Can I Use My Own Hardware for a BCDR Appliance?
With EnterProtect, yes. The BCDR appliance is software you install on any x86-64 Intel or AMD machine with hardware virtualization, outbound network access and two separate storage devices, including hardware you or your client already own. There's no appliance licence and nothing recurring per box, because EnterProtect sells software and never hardware.
Why the Box Was Never Yours
Your appliance reaches end of life and the vendor's answer is a new one, on a commitment that starts again. The history on the old box is the reason leaving costs money. EnterProtect publishes minimum requirements instead of model numbers, because a hardware list goes stale the quarter after it's written. The appliance measures its own performance and reports what it found, instead of refusing a machine for its model name. So the hardware decision stays yours: a retired server, a new build, or the box your client already paid for.
What the Machine Needs
| What it needs | Required or recommended |
|---|---|
| An x86-64 Intel or AMD CPU with hardware virtualization | Required |
| Two separate storage devices, one for the system and one for backup data (two virtual disks in a VM) | Required |
| Outbound network access | Required |
| UEFI Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, ECC memory, IOMMU, direct HBA access | Recommended |
| How much memory and CPU | Your choice, measured by the appliance |
What Happens to the Machine
The machine becomes the appliance. EnterProtect's signed image is its whole operating system, with no shell, no package manager and no inbound management port. Before it protects production data, it runs automated qualification and a burn-in. When you assign servers to it, it compares their total size with usable capacity and warns above 55%, showing the arithmetic. It also warns if it lacks the memory to boot the machines you marked essential in a disaster. The data pool can be one disk, a ZFS mirror, RAIDZ2 across six to twelve drives, or a hardware RAID array presented as one device.
Where the Immutable Copy Lives
Hardware you own is hardware someone can steal, flood or wipe, and EnterProtect says so. The appliance's local copy is fast and deletion-resistant, not immutable: root on the appliance, or on the host running it as a virtual machine, can destroy it. So the immutable copy lives in EnterProtect's cloud under a compliance-mode lock, and losing the appliance costs recovery time, not data. Want a second copy without the cloud? BCDR Complete replicates to a second appliance at another site your client owns, with no extra licence.
BCDR Hardware Questions
Can the BCDR appliance run as a virtual machine?
Yes, in an x86-64 VM with two virtual disks, one for the system and one for data. Whoever administers the host can still destroy that local copy, which is one more reason the immutable copy lives in EnterProtect's cloud.
Do I need a RAID controller?
No. The data pool can be one disk, a ZFS mirror or RAIDZ2 on plain drives, or a hardware RAID array presented as one device. Hardware RAID works, but it costs ZFS's self-healing and per-drive health, and the console says so.
Is there a fee for the appliance?
No. EnterProtect charges per protected server, virtual machine or workstation, with storage pooled across your book. The appliance carries no licence and no recurring charge, and EnterProtect sells no hardware.
Want BCDR Without Buying Another Box?
EnterProtect BCDR runs on any machine that meets the minimums, with no appliance licence and the immutable copy in the cloud.
More Answers
See Every AnswerWhat Is BCDR?
BCDR stands for business continuity and disaster recovery.
How Do MSPs Prove Backups to a Cyber Insurer?
With evidence, not a screenshot.
What Is a Recovery Point Objective (RPO)?
A recovery point objective (RPO) is the most data a client can afford to lose, measured as time back from the moment something fails.