High Availability and Disaster Recovery for Salesforce

Overview

High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) patterns ensure Salesforce orgs can maintain operations and recover from failures. This guide covers backup/restore approaches, failover patterns for integrations, and business continuity strategies.

Core Principle: Design for resilience with regular backups, tested restore procedures, and failover mechanisms for critical integrations. Prepare for failures before they occur.

Prerequisites

Required Knowledge:

• Understanding of Salesforce data and metadata
• Familiarity with backup and restore tools
• Knowledge of integration patterns
• Understanding of business continuity requirements
• Knowledge of data retention policies

Recommended Reading:

• CI/CD Patterns - Deployment and rollback patterns
• Data Migration Patterns - Data migration and backup patterns
• Integration Platform Patterns - Integration failover patterns

When to Use HA/DR Patterns

Use HA/DR Patterns When

• Business-critical systems: Salesforce is critical to business operations
• Compliance requirements: Regulatory requirements mandate backups and DR
• Data loss risk: Cannot afford data loss
• Integration dependencies: Critical integrations require failover
• High availability requirements: Need to minimize downtime
• Audit requirements: Need to demonstrate DR capabilities

Avoid HA/DR Patterns When

• Non-critical systems: System failure has minimal business impact
• Limited resources: Don’t have resources for HA/DR implementation
• Simple use cases: Basic backup/restore sufficient
• Low data value: Data loss is acceptable

Backup Patterns

Pattern 1: Automated Data Backups

Purpose: Automatically backup Salesforce data on a regular schedule.

Implementation:

• Weekly Exports: Use Weekly Data Export for automated backups
• Custom Backup Jobs: Schedule Apex jobs to export critical data
• API-Based Backups: Use Data Loader or Bulk API for programmatic backups
• Third-Party Tools: Use backup tools (OwnBackup, Spanning, etc.)

Best Practices:

• Backup critical data daily
• Backup all data weekly
• Store backups in secure, off-platform locations
• Encrypt backups containing sensitive data
• Test restore procedures regularly
• Maintain backup retention policies

Pattern 2: Metadata Backups

Purpose: Backup Salesforce metadata (customizations, configurations).

Implementation:

• Source Control: Store metadata in Git (version control)
• Metadata API: Use Metadata API to export metadata
• Salesforce CLI: Use sf project retrieve to backup metadata
• Package Backups: Create unmanaged packages for metadata backup

Best Practices:

• Store metadata in version control
• Tag production deployments
• Backup before major changes
• Document metadata changes
• Test metadata restore procedures

Pattern 3: Selective Data Backups

Purpose: Backup only critical data objects (not all data).

Implementation:

• Critical Objects: Identify critical objects (Accounts, Contacts, Cases, etc.)
• Scheduled Exports: Export critical objects more frequently
• Incremental Backups: Backup only changed records (use LastModifiedDate)
• Custom Backup Logic: Implement custom backup logic for specific needs

Best Practices:

• Identify critical objects
• Backup critical objects daily
• Backup all objects weekly
• Document backup scope
• Test selective restore procedures

Restore Patterns

Pattern 1: Full Data Restore

Purpose: Restore all data from backup.

Implementation:

• Data Import: Use Data Loader to import backup data
• Bulk API: Use Bulk API for large data restores
• ETL Tools: Use ETL tools for complex restores
• Third-Party Tools: Use backup tools for restore

Best Practices:

• Test restore in sandbox first
• Restore in correct order (parent objects before child)
• Validate data after restore
• Document restore procedures
• Maintain restore runbooks

Pattern 2: Selective Data Restore

Purpose: Restore specific records or objects from backup.

Implementation:

• Record-Level Restore: Restore specific records by ID
• Object-Level Restore: Restore entire objects
• Date-Range Restore: Restore records from specific date range
• Custom Restore Logic: Implement custom restore logic

Best Practices:

• Identify records to restore
• Export from backup
• Validate before restore
• Restore in sandbox first
• Document restore procedures

Pattern 3: Metadata Restore

Purpose: Restore metadata from version control or backup.

Implementation:

• Version Control Restore: Deploy from Git tags/branches
• Metadata API: Deploy metadata from backup
• Salesforce CLI: Use sf project deploy to restore metadata
• Package Restore: Install packages from backup

Best Practices:

• Restore from version control
• Test in sandbox first
• Restore in correct order
• Validate after restore
• Document restore procedures

Failover Patterns

Pattern 1: Integration Failover

Purpose: Failover to backup integration endpoints when primary fails.

Implementation:

• Circuit Breaker Pattern: Open circuit when failures detected
• Failover Endpoints: Configure backup endpoints
• Health Checks: Monitor endpoint health
• Automatic Failover: Automatically switch to backup on failure

Best Practices:

• Implement circuit breakers
• Configure backup endpoints
• Monitor endpoint health
• Test failover procedures
• Document failover logic

Pattern 2: Data Replication

Purpose: Replicate data to backup systems for failover.

