When an organization’s IT infrastructure and sensitive data fall victim to cyber-attacks or natural disasters, the fallout can be severe. Proprietary company processes can be stolen, reconfigured, or erased. Important customer data can be hacked and exploited. Critical data that keep an organization running and doing business can be shut down. Without a good disaster recovery plan, there’s no telling how long it will take to get an organization back in the game. The longer it takes to recover, the deeper the impact on the enterprise’s revenue, reputation, and more. Disaster recovery (DR) is a method organizations use to reclaim the functionality of their IT infrastructure and data. Virtualization has the ability to efficiently and effectively spearhead DR and get organizations up and running again in no time.
Cloud Computing and Virtualization
Cloud computing is a delivery system that provides cloud services and solutions over the internet. It includes infrastructure, servers, networking, storage, databases, software, and more. With pay-as-you-go pricing, cloud computing allows for scalability. Enterprises can enjoy efficiency in spending since they can purchase only the computing resources they need.
Virtualization technology is what makes cloud computing possible. Cloud providers create data centers so organizations can eliminate the need for on-premises infrastructures and networks. That means companies don’t have to worry about allocating IT teams and other resources to maintain on-site hardware and software security and overall functioning. Virtualization allows cloud providers to connect organizations digitally to data centers spread out across the globe. Users can access and store their data over the internet anytime, anywhere, and with any device by using a dashboard or an application programming interface (API).
How Does Virtualization Help with Disaster Recovery Within a Data Center?
Cloud providers store several copies of an organization’s data throughout several data centers regionally, nationally or even worldwide. The redundancy of copied data ensures data is always available. By choosing the cloud over a single on-site location, businesses have a greater chance of protecting their data from being exploited or completely lost. Virtual disaster recovery (VDR) replicates an enterprise’s infrastructure, network systems, and data in a virtual environment. If an IT disaster were to strike, VDR is there to ensure the digital integrity of an organization. Most cloud providers offer VDR as part of their services. One of the greatest benefits of utilizing VDR is speed. Time is money. VDR allows organizations to recover their data quickly, which minimizes lost time and protects customer relationships, revenue, and the integrity of their reputation.
Organizations can effectively utilize VDR by proactively creating a disaster response plan.
If your house was on fire and you only had a few minutes to gather your most precious things, what would they be? Similarly, organizations must identify the applications and data that are most critical to their operation. Establishing recovery objectives for all data is also helpful in mapping out a recovery approach. Once a plan is in place, it’s a good idea to simulate the recovery process to gauge its effectiveness and estimate the time it will take.
Along with its ability to isolate and access valued data, VDR offers many other advantages:
- Redundant servers can work around hardware failures to speed up recovery time
- Automated recovery eliminates human error while effectively shortening the process
- Flexible and adaptable storage allows organizations to re-direct data as needed
- Faster backups and recovery minimize the chance of losing data.
What This Means for Virtualization and Disaster Recovery
Virtualization offers organizations unparalleled advantages to on-premises infrastructures and data storage. With robust cybersecurity measures, redundancies, flexibility, adaptability, and scalability, virtualization is the wave of the future. A recent survey by the Cloud Security Alliance found that an overwhelming 64.9% of IT leaders believe the cloud is as secure or more secure than on-premises software. Most enterprises have already begun to migrate to the cloud, with many more to follow. Even if a natural disaster hinders an organization’s physical space, virtualization allows employees to access critical data and applications anywhere, anytime, and from various devices. Virtualization side-steps the need to house excessive on-site hardware and software elements. An enterprise’s IT team won’t need to be bogged down with laborious infrastructure and network maintenance duties. They’ll be able to focus on more specific tasks, such as proprietary software development and deployment. VDR can create an exact copy of an organization’s network environment, shift workloads from one virtual server to another, and propel the success of any enterprise.
With over forty-two years of experience, Cynergy Technology is a leading provider of cloud computing solutions. Cybersecurity is of the utmost importance to us. We recognize the value and significance of maintaining the integrity of an organization’s data. From design to deployment, all aspects of software security are monitored. At Cynergy Technology, we believe in staying ahead of potential cyber threats and planning for possible data recovery scenarios. Contact us for a free consultation to learn how Cynergy Technology can support your cloud computing needs.
