Backup and recovery
What cloud failover means
The server is destroyed in a flood. With cloud failover, a copy of it can be running elsewhere the same day.
1 min readExplainer
The short version
Cloud failover lets a backup copy of your server run in a data center while the real one is fixed or replaced.
Backup versus failover
A normal backup gets your data back, but you still need working hardware to restore it onto. If the server has failed, or the office is unusable after a fire or flood, getting new hardware delivered and set up can take days or weeks.
Cloud failover removes that wait. Copies of your servers are kept in a data center, ready to start as virtual machines. When the real server fails, the copy is switched on there, and staff connect to it remotely.
What it is like in practice
- Systems come back within hours instead of days.
- Staff usually connect through a secure remote connection, and things may run a little slower than normal.
- It runs until the real server is repaired or replaced; then data is moved back.
What to ask
- How quickly can each system be running in the cloud?
- How recent will the data be?
- How will staff connect to it, from the office and from home?
- Has it been tested, by actually starting the copies?
Failover suits businesses where a few days without a key system would cause serious harm. For others, a quick restore to new hardware is enough. A recovery plan decides which.
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