Implementation:

• Change Data Capture: Use CDC to replicate changes
• Platform Events: Publish events for replication
• Scheduled Sync: Schedule regular data sync
• Real-Time Sync: Real-time replication via APIs

Best Practices:

• Replicate critical data
• Monitor replication lag
• Test failover to backup system
• Document replication procedures
• Maintain data consistency

Pattern 3: Multi-Org Architecture

Purpose: Use multiple Salesforce orgs for HA/DR.

Implementation:

• Primary Org: Production org
• DR Org: Disaster recovery org (standby)
• Data Replication: Replicate data to DR org
• Metadata Sync: Keep metadata in sync
• Failover Procedures: Document and test failover

Best Practices:

• Replicate data regularly
• Keep metadata in sync
• Test failover procedures
• Document failover runbooks
• Maintain DR org

Business Continuity Patterns

Pattern 1: Business Continuity Planning

Purpose: Plan for business continuity during outages.

Implementation:

• Identify Critical Processes: Identify business-critical processes
• Document Procedures: Document manual procedures
• Train Staff: Train staff on manual procedures
• Test Procedures: Test procedures regularly
• Update Plans: Update plans as systems change

Best Practices:

• Identify critical processes
• Document manual procedures
• Train staff regularly
• Test procedures quarterly
• Update plans annually

Pattern 2: Communication Plans

Purpose: Communicate during outages and recovery.

Implementation:

• Status Pages: Maintain status pages
• Notification Systems: Set up notification systems
• Escalation Procedures: Document escalation procedures
• Stakeholder Communication: Plan stakeholder communication
• Post-Incident Reports: Document incidents and learnings

Best Practices:

• Maintain status pages
• Set up notifications
• Document escalation
• Plan communication
• Document incidents

Pattern 3: Recovery Testing

Purpose: Test recovery procedures regularly.

Implementation:

• Quarterly DR Drills: Test DR procedures quarterly
• Annual Full DR Test: Full DR test annually
• Document Results: Document test results
• Improve Procedures: Improve based on test results
• Update Runbooks: Update runbooks based on learnings

Best Practices:

• Test quarterly
• Full test annually
• Document results
• Improve procedures
• Update runbooks

Related Patterns

• CI/CD Patterns - Deployment and rollback patterns
• Data Migration Patterns - Data migration and backup patterns
• Integration Platform Patterns - Integration failover patterns
• Monitoring and Alerting - Monitoring for HA/DR

Q&A

Q: What are High Availability and Disaster Recovery patterns?

A: HA/DR patterns ensure Salesforce orgs can: (1) Maintain operations during failures (high availability), (2) Recover from failures (disaster recovery), (3) Backup data and metadata regularly, (4) Restore from backups when needed, (5) Failover to backup systems for critical integrations. HA/DR patterns ensure business continuity and data protection.

Q: How do I implement automated data backups?

A: Implement by: (1) Weekly Data Export (automated weekly backups), (2) Custom backup jobs (Apex jobs for critical data), (3) API-based backups (Data Loader, Bulk API), (4) Third-party tools (OwnBackup, Spanning), (5) Store securely (off-platform, encrypted), (6) Test restore regularly. Automated backups ensure data is protected without manual intervention.

Q: How do I restore data from backups?

A: Restore by: (1) Test in sandbox (test restore procedures first), (2) Restore in order (parent objects before child), (3) Use Data Loader (import backup data), (4) Validate data (verify restore success), (5) Document procedures (maintain restore runbooks). Always test restore procedures before production restore.

Q: How do I implement integration failover?

A: Implement by: (1) Circuit breakers (detect failures, open circuit), (2) Backup endpoints (configure backup integration endpoints), (3) Health checks (monitor endpoint health), (4) Automatic failover (switch to backup on failure), (5) Test failover (test failover procedures regularly). Integration failover ensures critical integrations continue during failures.

Q: What is multi-org architecture for HA/DR?

A: Multi-org architecture uses: (1) Primary org (production org), (2) DR org (disaster recovery org, standby), (3) Data replication (replicate data to DR org), (4) Metadata sync (keep metadata in sync), (5) Failover procedures (document and test failover). Multi-org architecture provides complete DR capability with standby org.

Q: How do I test disaster recovery procedures?

A: Test by: (1) Quarterly DR drills (test procedures quarterly), (2) Annual full test (full DR test annually), (3) Document results (document test results), (4) Improve procedures (improve based on results), (5) Update runbooks (update based on learnings). Regular testing ensures DR procedures work when needed.

Q: What are business continuity planning best practices?

A: Best practices: (1) Identify critical processes (document business-critical processes), (2) Document procedures (manual procedures for outages), (3) Train staff (train staff on procedures), (4) Test regularly (test procedures quarterly), (5) Update plans (update as systems change). Business continuity planning ensures operations continue during outages.