At Leaseweb, we offer our customers the possibility to interconnect dedicated servers in the same data center via the Leaseweb Private Network. Now, with our expansion to two new data centers – AMS-02 in the Netherlands and WDC-02 in the United States – there is an option to extend our Private Network across pairs of data centers in their respective countries. This expansion means new possibilities for customers interested in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS).
Why do I need a disaster recovery platform?
Because the world is unpredictable and disasters can happen at any time. By having a second backup platform, you are ensuring that your data, applications, and business processes are protected against data center failures such as hardware failures and natural disasters.
Is it enough to have a backup of my data stored in our local office?
A backup is valuable and necessary, and every company should have one. However, if there is a malfunction at your primary location, you will not be able to stay in business if you are only relying on a local backup source.
How do I begin implementing a disaster recovery platform?
Start with creating a disaster recovery (DR) plan. A good DR plan contains the essential procedures and tasks that need to be completed if your primary site goes down. Next, build a secondary site as your DR Platform. This process can be complex if the right tools and products are not used.
What infrastructure steps should I take to begin building a disaster recovery platform?
1. Choose a second data center location for the disaster recovery platform
The second data center should be relatively close to the first to ensure low latency. Choosing a location in the same country may be beneficial, as many companies require that data does not cross international borders. For example, for locations in the Netherlands you can choose the Leaseweb AMS-01 data center as your primary location, and data center AMS-02 for your disaster recovery site.
2. Ensure a direct network is available between both locations
This ensures that data will be replicated from the primary to the secondary site. With Leaseweb Private Network, you can do this by interconnecting servers on our unmetered 1Gbps network. This network is extended and available between the data centers for use with dedicated servers, private racks, and Private Clouds. This network replicates data between both platforms to ensure your secondary site is in sync with the main production environment. For more information, check out our blog on Creating a Hybrid Cloud Environment Through Private Networking.
3. Ensure both locations have an independent Internet connection
An issue with Internet connection at the primary site should not impact the secondary site. The goal of disaster recovery is to minimize risks not only in areas you are responsible for, but also in areas that lie beyond your control. An issue inside the network of a telecom provider should not impact your DR plans. The data centers that Leaseweb recommends provide independent Internet access using different telecom providers. Leaseweb recommends provide independent Internet access using different telecom providers.
4. Provide a seamless (manual) failover to the DR site
Although a fully automated failover might seem like a good solution, it is not the best choice for everyone. Keeping control over how and when a failover must occur is actually the better choice in most situations. For example, a short network interruption could trigger an unplanned failover, requiring your system administrator to re-synchronize your main site with data from the DR site. With a manual failover, your system administrator can judge if there is indeed an outage and a failover must be performed, or if it was just someone who made an easily correctable mistake.
5. Use network failover capabilities
Your platform should be reachable from the Internet without any changes to the public IP addresses or DNS. Adding Floating IPs gives customers the possibility to instantly reroute public IPs from a primary server to a secondary server. This means there is no need to change the DNS entry for your website and wait for the TTL to expire, as all visitors to your website are instantly directed to the secondary server. For more information, see this blog on How to Create High Availability Systems.
Defining and building a disaster recovery platform is crucial for every company to protect their infrastructure and ensure business continuity no matter what. It is important to use the right tools and follow processes carefully to ensure that your DR Platform is secure, solid, and reliable.
Leaseweb can provide you the infrastructure, tools, and services that you need to ensure your valuable environment is safe from disaster. For questions on how to build your own disaster recovery platform, or to see how you can get started today, to contact a Leaseweb representative send us an email at sales@nl.leaseweb.com.
For more information on Leaseweb’s new DRaaS offerings, read the full press release here (in Dutch).