{"id":3114,"date":"2016-07-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/otava.test\/testing-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/"},"modified":"2016-07-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-01T00:00:00","slug":"dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/","title":{"rendered":"What are the benefits of a test failover?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DisasterA key component of a successful disaster recovery plan is testing it<\/a>. Testing once a year is usually not enough<\/a>, and you\u2019ll want to make sure you can run a proper failover<\/a>\u00a0when you need to.<\/p>\n

A failover is when you move from one environment to another. In disaster recovery terminology, it\u2019s used to mean the transfer from a production environment to a recovery one.<\/p>\n

A failover is a huge process, and there are many complications that can arise from it. It\u2019s not just the data you need to move over, it’s your whole environment. That means all of the applications that host it, any replication products,\u00a0and making sure everything is running from both ends. The process can take hours and must be monitored carefully. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to run a couple of test failovers to make sure everything is working properly. The last thing you need is to find out in the middle of an emergency that your systems didn\u2019t transfer correctly.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Why should you run a test failover?<\/span><\/h2>\n

Running a test failure has many benefits. It allows you to configure everything such as your user access and network settings how you would like, and it makes sure the configurations you have are actually working. Any problems you encounter during your test can be resolved without harming your production site.<\/p>\n

It’s likely that during a real disaster, you won\u2019t be running on a full stack, only mission-critical systems and applications. It\u2019s imperative that these work beforehand so you can spend your time worrying about other things\u00a0during a real emergency.<\/p>\n

<\/span>What happens in a live failover?<\/span><\/h2>\n

If you do need to initiate a live failover, you may be asked if this is something you really want to do. It\u2019s not uncommon to accidentally select the wrong option when running a failover, and this is a security measure to protect you against unintended harm to your production site. If you\u2019ve outsourced your DR to a third party provider, they should be alerted to a live failover attempt and be ready to assist you as needed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s just as important to test your systems as it is to have recovery for them in the first place. Make sure you complete a few test failovers before the real thing happens so you don\u2019t trust to blind luck to save you. It’s never pleasant to think about, but adopt the motto of the Boy Scouts, “Always be prepared.” Knowing what to expect in the\u00a0failover process will help you tackle a real disaster that much better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A key component of a successful disaster recovery plan is testing it. Testing once a year is usually not enough, and you\u2019ll want to make sure you can run a proper failover\u00a0when you need to. A failover is when you move from one environment to another. In disaster recovery terminology, it\u2019s used to mean the transfer from a production environment to a recovery one. A failover is a huge process, and there are many complications that can arise from it. It\u2019s not just the data you need to move over, it’s your whole environment. That means all of the applications that host it, any replication products,\u00a0and making sure everything is running from both ends. The process can take hours and must be monitored carefully. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to run a couple of test failovers to make sure everything is working properly. The last thing you need is to find out in the middle of an emergency that your systems didn\u2019t transfer correctly. Why should you run a test failover? Running a test failure has many benefits. It allows you to configure everything such as your user access and network settings how you would like, and it makes sure…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[],"other_category":[],"class_list":["post-3114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-disaster-recovery"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat are the benefits of a test failover? | OTAVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The key to a successful disaster recovery (DR) plan is testing. 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Once a year is usually not enough, and make sure you can run a proper failover\u00a0too.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OTAVA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-01T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/otava.test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/test-button.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Irma Brillantes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Irma Brillantes\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#\/schema\/person\/35774075f8f4fcdd4eae80cb72034263\"},\"headline\":\"What are the benefits of a test failover?\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/\"},\"wordCount\":449,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/otava.test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/test-button.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Disaster Recovery\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/\",\"name\":\"What are the benefits of a test failover? | OTAVA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.otava.com\/blog\/dr-testing-why-you-shouldnt-wait-for-a-live-failover\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/otava.test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/test-button.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-07-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"The key to a successful disaster recovery (DR) plan is testing. 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