While you may be familiar with multiple replication products and vendors, don’t confuse the technology of data or server replication with Disaster Recovery. Replication is not a disaster recovery solution nor does it provide business continuity. So what exactly is replication? According to TechTarget, replication is the process of copying data from one location to another over a SAN, LAN or local WAN. This provides you with multiple up-to-date copies of your data. Look at replication as an aspect of DR/BC. Although it is a key technology in order to implement a complete DR/BC plan, it needs to be combined with data deduplication, virtual servers or even the cloud. But let’s take a step back to really understand business continuity.

1. Why Replication Is Not Enough
to Keep Your Business Running

2. While you may be
familiar with multiple
replication products
and vendors, don’t
confuse the
technology of data or
server replication with
Disaster Recovery.

3. Replication is not a disaster
recovery solution nor does it
provide business continuity. So
what exactly is replication?

4. Replication is the process of
copying data from one location
to another over a SAN, LAN,
or local WAN.
Source: TechTarget

5. This provides you with multiple
up-to-date copies of your data.

6. Look at replication as
an aspect of disaster
recovery and
business continuity.

7. Although it is a key technology
in order to implement a
complete DR/BC plan, it needs
to be combined with data
deduplication, virtual servers,
or even the cloud.

8. But let’s take a step back to really
understand business continuity.

9. According to ESG Sr.
Analyst Jason
Buffington, “business
continuity is ensuring
that your IT and
business processes
continue, involving
availability technologies
as well as mitigation
methods, etc.”

10. Ultimately, your entire IT
infrastructure needs to be up
and running in order to assure
that your employees can
continue working during any
disaster or IT outage.

11. While you need to
protect your data,
just as importantly,
you need to protect
and keep your
applications up.

12. Having survivable data does not
equate to disaster recovery.

13. “Business continuity and
disaster recovery is
more about people and
processes than it is
about the data,”
according to Buffington.

14. By combining appropriate
planning, IT orchestration and
instrumentation with a surviving
copy of your data, you then
have a real BC/DR plan.

15. For example: it’s typical for a
vendor to be able to backup
and replicate his or her virtual
machines to another data
center.

16. Many of these vendors are even
willing to turn the servers back
on in case something goes
wrong.

17. However, unless all of the
servers are all powered
back up and in an exact
order…
Photo by Tim Cummins

18. It is still considered downtime.
Photo by Jenn Vargas

19. Not only does the
order in which
servers are spun up
important…
Photo by GYLo

20. But making sure all
the interconnected
elements of your
network (e.g. Active
Directories, etc.) are
also up and working
is vital.
Photo
by
CJ
Isherwood

21. What you need to look for is not
just the ability to bring up
individual or multiple servers, but
rather be able to virtualize your
entire LAN.

22. The other aspect that is
important to consider
that may be forgotten
around certain
technology is that a
proper Business
Continuity program
requires people and
processes as well.

23. All these elements combined will
form the basis for your company
resiliency plan.
Photo by Lauren Manning

24. So ask yourself, how
resilient is your
company? Do you
have the right
technology, the proper
documentation, and
executive
sponsorship?

25. Watch the ESG video on hybrid
cloud for data protection to learn
more.

26. Find what your company’s resiliency
score is with our
“Disaster Recovery Maturity Framework”
whitepaper.

27. The Axcient Solution
Axcient’s Recovery-as-a-Service cloud
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applications running and employees
productive.
Learn more at axcient.com.
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