What is a reasonable RTO for a SaaS application?

Most SaaS applications target 1-4 hours RTO. Mission-critical systems target under 15 minutes with hot standby infrastructure.

Should I use a different cloud provider for DR?

Multi-cloud DR is complex and expensive. Using multiple regions within one provider is usually sufficient and much simpler.

How often should I test disaster recovery?

Quarterly for critical systems. At minimum, annually. Each test should simulate a different failure scenario.

Disaster Recovery Checklist

Prepare for the worst with tested backup strategies, automated failover, and documented recovery procedures that minimize downtime.

Checklist: Disaster Recovery (engineering)

Disaster recovery planning ensures your application can survive infrastructure failures, data loss, and service outages. The cost of not having a plan is discovered only during a crisis — when it is too late. This checklist covers preparation, testing, and response procedures.

Checklist Items

Define RTO and RPO targets [critical]: Set Recovery Time Objective (max downtime) and Recovery Point Objective (max data loss) for each service.
Implement automated database backups [critical]: Configure automated daily backups with point-in-time recovery. Store backups in a different region.
Test backup restoration quarterly [critical]: Restore from backups to a separate environment and verify data integrity. Untested backups may not work.
Document recovery procedures [important]: Write step-by-step runbooks for database restoration, service redeployment, and DNS failover.
Configure multi-region or multi-AZ deployment [important]: Deploy across availability zones or regions to survive infrastructure failures.
Set up automated health checks and failover [important]: Configure load balancer health checks that automatically route traffic away from failed instances.
Maintain infrastructure as code [important]: Ensure all infrastructure can be recreated from code in case of complete environment loss.
Create a communication plan [recommended]: Define who communicates what to customers, team, and stakeholders during an outage.
Set up external uptime monitoring [recommended]: Use external monitoring services that alert even if your internal monitoring infrastructure fails.
Conduct annual disaster recovery drills [recommended]: Simulate failures and execute recovery procedures to verify the plan works and the team is prepared.

Common Mistakes

Never testing backups: A backup that cannot be restored is worthless. Test restoration at least quarterly.
Single-region deployment: Deploy across at least two availability zones. Single-AZ deployments fail completely during zone outages.
Undocumented recovery steps: Recovery steps in one person's head are useless when that person is unavailable. Document everything.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a reasonable RTO for a SaaS application?: Most SaaS applications target 1-4 hours RTO. Mission-critical systems target under 15 minutes with hot standby infrastructure.
Should I use a different cloud provider for DR?: Multi-cloud DR is complex and expensive. Using multiple regions within one provider is usually sufficient and much simpler.
How often should I test disaster recovery?: Quarterly for critical systems. At minimum, annually. Each test should simulate a different failure scenario.