veeamup

VeeamUP. Availability for the Modern Data Center: Business & IT Perspectives. Volume 06 Veeam Software

Page

1VeeamUPAvailability for the Modern Data Center: Business & IT Perspectives

Volume # 06

Maximizing availability at the edge of the network

Enjoy reading,Your VeeamUP editorial team

Remote and branch office data protection best practices

Introduction

Veeam Software

Page

3

VeeamUP. Availability for the Modern Data Center: Business & IT Perspectives. Volume 06

We’ve all heard about fantastic new data-center technologies, but all too often it looks like these technologies only seem to apply to the largest organizations with a wealth of centralized resources. Because data doesn’t just live in the data center, we often face daily challenges when data is put to use in the field at remote branch offices (ROBOs).

Business and IT leaders need to recognize the unique needs of ROBOs. For instance, teams based in remote offices need constant, reliable and fast access to essential data, without sacrificing data security and integrity. A challenge for IT leaders is how to ensure that data is highly available, even without a dedicated local IT team to govern and control it. The Veeam Data Center Availability Report 2014

1 reveals that, each quarter, organizations only test an average of 5.26 percent of their backups. This means that the vast majority of backups are not verified and could fail. It is even more so the case at ROBO locations.

The good news for dispersed branch offices ROBOs is that it’s now easier than ever – with the help of the right solutions – to extend data-center backup, replication and availability capabilities all the way out to the edges of an entire organization.

In this edition of VeeamUP, we’ll explore how remote branch offices can achieve excellent levels of availability without facing complexity.

1Veeam Data Center Availability Report 2014 http://vee.am/availability2014

Introduction


Page

4

The modern data center extends to ROBOs

§01


Page

5

The modern data center has three key attributes:

1. It is highly virtualized2. It uses modern storage solutions3. It has a cloud strategy in place

Each of these attributes is critical to a ROBO’s success. However, because of each ROBO’s specific needs, there are no real roadmaps for building and implementing architecture for a remote office.

Virtualization has had a huge impact on ROBOs. From reduced equipment footprints and lower setup costs, to simpler management workloads and faster deployment of new services, virtualized environments have become the natural choice for remote branch offices.

Modern storage systems have also made life a lot easier for remote branch offices. Whether it’s a new solution rolled out to serve every branch or a solution that’s just deployed onsite, new storage solutions are helping ROBOs store – and more important, backup and replicate – their data more intelligently.

The cloud is now a suitable option to move and store backup and replicated data, despite leased private lines are often a significant performance bottleneck to perform this.

The modern data center extends to ROBOs

Backup best practices for the branch office

§02


Page

7

Many organizations struggle to select the best solutions for onsite and offsite availability because there really isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach for remote office architecture. Organizations often end up choosing between taking onsite backups, writing backups offsite or doing replicas both onsite and offsite – instead of considering how they could utilize them all.

There is a long promoted “3-2-1” rule for availability, which states that there should be:

• 3 copies of important data• On 2 different media• With 1 offsite

The 3-2-1 rule is highly versatile and can address just about any failure scenario imaginable by ensuring that all data is both backed up in multiple locations, and also quickly recoverable. This approach means that companies don’t have to worry about getting locked into any particular technology or specific vendor and can stay flexible as their IT environment evolves and expands.

Replicas are more suitable than backups in true disaster situations, when the RTO needs to be reduced to a minimum and all production loads need to be moved to another site in the least amount of time possible. Replicated VMs are inventoried and ready-to-run VMs in their own right, so when the worst happens, they can be failed over very quickly on dedicated and similar hardware that’s pre-deployed on the DR site. This is why replication needs a higher investment when it comes to storage and computing power at the DR site. Backups don’t offer the same speed for RTOs, but are more flexible and portable and require lower storage consumption. Backups can be copied on different support media and are much more manageable when addressing day-to-day recovery scenarios typical in ROBO environments.

With a large number of sites and locations, companies need to make a choice about where to do their backups and replication. This can be a challenge because some sites may require replicas, others may need backups as well, and they all need to have their individual specifications and requirements considered.

Having backups taken onsite provides some important benefits:

• Backup times are fast because no information needs to be sent offsite• Restore times are fast because all data is very close to the host• New replication features open up new options such as creating a backup file

and replicating a running VM at the same time

Backup best practices for the branch office


Page

8

Balancing budgets and business requirements

§03


Page

9

Unfortunately, the best solutions for a remote office rarely line up to what most companies can afford to implement. It’s widely understood and accepted that replication grants the greatest availability benefits for ROBOs because of the fast recovery times, but budgetary constraints often just allow for the use of backups.

Generally speaking, setting up backups is a very versatile and cost-effective solution. Setting up replicated virtual machines grants prompt business continuity, but requires a higher infrastructure investment.

The real challenge is finding the right solutions for rolling out across diverse remote office environments. No two locations ever look exactly the same; they often are designed and deployed on different dates and include their own individual requirements. This challenge can make it very difficult to roll out global backup and recovery policies across an entire organization. It can also lead to increased inefficiencies and longer restore times.

