Thankfully, new BCDR automation technologies are simplifying these deployments; however, it’s critical that you choose the right tool that will help you automate the whole process, because just failing over your operations to a remote site is not disaster recovery – it is only one step of the process. True DR automation allows for automated failover and failback of IT operations. Tools such as VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager provide great automation for VMware infrastructure DR planning and execution. Other tools, such as FalconStor RecoverTrac, can provide you with DR automation capability for both physical and virtual infrastructure.
Regardless of the technology you choose, make sure it can manage the failover and failback operation of a whole service as a single unit of protection and recovery. The solution must not only map to your operational model but also allow you to define the interdependencies between the different systems and components of any given service. Additionally, these technologies must allow for effective testing without disrupting business operations and be able to recover all of your applications.
