From recovery uncertainty to resilient disaster recovery.
AWS Disaster Recovery Implementation
The Client
Our client is a large UK energy provider operating a cloud-based platform supporting power purchase agreement (PPA) trading and energy services.
As the organisation expanded its cloud footprint, it sought to strengthen disaster recovery readiness, observability, and database resilience for a newly launched application.
The platform relied on several AWS services including Amazon S3, Amazon RDS, Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, Amazon API Gateway, and Amazon SQS, making it essential to implement a robust recovery strategy capable of protecting both infrastructure and critical data.
Cloud Elemental was engaged to help the organisation design a structured, scalable disaster recovery approach aligned with AWS best practices.
The Challenge
As the organisation prepared to launch a new cloud-based application, the team recognised the need to improve disaster recovery readiness across its platform. While the application was well architected for day-to-day performance, recovery processes had not yet been fully validated or formalised.
Four key challenges were identified:
Recovery Confidence & Testing
The organisation required a clear and repeatable disaster recovery process that could be validated through structured testing.
Consistency in Recovery Processes
Recovery procedures varied across systems, creating operational friction and increasing reliance on manual intervention.
Scalable Recovery Architecture
A recovery strategy was needed that could scale beyond a single application and serve as a blueprint for future cloud workloads.
Operational Readiness
Internal teams required documented procedures and automation to ensure recovery could be executed independently when required.
The CE Approach
Cloud Elemental applied a structured four-phase engagement model, combining AWS best practices with tailored automation and stakeholder collaboration.
Resilience Readiness Review
Assessed current recovery capabilities and infrastructure dependencies
Defined recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO)
Identified platform components requiring protection
Backup & Recovery Architecture Design
Designed a cross-account backup architecture using AWS Backup
Defined automated backup policies for critical data services
Ensured the architecture supported future scalability and resilience
Disaster Recovery Validation
Developed and tested recovery procedures to ensure they were executable and reliable
Validated infrastructure and application restoration workflows
Ensured recovery processes aligned with operational governance
Delivery of a DR Blueprint
Delivered a complete disaster recovery playbook and architectural blueprint
Enabled internal teams to independently execute recovery procedures
Provided a scalable framework for future cloud applications
Our Solution
Cross-Account Backup Architecture
Critical application data and infrastructure components were protected using AWS Backup vaults across multiple AWS accounts.
Key elements included:
Primary backups stored in a dedicated AWS Backup Vault within the production account
Secondary cross-account backups stored in an isolated AWS account to protect against account-level compromise
Automated backup schedules aligned with defined RTO and RPO requirements
This architecture ensured secure, resilient protection of critical services including Amazon S3 and Amazon RDS.
Disaster Recovery Playbook
A detailed disaster recovery playbook was developed to guide recovery operations.
The playbook documented procedures for:
Restoring backups from secondary vaults into the disaster recovery account
Rebuilding infrastructure using GitHub Actions infrastructure pipelines
Restoring application data and services
Re-establishing application availability
The playbook was designed to be agnostic of specific personnel, allowing authorised teams to execute recovery procedures independently.
Dedicated Disaster Recovery Account
A separate AWS account was provisioned as a pre-configured disaster recovery environment.
This account included:
Preconfigured networking and security controls
Automated infrastructure deployment pipelines
Integration with backup restoration workflows
The environment remained cost-efficient while idle, but could be activated rapidly to restore full platform functionality during a disaster event.
Our Results
The engagement delivered a structured and resilient disaster recovery capability for the platform.
Reduced Operational Risk
A validated disaster recovery process that authorised team members can execute independently.
Cross-Account Backup Protection
Automated backups stored across isolated AWS accounts reduce the risk of data loss and platform compromise.
Rapid Recovery Capability
Infrastructure automation and preconfigured recovery environments significantly reduce restoration time.
Reusable DR Blueprint
A scalable disaster recovery model that can be applied to future cloud workloads across the organisation.
Ready to strengthen your Disaster Recovery Plan?
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