VCDR in Action: Providing Simple and Reliable Disaster Recovery for a Complex Setup

VMware’s suite of tools is helping companies of all kinds exploit the benefits of the cloud in a way that is provider-agnostic and effortless to implement. Let’s explore how VMware’s Disaster Recovery as a Service, in particular, is helping TeraSky solve a client’s complex problem with a straightforward and simple approach.

VMware Cloud Disaster Recovery (VCDR) is a cloud-based managed service from VMware that includes two basic components: a SaaS Orchestrator and DRaaS connector. The SaaS Orchestrator provides a user interface with disaster recovery orchestration capabilities to automate the disaster recovery process, while the DRaaS connector, established in the client’s on-prem vCenter, creates the replication from the vSphere clusters to SCFS (Scale-out Cloud File System), based on S3 (Amazon Simple Storage Service). In the event of a disaster, the SaaS management component works the “behind-the-scenes magic” of uploading the replicated machines, allocating addresses, configuring networking, and running custom scripts in order to power on the machines properly.

Recently, we at TeraSky were able to help one client implement VCDR to help achieve cost-efficient disaster recovery for their unusual setup. A company that owns two on-prem data centers in Israel and Canada, both of which support a manufacturing factory, approached TeraSky in search of a cloud-based DR solution for a few specific machines in each of the two data centers. They wanted to be able to continue factory production if either of the data centers should fall for any reason. The client defined the length of time they could afford to absorb in terms of the cost of downtime for their production lines, as well as a variety of other business-critical demands.

Based on the client’s requirements and taking into account the disparate locations of their data centers, we quickly saw the VCDR was the solution that provided the most complete response. Using VCDR, we built a solution replicating the client’s VMs to secure storage in AWS. If a disaster should occur, several specific machines in Israel and Canada will be powered to VMC on AWS environment and then, through NSX VPN, connected to the machines at the production factories.

This solution, made possible by VCDR, allows the company to continue its production processes. The client’s team doesn’t need to learn any new or unfamiliar technologies; they pay for disaster recovery only if and when necessary. Likewise, Amazon S3 also employs a “pay for what you use” model, so the combination of the tools is cost-efficient across the board. As a use case, this project is a great example of how VMware offers on-demand DR for a complex setup in a manner that is reliable and seamless.

Written by: Andrey Andreev, Solution Architect