the way I see it an IT team I’m sure; spends a

lot of time strategizing on how to protect workloads, and plus there are big costs associated with

downtime. A managed plan can and will ensure the reliability, efficiency and accuracy of the DR

solution, and restores normal business operations within a few hours. And it also alleviates the need to

invest in other resources to drive maintenance, and documentation of infrastructure recovery.

A cloud-based backup is a third-party service that allows a business to store data remotely and

online. A cloud-based backup is becoming more popular in today’s organizations. There has been

concerns with this kind of backup plan but has improved over the years. You can replace files that have

been damaged or destroyed by failure or other disaster. Having multiple copies at different locations exist

at all times, you can also have multiple services so in case one provide fails you can retrieve files through

another service. Sometimes opting to maintain up to date copies on different storage resources inside their

own data centers allows for a fast access to files. There are many services to choose from, but most

provide encryption, and a set it and forget it motto. You also have the option to backup everything or a
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few files. And some services allow the customer to have control over the frequency of backups and allow

them to be scheduled whichever is most convenient for the business.

Data replication is one way to get your data backed up to the cloud. And because data storage

environments are becoming more complex it’s important to adopt the best strategies and solutions that

will help manage the volume of data. Data replication is when data is copied from one server to the next.

You can deploy replication, failover, and recovery through site recovery to help keep applications and

running during any planned or unplanned outage. You can minimize recovery issues by sequencing the

order of multi-tier apps running on virtual machines. Automated failover will complete in seconds and

synchronizes files in real time. It can also manage an infection from ransomware. And also eliminates the

need for a physical data center and allows a business to reduce the overhead cost.

Out of all three that I researched I think that the replication in the cloud is the best solution for the

business that I chose.

REFERENCES

Century Link, (n.d). Managed disaster recovery services. Retrieved from

https://www.ctl.io/managed-services/disaster-recovery/

Cloud, (2018). 10 essential features of a cloud backup service. Retrieved from

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https://www.eukhost.com/blog/.../10-essential-features-of-a-cloud-backup-service/

Patterson, C. (2018). 11 reasons your organization needs a data replication solution. Retrieved from

https://www.navisite.com/.../11-reasons-your-organisation-needs-data-replication-solut...

REFERENCES

Gsoedl, J.(n.d). Disaster recovery in the cloud explained. Retrieved from

https://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/.../Disaster-recovery-in-the- cloud-explai...

King, T. (2016). Top 4 risks associated with cloud backup. Retrieved from
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https://solutionsreview.com/...disaster-recovery/top-4-risks-associated-with-cloud-back...

Rouse, M. (n.d). Cloud disaster recovery. Retrieved from

https://searchdisasterrecovery.techtarget.com/.../cloud-disaster-recovery-cloud-DR

The Ame Group. (n.d). How the cloud will change your backup and disaster recovery plan. Retrieved
from
https://www.theamegroup.com/cloud-will-change-backup-disaster-recovery-plan/