When it comes to business continuity planning, it’s important to implement a system that not only backs up all important data, but to also have a recovery plan in place in case a disaster does occur. While it isn’t possible to predict when the disaster itself will occur, it is possible to be prepared in case one does happen. The goal of any data recovery plan is to recover as much of the data as possible. When forming the continuity plan, it is important to consider key metrics, such as the RTO, or recovery time objective, and the RPO, or recovery point objective. Here’s an overview of the RTO and RPO and what they mean in relation to data recovery:
What is RTO?
RTO, or Recovery Time Objective, is the target time needed to recover data after a disaster occurs before in order to avoid any consequences, such as permanent data loss. This metric is determined by calculating how quickly a business needs to recover the information. This metric is necessary in forming a data recovery plan because all of the details contained within the plan, such as the equipment needed as well as the overall budget, will depend on this metric. For instance, if the RTO is set at three hours, which essentially means that the business can survive being down for three hours, the budget needs to reflect an amount that will ensure that the system will be up and running within that period of time.
What is RPO?
RPO, which stands for Recovery Point Objective, refers to the maximum, targeted time-period in which the data might be lost completely. In other words, this metric has to do with your company’s overall tolerance to any data that could potentially be lost. It is calculated by analyzing the time that occurs between backups in relation to the potential data that could be lost if a disaster occurs between backups. So, if the RPO is set at five hours, this means that the business can only be without this data for five hours before the normal operation of the business suffers.
RTO, RPO, and Data Backup Solutions
Although the RTO and RPO may seem similar, they’re actually distinct. The main difference behind them lies in their purposes. RTO requires looking at the business from a big picture perspective by analyzing all the systems involved with its operations. In doing so, the RTO is set to facilitate business continuity. The RPO, on the other hand, specifically relates to the data itself and how quickly a company can recover after a potential data loss incident does occur.
When it comes to creating a business continuity and data recover plan, both the RTO and RPO need to be considered. Roan Solutions can help you determine these key metrics in order to develop a backup solutions program that is specifically tailored to your organization.
