Advanced
45 mins

Disaster Recovery

Learn how to implement comprehensive disaster recovery strategies to ensure business continuity during unexpected events and system failures.

Prerequisites

  • Understanding of system architecture
  • Experience with backup systems
  • Knowledge of high availability concepts
  • Familiarity with cloud infrastructure

Disaster Recovery Overview

Disaster Recovery Workflow

Visual representation of the disaster recovery process and key components.

1

Disaster Recovery Planning

Create a comprehensive disaster recovery plan:

// Disaster recovery plan structure
const disasterRecoveryPlan = {
  // Plan metadata
  metadata: {
    name: 'Disaster Recovery Plan',
    version: '1.0',
    lastUpdated: '2025-05-15',
    approvedBy: 'CTO',
    reviewCycle: 'Annual'
  },
  
  // Risk assessment
  riskAssessment: {
    threats: [
      { type: 'natural', name: 'Earthquake', probability: 'low', impact: 'high' },
      { type: 'natural', name: 'Flood', probability: 'medium', impact: 'high' },
      { type: 'technical', name: 'Data Center Outage', probability: 'medium', impact: 'high' },
      { type: 'technical', name: 'Database Corruption', probability: 'low', impact: 'critical' },
      { type: 'security', name: 'Ransomware Attack', probability: 'medium', impact: 'critical' },
      { type: 'security', name: 'DDoS Attack', probability: 'high', impact: 'medium' }
    ],
    
    criticalSystems: [
      { name: 'User Authentication', rto: 1, rpo: 0.25 }, // RTO in hours, RPO in hours
      { name: 'Payment Processing', rto: 2, rpo: 0 },
      { name: 'Core Database', rto: 4, rpo: 0.5 },
      { name: 'API Services', rto: 4, rpo: 1 },
      { name: 'Content Delivery', rto: 8, rpo: 24 }
    ]
  },
  
  // Recovery strategies
  recoveryStrategies: {
    dataBackup: {
      strategy: 'Multi-tier backup',
      description: 'Combination of full, incremental, and differential backups',
      schedule: {
        full: 'Weekly, Sunday 01:00 UTC',
        incremental: 'Daily, 01:00 UTC',
        differential: 'Wednesday, 01:00 UTC'
      },
      retention: {
        full: '12 months',
        incremental: '30 days',
        differential: '60 days'
      },
      locations: [
        { type: 'primary', provider: 'AWS S3', region: 'us-east-1' },
        { type: 'secondary', provider: 'Azure Blob', region: 'westeurope' },
        { type: 'offline', provider: 'Tape Backup', location: 'Secure Facility' }
      ]
    },
    
    systemRecovery: {
      strategy: 'Multi-region active-passive',
      description: 'Primary region active with standby secondary region',
      regions: [
        { role: 'primary', provider: 'AWS', region: 'us-east-1' },
        { role: 'secondary', provider: 'AWS', region: 'us-west-2' }
      ],
      failoverType: 'Automated with manual confirmation',
      failbackType: 'Manual after validation'
    }
  },
  
  // Response procedures
  responseProcedures: {
    roles: [
      { name: 'Incident Commander', responsibilities: ['Overall coordination', 'Decision making'] },
      { name: 'Technical Lead', responsibilities: ['Technical assessment', 'Recovery execution'] },
      { name: 'Communications Lead', responsibilities: ['Stakeholder updates', 'Customer communication'] }
    ],
    
    procedures: [
      {
        name: 'Initial Assessment',
        steps: [
          'Identify affected systems and services',
          'Determine incident severity and impact',
          'Notify appropriate response team members',
          'Establish communication channels'
        ]
      },
      {
        name: 'Containment',
        steps: [
          'Isolate affected systems',
          'Prevent further damage or data loss',
          'Secure unaffected systems and data',
          'Document current state for investigation'
        ]
      },
      {
        name: 'Recovery Execution',
        steps: [
          'Activate appropriate recovery strategy',
          'Restore systems from backups if needed',
          'Verify data integrity',
          'Test recovered systems'
        ]
      },
      {
        name: 'Service Restoration',
        steps: [
          'Gradually restore services based on priority',
          'Monitor system performance and stability',
          'Verify all functionality is restored',
          'Return to normal operations'
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
};
2

Backup Implementation

Set up automated backup systems:

// Backup system configuration
const backupSystem = {
  // Backup types
  types: {
    full: {
      description: 'Complete backup of all data',
      frequency: 'weekly',
      retention: '12 months'
    },
    incremental: {
      description: 'Backup of changes since last backup',
      frequency: 'daily',
      retention: '30 days'
    },
    differential: {
      description: 'Backup of changes since last full backup',
      frequency: 'semi-weekly',
      retention: '60 days'
    }
  },
  
  // Backup targets
  targets: {
    database: {
      type: 'PostgreSQL',
      method: 'pg_dump',
      options: {
        format: 'custom',
        compress: 9,
        jobs: 4
      }
    },
    fileStorage: {
      type: 'Object Storage',
      method: 'sync',
      options: {
        deleteExtraneous: false,
        preservePermissions: true
      }
    },
    configurations: {
      type: 'Configuration Files',
      method: 'archive',
      options: {
        format: 'tar.gz',
        includeSecrets: false
      }
    }
  },
  
