Disaster Recovery Journal Summer 2026

Using SSDs available on the secondary market also pre supposes an organization cor porately permits the purchase of them. Some organizations do not allow purchases from the secondary market due to regulatory or support concerns. However, organizations that can buy from the secondary market may find ample SSDs available at a substantially lower cost. However, many organiza tions remain committed to using SSDs and buying SSDs on the secondary market may not be an option. At the same time, the current SSD short age and their higher prices may force organizations to explore alternative solutions. Here again, multiple options exist for them to optimize their existing available hardware resources. In the remaining cases, this involves using fea tures in software organizations may already own. Server Virtualization-based Replication Organizations already run ning server virtualization platforms can reduce disaster recovery costs by leveraging their built-in replication capa bilities. These platforms often offer native replication fea tures that asynchronously copy virtual machines (VMs) to a secondary site. This server virtualization software may already include the replication software license or make it available for an additional cost. More impor Optimizing Available Hardware Resources

tantly, the software can ideally utilize an organization’s exist ing storage resources to mini mize or eliminate the need for more storage. This software specifically includes policy-based auto mation that makes it easier to implement and use. Using pol icy-based automation, organi zations may define replication intervals, failover priorities, and recovery workflows with out deploying additional third party tools. Using these native replica tion capabilities, organizations can offer DR for their Tier 2–3 applications with moderate recovery point and recovery time objective requirements. Admittedly, the replication functionality on server virtual ization software may not match the features on purpose-built replication software. However, organizations can balance pro tection, simplicity, and cost efficiency without making sig nificant capital investments to extend their DR coverage. Backup Software with DR Orchestration While server virtualization software includes replication features, some organizations hesitate to use them. This hesitancy stems from many organizations moving to multi hypervisor environments. As a result, they must learn how to implement and use the replica tions features across multiple server virtualization software offerings. To overcome this concern, organizations can use modern backup platforms which

include DR orchestration fea tures they may already own. For instance, these platforms enable instant VM recovery. Using this functionality, orga nizations may run workloads directly from backup without requiring duplicate production storage. They can also automate the creation of failover runbooks and perform non-disruptive DR testing using sandbox envi ronments. These capabilities reduce the need to maintain fully provisioned secondary infrastructure while ensuring recovery processes remain validated and reliable. These features further minimize the need for organizations to main tain excessive storage capacity dedicated solely to disaster recovery scenarios. By extending their use of these existing tools, it elimi nates the need for them to acquire separate DR platforms. It also reduces their operational overhead by automating tasks which often require routine administrative oversight and intervention. Organizations seeking unified backup and DR capabilities without procuring additional storage resources should find this approach a good fit. Beating the SSD Crunch: Cost-Effective Strategies for Resilient Data Protection and Disaster Recovery Rising SSD prices, now up to 20-times higher than HDDs, require organizations to rethink their data protec tion and DR strategies. Rather than overinvesting in premium storage, enterprises should

adopt hybrid models that tier active data on SSDs to HDDs. They should also explore shift ing their storage of backups and less critical data to cloud, HDDs, or tape. Organizations can also extend the life of existing assets and reduce new pur chases. Secondary-market SSDs may still offer usable lifespan if properly validated for wear and securely wiped. Additionally, leveraging built in replication and backup orchestration tools can reduce reliance on duplicate storage systems. In so doing, orga nizations can maximize their existing infrastructure before approving new capital expen ditures. To respond effectively, organizations should take three immediate steps: 1. Implement hybrid storage tiering across production and backup environments. 2. Evaluate refurbished SSDs where policy allows, and 3. Activate or utilize existing native replication and backup orchestration features. These actions will help organizations balance cost, performance, and resilience while maintaining effective disaster recovery coverage. v

Jerome Wendt, an AWS Certified Solutions Architect, is the president and founder of DCIG, LLC., a technology analyst firm. DCIG, LLC.,

focuses on providing competitive intel ligence for the enterprise data protection, data storage, disaster recovery, and cloud technology markets.

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