Business data protected off site automatically, with recovery from before any incident

Executive summary

Dynawiild Engineering, a maker of architectural and structural metal products, needed a reliable, secure and cost-effective way to copy its critical business data off site for disaster recovery, automatically and as data grew. DevOps TechLab set up automatic sync from its office systems to Amazon S3, with versioning, lifecycle archiving to S3 Glacier, encryption and least-privilege access, and trained the client’s team to run it day to day.

Client

Dynawiild Engineering · Manufacturing

Business problem

Critical business data lived only in the office, with no reliable automated off-site copy.

What we delivered

Automatic sync to Amazon S3 with versioning, S3 Glacier archiving, encryption and IAM policies.

Engagement

Discovery, setup and training, then ongoing optimisation and reporting by DevOps TechLab.

Outcome

Data copied off site automatically and recoverable from before a problem.

How the data moves

The business challenge

The company needed critical business data from its on-premises systems copied to the cloud for disaster recovery, reliably, securely and cost-effectively, without anyone having to remember to do it. The solution also had to keep up as the amount of data grew.

Why it mattered

• One fire or theft away from loss

  With data only in the office, a fire, theft or failed server could mean lost work.

• Manual backups get skipped

  Any process that relies on people remembering will eventually fail.

• Ransomware syncs too

  A plain copy would faithfully copy encrypted or overwritten files.

• Storage costs that grow

  Keeping every copy in standard storage would grow the bill every month.

What Dynawiild Engineering set out to achieve

1. Copy critical business data off site automatically.
2. Keep earlier versions so files can be restored from before a problem.
3. Move older data to low-cost archive storage on its own.
4. Encrypt the data and limit who can reach it.
5. Let the client’s own team manage it day to day.

The solution: automatic, versioned off-site copies on Amazon S3

Seafile synchronises the business data from the office systems to Amazon S3 automatically. S3 versioning keeps earlier copies of every file, and lifecycle rules move older data to S3 Glacier.

Key design choices

• Automatic, not manual

  Seafile synchronises the data without manual steps, so copies never drift out of date.

• Versions, not just copies

  S3 versioning keeps earlier versions, so a file damaged by ransomware can be restored from before the problem.

• Cost managed by rules

  Lifecycle rules move older data to S3 Glacier for low-cost archiving.

• Run by the client’s own team

  DevOps TechLab trained the team to manage and monitor the setup themselves.

Security and governance

The off-site copy is protected as carefully as the original.

• Encrypted

  Business data is encrypted.

• Least-privilege access

  IAM policies give each person and system only the access it needs.

• Access controls on the bucket

  Bucket access controls limit who can reach the data.

• Reviewed regularly

  DevOps TechLab reports regularly on performance and cost.

Architecture on AWS

How we delivered

1. 01Discover

   Reviewed the existing setup, what data mattered most and where the gaps were.

2. 02Set up

   Installed and configured Seafile, and set up the S3 bucket with versioning, lifecycle rules, encryption and access controls.

3. 03Train

   Trained the client’s team to manage and monitor the setup themselves.

4. 04Care

   Ongoing optimisation, with regular reports on performance and cost.

Business outcomes

A failed server, theft or ransomware attack in the office no longer means lost work.

• ✓
  Copied off site automatically

  Critical business data is copied to Amazon S3 without anyone having to remember.

• ✓
  Recoverable from before a problem

  Earlier versions are kept, so overwritten or encrypted files can be restored.

• ✓
  Storage costs kept in check

  Older data moves to a cheaper archive tier on its own.

• ✓
  Encrypted and access-controlled

  The data is protected and only reachable by the people who need it.

• ✓
  Run in-house

  The client’s own team runs it day to day.

What’s next

As the data grows, the same setup scales without change. DevOps TechLab continues to optimise it and report regularly on performance and cost.

Lessons for leadership teams

• Disaster recovery starts with one off-site copy that updates itself. Manual backups get skipped.
• Keep versions, not just the latest copy. Ransomware and accidental overwrites sync too.
• Let lifecycle rules manage cost, so the archive doesn’t become the biggest line on the bill.