Virtualisation and Recovery
Why virtualisation is your best bet for backup and disaster recovery
Restoring a SCADA application and configuration can take a lot of time resulting in extended downtime. Virtualization eliminates this problem. Here are some of the benefits that come with a virtualized SCADA system:
Instant Recovery and Easy Deployment
With a traditional SCADA server, if your system fails, you need to reinstall your SCADA software to a new PC and configure it before you can install the backup. You must then set it up offline for testing before reinstalling it to the plant. The process can take a full day, or longer.
With virtualised SCADA, this process is eliminated, as the backup is the clone of the system. You can boot a backup of your SCADA into a virtual machine (VM) within minutes.
Simple Recovery Tests
Virtualised SCADA makes it easy to test backups by letting you boot a backup image into a virtual machine to ensure your restored system will work as intended. That offers you a fast, easy, and reliable method for regularly validating your backups.
Reduced risk and strengthened security
With virtualised server, patches are centralised ensuring updates consistency and minimal downtime. And since updating applications is easy, there are less chances for operators to delay and forget them, reducing chances of system compromise.
Reduced capital and operational costs
Virtualisation consolidates workload and requires few physical servers. As such, you save on management time, floor space, new equipment expenditure, and energy use.
Backups and Virtualization
Because virtualisation decouples data, applications, and operating systems from physical servers, it is simple to replicate backups. Backup best practice calls for multiple replicated backups—local, offsite, and in the cloud.
Adding virtual servers to store replicated backups is fast and easy in virtualised systems. This helps you meet your recovery time objectives (RTOs) and recovery point objectives (RPO) because you can replicate as frequently as you need, particularly for your critical systems.
