Assess
we list every server and application, agree an RPO and RTO with the business owner of each one, and check which rules apply to where the copy may sit.
Cloud use case · Protect
Cloud disaster recovery site
A standby copy of your servers in a GCC cloud region, tested on a schedule, so a dead server room does not stop the business.
Why Gulf Infotech
Why companies ask us to build their DR site
Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work
and Google Cloud Premier Partner. We are also an AWS partner and a Huawei Cloud partner.
Since 2007
with 1,500+ active cloud customers across the Middle East.
Offices in Dubai, Muscat (head office) and Doha
serving all six GCC countries.
350,000+ users migrated
Clouds we build DR sites on
Microsoft Azure
AWS
Google Cloud
Huawei Cloud
Cloud DR site · start here
A cloud disaster recovery site is a standby copy of your servers that sits in a cloud region and starts only when your main site fails. Gulf Infotech, working with companies across the Middle East since 2007, designs, builds and tests DR sites on Azure, Huawei Cloud, Google Cloud and AWS, in UAE, Qatar, Saudi or Bahrain regions.
Cloud DR site · Explained
What problem does a cloud DR site solve?
What we usually hear in the first meeting:
A DR site answers two numbers for each system. RPO is how much data you can afford to lose, measured in time. RTO is how long the business can wait before the system is back. Backup alone gives you an RPO of the last good backup and an RTO of however long a full restore takes, which for an ERP server can be most of a working day. A replicated DR site in the cloud brings both numbers down, and you mostly pay for storage until the day you fail over.
- "If the server room floods or the UPS dies on a Friday, how long are we down?"
- "A second data centre costs a fortune for something we hope never to use."
- "The auditor wants a tested DR plan and we have a backup job, not a plan."
Cloud DR site · At a glance
Who is a cloud DR site for?
Takeaway: if one system being down for a day would cost more than a year of standby storage, a DR site is worth pricing.
- A handful to a few dozen on-premise servers (ERP, file server, Active Directory, SQL)
- Strong fit. This is the most common case we see
- Trading, manufacturing, logistics, hospitality, clinics
- Strong fit. These firms lose sales or operations within hours of an outage
- Banks, insurers, government entities
- Fit, but sector rules set where the DR copy may live. See data residency
- A single small server with tolerant users
- Usually backup is enough. See server backup
- Workloads already in one cloud region
- Fit, as region-to-region DR inside the same provider
Cloud DR site · At a glance
Which cloud DR options are there in the GCC?
Regions checked against each provider's official region list in October 2026.
| Provider | DR service | GCC regions you can recover into | How it is billed | What to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure | Azure Site Recovery, with Azure Backup | UAE North (Dubai), Qatar Central (Doha). UAE Central (Abu Dhabi) is access-restricted, for scenarios such as in-country DR. Saudi Arabia East is announced for November 2026 | Per protected instance per month; each instance is free for its first 31 days of protection. Storage, and compute during a failover, are billed separately | Protects VMware, Hyper-V and physical Windows or Linux servers, Azure VMs and AWS Windows instances. Continuous replication for VMware and Azure VMs; as low as 30 seconds for Hyper-V |
| AWS | AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) | me-central-1 (UAE), me-south-1 (Bahrain). A Saudi region is announced for December 2026 | Hourly per source server that is replicating. Staging storage and recovery instances billed separately | AWS states RPOs of seconds and RTOs of minutes for on-premise to AWS recovery |
| Google Cloud | Backup and DR Service | me-central1 (Doha), me-central2 (Dammam). Saudi customers buy from Gulf Infotech | Quoted per customer | Protects Compute Engine, VMware Engine VMs, SQL Server and Oracle. Backup vaults are immutable (write once, read many) |
| Huawei Cloud | Business Recovery Service (BRS), with Cloud Backup and Recovery (CBR) | Riyadh; Abu Dhabi (UAE) upcoming | BRS by the hour of protected instance use. CBR by vault storage plus replication traffic | Case by case, per compliance, for UAE or Saudi organisations that need the DR copy in-country |
Microsoft Azure
- DR service
- Azure Site Recovery, with Azure Backup
- GCC regions you can recover into
- UAE North (Dubai), Qatar Central (Doha). UAE Central (Abu Dhabi) is access-restricted, for scenarios such as in-country DR. Saudi Arabia East is announced for November 2026
- How it is billed
