Page 13 - CANCION 1ST QTR 2020

of time it takes to resume normal operations after a Although the terms ‘data backups’ and ‘system
systems outage or data loss. Although failed servers replication’ are often thought of as being synonymous
can be back up and running relatively quickly, the RTO they are in fact complementary; Backups are ideal for
must include the recovery and availability of all system recovering data from a period of time whilst systems
and the associated data that is considered to be critical. Replication ensures the resumption of service using the
Organizations often fixate on how they will recover data last available copy of the data. It is recommended that
but less about how long that recovery will take. If the for the most critical system data both archival backup
axiom, ‘time is money’ is indeed true then a DR plan and replication mechanisms are employed.
needs to be focused on reducing the recovery time as
much as possible Evaluating your RTO and what can help reduce it
Whatever you decide your RTO to be, your IT team
Using the right technologies to achieve your RTO should regularly record the time it takes to perform
It was not long along ago that IT managers would rely full backup restores and equally how long replicated
on stored backup tapes as their sole source for data servers take to failover and then to failback. It is only
restoration. It was a laborious process that involved then that you can be sure that you are in compliance with
finding the right tape…running the restore job… your organization’s stated RTO. This may be an ideal
waiting…and in some cases…praying! There is nothing time-of-the-year to have your IT team conduct a mid-year
worse than performing backups for years and finding out test of your DR Plan; believing that lighting (or evens
at the worse possible moment that the target data just hurricanes) never strike twice is never a good policy and
isn’t there. These days, however, cloud-based backup such complacency can be hard to forgive. Irrespective of
and data replications services ensure a better success rate the approach or technology used for recovery, the time
and reduce the overall recovery time. There are many to do so should be both deterministic and consistent.
technologies and solution providers that can help reduce Organization leaders and their IT managers should
your RTO. For example, a Cloud-based DR solution consider the following to help reduce their RTO:
has, in theory, no resource limitations so in essence
your organization can increase backup frequencies and • Formulate (or reformulate) DR plans so that
have infinite data retention periods if required. With they focus more on application-specific recovery
increasing demands to store more data for longer periods and not entire servers which may be hosting
(e.g. Data Protection Laws) it is comforting to know that non-critical applications.
data can be archived at will and restored when needed.
With increasing demands to store more data for longer • Use Cloud DR resources which are always ‘on’
periods (i.e. Data Protection) Data can be archived in the and can be offered in an on-demand model
Cloud at will and can be restored when needed. Using which allows for access to additional temporary
the Cloud for DR does not require an all-or-nothing resources (CPU & Memory) which will speed
approach and organizations will use a unique blend of up the recovery process to ensure the RTO is
products and services that best suits their needs. For complied with.
example, you may decide which one application is
suitable for cloud backup, perhaps a legacy application • Add Orchestration Tools that can automate and
will continue to use traditional disk/tape media whilst speed up the recovery process. They are also
offsite replication is needed for most critical systems. ideal for use during DR rehearsals as recovery
processes are scripted and can be modified to
It is estimated that by 2023, at least 50% of data still reflect changes in the IT environment.
located at on-premise will also be present on the public
cloud for disaster recovery purposes.

CANCION 1ST QTR 2020 11