Azure Disaster Recovery & Backup Solution

A comprehensive infrastructure-as-code project for implementing disaster recovery and backup protection for Azure VMs using Bicep, Azure Backup, and Azure Site Recovery.

🛡️Architecture Overview

┌──────────────────────────┐
│   PRIMARY REGION         │
│     (East US)            │
│                          │
│  ┌────────────────────┐  │
│  │   Production VM    │  │
│  │                    │  │
│  │  • Applications    │  │
│  │  • Databases       │  │
│  │  • Services        │  │
│  └────────┬───────────┘  │
└───────────┼───────────────┘
            │
    ┌───────┴────────┐
    │                │
    ▼                ▼
DAILY SNAPSHOTS   CONTINUOUS REPLICATION
(Azure Backup)    (Site Recovery)
    │                │
    ▼                ▼
RECOVERY VAULT    REPLICA VM (Secondary)
    │                │
    │                ▼
    │        ┌──────────────────────────┐
    │        │   SECONDARY REGION       │
    │        │     (West US)            │
    │        │                          │
    │        │  ┌────────────────────┐  │
    │        │  │   Standby VM       │  │
    │        │  │                    │  │
    │        │  │  • Synchronized    │  │
    │        │  │  • Ready to activate   │
    │        │  │  • In recovery vault   │
    │        │  └────────────────────┘  │
    │        └──────────────────────────┘
    │                │
    └────────────┬───┘
                 │
                 ▼
           [FAILOVER]
         On Demand or
          Automatic

🚀 Data Flow

Backup Flow:

1. VM generates data changes throughout the day
2. Azure Backup agent captures snapshots
3. Snapshots stored in Recovery Services Vault
4. Daily backup runs at configured time (2 AM UTC)
5. Recovery points maintained per retention policy
6. 30 days of recovery points available

Replication Flow:

1. VM runs in primary region (East US)
2. Azure Site Recovery continuously replicates disks
3. Replica VMs maintained in secondary region (West US)
4. Every 5-15 minutes, replication syncs
5. On failover, replica VM is activated
6. Traffic redirects to recovery region

Recovery Flow:

1. Detect outage/failure in primary region
2. Initiate failover (planned or unplanned)
3. Replica VM starts in secondary region
4. Applications launch and connect to users
5. RTO: 10-15 minutes, RPO: 5-15 minutes
6. When primary recovers, failback to original region

Key Concepts

Component	Role	Purpose
Azure Backup	Point-in-time snapshots	Protect against data loss, ransomware
Azure Site Recovery	Continuous replication	Failover to secondary region
Recovery Services Vault	Centralized management	Store backup/replication config
Recovery Point	Point-in-time copy	Restore state from specific time
Replica VM	Secondary copy	Standby VM in recovery region
RTO	Recovery Time Objective	Time to restore (goal: 10-15 min)
RPO	Recovery Point Objective	Data loss acceptable (goal: 5-15 min)

Quick Start (4 Steps)

✅ Step 1: Deploy Infrastructure

cd cloudshell/
bash deploy.sh

Creates:

• Resource Group
• Virtual Network (10.0.0.0/16)
• Subnet (10.0.1.0/24)
• Windows Server 2019 VM
• Public IP & Network Interface
• Network Security Group (RDP/SSH enabled)
• Recovery Services Vault
• Daily Backup Policy
• Log Analytics workspace (optional)
• Key Vault for encryption

✅ Step 2: Configure Backups

Follow portal/backupconfig.md:

• Understand backup jobs
• View recovery points
• Trigger on-demand backup
• Monitor backup health
• Configure retention policies

✅ Step 3: Configure Site Recovery

Follow portal/siterecoveryconfig.md:

• Enable Site Recovery on vault
• Select VM for protection
• Configure secondary region
• Set up replication policy
• Enable continuous replication

✅ Step 4: Test Failover

bash cloudshell/failovertest.sh

Performs:

• Creates test failover VM
• Launches in recovery region
• Validates connectivity
• Tests application functionality
• Cleans up test VM

Technologies Used

Technology	Purpose	Version
Bicep	Infrastructure as Code	Latest
Azure CLI	Deployment & management	2.40+
Azure Backup	Snapshots & point-in-time recovery	Current
Azure Site Recovery	Continuous replication & failover	Current
Recovery Services Vault	Centralized management	Current
Azure Key Vault	Encryption key management	Current

Recovery Scenarios

1. Single File Loss:

   • Use Backup → File Recovery
   • No need to failover entire VM

2. VM Corrupted:

   • Use Backup → Restore to new VM
   • Creates clean copy from snapshot

3. Regional Outage:

   • Use Site Recovery → Failover
   • VM activates in secondary region

4. Ransomware Attack:

   • Use Backup → Restore from clean point
   • Or failover to pre-infection state