Project Phases
Timeline
Assessment
Complete
Pure Storage Deploy
Complete
3
AWS Cloud Design
In Progress
4
DR Testing
Upcoming
5
Full Certification
Target
Impact
Why It Matters
Moving from reactive backups to proactive resilience. This initiative implements Pure Storage systems for immutable, ransomware-proof data backups alongside AWS cloud failover environments that ensure business continuity during catastrophic grid failures, natural disasters, or cyberattacks.
Traditional backup strategies respond to failure. Our approach ensures the institution never stops operating, regardless of the cause. Immutable snapshots mean data cannot be modified or deleted even by attackers with administrative credentials.
With 300TB raw capacity Pure Storage arrays replacing legacy NetApp systems, CMC now has enterprise-grade resilience with significant room to grow.
4 hr
RTO for Critical Services
15 min
RPO for Critical Databases
300TB
Pure Storage Raw Capacity
90 day
Point-in-Time Recovery Window
Recovery Objectives
Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)
Critical Services
4 hrs
SIS, email, authentication
Important Services
24 hrs
Canvas, HR, financial systems
Supporting Services
72 hrs
Research systems, departmental sites
Recovery Point Objectives (RPO)
- Critical databases — Maximum 15 minutes of data loss
- Important systems — Maximum 1 hour of data loss
- Supporting systems — Maximum 24 hours of data loss
Disaster Scenarios We Plan For
- Ransomware attack — Isolated, immutable backups allow clean restoration without paying ransoms
- Grid / power failure — UPS and generator backup; cloud failover for extended outages
- Natural disaster — Geographic redundancy ensures data survives local events
- Cyberattack — Network segmentation and zero-trust architecture contain the breach
- Pandemic / health crisis — Cloud infrastructure enables full remote operations
- Physical security breach — Access controls and monitoring detect and respond
Testing & Validation
- Quarterly backup verification — Automated integrity checks on all backup data
- Annual disaster recovery drill — Full failover test to cloud environment
- Tabletop exercises — Leadership reviews decision-making for various scenarios
- Post-incident reviews — Lessons from real incidents incorporated into plans