If you clicked this blog post then you probably needed to implement or asked about DR in your production systems.
Let’s take a look at the options for DR in production.
Non-prod Vs. Prod
In order to provide a DR solution we’ll need to discuss the current systems status and to be exact, is the product deployed in production or ship to clients via download as a software package.
For non-prod that is basically a company that develop a software that is sent to clients and is installed on premises at the client’s data-center.
It can be self-managed with support SLA but the client is responsible for its infrastructure and operations.
For production it means that the software is deployed to a system that is actively handling requests from clients and must be online in order for users to use it.
Both scenarios are very different because in non-prod there’s no DevOps since the product is not in production, but if the product is in production then DevOps is needed in order to bridge the gap between development and production systems.
Passive DR
passive DR is the option of having a duplicate infrastructure and systems to be activated when needed.
The goal is to have minimum downtime and a 2nd location of data that is available when needed.
This approach is suitable for non-prod since there is no real need for active DR since the product is not in production.
Also when switching passive DR to active DR is takes time to check and test that every system is active and data is indeed replicated as expected so its a slow process.
Active DR
Active DR is the option of having a duplicate infrastructure and systems to be active in concurrently with the main production systems.
Basically its two sets of production running simultaneously, this is very suitable for production since the DR is active and is working in production.
- Active DR can take the new load immediately and respond to it via auto-scaling.
- Production load can be shared between the main site and the DR.
- Active DR is used, meaning the costs are already paid in contrast to passive DR that is paid but not in use.
Summary
If your company needs a DR solution then you have two choices to pick from, review your stack and design of the systems and decide what is the best option for your product and consider both options.