Veeam rallies ransomware readiness so Dynisco can support worldwide plastic production

The business challenges

A world without polymers is a world without plastics, making polymer manufacturers a critical component of nearly every supply chain on earth.

Dynisco’s solutions help polymer manufacturers meet fluctuating production requirements in the industries they serve. For instance, polymer manufacturers in the automotive industry use these solutions to meet rigorous requirements set by car manufacturers. Polymers eventually become plastics used in brakes, transmissions and exhaust systems, so precise polymer manufacturing keeps drivers and passengers safe.

“Dynisco’s solutions provide a window into polymer production so manufacturers know they’re meeting the exact needs of their customers,” said Ray Ruest, Infrastructure Manager at Dynisco. “Our solutions are based on decades of experience and data, so protecting data is crucial, particularly in the age of ransomware.”

Ruest said protecting data became a challenge when Backup Exec became unreliable.

“All data must be protected, but especially data on our R&D servers and in our proprietary ERP and CRM systems because they support product development, manufacturing and customer interactions,” he explained. “Data in Microsoft 365 is also critical because of its collaborative nature. If one of our R&D engineers leaves the company, we need reliable backups of his files and emails for historical purposes.”

After researching replacements for Backup Exec, Ruest and his colleagues deployed Veeam Availability Suite worldwide. When they deployed Microsoft 365 to take advantage of collaborative tools such as SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Teams, they deployed Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 as well.

“Veeam provides readily available backups of Microsoft 365 data, which is much safer (and smarter) than having only one set of backups in Microsoft’s cloud,” Ruest said. “What would happen if Microsoft’s cloud went black and we couldn’t get to our data? It would be devastating to any business, but we don’t worry because Veeam backs up our data. After using Veeam Availability Suite and Veeam Backup for Microsoft 365 for a while, we’ve come to realize that Veeam is always one step ahead of its competitors, offering features most companies don’t realize they need until they do.”

The Veeam solution

Veeam rallies ransomware readiness so Dynisco can support worldwide plastic production. Veeam improves cybersecurity tactics with malware scans and ransomware alarms, and it helps avoid downtime with Scale-out Backup Repository and universal licensing. Veeam also provides infrastructure flexibility and storage neutrality, saving Dynisco $150,000 in IT costs during a four-year period.

“Veeam sits at the center of our DR strategy,” Ruest said. “I’m completely confident in our ability to restore our data in a ransomware attack.”

Dynisco’s DR strategy features Veeam DataLabs. These virtual labs are isolated from the production environment so the IT team can verify the recoverability of backups and replicas (SureBackup and SureReplica), scan them for malware (Secure Restore), restore them quickly (Instant VM Recovery) and test software patches and updates for bugs (On-Demand Sandbox). Veeam also notifies the team about suspicious ransomware activity.

Veeam backs up 15 TB across 100 VMware vSphere virtual machines and 10 physical machines on premises to disk and tape and replicates off premises for DR. Veeam also backs up 10 TB of Microsoft 365 data (files, documents and mailboxes) to Backblaze B2.

“Since our Microsoft 365 data is growing faster than we anticipated (15 GB per day), we’re taking advantage of Veeam’s integration with Backblaze cloud object storage for archiving backups, along with fast and easy recovery if we need it,” Ruest said.

Backups go to Backblaze B2 via Veeam Capacity Tier, an automatic tiering feature of Veeam Scale-out Backup Repository (SOBR).

“We are huge fans of SOBR because it saved us from serious downtime,” Ruest said. “When our SAN device malfunctioned, the vendor told us to evacuate the SAN and reformat it, but that’s risky, if not impossible when its live. Instead, we used SOBR to send backups to several different repositories because we have the Veeam Universal License for workload portability. And since Veeam is storage neutral, all of this was incredibly easy. Next, we evacuated the SAN and reformatted it — without missing a single backup, without crashing a single VM and without impacting a single customer. The whole experience was amazing.”

Ruest said the best word to describe Veeam is flexible.

“In addition to being storage-neutral, Veeam is infrastructure-neutral, so it will work in any environment and meet any business requirement,” he explained. Because of this flexibility we’ve been able to grow our IT environment on our terms, and we saved $150,000 in hardware and storage costs in just four years. Veeam is the first and only solution that I’ve trusted completely during my 30 years in IT.”

The results

• Improves cybersecurity tactics with malware scans and ransomware alarms
  “When our president asks how we’re feeling about our DR strategy, we tell him we’ve got ransomware readiness covered,” Ruest said. “Veeam provides everything we need to protect the business.”
• Avoids downtime with Scale-out Backup Repository and universal licensing
  “SOBR was our best friend when our SAN device failed,” Ruest said. “Knowing I can throw anything at SOBR is the confidence I need in an emergency.”
• Offers infrastructure flexibility and storage neutrality, saving $150,000 in IT costs
  “There is nothing rigid about Veeam,” Ruest said. “Unlike other backup solutions that impose restrictions on what type of hardware and storage you must use, Veeam gives you free rein to use whatever works best for your business.”