- Per protected instance per month; each instance is free for its first 31 days of protection. Storage, and compute during a failover, are billed separately
- What to know
- Protects VMware, Hyper-V and physical Windows or Linux servers, Azure VMs and AWS Windows instances. Continuous replication for VMware and Azure VMs; as low as 30 seconds for Hyper-V
AWS
- DR service
- AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS)
- GCC regions you can recover into
- me-central-1 (UAE), me-south-1 (Bahrain). A Saudi region is announced for December 2026
- How it is billed
- Hourly per source server that is replicating. Staging storage and recovery instances billed separately
- What to know
- AWS states RPOs of seconds and RTOs of minutes for on-premise to AWS recovery
Google Cloud
- DR service
- Backup and DR Service
- GCC regions you can recover into
- me-central1 (Doha), me-central2 (Dammam). Saudi customers buy from Gulf Infotech
- How it is billed
- Quoted per customer
- What to know
- Protects Compute Engine, VMware Engine VMs, SQL Server and Oracle. Backup vaults are immutable (write once, read many)
Huawei Cloud
- DR service
- Business Recovery Service (BRS), with Cloud Backup and Recovery (CBR)
- GCC regions you can recover into
- Riyadh; Abu Dhabi (UAE) upcoming
- How it is billed
- BRS by the hour of protected instance use. CBR by vault storage plus replication traffic
- What to know
- Case by case, per compliance, for UAE or Saudi organisations that need the DR copy in-country
No provider of the four runs a region in Oman or Kuwait, so Omani and Kuwaiti companies recover into a neighbouring country's region. We confirm that each service is offered in the exact region you choose before the design is signed off.
Cloud DR site · What we deliver
What does Gulf Infotech do?
Design
we pick the provider and region, size the network link, plan the recovery order (identity first, then databases, then applications) and write the runbook.
Migrate and replicate
we install the replication agents or appliances, seed the first copy, and prove the replicas are consistent.
Run
we monitor replication, alert on lag, and, if you subscribe to quarterly or half-yearly DR drills, run them and send you a drill report each time. Drills are included only when you take DR as a managed service with a drill subscription; they are not part of a standard set-up. Support is delivered remotely, in English or Arabic.
Cloud DR site · At a glance
Which DR option should you pick?
Takeaway: choose by the region your rules allow first, then by the platform your servers already run on.
| Option | Best when | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Azure Site Recovery to UAE North or Qatar Central | You run Windows servers on Hyper-V or VMware and already use Microsoft 365 | Saudi recovery has to wait for Saudi Arabia East to go live |
| AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery to me-central-1 or me-south-1 | You need the shortest recovery times, or your applications already run on AWS | No Qatar or Oman region; the per-server hourly charge runs all month, not only during failover |
| Google Cloud Backup and DR in Doha or Dammam | Data must stay in Qatar or Saudi Arabia, or your workloads already run on Google Cloud | Saudi customers buy it from Gulf Infotech, like any other region |
| Huawei Cloud BRS in Riyadh | A Saudi entity needs an in-country DR copy now | One region per country, so no second in-country region to fail over to |
| Backup with cloud restore, for example Acronis | A small site can accept a restore measured in hours | Not a standby site; recovery is slower and depends on restore speed |
Azure Site Recovery to UAE North or Qatar Central
- Best when
- You run Windows servers on Hyper-V or VMware and already use Microsoft 365
- Trade-off
- Saudi recovery has to wait for Saudi Arabia East to go live
AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery to me-central-1 or me-south-1
- Best when
- You need the shortest recovery times, or your applications already run on AWS
- Trade-off
- No Qatar or Oman region; the per-server hourly charge runs all month, not only during failover
Google Cloud Backup and DR in Doha or Dammam
- Best when
- Data must stay in Qatar or Saudi Arabia, or your workloads already run on Google Cloud
- Trade-off
- Saudi customers buy it from Gulf Infotech, like any other region
Huawei Cloud BRS in Riyadh
- Best when
- A Saudi entity needs an in-country DR copy now
- Trade-off
- One region per country, so no second in-country region to fail over to
Backup with cloud restore, for example Acronis
- Best when
- A small site can accept a restore measured in hours
- Trade-off
- Not a standby site; recovery is slower and depends on restore speed
Cloud DR site · Explained
How is a cloud DR site priced?
