Modernizing Backup Infrastructure for a Leading Pharmaceutical Organization
- vishalp6
- Jun 9
- 4 min read
Introduction:
A leading pharmaceutical company in India identified the need to modernize its backup infrastructure to support business continuity, compliance, and growth. Their existing system—built on an outdated version of Commvault software and legacy hardware—was no longer reliable or scalable. Frequent backup failures, long restore times, and the inability to manage backups efficiently across multiple sites were putting critical operations at risk.
To address these limitations, the company partnered with Indus Systems and Services to implement a modern, centralized backup solution. The goal was to improve system performance, ensure data protection compliance, and create a scalable foundation capable of supporting future business demands with greater flexibility and reduced administrative effort.
Challenges:
The organization faced several pressing challenges with their existing backup environment:
Obsolete Backup Software:
The older Commvault version lacked modern features, posed security risks, and was no longer aligned with the organization’s compliance and performance expectations.
Aging Physical Infrastructure:
The backup system operated on physical servers, which posed a risk of single points of failure and lacked agility.
Scale and Complexity:
The backup environment was responsible for safeguarding over 400 servers—including physical, virtual, and file system workloads—distributed across four critical locations in India.
Business Continuity Risk:
The organization required an upgrade with minimal downtime and disruption to ongoing backup operations.
These issues necessitated a comprehensive solution that would address current limitations while future-proofing the IT environment.
Our Solution:
Indus Systems and Services engineered a comprehensive upgrade strategy focused on resilience, high availability, and rapid deployment. We upgraded the entire Commvault CommServe backup environment to the latest stable version, addressing both security and performance gaps.
To eliminate hardware limitations and introduce failover capabilities, we transitioned the CommServe infrastructure to virtual machines hosted on a robust virtual platform. Each virtual instance was configured with Live Sync Failover, ensuring high availability and disaster resilience.
Key Solution Components:
Commvault CommServe Upgrade:
Migration to the latest version of Commvault software with all critical configurations retained and optimized.
Virtualized High Availability:
CommServe instances were deployed on virtual machines with built-in Live Sync technology to ensure automatic failover and zero data loss.
Multi-Site Protection:
The solution protected over 400 servers across four geographically dispersed sites, including both physical and virtual infrastructure.
Minimal Downtime:
The upgrade was meticulously planned and executed to avoid disruption of active backup schedules.
Implementation Highlights:
The backup modernization project was executed with precision and speed, minimizing risk and maximizing continuity. Indus Systems and Services ensured that both strategic planning and technical execution were aligned to deliver outcomes without compromising business operations. Every phase, from migration to post-deployment validation, was carefully monitored to maintain service consistency and data integrity.
Rapid Project Completion:
The entire deployment was completed within just two days—an impressive turnaround made possible through meticulous pre-planning, automation scripts, and a streamlined execution strategy. This rapid delivery demonstrated not only technical efficiency but also deep experience in managing time-sensitive infrastructure upgrades.
Uninterrupted Backup Operations:
Despite the scale of change, backup processes continued to run with minimal disruption. Mission-critical data remained protected throughout the migration process, thanks to a phased transition plan and close monitoring of backup workflows during system switchovers.
Thorough Post-Deployment Validation:
Comprehensive testing was conducted immediately after deployment to confirm operational readiness. Validation included simulated failover scenarios, verification of backup policy mappings, and integrity checks on all backup jobs across virtual and physical servers—ensuring full continuity and compliance from day one.
Business Impact:
The backup modernization project delivered significant improvements in performance, availability, and long-term scalability. With a robust, centralized solution in place, the organization is now better equipped to handle evolving data protection requirements, ensure compliance, and support business continuity. The infrastructure also positions the company to adopt future innovations such as hybrid cloud strategies and advanced automation.
Improved Resilience:
The deployment of a virtualized CommServe environment with Live Sync enabled automated failover and disaster recovery mechanisms, significantly enhancing system availability. This architecture eliminated the risk of a single point of failure and ensured faster recovery during unexpected outages or hardware issues.
Enhanced Security & Compliance:
Upgrading to the latest version of Commvault software helped address known vulnerabilities and added layers of built-in security features such as encryption, access control, and audit trails. These enhancements ensured alignment with regulatory standards and reinforced the organization's data governance framework.
Operational Continuity:
The transition was planned and executed with zero disruption to ongoing operations, preserving backup schedules and data integrity throughout. Business-critical workloads remained protected at all times, supporting uninterrupted service delivery across all branch locations.
Future-Ready Infrastructure:
The redesigned architecture provides a scalable and modular foundation that can easily integrate with cloud storage, advanced automation tools, and evolving data management requirements. This future-proof approach ensures that the organization can adapt to changing business needs without major reinvestments.
Conclusion:
Indus Systems and Services empowered a leading pharmaceutical company to transform their aging and vulnerable backup infrastructure into a modern, highly available, and scalable solution. The successful deployment—executed in just two days—demonstrates our commitment to precision, minimal disruption, and delivering measurable business value.
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