Infrastructure

Disaster Recovery Implementation

Building a resilient DR strategy with automated failover

< 4 hours

RTO Achieved

< 15 min

RPO Achieved

100%

DR Tests Passed

The Problem

The organization had basic tape backups but no tested disaster recovery capability. A near-miss with a ransomware attempt highlighted the risk of extended downtime if critical systems were compromised or the primary site became unavailable.

Key Challenges

  • Tape backups had never been tested for full restore
  • No documented recovery procedures or priority systems list
  • Recovery time was estimated at 1-2 weeks for critical systems
  • Budget constraints ruled out a secondary hot site

Business Impact: Significant business risk with potential for extended outage, data loss, and regulatory non-compliance for data protection requirements.

The Solution

Implemented a DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service) solution using Veeam replication to Expedient's cloud infrastructure, providing cost-effective DR without maintaining a secondary data center.

Implementation Steps

  1. 1Identified critical systems and defined RTO/RPO requirements with stakeholders
  2. 2Deployed Veeam Backup & Replication with offsite copy jobs
  3. 3Configured Veeam Cloud Connect replication to Expedient DRaaS
  4. 4Created detailed runbooks for failover and failback procedures
  5. 5Conducted tabletop exercises with IT team and stakeholders
  6. 6Performed live failover test during maintenance window

Technologies Used

Veeam Backup & ReplicationExpedient DRaaSVMware vSphereCloud ConnectWindows Server

The Outcome

Results Achieved

  • Achieved RTO of under 4 hours for critical systems
  • RPO of 15 minutes through continuous replication
  • Successfully completed semi-annual DR tests with 100% pass rate
  • Documented procedures enable any team member to initiate failover
  • Reduced cyber insurance premiums due to documented DR capability

Lessons Learned

  • RTO/RPO discussions must involve business stakeholders, not just IT
  • Untested backups are not backups - regular testing is essential
  • DRaaS provides enterprise DR capability at SMB budget
  • Runbooks should be detailed enough for someone unfamiliar to execute

Related Topics

VeeamDRaaSVMwareBusiness Continuity