5 Reasons To Use Equinix Metal for Disaster Recovery

If you are looking to create new Disaster Recovery (DR) plans or refine existing ones that are not working as expected, Equinix Metal can be a valuable resource. Equinix Metal can help remove some of the common barriers to DR planning and execution. Let’s take a closer look at five ways Equinix Metal can help streamline your DR planning.

1. Equinix Metal is Everywhere

Did you know that Equinix Metal is everywhere? This means it is easy to either create a new DR environment or extend an existing one, no matter where you are located. The Equinix Metal Map is an easy way to take a look at where Equinix Metal is available.

You can use the map to choose what Metal locations you would like to deploy in, then take a look at the Capacity Dashboard to see the types of equipment available in each location.

Whether you are in the market for a DR site in the same geographical region as your primary data center for low latency and quick recovery or you want a location on the other side of the world for maximum risk diversification, Equinix Metal has got you covered. The global footprint offers endless possibilities for your DR strategy.

In addition to making it easy to deploy a new DR site, Equinix Metal's global presence also comes with the advantage of interconnectivity. With Metal, you can get direct, secure connections between your different sites, making data transfers faster, more reliable, and more secure. The Equinix network of data centers provides a robust, resilient infrastructure that stands ready to support your most critical workloads.

2. Equinix Metal Can Meet Your DR Requirements

Coming up with a DR strategy is no easy feat, so Equinix Metal makes it easy to implement the right strategy for your organization.

One popular way to do DR at Equinix Metal is to create a hot environment using reserved hardware. This allows organizations to be ready for failover at any moment, and the reserved pricing model provides cost savings.

If you are looking for hybrid approach, you may choose to have some components ready and waiting in Equinix Metal with reserved hardware, then scale up on demand as recovery efforts begin. Or, you may choose to use on-demand hardware and the power of automation to build your environment whenever you need it.

Equinix offers a wide variety of different types of bare metal hardware, and it is easy to keep track of available hardware capacity using the Equinix Metal API.

No matter what type of DR strategy you are using today, or which one you choose in the future, Equinix Metal makes it easy to meet your requirements.

3. Predictable Pricing

No matter how you choose to deploy your DR environment at Equinix Metal, you can expect the pricing to be predictable and consistent, easily allowing you to accurately forecast your DR budget. It really is that simple.

Equinix Metal also has a pricing calculator to take the guesswork out of cost estimation:

You can easily compare pricing between metros and equipment types, as well as on contract or on-demand pricing.

If you want to get started kicking the tires on your DR plan, pricing information is also available in the Equinix Metal console as you are deploying servers:

Knowing the exact cost of your DR plan can come with huge benefits. One of the most surprising ones is the ability to build a business case to allow you to protect more data and applications. There is a huge difference when it comes to asking for a DR budget that may or may not actually work, and asking for a proven budget that will meet your DR requirements.

Because there will not be any surprise bills with Equinix Metal, you can take advantage of the predictable pricing to test and refine your DR solution to make it even more cost effective.

With Equinix Metal, it is easy to experiment with different hardware types on demand and change your cost model accordingly. As you test your DR solution, you can also easily experiment with different hardware types, and change your cost model accordingly.

4. Equinix Metal is Flexible

Equinix Metal is flexible, allowing you to deploy exactly the hardware you need, where you need it, when you need it, with whatever operating system you need.

The whole point of testing DR processes is not to pass the test, but to uncover issues that may come up during recovery time. DR testing is something that may be done quite a bit as a plan implemented, and should be done on a regular basis to ensure everything works as expected.

After DR processes have been tested, organizations can then begin to experiment with different hardware configurations to analyze cost and performance. They can also spin up the DR environment and use it for other things like patch testing.

This makes it even easier to get the buy in you need when it comes to your DR budget.

If you are using reserved hardware at Equinix Metal, you can easily use these environments for patch testing, performance testing, testing application changes and enhancements, and more, all without impacting your production workloads.

If you are using a hybrid environment of reserved and on demand hardware, you will know the exact cost for spinning up the environment for use for patch or application testing.

Be sure to mention this part of your DR strategy to your security teams, because they will be thrilled and more than happy to help make your case. There has been a staggering increase in vulnerabilities and zero day exploits that require rapid patching to mitigate risks.

Your DR environment is a great place to do this testing, and you will also know exactly how much it will cost to do.

5. Ease of Use

Equinix Metal is simple to use for everyone. Deploying hardware is a breeze, and once your hardware is deployed, guess what, you have full access to a powerful bare metal environment without the hassle of dealing with things like facilities, racking, stacking, or cooling. Equinix Metal does all of the heavy lifting for you (pun intended).

There are three ways to deploy and modify your Equinix Metal hardware:

• Equinix Metal Console
• Equinix Metal CLI
• Equinix Metal API

No matter what your skillset or preference is, you are not far away from having a fully functional bare metal hardware environment deployed.

With the Equinix Metal Console, you can easily deploy a server with just a few clicks. If you prefer a command line, the Equinix Metal CLI can be used to access the API with a command line interface. Last, but certainly not least, is the Equinix Metal API so Metal can be seamlessly integrated into your existing and future automation workflows.

Equinix Metal is a powerful tool in your disaster recovery tool chest. With its widespread availability, customizable deployment, predictable pricing, ease of use, and unparalleled flexibility, it simplifies the often daunting task of DR planning and execution.

Metal’s benefits extend beyond just disaster recovery, providing additional value through capabilities such as performance testing, patch testing, and security since you now have a fully functional recovery environment.

No matter what your current DR strategy is, Equinix Metal provides a robust, cost-effective, and reliable solution that can be tailored to meet your organization's unique needs.

Whether you are in the early stages of DR planning or looking to refine existing DR plans, Equinix Metal is worth considering as a strategic recovery location so your organization can recover in the face of any potential disruption.