Some businesses deploying new cloud services right now are just looking for the basics so their remote workforces can stay productive. But other clients may want to build more reliable platforms. Whether they’re looking to avoid service interruptions, hedge against an increase in remote attacks, or back up aging on-premise infrastructure, cloud-based disaster recovery systems can help any business with business continuity.
Using the cloud to run business continuity services can be very cost-effective. Doing so means your clients avoid both the huge capital outlay needed to run an off-site data center and the ongoing operating costs that come with managing that facility, its servers, and its storage arrays.
There are several good cloud-based redundancy and disaster recovery (DR) options available to Sherweb Partners. You can pick and choose which combination of services is right for your clients. Let’s look at the tools available both in Sherweb Performance Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
Sherweb Performance Cloud
Performance Cloud data centers are well-suited for running disaster recovery services. All are SOC2 Type II-certified and offer N+2 redundancy. You can easily spin up VMs for different business continuity needs, but there are two particularly useful DR services available right out of the box: Sherweb Online Backup and Veeam Cloud Connect.
Online Backup
Sherweb’s Online Backup platform can be used to back up both endpoint devices, like your client’s desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, as well as both on-premise servers and any cloud servers you’ve already provisioned for them. For example, this could include data in their O365 tenant, in an on-premise SQL Server, a cloud-based Exchange Server, or any similar combination.
Utilizing the cloud for backups and archiving avoids the upfront costs that often prevent many SMB clients from deploying robust DR systems. To initiate a backup in Online Backup, you simply need to schedule a job and then download and install the agent on a client device. All configuration is handled by the Online Backup service in the data center. No media swapping is needed in recovery, so restore operations can begin instantly.
Veeam Cloud Connect on Performance Cloud
Veeam Cloud Connect allows you to offer Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) to your clients. It’s a flexible tool that can do full replication—”hot” disaster recovery—as well as warm and cold backup operations.
The right choice for a given client depends on how much interruption in service they can tolerate—the Recovery Time Objective (RTO)—and how much data loss they want to avoid—the Recovery Point Objective (RPO). Here are the three most common implementations. Further details are available on Sherweb’s Disaster Recovery service page.
Data Backup (Cold)
In this scheme, selected data from client servers back up to a repository in the Sherweb Performance Cloud. This is a low-cost recovery option, but the time needed for RTO and RPO is relatively high. It’s a good option for clients who want to recover services on a slower time frame cost-effectively.
| Server type | Time to recover (RTO) | Risk of data loss (RPO) | Cost |
| Physical | ⏲️⏲️⏲️⏲️ | ??? | ? |
VM Backup (Cold)
Here, an entire VM is archived to cloud storage as a single file. VMs can be restored to any new server running the same hypervisor. This option has moderate RTO and RPO, meaning there will be a lag in recovery time, but once the VM is spun up, they’re good to go.
| Server type | Time to recover (RTO) | Risk of data loss (RPO) | Cost |
| Virtual | ⏲️⏲️⏲️ | ??? | ?? |
VM Replication (Warm)
Warm VM replication is similar to cold VM backups, except that the copied VM is staged in a hypervisor on a server in the Sherweb Performance Cloud. This reduces service interruptions at a slightly higher cost.
| Server type | Time to recover (RTO) | Risk of data loss (RPO) | Cost |
| Virtual | ⏲️⏲️ | ?? | ??? |
Mirroring (Hot)
This option is only available in applications that support mirroring. The application is replicated on both on-premise and cloud servers. The application itself manages failovers. Uptime is maximized and data loss minimized. It’s an appropriate choice for mission-critical services.
| Server type | Time to recover (RTO) | Risk of data loss (RPO) | Cost |
| Physical or Virtual | ⏲️ | ? | ???? |
Microsoft Azure business continuity
In addition to Performance Cloud, Sherweb is also a leading Azure distributor. Azure was built with enterprise computing needs in mind, but it works equally well for running backups and disaster recovery for SMBs. Sherweb’s Azure experts can advise you and your clients about moving entirely to an Azure DR plan, deploying a hybrid plan, or another custom implementation.
The two main DR tools available in Azure are its Site Recovery and Geo-Redundancy features.
Azure Site Recovery
Site Recovery is the native DRaaS tool in Azure. It lets you easily implement server replication and failover processes. To enable Site Recovery, you simply need to replicate a VM from one region to another within the Azure portal. The VMs can then automatically recover from each other in the event of an outage.
You can also sequence applications running on multiple VMs to simplify recovery. This lets you test your DR plan without impacting your clients’ production environments. It’s a cost-effective way to provide complete redundancy for planned and unplanned outages. Setting up a Site Recovery replication for a client is also a simple way you can help them meet ISO 27001 and many other industry standards.
Geo-Redundancy
Data in Azure always stores in redundant locations, but you can set custom redundancy plans for your clients depending on what their DR needs are. They may want regional backups to keep performance and speed high in case of a failover. Or they may explicitly need redundancy outside of their region for regulatory compliance.
For applications that require a high level of availability, you can configure secondary regions where data can be copied. Applications can continue running even in the event of a major power outage or another disaster that could affect all data centers in the primary region.
Help your clients plan for the future
Cloud-based disaster recovery systems are an excellent way to ensure business continuity for your clients. No matter whether they’re concerned about downtime caused by planned outages, protecting their business during unplanned outages, or stopping data loss caused by remote attacks, cloud-based DR can help.
Keep your clients’ data safe. Contact Sherweb cloud specialists today for help finding the right disaster recovery plans.
