Replication

Multi-Site Replication — Built In

Replication is included for cloud-connected appliances. Restore orchestration across sites, with scheduled restore verification. Contact us for pricing.

IT Director / CIO

Typical recovery times depend on your data and network
Included for cloud-connected appliances
Restore orchestration across sites
Reports to support your audit work

Solutions Architect

Automatic conflict resolution across multiple sites
Bandwidth-efficient (only changed blocks replicate)
Works across databases, VMs, cloud apps, files
One unified replication system - no fragmentation

System Administrator

One-click restore per appliance
Health monitoring built into dashboard
Included for cloud-connected appliances
Scheduled restore verification

Questions to Ask About Replication

Ask About Licensing

Is replication included, or a separate module?
What does each extra site add to the quote?
Check the vendor documentation

Ask About Operations

Is replication built in, or does it need extra tools?
Is setup the same for each workload type?
Check the vendor documentation

How ShadowCradle Does It Different

Replication as a first-class citizen, not an afterthought.

Block-level deduplication

Only changed blocks replicate, so less data crosses the WAN.

Built-in encryption

TLS 1.3 for all replication traffic; optional end-to-end encryption.

Automatic conflict resolution

Multiple sites can replicate bidirectionally without conflicts.

Network-efficient

Works over WAN with automatic compression for slow links.

Restore verification

Built-in health checks and scheduled restore verification.

Cloud-aware

Replicate to cloud instances or on-prem appliances seamlessly.

Peer Discovery

Every Appliance is a Peer. Zero Configuration Required.

ShadowCradle does not have a primary and a replica. Every appliance on your network is a full peer. When you add a second appliance, they find each other automatically - no IP addresses to enter, no certificates to exchange manually, no "cloud console required." The same automatic discovery applies to backup agents: install the agent on any machine on the same network and it will locate the nearest appliance automatically.

Automatic Appliance Discovery

Appliances announce themselves on the local network. A new appliance joins your replication mesh the moment it comes online - no manual pairing steps.

Agents Detect Local Appliances

Backup agents scan for ShadowCradle appliances on the LAN at install time. The agent connects directly to the closest appliance - no manual server address, no firewall rule hunting.

Seamless Three-Way Communication

Agent, appliance, and cloud all speak the same protocol. Data flows directly along the shortest path: agent to appliance over LAN, appliance to peer appliance over WAN, appliance to cloud for archiving.

You Stay in Control

Auto-discovery can be disabled in the appliance's Firewall and Network section. Lock down peer discovery to a VLAN, restrict agent pairing to a list of approved subnets, or require manual approval for each connection.

Replication Capabilities

Capability	ShadowCradle
Replication	Included for cloud-connected appliances
Restore orchestration	Orchestrate restores across sites from the cloud dashboard
Multi-directional (A↔B↔C)	Sites replicate in both directions, with automatic conflict resolution
Cloud-to-on-prem	Replicate between cloud instances and on-prem appliances
Block-level bandwidth optimization	Only changed blocks cross the WAN, with compression on slow links
Health monitoring	Built-in health checks on replication

Real-World Use Cases

Multi-Location Healthcare Group

Challenge: Healthcare teams need offsite backup and disaster recovery across sites.

Results:

✅Replicate between sites automatically

✅Restore orchestration from the dashboard

✅Reports to support your HIPAA work; certifications are planned

Financial Services Firm with Multiple Offices

Challenge: Each office has its own backup. Compliance needs one view across locations.

Results:

✅Offices replicate to a central site

✅Unified audit trail

✅Reports to support your audits

Key Advantages

✅Included for cloud-connected appliances

✅Works everywhere: Databases, VMs, cloud apps, files - all unified

✅Automatic: Set it up once; it just works

✅Scheduled restore verification

Your Backup, Your Destination

Replicate to peer appliances, archive to cloud storage, or write to local NAS and external drives. Mix and match any combination.

Peer Replication

Appliance to Appliance

Agent

Appliance A - Site A

WAN

Appliance B - Site B

Agent

Any two appliances automatically discover each other and replicate bidirectionally. Restore from either site with one click. No hub, no hierarchy.

Cloud Archiving

Appliance to S3 / Cloud

Agent

Appliance

AWS S3

Wasabi

Backblaze B2

S3-Compatible

Send backups directly to any S3-compatible object store for long-term archiving. Deduplicated and encrypted before they leave the appliance.

Local Archiving

Appliance to NAS / External Drive

Agent

Appliance

NAS
SMB / NFS

External
USB / SATA

Write backups to a local NAS (SMB or NFS share) or a directly attached external drive. Air-gapped archiving with no cloud dependency.

You Are in Control

Use one destination or all three at once. Combine appliance-to-appliance replication for fast failover, S3 archiving for long-term retention, and NAS backup for local air-gap copies. Automatic peer and agent discovery can be restricted or fully disabled under Settings › Firewall & Network on each appliance.