If a Recovery services vault with cross region restoration is down because of primary region unavailability, how can the data be restored from the secondary region

Oruganti, Sudhamayi 0

If I have a Recovery services vault set up with cross region restoration configured, if my vault itself becomes inaccessible due to primary region failure, how would the data from secondary region be restored? Is it via a support ticket to Microsoft?

1 answer

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 37,686 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-26T14:58:32.87+00:00

Hello @Oruganti, Sudhamayi Thank you for reaching out to us on Microsoft Q&A platform. Happy to help!

If you have cross-region restore enabled in your Recovery Services vault, and the primary region goes down, the secondary region will still be available for restore operations.

When you enable cross-region restore, the backup data is replicated to the secondary region, and the secondary region is paired with the primary region. This means that the secondary region is a separate, geographically-dispersed location that is designed to be available even if the primary region goes down.

In the event of a primary region failure, you can use the secondary region to restore your data to a new virtual machine or to a new Recovery Services vault. You can also use the secondary region to conduct drills when there's an audit or compliance requirement.

It's important to note that cross-region restore will incur additional charges, and the RPO for the backup data to be available in the secondary region is 12 hours plus the log frequency duration (which can be set to a minimum of 15 minutes).

Source link - https://azure.microsoft.com/en-in/updates/cross-region-restore-of-azure-vms-now-generally-available/

Hope this answers your question. Please write back to us if you have any further questions!

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Oruganti, Sudhamayi 0 Reputation points

2024-03-27T08:01:44.5633333+00:00

Thanks Ahmed for the response but I'm looking for the interface using which the restoration will be done. The vault would not be accessible because the vault is in primary region and the primary region is down.

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 37,686 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-28T07:29:36.11+00:00

@Oruganti, Sudhamayi To perform a restore from the secondary region when the primary region is down, you can use the Cross Region Restore feature in Azure Backup. This feature allows you to restore Azure VMs in the secondary region, which is an Azure paired region.

Here are the steps to perform a Cross Region Restore:

In the Azure portal, go to the Recovery Services vault that contains the backup data for the VM you want to restore.

Click on the Backup items tab and select the VM you want to restore.

Click on the Restore VM button at the top of the page.

In the Restore configuration blade, select the Cross Region Restore option.

Select the secondary region where you want to restore the VM.

Choose the recovery point that you want to restore from.

Select the restore type: Create a VM or Restore Disks.

Follow the prompts to configure the restore settings, such as the virtual network settings and the storage account location.

Review the summary page and click on the Restore button to start the restore operation.

Please note that during the backup, snapshots aren't replicated to the secondary region. Only the data stored in the vault is replicated. So secondary region restores are only vault tier restores. The restore time for the secondary region will be almost the same as the vault tier restore time for the primary region.

Oruganti, Sudhamayi 0 Reputation points

2024-03-28T07:48:38.97+00:00

hi Ahmed, I think the point I'm making is not clear.

As per the steps you have shared "In the Azure portal, go to the Recovery Services vault that contains the backup data for the VM you want to restore." . My questions is what if I cannot access the vault itself. How can I restore in that case?

SadiqhAhmed-MSFT 37,686 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2024-03-28T08:53:11.3533333+00:00

@Oruganti, Sudhamayi If you cannot access the vault for some reason, you will not be able to perform restore operation.

Listing a few scenarios in which the Recovery Services vault may not be accessible:

Network connectivity issues: If there are network connectivity issues between your on-premises environment and Azure, you may not be able to access the Recovery Services vault.

Azure subscription issues: If there are issues with your Azure subscription, such as billing or account-related issues, you may not be able to access the Recovery Services vault.

Azure Backup service issues: If there are issues with the Azure Backup service, such as service outages or maintenance windows, you may not be able to access the Recovery Services vault.

Access control issues: If there are issues with the access control settings for the Recovery Services vault, such as incorrect permissions or role assignments, you may not be able to access the vault.

Vault deletion: If the Recovery Services vault is deleted, you will not be able to access it or perform any restores from it.

Data corruption: If the backup data stored in the Recovery Services vault is corrupted, you may not be able to access it or perform any restores from it.

In any of these scenarios, you may need to troubleshoot the issue or contact Microsoft support for assistance.
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