What is disaster recovery?

Disaster recovery is the ability for a company or organization to continue operations after a disaster, whether that disaster be from a malicious actor, or an accident. The goal of disaster recovery is for an organization to continue operations with little or no interruption. To prepare for a disaster, organizations routinely conduct a full analysis of their infrastructure and ensure that backups of data, and backup plans for infrastructure, are in place.

disaster recovery diagram

In our interconnected, digital-first world, the potential for unforeseen catastrophe looms ever-present. Natural disasters, human errors, cyber attacks, and hardware failures can all bring the critical operations of a business to a halt. The consequences? A haunting cascade of data loss, reputation damage, and financial hardship. That, however, is exactly where disaster recovery comes in.

Why is disaster recovery important?

Disaster recovery is of paramount importance because it acts as a safety net, helping to ensure business continuity in the face of disruptions. In an era where data is the lifeblood of business, any form of data loss or downtime can have serious impacts, including financial losses, reputational damage, and more. 

Not only that, but these disruptions can stem from a myriad of sources – actual natural disasters, cyber attacks, hardware failures, or even simple human error. A robust disaster recovery plan mitigates these risks by providing a roadmap to quickly restore operations and maintain business continuity. Not only does it safeguard valuable data assets, but it also ensures service availability, maintaining the trust and confidence of customers and stakeholders. In essence, disaster recovery is your business’s digital insurance policy.

How does disaster recovery work?

Disaster recovery works by implementing a set of policies, tools, and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure and systems following a disaster. 

Typically, the first step is that a comprehensive disaster recovery plan is created. This plan outlines the steps to be taken before, during, and after a disaster. It involves identifying critical data, systems, and processes, along with potential risks to these assets. Second, the plan is put into action, which might involve data backup, system replication, or the setup of redundant sites. These measures aim to ensure the availability and integrity of data and systems, irrespective of disruptions. Third, in the event of a disaster, the recovery process is initiated, leveraging the established backups, replicas, or standby systems to restore business operations as quickly and seamlessly as possible. Finally, once the immediate crisis has been handled, a post-recovery analysis is performed to evaluate the response and improve the existing plan. Ultimately, the goal of disaster recovery is not just to survive a disaster, but to continue operations with as little interruption as possible, both to the customer and to the business.

What types of disaster recovery are there?

There are a number of different types of disaster recovery. Here’s a look at them.

Backup

Backup is a cornerstone of any robust disaster recovery strategy, providing a simple yet powerful way of safeguarding valuable business data. Backup involves creating copies of data which are stored separately from the original files, often on different physical servers or on a cloud-based platform. This redundancy ensures that in the event of a disaster, data is not lost even if the primary storage becomes compromised or inaccessible. Depending on the business requirements, backups can be performed at varying frequencies ranging from real-time (continuous data protection) to daily, weekly, or even monthly. While backups are an important part of disaster recovery, it’s crucial to note that they’re not a complete solution on their own – they must be complemented with strategies for rapid data restoration and business continuity to ensure minimal downtime during a disaster.

Disaster recovery as a service

Disaster Recovery as a Service, or DRaaS, is a cloud-based solution that offers a cost-effective and efficient way to replicate and recover critical servers and data center functions, ensuring business continuity in the wake of a disaster. Essentially, DRaaS providers offer a full suite of services that cover everything from data backup to system replication and failover functionality. In the event of a disaster, businesses can switch their operations to the cloud-based replicas almost instantly, thereby minimizing downtime. DRaaS is particularly beneficial for smaller businesses that lack the resources or expertise to set up and manage their own disaster recovery systems. It offers a pay-as-you-go model, thus eliminating the need for substantial upfront investment. Furthermore, it offers scalability and flexibility, allowing businesses to adjust their disaster recovery capabilities as their needs evolve. 

Cold site

A cold site is a bare-bones, offsite facility where a company can move to continue operations in the wake of a disaster. A cold site is essentially an empty canvas of a business’ data. It typically includes the necessary physical space and basic infrastructure like power, cooling, and network connectivity, but does not have the pre-installed servers, storage systems, or application environment required for immediate operation. In case of a disaster, a company would need to procure and install hardware, restore data from backups, and configure the system, a process which can take several days or even weeks. While this makes recovery time longer compared to hot sites, cold sites are a significantly cheaper option, and are ideal for businesses with non-critical systems or those that can afford longer downtime in their disaster recovery plan.

Hot site

A hot site is an offsite location that’s fully equipped and ready to step in as a substitute for your primary business systems in the event of a disaster. Unlike cold sites, hot sites are mirrors of your primary IT operations, with up-to-date replicas of critical data, systems, and hardware necessary for business functions. This duplicate environment is continuously synced with the primary site, providing real-time redundancy. In the face of a catastrophe, a business can thus switch operations to the hot site almost immediately, significantly minimizing downtime. However, the high level of functionality and convenience that hot sites provide comes with a higher cost compared to other recovery options like cold sites.

Virtualization

Virtualization is a technology that improves efficiency, agility, and resilience. It involves the creation of a virtual—rather than actual—version of something, such as an operating system, a server, a storage device, or network resources. This allows multiple virtual machines, each running its own operating system and applications, to operate on the same physical machine. 

In the event of a disaster, virtualization can facilitate quick and flexible recovery. Server virtualization allows for entire systems (with their operating systems, applications, and data) to be encapsulated into a single software bundle or virtual machine file. This means that recovery can be as simple as moving this single file to another machine, reducing recovery time significantly. Moreover, the portability of virtual machines allows a disaster recovery site to more efficiently use its hardware resources, as it can run multiple recovery environments on each physical server. Virtualization also pairs well with cloud-based disaster recovery solutions, enabling businesses to swiftly resume operations in the face of disruption. As such, virtualization is a powerful component of a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy.

Christian de Looper
About author:

Technology journalist that has over a decade of experience covering smartphones, computers, smart home and other areas of consumer tech. He is published on CNN, Forbes, Tom’s Guide, Digital Trends and many more.

David Green
About reviewer:

Engineer with a passion for solving complex problems and keeping up with the latest technology trends. With years of experience in the industry, he has become an expert in data recovery, using state-of-the-art tools and techniques to recover data from damaged or corrupted devices.