Case Study: Faster Restores That Kept a US Manufacturer Running
Manufacturing is unforgiving when systems go down. You can tell people to work from home or take a longer lunch, but you cannot "pause" a production schedule without consequences. Orders slip. Shipping windows get missed. Customer relationships take hits. And if the downtime is long enough, leadership starts asking uncomfortable questions about why the company was not ready.
This case study follows a US based manufacturer that improved restore speed and reduced downtime risk by rebuilding its backup and disaster recovery approach around one clear goal: when something breaks, get back to production fast, and get back with clean, trusted data.
They were not trying to build a fancy security program. They were trying to eliminate the painful uncertainty of restores that took too long or failed at the worst time.
They achieved the outcome with an encryption first backup posture, prioritized recovery tiers, and routine restore testing using RedVault Systems cloud storage and a structured Backup & Disaster Recovery workflow that encrypts data before it is sent to Backblaze B2 storage.
Manufacturer Profile and Critical Systems
The client was a US manufacturer with about 230 employees, operating across one main plant and one distribution site. Their IT stack included:
- An ERP system used for orders, inventory, procurement, and scheduling
- A database supporting the ERP and reporting tools
- File servers with engineering drawings, SOPs, and QA documentation
- Virtual machines supporting identity, printing, and internal tools
- Endpoints on the shop floor used for production monitoring and work instructions
Their biggest constraint was time. When their ERP or file access went down, production still continued for a short while. But after a few hours, teams started working with outdated information. That is when mistakes happen.
Leadership wanted to define acceptable downtime and build a recovery plan that could actually meet it.
The Problem: Backups Existed, Restores Were Slow
The manufacturer had backups. That was not the issue.
The issue was restore performance and confidence.
- Restores were slow, especially for large file sets.
- The team had not tested a full recovery in a long time.
- Backup jobs were heavy and occasionally failed, creating gaps.
- Recovery priorities were not documented, so decisions were made under pressure.
In a previous incident, a server failure caused a long outage because IT spent hours debating what to restore first. That outage was a wake up call.
After that event, leadership asked for three things:
- A clear disaster recovery plan
- Faster restores for critical systems
- A security posture that protected backups from being a weak point
They also wanted encryption enforced before storage, because manufacturing data includes IP, designs, vendor pricing, and sensitive operational information.
Recovery Targets: RTO and RPO That Made Sense
The IT team and leadership aligned on two key targets.
Tier 1 systems, primarily ERP and its database, needed a short RPO and a realistic RTO. They defined that if ERP was down, the company could survive briefly, but the longer it was down, the more errors and delays would pile up.
Tier 2 systems, such as engineering and QA file access, needed reliable restores but could tolerate a bit more recovery time.
Tier 3 systems, such as archives and older project files, mattered but were not urgent.
They wrote down the targets in a short internal policy so everyone agreed before an incident happened. This is simple, but it prevents chaos during recovery.
The Implementation: Rebuild for Speed and Clarity
The rollout focused on speed, predictability, and security.
Step 1: Tier the Systems by Business Impact
They created a tier map that operations could understand.
- Tier 1: ERP, ERP database, identity services, core virtual machines needed for production access
- Tier 2: engineering and QA file shares, production documentation, reporting tools
- Tier 3: archives, old projects, and historical files
This tier map became the foundation for backup scheduling, retention, and restore order.
Step 2: Right Size Backup Jobs
Before the project, backups were heavy and sometimes unreliable. The team reduced backup churn by focusing frequency on what truly needed it.
- Tier 1 backups ran on a schedule aligned with the RPO.
- Tier 2 backups were steady but not excessive.
- Tier 3 backups focused on retention and integrity, not frequent points.
This reduced failures and improved consistency. Consistency is the first step toward speed, because you cannot restore quickly from backups that are incomplete.
Step 3: Enforce Encryption Before Storage
The manufacturer wanted backups encrypted before they left the environment. That reduced risk and supported internal security expectations.
They used RedVault Systems Backup & Disaster Recovery because it encrypts data before sending it to Backblaze B2 storage. Leadership liked that storage access would not automatically expose backup content.
For manufacturing leadership, this mattered because their data included both operational documents and intellectual property.
Step 4: Build a Restore Runbook for Real Incidents
They created a runbook designed for two scenarios.
