Application security, IPS, URL filtering, DLP, cloud-based reputation security, APT security, NGFWs, and UTMs — all are part of a defense-in-depth arsenal for threat mitigation against roving malware, brute force hacker attacks, or DDOS onslaught. However, all of these tools are powerless to save data from gale-force winds, floods, data center fires, or catastrophic human error.
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As a result, disaster recovery (DR) technologies should be considered an integral component of multilayered protection for both your data and your uptime. Not only can next-gen DR technologies rapidly recover your data and systems in case of an adverse event, but they can also provide other functionalities that bolster your cyber-defenses and help you maintain high quality assurance standards in your IT environment.
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Recovery as a service (RaaS), sometimes referred to as DRaaS (Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service), is becoming a DR mainstay. RaaS can protect businesses from the worst Mother Nature has to dish out, while also providing protection against malware attacks, human error, and more.
Here’s how RaaS works: A company’s physical and/or virtual server images are replicated to the RaaS provider’s secure cloud environment. If a disaster (hurricane, fire, data center overheating, etc) should strike, the replicated server image that is being stored in the cloud environment can be virtualized and made fully operational in just minutes. In most cases, a disaster never strikes; however, companies require methods to proactively test disaster recovery scenarios without affecting production environments. With RaaS, you can also easily conduct disaster recovery testing to ensure that you can safely recover in the event of unforseen downtime.
Another slick feature seen in leading RaaS solutions are cloud sandboxes, which let you spin up virtualized copies of your complete system state — including applications — exactly as they were on-premise. You can leverage cloud sandboxes to test system upgrades, settings, patches, configuration changes, and third-party applications.
Over the last few years, DR technologies have come a long way, evolving beyond just backup and recovery. By picking the right DR tool today, you are not only able to ensure business continuity, but you can also enable IT quality assurance.
By Eric Webster, SVP and GM at Accelerite
Accelerite pioneers next-generation IT infrastructure technologies that enable companies around the world to maximize business uptime, optimize performance, and easily manage IT assets. Businesses of all sizes and complexity, from MSPs to enterprises, rely on Accelerite for scalable, fully-integrated cloud and on-premise solutions.
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