Use Case: Museums & Cultural Institutions

Client Need

An MSP partner managing a major museum’s digital infrastructure approached CaaB to explore a Disaster Recovery (DR) solution for the museum’s website and online store.

The museum relied heavily on digital channels for:

• Admissions booking
• Timed ticketing for special exhibitions
• Online store sales and memberships

Any downtime directly impacted revenue, visitor experience, and the museum’s reputation. The client needed a reliable, tested DR environment to ensure uptime and protect against loss of revenue from outages.

Project Overview

The MSP partnered with CaaB to design and implement a cloud-based DR solution for the museum’s public-facing web and e-commerce platforms.

The objective was to provide:

• A standby DR environment ready to take over in case of a production failure
• Fast recovery with clear RPO/RTO targets
• A solution that could be managed by the MSP without adding complexity for the museum’s internal team

Challenges

• The existing hosting setup was single-site, with no true DR environment.
• Backups existed but were not structured for rapid failover or quick restoration.
• The museum experienced traffic spikes during new exhibition launches and seasonal events, increasing the risk and impact of outages.
• The DR plan needed to integrate with existing systems without disrupting day-to-day operations.

Solution

CaaB worked with the MSP to deploy a dedicated DR environment in CaaB’s cloud, including:

• Standby replicas of the web servers and application stack
• Database replication to protect bookings, orders, and customer records
• Scheduled backups and retention aligned with the museum’s compliance and audit needs
• Monitoring and alerting to ensure the DR environment remained in a ready state

The solution was designed so the MSP could manage everything under a single, white-label console, keeping operations simple for the museum.

Migration Strategy

• Assessment: CaaB and the MSP mapped critical components: website, online store, databases, payment integrations, and third-party services.
• Design: Defined RPO and RTO targets and designed a DR topology to meet them.
• Implementation:
  • Configured replication and automated backups to the CaaB DR environment
  • Set up DNS and failover procedures to redirect traffic quickly when needed
• Testing: Conducted DR failover tests with the MSP and museum team to validate cutover steps and timing.
• Runbook: Documented a clear DR playbook for the MSP to execute during an incident.

Results

• Improved Resilience: The museum’s website and online store now have a tested DR environment ready to take over in the event of an outage.
• Revenue Protection: Admissions booking and online purchases are protected from extended downtime, reducing the risk of lost revenue during peak periods.
• Operational Confidence: The MSP and museum teams gained confidence through DR testing and clear runbooks.
• Stronger Partnership: The MSP strengthened its role as a strategic partner by delivering a robust continuity solution, powered by CaaB.

Key Takeaways

This project highlights how a properly designed DR strategy can protect cultural institutions that rely on digital channels for admissions and retail.

By combining an MSP’s client knowledge with CaaB’s predictable, high-availability cloud, the museum gained:

• A clear plan for outages
• A stable DR environment
• The ability to safeguard both visitor experience and revenue without adding operational complexity.

 

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