Alphabet Soup, Vol. 1: DR, RTO, RPO

Information Technology is littered with acronyms. It can be a daunting task for someone whose job doesn't focus on IT to decrypt the jargon. I hope to demystify some of the more common acronyms related to Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity as a quick reference for those who have no desire to commit this alphabet soup to memory.

Quick Reference
DR - Disaster Recovery
RTO - Recovery Time Objective
RPO - Recovery Point Objective

DR: Hell or High Water
Disaster Recovery (DR) is an often under-funded and under-planned aspect of a company's Information Systems infrastructure.  A good DR strategy goes far beyond just a company's data backup solution. DR and data backup are not synonymous and should not be interchanged.  A backup solution is focused on the backup, archiving and recovery of files, email, system settings, databases, etc., whereas a DR plan address data backup and recovery, as well as the provisioning of replacement hardware, temporary office space or remote access, etc.

RTO: The Downtime Dilemma
A company's Recovery Time Objective (RTO) defines the length of time from when a disaster strikes to the time when the company is able to recover some or all of its business operations.  RTO does not have to be designed using an all-or-nothing approach.  For example, a company that does heavy online transaction processing might want its web site and database servers back up immediately, while its email system can wait a few hours.  Conversely, a company whose business is centered on customer relations would likely want its email and phone system functional, while file access and database access might be a few hours behind.

The best way to meet a very short RTO is to have the right equipment and/or facilities already provisioned before a disaster occurs.  Data center providers offer everything from rack space for servers and network equipment, to DR hot-sites with desks and workstations at the ready.  Additionally, advances in virtualization technology have made the cloning and provisioning of systems fairly simple, expedient and cost effective.  Lastly, several compliance solution providers offer Web-based email access while the company's primary messaging system is unavailable.

RPO: The Disappearing Data Dilemma
A company's Recovery Point Objective (RPO) defines how current the available data will be.  As mentioned above, this varies from company to company based on what applications are absolutely necessary for business to resume in some capacity.  A company may be able to have up-to-the-minute data if they implement replication software or use storage-based replication. Most of these solutions offer continuous replication to make available up to the minute data, as well as point-in-time snapshots, to allow for recovery in the event of data corruption.

The less optimal solution is recovery of data from backup media, which may not suit the needs of a business.  As it's very likely that backup jobs run over the course of an evening, a disaster occurring during midday, or worse, just shortly before the next backup occurs, could cause a company to lose an entire day's worth of data.  If that data includes financial transactions, the loss could be extremely detrimental to the reputation of the company. 

One can't emphasize enough how important it is for a company to draft a detailed DR strategy with clearly defined, realistic RTO and RPO requirements within given budget constraints to ensure the appropriate level of business continuity should there be an unforeseen disaster.  Remember, as RTO gets smaller and RPO approaches data that is current as of the moment disaster strikes, the DR solutions that will meet these requirements are likely to become more costly and complex.  Once a strategy is defined, it is a matter of finding the right people to help meet these objectives using an appropriate solution.  Doing so means the difference between a swift, well organized return to business proceedings and hours to days of downtime coupled with user and customer frustration. Choose wisely.