Disaster recovery for Kubernetes on the PowerStore replication you already run. PowerStore replicates your volumes to the DR site, synchronously or asynchronously. At failover, CloudCasa brings your Deployments, StatefulSets, and KubeVirt VMs up on the DR cluster and reconnects them to the replicated volumes. Nothing is restored from backup.
Talk to a DR ExpertCloudCasa DR now supports Dell PowerStore
Dell PowerStore customers are running more of their production estate on Kubernetes: Red Hat OpenShift, SUSE Rancher/RKE2, VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service, and upstream distributions, often with virtual machines moved onto KubeVirt, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, or SUSE Virtualization alongside the containers. Many already have a backup tool in place. Far fewer can bring these environments up at a second site when the primary site fails.
CloudCasa DR works with your existing PowerStore deployment. PowerStore keeps managing replication, and CloudCasa handles the Kubernetes side of failover that would otherwise be manual work. CloudCasa drives failover and failback through the PowerStore REST API, and uses the PowerStore CSI driver (csi-powerstore) to attach the replicated volumes to the target cluster.
Each site has a Kubernetes cluster and a Dell PowerStore array. PowerStore replication keeps the data in sync between the arrays. When you fail over, CloudCasa uses the replicated data to rebuild your workloads on the DR cluster. CloudCasa moves configuration, PowerStore moves data, and the two paths stay separate.
Failover runs on PowerStore’s own replication. CloudCasa is not in the data path, so it adds no replication layer and no latency.
PowerStore replicates PV data array-to-array, and it never passes through CloudCasa. An in-cluster agent drives the array over its REST API, whether CloudCasa runs self-hosted or as SaaS.
The same platform covers scheduled backup, granular restore, cross-cluster migration, and storage-integrated DR.
Failover uses volumes PowerStore has already replicated, so recovery typically takes seconds to minutes rather than the hours a manual Kubernetes rebuild takes. Actual results depend on replication mode, workload size, network distance, cluster readiness, and application dependencies.
CloudCasa validates the DR Plan before failover begins, then fails over at the volume-group level. Failback runs when you start it, and PowerStore resynchronizes only the changes made since the failover.
RPO depends on the PowerStore replication mode set in the protection policy, synchronous or asynchronous.
Recovery covers more than volumes. CloudCasa rebuilds the Kubernetes resources and KubeVirt VMs that make the replicated data usable again.
Built for platform engineering and infrastructure teams running critical Kubernetes workloads.
Four steps from replicated storage to a working DR site.
PowerStore replicates persistent-volume data array-to-array, synchronously or asynchronously, for volume groups with a protection policy.
Register the source and target clusters with CloudCasa DR enabled, add both PowerStore arrays, and link each cluster to its array.
Create a DR Plan that protects whole namespaces or selected Deployments, StatefulSets, and VMs, with the source and target clusters and their PowerStore arrays. CloudCasa continually records every protected workload into a replicated inventory volume.
Run a DR Recovery Job. CloudCasa fails over the inventory volume, then the workload volume groups, and binds each workload’s PVCs to the replicated volumes.
CloudCasa first fails over the volume group holding the inventory volume, imports it into the target cluster, and starts a recovery agent using that inventory. With the inventory in place, it fails over the remaining volume groups and restores the Deployments, StatefulSets, and virtual machines the plan covers. The last step binds each workload’s PVCs to the volumes PowerStore has already failed over.
Failback runs when you start it, with both sites reachable. CloudCasa issues a Reprotect that reverses the replication direction on the affected volume groups, and PowerStore resynchronizes only the changes made since the failover. Once synchronized, the workloads at the DR site scale down, the volume groups fail back to the primary array, and CloudCasa rebuilds the Kubernetes resources, PVCs, and virtual machines on the primary cluster.
CloudCasa DR for Dell PowerStore runs on CNCF-certified Kubernetes distributions at version 1.20 or later that use the Dell PowerStore CSI driver, including Red Hat OpenShift and Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, SUSE Rancher/RKE2 and SUSE Virtualization, VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service, and upstream Kubernetes. Today’s integration covers block-based (SCSI) persistent volumes in PowerStore volume groups. File-based (NFS) volumes are not covered today.
For backup, CloudCasa writes to S3-compatible object storage and NFS or SMB shares, which can include Dell storage that exposes those interfaces. Backup and DR are managed from the same console.
No. PowerStore replicates volume data array-to-array, so your data stays on your Dell infrastructure. CloudCasa’s in-cluster agent talks to the PowerStore REST API to run discovery, validation, failover, and failback, but the data path stays entirely on PowerStore.
No. You start failback as a DR Recovery Job once the primary site is back and both sites are reachable. CloudCasa then reverses replication with a Reprotect, waits for PowerStore to resynchronize the changes, and moves the workloads back to the primary cluster.
Yes. A DR Plan can include Deployments, StatefulSets, and KubeVirt VMs, such as those running on Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization or SUSE Virtualization.
No. CloudCasa uses your existing PowerStore volume groups, protection policies, and replication sessions. It reads the replication mode from the protection policy and does not change it. Only volume groups with a protection policy and an active replication session can be failed over.
Typically seconds to minutes rather than hours, because the data is already at the DR site. The actual time depends on the replication mode, the number and size of volume groups, network distance, and how quickly the workloads start on the DR cluster.
Yes, on one platform and one console. DR for Storage is licensed separately: as an add-on to a CloudCasa backup subscription, or as a DR-only subscription.
CNCF-certified distributions at Kubernetes 1.20 or later that use the Dell PowerStore CSI driver, including Red Hat OpenShift, SUSE Rancher/RKE2, VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service, and upstream Kubernetes, with KubeVirt VMs on OpenShift Virtualization and SUSE Virtualization.
To evaluate Dell PowerStore disaster recovery in your own Kubernetes environment, contact casa@cloudcasa.io. To start with Kubernetes backup and restore and evaluate DR later, use the 60-day free trial for up to five worker nodes.
