What is Disaster Recovery?
Disaster Recovery (DR) is the process of restoring IT systems, data, and infrastructure following a disruptive event. It focuses on minimizing downtime and data loss through planning, preparation, and tested procedures.
Key Metrics
RTO (Recovery Time Objective) Maximum acceptable downtime. Target time to restore service.
RPO (Recovery Point Objective) Maximum acceptable data loss. How much data can you lose?
DR Strategies
Backup and Restore
- Lowest cost
- Longest recovery
- RPO: Hours to days
Pilot Light
- Minimal core running
- Scale up when needed
- Faster than backup
Warm Standby
- Scaled-down version running
- Quick scale up
- RPO: Minutes
Active-Active (Hot)
- Full redundancy
- Instant failover
- RPO: Near zero
DR Components
- Data backup and replication
- Infrastructure redundancy
- Network failover
- Application recovery
- Testing procedures
DR Plan Elements
- Scope and Objectives
- Risk Assessment
- Recovery Procedures
- Communication Plan
- Testing Schedule
- Maintenance Process
Testing Types
- Tabletop exercises
- Walkthrough tests
- Simulation tests
- Full failover tests
Cloud DR Benefits
- Reduced costs
- Geographic redundancy
- Scalable resources
- Automated failover