Cloud Disaster Recovery Strategies

An effective Disaster Recovery (DR) plan is not just a precaution; it’s a necessity.

The key to any robust DR strategy lies in understanding and setting two pivotal benchmarks: Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) refers to the maximum acceptable length of time that your application or network can be offline after a disaster.

• Recovery Point Objective (RPO), on the other hand, indicates the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time.

Let’s explore four widely adopted DR strategies:

Backup and Restore Strategy:

This method involves regular backups of data and systems to facilitate post-disaster recovery.

• Typical RTO: From several hours to a few days.
• Typical RPO: From a few hours up to the time of the last successful backup.

Pilot Light Approach:

Maintains crucial components in a ready-to-activate mode, enabling rapid scaling in response to a disaster.

• Typical RTO: From a few minutes to several hours.
• Typical RPO: Depends on how often data is synchronized.

Warm Standby Solution:

Establishes a semi-active environment with current data to reduce recovery time.

• Typical RTO: Generally within a few minutes to hours.
• Typical RPO: Up to the last few minutes or hours.

Hot Site / Multi-Site Configuration:

Ensures a fully operational, duplicate environment that runs parallel to the primary system.

• Typical RTO: Almost immediate, often just a few minutes.
• Typical RPO: Extremely minimal, usually only a few seconds old.