Redundancy Strategies for Hosting

CrowdStrike taught us a $10B lesson. Here is what "𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁" is: IT leaders are caught between business demands for 100% uptime and cloud providers pushing consolidated solutions that create single points of failure. After 15+ years in cybersecurity, I've witnessed this tension evolve from uncomfortable to potentially catastrophic. The math is simple: consolidation + efficiency = vulnerability. 𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱: ↳ A single provider update paralyzed millions of systems worldwide ↳ Organizations had no fallback mechanisms ↳ Recovery required provider intervention ↳ Business losses reached billions globally The root problem isn't cloud technology. It's architectural dependency: 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲 ↳ Consolidated services create cascading failure risks ↳ Efficiency optimizations often eliminate redundancy ↳ Vendor-specific features create dangerous lock-in ↳ Most organizations can't quantify their dependency risk I recommend implementing: 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆 ↳ Map all critical service dependencies ↳ Identify concentration risks by service type ↳ Implement N+1 redundancy for mission-critical workloads 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 ↳ Regular provider outage simulations ↳ Cross-provider recovery mechanisms ↳ Documented manual fallback procedures This isn't about avoiding cloud consolidation entirely. It's about deliberate architecture decisions that prevent catastrophic single points of failure. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁: Your job isn't to move to the cloud. It's ensuring business continuity regardless of what happens with any provider. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗱𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁: The hidden cost of vendor consolidation - catastrophic business disruption. Are you ready for the next cloud catastrophe? -- Follow Daniel Sarica for networking & cybersecurity insights and frameworks.

I often hear organizations expressing concerns about patching their critical public-facing systems due to the potential downtime it may cause. Maintaining the availability of business-critical systems is undoubtedly a top priority. However, it's crucial to strike a balance between uptime and ensuring robust security. That's why exploring alternative solutions becomes imperative. If you can't patch a public-facing system until a scheduled maintenance window, it's time to explore alternative approaches. Here's why an active-active or active-passive setup can be beneficial: 1️⃣ Continuous Availability: With an active-active setup, you distribute the workload across multiple systems, allowing them to share the traffic load. This redundancy ensures uninterrupted service even during maintenance windows or patching activities, minimizing downtime and enhancing business continuity. 2️⃣ Security Patch Flexibility: By implementing an active-active or active-passive setup, you can perform necessary security patches on one system while the other continues to handle incoming requests. This way, you can keep the public-facing system secure without sacrificing availability or customer experience. This also fixes known vulnerabilities that could lead to downtime if exploited. 3️⃣ Reducing Single Point of Failure: Active-active and active-passive configurations provide redundancy, reducing the risk of a single point of failure. If one system experiences an issue or requires maintenance, the other system takes over seamlessly, ensuring uninterrupted service delivery. 4️⃣ Load Balancing and Scalability: Active-active setups allow for load balancing, distributing traffic across multiple systems to optimize performance. This scalability ensures efficient resource utilization and the ability to handle increasing demands as your business grows. 5️⃣ Disaster Recovery Capability: An active-passive setup offers an additional layer of disaster recovery capability. The passive system serves as a standby, ready to take over in the event of a failure or disaster, ensuring minimal disruption and maintaining critical business functions. When faced with challenges in patching public-facing systems until a downtime maintenance window, considering an active-active or active-passive setup can provide continuous availability, security flexibility, and reduced single points of failure. It's an effective strategy to balance security and uptime in critical business functions. #Cybersecurity #BusinessContinuity #PatchManagement #CyberDefense #InformationSecurity

𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿: Redundancy is all about ensuring continuous availability of power and critical systems, even if one component fails. It is a key factor in achieving higher uptime tiers (Tier I–IV by Uptime Institute). Here’s a breakdown of the types of redundancy and how utility, genset, and UPS work together to provide it: Types of Redundancy 1. N (No Redundancy) Only one path for power supply.If it fails, downtime occurs.Used in small facilities or cost-sensitive setups. 2. N+1 Redundancy One extra (spare) unit for every group of “N” required. Example: If 4 UPS modules are needed, an extra one (5th) is installed. Allows maintenance or a single failure without outage. 3. 2N Redundancy (Fully Redundant) Two independent power paths (A and B), each capable of carrying full load. Example: Each rack has dual power feeds (A-side and B-side). If one entire path fails, the other takes over seamlessly. 4. 2(N+1) Redundancy Each independent path has its own N+1 configuration.Very high reliability, but also very costly. Used in hyperscale or Tier IV data centers. How Redundancy Works Across Power Sources 1. Utility Supply Primary source of power. Normally, two separate utility feeders may be provided (dual utility). In Tier III/IV facilities, each feeder connects to a separate switchgear bus (A & B). If one feeder is down, the other maintains supply. 2. Generators (Gensets) Act as backup power when utility fails. Redundancy is ensured by: N+1 gensets: one extra engine than required. Parallel configuration: multiple gensets run together for load sharing. Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS) or Static Transfer Switch (STS) ensures smooth changeover. 3. Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Provides instant power during switchover (bridges gap until gensets start). Redundancy setup: N+1 UPS modules (modular UPS architecture). 2N UPS systems with independent A & B feeds to IT racks. Battery autonomy usually 5–15 minutes to cover genset start-up time. End-to-End Redundancy Flow 1. Normal Mode: Utility → UPS → IT Load (with gensets on standby). 2. Utility Failure: UPS instantly supplies load from batteries → gensets auto-start → gensets stabilize → power transferred to UPS → IT load continues unaffected. 3. Redundancy Assurance: If one UPS or genset fails, others in N+1 or 2N setup carry the load. Dual-cord servers get A-side and B-side feeds from independent paths. Image Source : https://lnkd.in/gwcvfxxr

