Disaster Recovery Solution Enabled A Leading ERP Provider to Realize Complete Infrastructure Replication and Data Resiliency on AWS Cloud

The customer is a diversified conglomerate and a leading ERP & aviation software provider globally. The customer was looking for a disaster recovery solution for their workloads deployed on-premises. Blazeclan proposed a phased engagement to the customer, which involved the design and implementation of the disaster recovery solution.

The solution involved CloudEndure Disaster Recovery, an AWS offering, and NetFoundry zero trust security-based AWS cloud connectivity solution on Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) model. NetFoundry provided a unique capability to accelerate the implementation of the solution due to its native AWS integration.

The Need for A Disaster Recovery Solution

The on-premises IT infrastructure of the customer hosted multiple applications. There was the need for a disaster recovery solution to minimize data loss in case of incidents and disasters. 250+ TB of the customer data was required to be replicated to the DR. The NetFoundry platform was leveraged for this purpose, which accelerated the process of data replication while providing a zero-trust secure connection to AWS.

Key Requirements of the Customer Included

• The proof of concept of the disaster recovery solution, demonstrating performance and security benefits.
• Approval of the solution for a limited number of servers in terms of design and implementation.
• Extension of the solution for the complete infrastructure of the customer.

The customer’s infrastructure hosted on-premises was prone to operational risks as it lacked a failover mechanism for ensuring data resiliency.

The Solution

Blazeclan team proposed the customer with a solution that included CloudEndure Disaster Recovery, a scalable, cost-effective business continuity solution for restoring physical, virtual, and cloud servers into AWS. The solution was divided into three phases.

• Designing the network and security architecture for recovery.
• Implementation of the architecture.
• Extension of the solution for the complete infrastructure of the customer.

The solution involved a completely mirrored recovery site on AWS cloud, which enabled instantaneous switching between the on-premises infrastructure and recovery infrastructure. CloudEndure Disaster Recovery continuously replicates the customer’s systems, which include files, applications, databases, system state configuration, and operating system, into a cost-effective staging platform on AWS cloud.

The data size was 250+ TB and data replication with the VPN tunnel was time-intensive when this project was initiated. A VPN would have taken months for the completion of such a large transition. NetFoundry helped accelerate the data replication. NetFoundry Fabric and endpoints were spun up to create a zero-trust network between the on-premises infrastructure of the customer and the solution on AWS cloud. This further helped the customer in faster, reliable, and secure replication of their data on AWS cloud.

Key Customer Requirements Met by the Disaster Recovery Solution

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The time required for recovering from a disaster post-business disruption was less than or equal to 6 hours.
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The time window of endurance during data loss was less than or equal to 15 minutes, where data is continuously replicated from the customer’s on-premises infrastructure to AWS cloud.

Reference Architecture

Benefits Achieved by the Customer

Data Loss Protection: Online replication of the complete infrastructure in AWS cloud enabled the customer to realize reduced downtime in case of incidents or disasters. The disaster recovery solution provided the customer with robust protection against data losses.

Enhanced Reliability: The implementation of the disaster recovery solution was simplified and it enhanced the reliability of the customer’s infrastructure. A single solution met all the requirements of the customer including all SQL server versions, operating systems, and third-party software.

High Tolerance: The solution offered consistent support to the customer’s infrastructure, which includes on-premises and virtual machines. It further enhanced tolerance of the infrastructure to network instability. Significant cost savings were achieved with the disaster recovery solution.

Robust Network Connectivity: Instant provisioning of NetFoundry Cloud Connectivity eliminated the need for any dedicated physical hardware and manual provisioning. It also eliminated the need for a dedicated direct connect that could have taken weeks to provision while being a costly and time-consuming option for just a month-long transition. NetFoundry Gateways deployed on VMs enabled consistent and high-performing network connectivity over the available internet bandwidth in the customer premises.

Tech Stack