With a cost-effective hybrid solution in place that merges the advantages of onsite backup with the high availability and security offered by offsite replication, IT leaders can take control of this complex environment. They can ensure that everybody plays by the same rules and, regardless of the location, can recover data as quickly as the data center at headquarters.

Balancing budgets and business requirements


Page

10

Ensure availability with Veeam

§04


Page

11

At Veeam®, we understand the challenges faced by remote branch offices. We’ve worked hard to help ROBOs achieve the same exceptional levels of availability as the main data center. All of our experience has culminated in a comprehensive solution for both backup and replication, which includes tools:

• to accelerate the transfer of backup and replicated files to a secure offsite location• to enable anyone within a ROBO to effectively solve deleted files disaster• to give the IT team complete visibility of all backup data stored across the enterprise

and manage it from a single dashboard• to support for multiple backup media• to provide role-based control to enable organizations to deliver the right capabilities

– and only to the right people• on-site and off-site backup and replication support for total confidence and

maximum recovery speed

Veeam can help you maximize the availability of your remote branch office systems and technology. Visit www.veeam.com to find more helpful information and examples to show you exactly why Veeam is the perfect fit for any remote branch office configuration.

You may also want to read the white paper Remote and Branch Offices: Availability madeeasy with Veeam – please, visit http://vee.am/veeamup6 to download the PDF.

Ensure availability with Veeam

Main officeFrance

13/15 rue Jean Jaurès,92800 Puteaux, FrancePhone: +33 (0)1 75 61 27 45

Technical Support Phone:+33 (1) 70 61 83 74

Poland

Ul. Domaniewska 39A, Wejście A,02-672 WarszawaPhone: +48 22 208 27 25Fax: + 48 22 208 27 60

South Africa

Ground Floor Twickenham Building, The Campus57 Sloane Street Cnr MainBryanston 2021,Phone: +27 (0) 11 575 0208

Technical Support Phone:+27 (10) 500 79 63

Germany

Konrad-Zuse-Platz 881829 MünchenPhone: +49 89 207 042 800Fax: +49 89 207 042 810


Israel

P.O 2148Hamanofim St.Ackerstein Towers (A)Herzelia Pituach

United Kingdom

The Annexe, Hurst Grove,Sandford Lane, WinnershBerkshire RG10 0SQ,Phone: +44 (0) 118 934 2982


Italy

Piazzale Biancamano 8Milan, 20121Phone: +39 02 620 33 004Fax: +39 02 62 03 4000


Spain

Calle de la Ribera del Loira, 46Madrid, 28042Phone: +34 91 503 06 95


Switzerland

Linden Park, Lindenstr. 16,CH-6340 BaarPhone: +41 41 766 71 31

Main officeUSA - Atlanta

2520 Northwinds ParkwaySuite 600Alpharetta, GA 30009Phone: +1 678 353 2140

Technical Support Phones:US Toll-Free +1 (800) 774 51 24US Toll-Free +1 (800) 913 19 40United States +1 (614) 339 82 52

EMEA region

If you’d like to learn more visit us at www.veeam.com or call one of our offices

Global Headquarters

Americas regionUSA - Columbus

8800 Lyra Drive, Suite 350Columbus, Ohio 43240Phone: +1 678 353 2140Fax: +1 614 675 9494

Argentina


USA - Phoenix

303 West Elliot Road, Suite 101Tempe, AZ 85284

Brazil


Canada

3773 Côte-Vertu Boulevard, Suite 210Saint-Laurent, Québec


Mexico


The Netherlands

Evert van de Beekstraat 310,1118 CX, Schiphol Centrum,Phone: +31 (0) 20 654 18 05Fax: +31 (0) 20 654 1801


Sweden

Frösundaviks Allé 15SE-169 70, Solna,Phone: +46 (0) 8655-2624


Main officeAustralia

Office Building Address: Level 4, 22 Darley Rd,MANLY NSW 2095Postal Address: PO Box 131MANLY NSW 1655Phones: +61 2 9191 7840,+64 9 925 0456Fax: +61 2 8088 6899

Technical Support Phone:+61 (2) 6108 4305

India

#1356, 13th Flr, Platinum Tech Park ,(Near Vashi Railway Station,Sector 30)Vashi, Navi Mumbai, 400705Phone: +97 14 433 2150

Technical Support Phone:000 800 100 87 69

Singapore

152 Beach Rd #04-08 Gateway EastSingapore, 189721Phone: + 65 6653 1543

Technical Support Phone:+65 3158 22 39

Asia Pacific Region

Chile +56 (22) 570 86 84Colombia +57 (1) 381 90 78

Hong Kong +852 5808 28 70New Zealand +64 (9) 974 95 94

Belgium +32 (78) 48 02 54Denmark +45 (78) 77 54 76Norway +47 (85) 40 43 85

Technical Support Phones for other countries

Saudi Arabia 800 814 66 59UAE Toll-free 800 035 703954

veeamup

Technology