Disaster recovery planning

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  1. Disaster Recovery Planning

This article details disaster recovery (DR) planning for a MediaWiki 1.40 installation. It’s geared towards system administrators and those responsible for maintaining the availability of a MediaWiki site. Effective DR planning ensures minimal downtime and data loss in the event of a catastrophic failure.

Understanding Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery isn't just about backups; it's a comprehensive strategy encompassing prevention, mitigation, and restoration. A *disaster* can be anything from a hardware failure to a natural disaster, or even a cyberattack. A solid DR plan should address several key areas: data backup and recovery, server redundancy, and failover procedures. Consider also the impact of a disaster on related services such as user accounts and content pages.

Data Backup and Recovery

This is the foundational element of any DR plan. Regularly scheduled backups are crucial. We will cover several backup strategies.

Backup Methods

  • **Full Backups:** The simplest approach – copies *all* data. Time-consuming and resource-intensive, but provides the fastest restore.
  • **Differential Backups:** Copies all changes made since the *last full backup*. Faster than full backups, but restore time is longer as you need the full backup *and* the latest differential.
  • **Incremental Backups:** Copies only the changes made since the *last backup* (full, differential, or incremental). Fastest backup time, but the slowest restore, requiring all incremental backups *and* the full backup.

Backup Frequency

The frequency depends on the rate of change of your wiki.

Frequency Description Recommended for
Daily Full backup every day. Small wikis with minimal daily changes.
Weekly Full backup weekly, with differential backups daily. Medium-sized wikis with moderate changes.
Weekly/Incremental Full backup weekly, incremental backups daily. Large, active wikis with frequent edits.

Backup Targets

Backups should *never* be stored on the same physical hardware as the primary wiki. Options include:

  • **Offsite Storage:** Dedicated backup servers in a geographically separate location.
  • **Cloud Storage:** Services like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, or Azure Blob Storage.
  • **Tape Storage:** While less common now, still viable for long-term archiving.

Backups *must* include the following:

  • The MediaWiki installation directory.
  • The `images` directory.
  • The MySQL/MariaDB database (using `mysqldump` or similar tools). See Manual:Backups for more information.
  • The `LocalSettings.php` file (securely stored!). This file contains critical configuration information regarding your database connection and other essential settings.


Server Redundancy and Failover

Redundancy minimizes downtime. Failover automates switching to a backup server in case of primary server failure.

Load Balancing

Distributes traffic across multiple servers. If one server fails, the others continue to handle requests. Requires a load balancer (hardware or software). Consider using a reverse proxy like Manual:Configuration settings#Reverse proxy for additional benefits.

Database Replication

Replicates the database to a secondary server in real-time. In case of primary database failure, the secondary server can be promoted to primary. MySQL/MariaDB offers several replication options. See Manual:Database setup for details.

Failover Automation

Automates the process of switching to a backup server. This can be achieved using tools like:

  • **Keepalived:** Manages virtual IP addresses and automatically fails over to a backup server.
  • **Pacemaker:** A more complex cluster resource manager.
  • **Cloud Provider Solutions:** Many cloud providers offer automated failover services.

Server Specifications (Example)

This table outlines specifications for primary and secondary servers in a redundant setup.

Component Primary Server Secondary Server (Hot Standby)
CPU 16 Core Intel Xeon 12 Core Intel Xeon
RAM 64 GB DDR4 32 GB DDR4
Storage 2 TB SSD (RAID 1) 1 TB SSD (RAID 1)
Network 1 Gbps Dedicated 1 Gbps Dedicated
Operating System Linux (Ubuntu Server 22.04) Linux (Ubuntu Server 22.04)

Testing and Documentation

A DR plan is useless if it hasn’t been tested.

Regular Testing

  • **Backup Restoration Tests:** Periodically restore backups to a test environment to verify integrity and recovery time.
  • **Failover Drills:** Simulate server failures and verify that the failover process works as expected.
  • **Database Failover Tests:** Test the database replication and failover procedures.

Documentation

Detailed documentation is *essential*. This should include:

  • Backup procedures.
  • Restore procedures.
  • Failover procedures.
  • Contact information for key personnel.
  • Server configurations.
  • Database configurations.
  • A clear and concise runbook detailing the steps to take during a disaster.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

These metrics define your DR goals.

  • **RTO (Recovery Time Objective):** The maximum acceptable downtime. For example, an RTO of 4 hours means the wiki must be back online within 4 hours of a disaster.
  • **RPO (Recovery Point Objective):** The maximum acceptable data loss. For example, an RPO of 1 hour means you can afford to lose up to 1 hour of data. These objectives should be clearly defined and aligned with business requirements.


Security Considerations

Don't forget security! DR plans should incorporate security best practices:

  • **Secure Backups:** Encrypt backups to protect sensitive data. Consider using Extension:SecureSignOn for enhanced security.
  • **Access Control:** Limit access to backup and recovery systems to authorized personnel only.
  • **Regular Security Audits:** Ensure the security of your DR infrastructure.


Additional Resources


Intel-Based Server Configurations

Configuration Specifications Benchmark
Core i7-6700K/7700 Server 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 512 GB CPU Benchmark: 8046
Core i7-8700 Server 64 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2x1 TB CPU Benchmark: 13124
Core i9-9900K Server 128 GB DDR4, NVMe SSD 2 x 1 TB CPU Benchmark: 49969
Core i9-13900 Server (64GB) 64 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i9-13900 Server (128GB) 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (64GB) 64 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Server (128GB) 128 GB RAM, 2x500 GB NVMe SSD
Core i5-13500 Workstation 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2 NVMe SSD, NVIDIA RTX 4000

AMD-Based Server Configurations

Configuration Specifications Benchmark
Ryzen 5 3600 Server 64 GB RAM, 2x480 GB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 17849
Ryzen 7 7700 Server 64 GB DDR5 RAM, 2x1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 35224
Ryzen 9 5950X Server 128 GB RAM, 2x4 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 46045
Ryzen 9 7950X Server 128 GB DDR5 ECC, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 63561
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/1TB) 128 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/2TB) 128 GB RAM, 2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (128GB/4TB) 128 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/1TB) 256 GB RAM, 1 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 7502P Server (256GB/4TB) 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe CPU Benchmark: 48021
EPYC 9454P Server 256 GB RAM, 2x2 TB NVMe

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