The old methods of restoring individual backups from mirrors, synchronizing them in time against an archive log and then staging that data back to a live environment may soon be eclipsed by a more unified process comprising much fewer steps. For example, to execute a database recovery with CDP, you simply roll back to the correct time for the event, stage the CDP data set and allow the application to initiate its restore. Theoretically, IT managers could discard their traditional scheduled backups completely and reap significant savings in time, money and management efficiencies.
So far, CDP technology has been limited to a small niche of early adopter and specialty deployments (see "A tale of two applications," at right). But CDP has an immediate and far-ranging role to play in the enterprise because it has the ability to transform
application recovery.
Many enterprises deploying CDP are attempting to remedy some pronounced pain or complexity that existed in their prior recovery processes. Those processes might involve a Microsoft Exchange environment that takes three days to recover, or a top-level application that spans multiple databases and requires massive scripting to juggle rotating mirror schedules.
Most IT shops are comfortable with some level of recovery complexity, but beyond an acceptable threshold a breaking point may be reached. This may be the limitations of a given technology or the inability of the management team to handle a certain level of complexity with reliable outcomes.