- Scenario A: infrastructure failure, such as a host crash or storage failure
- Scenario B: security event, such as ransomware or suspicious file modification
The runbook included:
- Containment steps for security scenarios
- Restore order by tier
- How to choose restore points
- How to validate ERP function and data accuracy
- How to communicate milestones to operations leadership
The most valuable part was the validation checklist. In manufacturing, a restore is not "done" when the server boots. It is done when ERP transactions work, shop floor systems can pull current data, and key users confirm the system behaves normally.
Step 5: Routine Restore Testing
They practiced restores before the project was considered complete.
- They ran a controlled restore test of the ERP database to confirm the process and timing.
- They restored a large engineering folder set to validate file integrity and access permissions.
- They simulated a partial environment recovery to measure the timeline.
These tests established a baseline. They knew exactly how long certain restores would take.
If you want a comparable structure, it is the same recovery discipline supported by RedVault Systems cloud storage: encryption first, tiered recovery, and tested restores.
The Real World Incident: Storage Failure on a Critical Host
Two months after implementation, they experienced an incident that tested the plan.
A critical virtualization host reported storage issues. Within a short time, one of the key virtual machines supporting ERP services became unstable and then went offline.
Operations started to feel it quickly.
- Users could not reliably access ERP.
- Production supervisors could not pull certain schedules.
- Inventory updates began to lag.
Leadership asked IT for a time estimate. Instead of guessing, IT followed the runbook.
They made a decision quickly: restore Tier 1 systems to a stable state using the defined recovery process.
Recovery Execution
They followed the plan.
- They isolated the failing host to prevent additional damage.
- They confirmed the most recent clean restore point for ERP related systems.
- They restored the necessary ERP components and database according to Tier 1 priority.
- They validated ERP functionality with a small set of business users.
- They communicated clear milestones to operations.
Because they had practiced, there was no debate about what to do first.
The ERP system was restored to stable operation within the target window. Production continued with minimal disruption.
There were delays, but they were controlled. The company avoided a full day outage.
Why Restore Speed Improved
Restore speed improved for three reasons.
Cleaner, more reliable backup jobs
Backups were no longer bloated. That reduced failures and ensured restore points were usable.
Tiered restore order eliminated debate
IT did not waste time deciding what mattered. The decision had been made in advance and documented.
Restore testing created muscle memory
Technicians did not have to "figure it out" during the incident. They executed the steps they already knew.
The combination of these factors turned restore time into a known quantity instead of a painful unknown.
Business Impact
The business impact was clear and measurable.
- Downtime was reduced compared to previous incidents.
- Production disruption was limited.
- Leadership regained confidence in IT recovery readiness.
- The company reduced risk of order delays and shipping window misses.
The team also created a better relationship between IT and operations. Operations understood what IT needed during a recovery and what milestones to expect.
Security Impact: Protecting Backup Data
Even though this incident was not ransomware, leadership's confidence was stronger because backups were encrypted before storage. They did not want a backup system that became an additional risk.
Manufacturers increasingly deal with vendor risk questionnaires and internal security reviews. An encryption first posture supports those conversations.
It also reduces worst case exposure if storage credentials are ever compromised. Backup data remains unreadable without the encryption keys.
This is one of the reasons the manufacturer chose a model aligned with RedVault Systems Backup & Disaster Recovery.
Lessons Learned
This case reinforced practical lessons for US manufacturers.
- Downtime is not just an IT issue. It is a production and revenue issue.
- Restore speed depends on design, not heroics.
- Tiering and documented priorities eliminate wasted time.
- Restore testing turns recovery from panic into process.
- Encryption should be enforced before data leaves the environment, especially when backups contain sensitive operational data.
The manufacturer also decided to run quarterly restore drills and to keep the runbook updated whenever systems changed. They learned that recovery readiness is not a one time project. It is a habit.
Conclusion
This US manufacturer improved restore speed and reduced downtime risk by building a plan they could execute under pressure. They tiered systems, right sized backup schedules, enforced encryption before storage, and practiced restores until the timeline was known.
When a critical host failed, they recovered quickly and kept production moving.
If your business needs the same kind of predictable recovery, the fundamentals supported by RedVault Systems cloud storage are a strong starting point: protect data before it is stored, design restores around business priorities, and test the plan so it works when you need it.
References
- NIST contingency planning and recovery concepts commonly used in US business continuity planning (general reference)
- General disaster recovery practices for ERP dependent operations (general reference)
- Common manufacturing continuity planning concepts for reducing downtime (general reference)