Beyond Backups: Achieving RTP & RPO without breaking the Bank

In today's always-on digital world, business continuity and data protection are mission-critical. However, ensuring rapid recovery and minimal data loss during disruptions (disaster recovery or DR) can be a challenge. Limited IT resources and tight budgets often force organizations to choose between robust DR solutions and cost-effectiveness.

By leveraging a single-region/multi-availability Zone (AZ) approach and utilizing AWS-managed services, we exceeded the client's Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) requirements, all while keeping costs in check.

Client Challenges:

The client faced several obstacles with their existing DR strategy:

• Compliance Gaps: They struggled to meet RTO and RPO requirements mandated by company policies.
• Budget Constraints: Multi-site active/active DR solutions were deemed too expensive to manage and implement.
• Limited IT Expertise: Developing efficient backup and restore procedures, along with regular testing and infrastructure maintenance, strained their IT resources.

Opportunity: Well-Architected DR with Backup and Restore

We at Ignitec conducted a comprehensive review and identified an opportunity to leverage AWS-managed services for a cost-effective, single-region/multi-AZ DR approach. This involved:

• High Availability with AWS Services: Utilizing managed services like Amazon ElastiCache and Multi-AZ Amazon Redshift ensured automatic failover and minimized downtime during disruptions.
• Cost-Optimized Backup and Restore: Velero and Kubernetes cron jobs automated snapshots of Amazon EKS persistent volumes, stored cost-effectively in Amazon S3. Outdated single-AZ Redshift was migrated to a Multi-AZ cluster with automated backups using Lambda functions and S3 storage. Similar automated snapshots were implemented for Amazon OpenSearch Service clusters.

Ignitec's Implemented Solution:

For Amazon RDS instances, Ignitec:

• Enabled Multi-AZ Configuration: This facilitated automatic failover to a standby replica in case of an AZ outage, minimizing downtime.
• Automated Backups with AWS Backup: Scheduled backups ensured data protection and the ability to restore to a previous point in time if needed.
• Cross-Region S3 Replication: An additional layer of protection was implemented by replicating all S3 buckets to another region.

Measurable Results:

By implementing our cost-optimized DR solution, the client achieved significant benefits:

• Reduced DR Costs: The single-region/multi-AZ approach significantly lowered DR expenses compared to a multi-site active/active solution.
• Improved Recovery Times: The client achieved a 30-minute RTO with less than 5 minutes of data loss (RPO), exceeding their compliance requirements.
• Faster Disaster Recovery: Automated infrastructure provisioning with CloudFormation (IaC) facilitated rapid resource cloning for testing and disaster recovery drills.
• Enhanced Security and Compliance: The solution strengthened the client's security posture and compliance with data protection regulations.

Conclusion:

?Achieving robust disaster recovery doesn't have to be a financial or technical burden, by partnering with Ignitec and leveraging the power of AWS-managed services, organizations can build cost-effective DR solutions tailored to their specific needs and compliance requirements. The result? Enhanced business continuity, improved data protection, and peace of mind in the face of potential disruptions.

Don't let disaster disrupt your business. Learn more about Ignitec's services

https://ignitecinc.com/

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