Client Overview

Our client is a leader in wood machinery products and services, operates mission-critical data centers in Woodland, WA, USA, and Soderhamn, Sweden. They faced significant challenges with their legacy on-premises infrastructure as data volumes increased and operational complexity grew. Their existing backup processes lacked centralized, cloud-based management and were operationally inefficient. On-premises storage was nearing capacity, and the backup management system did not offer automated monitoring, retention policies, or robust disaster recovery capabilities.

Challenges

● On-premises Storage Constraints: Local storage was nearing capacity, threatening business continuity and increasing maintenance overhead. ● Fragmented Backup Management:Backups were managed separately at each site, lacking centralized oversight and automated monitoring. ● Limited Disaster Recovery Capabilities:Existing processes did not support efficient, automated DR or regulatory retention policies. ● Manual Processes:IT staff spent significant time on manual backup checks and troubleshooting, diverting resources from strategic initiatives. Solution ● Azure File Share with Cloud Tiering: Enabled cloud-based storage expansion while keeping frequently accessed files cached on-premises, optimizing local storage use. ● Azure File Sync:Seamlessly synchronized files between on-premises servers and Azure, providing multi-site access and business continuity. ● Azure Backup (MARS & MABS): Centralized backup and DR management with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly retention policies for compliance. ● Azure Monitor: Automated job monitoring and real-time alerting, reducing manual intervention.

Solution

● Azure File Share with Cloud Tiering: Enabled cloud-based storage expansion while keeping frequently accessed files cached on-premises, optimizing local storage use. ● Azure File Sync:Seamlessly synchronized files between on-premises servers and Azure, providing multi-site access and business continuity. ● Azure Backup (MARS & MABS): Centralized backup and DR management with daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly retention policies for compliance. ● Azure Monitor: Automated job monitoring and real-time alerting, reducing manual intervention.

Key Drivers and Impact

Data Storage Optimization

Cloud tiering freed up significant on-premises storage, ensuring local servers only retained “hot” data while “cool” files were securely stored in Azure. This approach enabled USNR to manage 87.48 TB of active data via Azure File Share and back up over 200 TB using Azure’s backup solutions.

Centralized Cloud-Based DR Strategy

Azure’s unified backup and DR capabilities provided centralized control and rapid recovery options for both US and European data centers. Business continuity was enhanced by Azure File Sync’s ability to quickly restore file namespaces and data to new or replacement servers.

Efficiency Gains

Azure Monitor and automated daily health reports eliminated the need for manual backup checks, reducing IT overhead and enabling proactive failure management. The solution achieved 100% successful backup restores during test runs, demonstrating reliability and resilience.

Global Backup Coverage

Their backup and DR strategy was unified across both international locations, ensuring consistent data protection and compliance.

Business Outcome

**Regulatory Compliance: **Automated retention policies for daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly backups.

**100% backup restores: **Achieved 100% successful backup restores during test runs.

**Reduced Storage Costs: **Intelligent cloud tiering minimized on-premises storage needs, cutting infrastructure costs.

**Operational Efficiency: **Automated monitoring and reporting reduced manual workload for IT staff.

**Disaster Recovery Assurance: **Provided daily backup health reports and proactive failure alerts, ensuring business continuity.

**Reduced IT overhead: **Reduced IT overhead by offloading backup monitoring and maintenance to iLink.