The Cloud-Based Approach to Disaster Recovery

Although cloud replication has proven itself to be a trusted and long running system to keeping your backup data secure and up to date, I have discovered that it involves exactly zero clouds. While this was a small setback in my research, I now know that Replication gives businesses and networks a cloud-based replica of your environment. This replica allows for easy access to a recent backup of a singular virtual machine, a set of VM’s (Virtual Machines) or even an entire network, along with the ability to switch over to said replica should anything go wrong with your own environment.

Although this has relations to the backup process, the key difference is that replication can update more frequently and serves as a copy of your environment, often more so than backups. Keep in mind that neither one replaces the other in functionality, and it’s best to have both to truly keep your company’s data securely offsite and readily available.

The systems behind replication works on a set interval where a program - Veeam Cloud Connect Replication - will create a replica system of your network at a data center, such as Whipcord. This replication interval is also known as a Recovery Point Objective, and is set to your preference and recommendation based on your network connection speed, data plan, and the importance of data loss. For example, 15 minutes since your last backup would equal to 15 minutes of lost data. Veeam Cloud Connect is a flexible system, allowing the user to select the VM to be replicated. Alternatively, you can replicate a series of VM’s, or even the entire network, if you experience a major disaster.

In the case of serious disaster, Whipcord and Veeam Cloud Connect allow you to “failover” and run your environment through Whipcord infrastructure while your main environment is down. Once your environment is functional you can simply failback to your original or new network and continue your production. If your preference is to keep you environment off-site, Whipcord offers full time operation from their centres. In addition to a disaster recovery strategy, a replication server can be used to test upgrades to your environment before implementing them to your own network.

For added security, you can also add Veeam Cloud Connect Backup to your system, giving you data recovery on a file level. This provides you with full protection against any issue that may come your way and feeling fully secure that your cloud is functional even if the clouds outside are looking more threatening than usual.

As an additional bonus, Veeam & Whipcord are giving away $1,000 in FREE Cloud Connect Services, giving exisiting Veeam customers the opportunity to try a backup or replication solution.