  // Backup execution
  async executeBackup(type, targets) {
    console.log(`Starting ${type} backup for targets: ${targets.join(', ')}`);
    
    const backupId = this.generateBackupId(type);
    const timestamp = new Date().toISOString();
    
    const results = {
      backupId,
      type,
      timestamp,
      targets: {}
    };
    
    for (const target of targets) {
      try {
        const targetConfig = this.targets[target];
        
        if (!targetConfig) {
          throw new Error(`Unknown backup target: ${target}`);
        }
        
        console.log(`Backing up ${target} using ${targetConfig.method}`);
        
        const result = await this.backupTarget(target, targetConfig, type);
        
        results.targets[target] = {
          status: 'success',
          size: result.size,
          duration: result.duration,
          location: result.location
        };
      } catch (error) {
        console.error(`Backup failed for ${target}: ${error.message}`);
        
        results.targets[target] = {
          status: 'failed',
          error: error.message
        };
      }
    }
    
    await this.storeBackupMetadata(results);
    
    return results;
  },
  
  // Backup verification
  async verifyBackup(backupId) {
    console.log(`Verifying backup: ${backupId}`);
    
    const metadata = await this.getBackupMetadata(backupId);
    const results = {
      backupId,
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
      targets: {}
    };
    
    for (const [target, info] of Object.entries(metadata.targets)) {
      if (info.status !== 'success') {
        results.targets[target] = {
          status: 'skipped',
          reason: 'Original backup failed'
        };
        continue;
      }
      
      try {
        console.log(`Verifying ${target} backup`);
        
        const result = await this.verifyBackupTarget(target, info.location);
        
        results.targets[target] = {
          status: 'success',
          integrityCheck: result.integrityCheck,
          restorability: result.restorability
        };
      } catch (error) {
        console.error(`Verification failed for ${target}: ${error.message}`);
        
        results.targets[target] = {
          status: 'failed',
          error: error.message
        };
      }
    }
    
    await this.storeVerificationResults(results);
    
    return results;
  }
};
3

Failover Configuration

Implement automated failover mechanisms:

// Failover system configuration
const failoverSystem = {
  // Monitoring configuration
  monitoring: {
    endpoints: [
      { name: 'API Gateway', url: 'https://api.example.com/health', threshold: 3 },
      { name: 'Auth Service', url: 'https://auth.example.com/health', threshold: 3 },
      { name: 'Database', url: 'https://db.example.com/health', threshold: 2 }
    ],
    interval: 30, // seconds
    regions: ['us-east-1', 'us-west-2']
  },
  
  // Failover configuration
  failover: {
    mode: 'active-passive',
    healthThreshold: 0.7, // 70% of endpoints must be healthy
    cooldown: 300, // seconds between failover attempts
    regions: {
      primary: {
        name: 'us-east-1',
        priority: 1,
        services: [
          { name: 'API Gateway', endpoint: 'api-primary.example.com' },
          { name: 'Auth Service', endpoint: 'auth-primary.example.com' },
          { name: 'Database', endpoint: 'db-primary.example.com' }
        ]
      },
      secondary: {
        name: 'us-west-2',
        priority: 2,
        services: [
          { name: 'API Gateway', endpoint: 'api-secondary.example.com' },
          { name: 'Auth Service', endpoint: 'auth-secondary.example.com' },
          { name: 'Database', endpoint: 'db-secondary.example.com' }
        ]
      }
    },
    dns: {
      provider: 'Route53',
      ttl: 60,
      records: [
        { name: 'api.example.com', type: 'CNAME' },
        { name: 'auth.example.com', type: 'CNAME' },
        { name: 'db.example.com', type: 'CNAME' }
      ]
    }
  },
  
  // Health check
  async checkHealth() {
    const results = {
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString(),
      regions: {}
    };
    
    for (const region of this.monitoring.regions) {
      results.regions[region] = {
        endpoints: {},
        overall: 'unknown'
      };
      
      let healthyCount = 0;
      
      for (const endpoint of this.monitoring.endpoints) {
        try {
          const health = await this.checkEndpoint(endpoint, region);
          
          results.regions[region].endpoints[endpoint.name] = health;
          
          if (health.status === 'healthy') {
            healthyCount++;
          }
        } catch (error) {
          console.error(`Health check failed for ${endpoint.name} in ${region}: ${error.message}`);
          
          results.regions[region].endpoints[endpoint.name] = {
            status: 'error',
            error: error.message
          };
        }
      }
      
      const healthRatio = healthyCount / this.monitoring.endpoints.length;
      results.regions[region].overall = healthRatio >= this.failover.healthThreshold ? 'healthy' : 'unhealthy';
      results.regions[region].healthRatio = healthRatio;
    }
    
    await this.storeHealthResults(results);
    await this.evaluateFailover(results);
    
    return results;
  },
  
  // Failover execution
  async executeFailover(fromRegion, toRegion) {
    console.log(`Executing failover from ${fromRegion} to ${toRegion}`);
    
    const failoverId = this.generateFailoverId();
    const timestamp = new Date().toISOString();
    
    const results = {
      failoverId,
      timestamp,
      fromRegion,
      toRegion,
      services: {}
    };
    