A cloud DR site has three cost blocks, and no provider publishes a single monthly price for it.
Network costs (VPN or a private link to the region) and data transfer also count. Because recovery servers are switched off most of the month, a DR site usually costs a fraction of a second data centre. We price your exact server list on two providers in the assessment. Our set-up and managed DR work is quoted per customer; DR drills are included when you take DR as a managed service and subscribe to quarterly or half-yearly drills.
- The replication service: per protected server, monthly on Azure, hourly on Huawei Cloud and AWS.
- Replica storage: the disks and snapshots kept in the region, billed per GB per month.
- Recovery compute: servers that run only during drills and real failovers, billed by the hour or second while they run.
Step by step
What are the typical steps?
Inventory and targets
list systems, owners, RPO and RTO for each.
Region and network
choose the region and build the VPN or private link.
Replicate
seed the first full copy, then keep changes flowing.
Recovery plan
set the start order and the DNS and network changes users need.
Test failover
start the copy in an isolated network without stopping replication, and record the time it took.
Operate
run drills quarterly or half-yearly if you subscribe to them under the managed service, update the plan when servers change, report every drill.
Across the Middle East
Cloud services in your country
Cloud DR site · FAQs
Frequently asked questions
Which cloud is best for a disaster recovery site?
The best cloud for a DR site is the one your servers and rules point to. Windows servers on Hyper-V or VMware usually fit Azure Site Recovery. Applications already on AWS, or that need very short recovery times, fit AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery. Data that must stay in Qatar points to Azure Qatar Central or Google Cloud Doha, and in Saudi Arabia to Huawei Cloud Riyadh or Google Cloud Dammam. We price two options before recommending one.
Can the DR copy stay in my country?
It can in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The UAE has Azure UAE North, AWS me-central-1, Qatar has Azure Qatar Central and Google Cloud Doha, Saudi Arabia has Google Cloud Dammam and Huawei Cloud Riyadh, and Bahrain has AWS me-south-1. None of the four providers has a region in Oman or Kuwait, so the copy sits in a neighbouring GCC country.
How much does a cloud DR site cost per month?
It depends on the number of servers, the data volume and how often you test, so there is no flat price. You pay a replication fee per protected server, storage for the replicas, and compute only while recovery servers run. Azure Site Recovery also gives each protected server its first 31 days free. We send a priced design for your server list after the assessment.
How long does it take to set up a DR site?
Set-up time depends mainly on how many servers you protect, how much data must be copied over your internet link for the first time, and how quickly application owners can join a test. The first full copy is usually the longest step. We give you a dated plan after the assessment; its timeline is an indicative estimate that depends on your requirements, and the site is ready once a test failover has passed.
What is the difference between backup and a DR site?
Backup keeps copies of your data so you can restore it; a DR site keeps ready-to-start copies of whole servers so the business can run from them. With backup, recovery means rebuilding servers and restoring data, which takes hours. With a DR site, recovery means starting replicas that are already in the cloud. Most companies need both: backup for deleted files and ransomware, DR for site failures.
Can an Omani company fail over to a UAE or Qatar region?
Yes, most Omani companies use a UAE, Qatar or Saudi region because no major provider has a region in Oman. Check your data first: your compliance team decides which data may leave Oman, and banks, government bodies and health providers often have stricter requirements. For ordinary business data, a GCC region is the usual choice. We confirm this in the assessment.
Find out how long your business can really afford to be down
Send us your server list and we will come back with RPO and RTO options, a region recommendation and a priced design.
Talk to us during office hours