Your cloud provider just went dark. What's your next move? If you're scrambling for answers, you need to read this: Reflecting on the AWS outage in the winter of 2021, it’s clear that no cloud provider is immune to downtime. A single power loss took down a data center, leading to widespread disruption and delayed recovery due to network issues. If your business wasn’t impacted, consider yourself fortunate. But luck isn’t a strategy. The question is—do you have a robust contingency plan for when your cloud services fail? Here's my proven strategy to safeguard your business against cloud disruptions: ⬇️ 1. Architect for resilience  - Conduct a comprehensive infrastructure assessment - Identify cloud-ready applications - Design a multi-regional, high-availability architecture This approach minimizes single points of failure, ensuring business continuity even during regional outages. 2. Implement robust disaster recovery - Develop a detailed crisis response plan - Establish clear communication protocols - Conduct regular disaster recovery drills As the saying goes, "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst." Your disaster recovery plan is your business's lifeline during cloud crises. 3. Prioritize data redundancy - Implement systematic, frequent backups - Utilize multi-region data replication - Regularly test data restoration processes Remember: Your data is your most valuable asset. Protect it vigilantly. As Melissa Palmer, Independent Technology Analyst & Ransomware Resiliency Architect, emphasizes, “Proper setup, including having backups in the cloud and testing recovery processes, is crucial to ensure quick and successful recovery during a disaster.” 4. Leverage multi-cloud strategies - Distribute workloads across multiple cloud providers - Implement cloud-agnostic architectures - Utilize containerization for portability This approach not only mitigates provider-specific risks but also optimizes performance and cost-efficiency. 5. Continuous monitoring and optimization - Implement real-time performance monitoring - Utilize predictive analytics for proactive issue resolution - Regularly review and optimize your cloud infrastructure Remember, in the world of cloud computing, complacency is the enemy of resilience. Stay vigilant, stay prepared. P.S. How are you preparing your organization to handle cloud outages? I would love to read your responses. #cloud #cloudmigration #cloudstrategy #simform PS. Visit my profile, Hiren, & subscribe to my weekly newsletter: - Get product engineering insights. - Catch up on the latest software trends. - Discover successful development strategies.

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗪𝗦: 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗖𝗮𝗻’𝘁 𝗜𝗴𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗹𝘆.  Whether you’re running mission-critical apps or customer-facing platforms, high availability (HA) is non-negotiable.  Here’s how to design resilient systems on AWS: 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗔𝗭 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: Start by distributing workloads across 𝗔𝘃𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗭𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 (𝗔𝗭𝘀).  AWS services like RDS, Elasticache, and EC2 Auto Scaling Groups natively support multi-AZ setups.  If one AZ fails, traffic reroutes seamlessly. 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: For extreme fault tolerance, go global.  Use 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝟱𝟯 for DNS failover, 𝗦𝟯 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀-𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 for data redundancy, and 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗗𝗕 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀 for low-latency access.  𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝘁𝗶𝗽: Pair this with a disaster recovery strategy (pilots love “active-active” setups!). 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼-𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Automate recovery!  𝗔𝗪𝗦 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 replaces unhealthy instances, while 𝗘𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝗘𝗟𝗕) reroute traffic from failed nodes.  Combine with 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸𝘀 for services like ECS or EKS to ensure self-healing systems. 💡 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀: • 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴: CloudWatch alarms and synthetic monitoring catch issues before users do. • 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗼𝘀 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: Test resilience proactively with AWS Fault Injection Simulator. • 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘂𝗽 & 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: Use S3 versioning, RDS snapshots, and immutable infrastructure patterns. High availability isn’t just about redundancy, it’s about 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻.  Miss one piece and the house of cards could fall. What’s your go-to HA pattern on AWS? #AWS #awscommunity