7 Things You Should Know About Workload Replication

Posted on July 6, 2021 Security

There are a significant number of crippling security breaches every year. These breaches result in recoveries that entail workload replication services. Hackers grow bolder and better at finding ways to break into computer systems and get data.

Companies know they must have a plan of action to deal with what recovery strategies. That’s why companies try to prepare for cybersecurity disasters before they happen. In 2020, COVID-19 scams and security breaches have increased by 400%.

Hackers often get unauthorized acquisition or access to electronic data many times a year. Mitigating at least some cybersecurity breaches in your company takes putting weapons of influence to work. You must know how to prevent cybersecurity disasters best and how to recover.

Cybersecurity

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has created a definition for cybersecurity breaches and attacks. DOJ states that a breach or attack that provides criminals with unauthorized access to a computer system is hacked. There are seven workload replication methods used for cybersecurity disaster recovery. 

Each of the workload replication stages has critical information to know and understand. You want to be aware of the workload replication details before you experience a cybersecurity attack.

1. Have a Planning Stage That Includes Security Culture Awareness

Before you begin any replication project, you need to understand that replication is not a technology. Workload replication is an operational process that promotes data security and data integrity. A positive step forward when dealing with workload replication is to share your security culture concerns with your IT team.

It sounds like a basic step to take, but many companies’ IT cultures are left out of this planning stage. The gap leads to countless and unnecessary at-risk data and information. In fact, to counter some of these data security risks, many organizations focus on data recovery at the onset of their programs or other projects.

If you fail to establish a prepared data security culture, there is no way to empower or establish effective data recovery methods. That results in having no way to know how or where a cybersecurity threat will come from or how to recover your data when it does.

2. Build a Disaster Recovery Plan that Includes Site Recovery  

It’s too late to deal with a cybersecurity attack and a workload replication strategy after it happens. It would be best if you had an enterprise-level understanding of your company’s security posture. That way, your company can have a security plan in place about when and how to use efficient workload replication.

To put in place workload replication that is effective, you need to have a system in place that lets you start. The goal is to understand how data is being transferred and where it needs to go after a cybersecurity breach.

Site Recovery and Restoring Databases 

If any changes or breaches occur at a primary site, it’s important to have your replication data accessible. That way, you have the data you need when you need it, especially as you investigate and restore your database. You need to know if the data stored at your location or any other is redundant.

You also need to know how often and what object types you are replicating. Then you need to recover, review and analyze your data as well as assess future data risks.

3. Workload Replication Includes Data Recovery and Integrity   

One of the most important things to know about workload replication is that it integrates data integrity with recovery. That’s why you want to make sure you are duplicating your data in a different location. If you store it at a different site or even many sites, you help provide more secure data.

When data breaches occur, companies suffer from computer downtime. The downtime links to the primary database not being available. One workload replication is pre-configured through a serverless, read-only process.

An Example Includes a Pre-Configured Serverless Read-Only Process

A pre-configured serverless read-only process that replicates data in real-time is invaluable. It synchronizes one or more Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) tasks when it sends the real-time data to another data location; it synchronizes one or more Extract-Transform-Load (ETL) tasks. These tasks become part of an enterprise data warehouse.

Workload replication can also replicate data from an Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) system. Workload replication is obtainable from a NoSQL database. But is also obtainable from other database processing systems

4. Understand that Workload Replicates to a Secondary Database  

Workload replication does not only replicate one database but also in many databases. Workload replication transports data from the primary server to the secondary server. This is often referred to as a multi-master configuration.

It is possible to replicate data from a variety of servers by using many subscriptions. Sometimes there’s a single subscription for all databases.

The Replication Data Movement

The replication methods of data movement allow you to define what matters to your company. You define which rows get replicated or which ones do not. You can enable database administrators to use a Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) feature in SQL Servers.

TDE’s provide mirror images created with the real-time speed of a secondary server production database.

5. Solve RTO and RFP Goals in Workload Replication

Disaster recovery can solve your RTO and RFC goals when you need workload replication. Since there are no transactions in workload replication, the data transports as rows. Tables in primary databases replicate as base tables.

Base tables and their partitions substitute for new tables on the secondary server.

6. Workload Replication Can Be Used for Reporting

In addition to disaster recovery, workload replication can have many uses in writing and analyzing reports. With a replication view, a single SQL Server table can replicate itself to another database. In this way, you can use reports in the secondary database to query information from the primary database.

7. Zone Replication is a Great Way to Reduce Costs in Data Protection  

Workload replication not only protects your data but also allows you to make informed decisions on what needs to be better. Zone replication can replicate your data in multi-availability zones. This means that you can replicate your data to a different geographic region.

Various subscriptions are often used in zone replications. Zone replication limits what rows are synchronizing from source to targeted databases. It allows for the determination of specific columns within a single table or any of the tables.

Ensure Secondary Zone Replication

The goal for any data replication from a primary database is to ensure your secondary zone replication. You want to ensure the secondary zone replications are secure. This allows you to have comprehensive backups of your data.

That way, if anything happens at the primary site, you can recover your data. The speed of how fast your retrieve company data can prevent you from suffering extensive downtime.  

Workload Replication Minimizes Downtime

In cybersecurity disaster recovery, downtime can be minimized with the help of a workload replication system. However, it is necessary to perform a failover on the production workload when using a secondary server. This can be done through normal failover methods.

Workload replication is also known to require new data to a secondary server immediately after they occur on the primary database. This minimizes any time interval of the data failure if they occur at the primary site. This not only minimizes your downtime but also increases your data’s reliability.

Workload Replication vs. Log Shipping 

Many people confuse workload replication with log shipping. While both synchronize between servers, they each have very different functions and maintenance needs. You cannot perform the same amount of detailed data recovery through log shipping that you can do with workload replication.

You know you want to make a smart decision on how to best implement workload replication for your company. You also know your business goals which include as little downtime as possible in cases of cybersecurity disasters. You want to implement workload replication methods and strategies that serve your company best.

One of the most practical methods for implementing workload replication steps is to have a secondary server placed in read-only mode. You keep your secondary server in read-only mode, giving you accurate backed-up data when your primary site is in maintenance. 

Your Next Workload Replication Step 

If you keep a secondary server in read-only mode all the time, are no new transactions committed until you place it back into operation. There is software that will synchronize multiple databases over networks, especially if they are prone to failures and disturbances. But to find the most accurate information on workload replication that best fits your needs, you want to reach out to Net Depot.

If you want to stay one step ahead of cybersecurity disasters by having efficient data recovery systems in place, look no further than Net Depot. The best strategies for workload replication begin and end with your IT or cybersecurity team. By committing to protecting your data with the help of real-time support from Net Depot, you create a digital environment that is fully prepared for the unexpected.

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