    // Update DNS records
    for (const record of this.failover.dns.records) {
      try {
        const targetEndpoint = this.failover.regions[toRegion].services.find(
          s => s.name === record.name.split('.')[0]
        )?.endpoint;
        
        if (!targetEndpoint) {
          throw new Error(`No matching service found for ${record.name}`);
        }
        
        console.log(`Updating DNS record ${record.name} to point to ${targetEndpoint}`);
        
        await this.updateDnsRecord(record.name, record.type, targetEndpoint);
        
        results.services[record.name] = {
          status: 'success',
          newEndpoint: targetEndpoint
        };
      } catch (error) {
        console.error(`Failed to update DNS for ${record.name}: ${error.message}`);
        
        results.services[record.name] = {
          status: 'failed',
          error: error.message
        };
      }
    }
    
    // Update failover state
    await this.updateFailoverState({
      activeRegion: toRegion,
      lastFailover: timestamp,
      inCooldown: true
    });
    
    // Set cooldown timer
    setTimeout(() => {
      this.updateFailoverState({ inCooldown: false });
    }, this.failover.cooldown * 1000);
    
    await this.storeFailoverResults(results);
    
    return results;
  }
};
4

Disaster Recovery Testing

Implement regular disaster recovery testing:

// Disaster recovery testing framework
const drTestingFramework = {
  // Test types
  testTypes: {
    tabletop: {
      name: 'Tabletop Exercise',
      description: 'Discussion-based test of DR procedures',
      participants: ['IT Team', 'Business Stakeholders'],
      duration: '2-4 hours',
      frequency: 'Quarterly',
      disruption: 'None'
    },
    walkthrough: {
      name: 'Walkthrough Test',
      description: 'Step-by-step verification of DR procedures',
      participants: ['IT Team'],
      duration: '4-8 hours',
      frequency: 'Bi-annually',
      disruption: 'Minimal'
    },
    simulation: {
      name: 'Simulation Test',
      description: 'Simulated disaster with actual recovery procedures',
      participants: ['IT Team', 'Business Stakeholders'],
      duration: '8-12 hours',
      frequency: 'Annually',
      disruption: 'Moderate'
    },
    fullScale: {
      name: 'Full-Scale Test',
      description: 'Complete test of all DR capabilities',
      participants: ['All Staff'],
      duration: '1-2 days',
      frequency: 'Annually',
      disruption: 'Significant'
    }
  },
  
  // Test scenarios
  scenarios: {
    dataCorruption: {
      name: 'Database Corruption',
      description: 'Simulated corruption of primary database',
      scope: ['Database', 'Application Services'],
      objectives: [
        'Validate database backup integrity',
        'Test restoration procedures',
        'Verify application functionality with restored data'
      ]
    },
    infrastructureFailure: {
      name: 'Infrastructure Failure',
      description: 'Simulated failure of primary infrastructure',
      scope: ['Compute', 'Network', 'Storage'],
      objectives: [
        'Test infrastructure failover mechanisms',
        'Validate DNS and routing updates',
        'Verify system performance in secondary region'
      ]
    },
    ransomwareAttack: {
      name: 'Ransomware Attack',
      description: 'Simulated ransomware infection',
      scope: ['All Systems'],
      objectives: [
        'Test isolation procedures',
        'Validate clean system restoration',
        'Verify data recovery from offline backups'
      ]
    }
  },
  
  // Test execution
  async executeTest(testType, scenario, options = {}) {
    console.log(`Executing ${testType} test for scenario: ${scenario}`);
    
    const testConfig = this.testTypes[testType];
    const scenarioConfig = this.scenarios[scenario];
    
    if (!testConfig) {
      throw new Error(`Unknown test type: ${testType}`);
    }
    
    if (!scenarioConfig) {
      throw new Error(`Unknown scenario: ${scenario}`);
    }
    
    const testId = this.generateTestId();
    const timestamp = new Date().toISOString();
    
    // Create test plan
    const testPlan = {
      id: testId,
      type: testConfig.name,
      scenario: scenarioConfig.name,
      timestamp,
      participants: options.participants || testConfig.participants,
      objectives: scenarioConfig.objectives,
      scope: scenarioConfig.scope,
      steps: await this.generateTestSteps(testType, scenario)
    };
    
    // Execute test
    const results = {
      testId,
      startTime: timestamp,
      endTime: null,
      status: 'in_progress',
      steps: {}
    };
    
    try {
      for (const [index, step] of testPlan.steps.entries()) {
        console.log(`Executing step ${index + 1}: ${step.description}`);
        
        const stepResult = await this.executeTestStep(step, options);
        
        results.steps[index] = stepResult;
        
        if (stepResult.status === 'failed' && !options.continueOnFailure) {
          throw new Error(`Test failed at step ${index + 1}: ${stepResult.error}`);
        }
      }
      
      results.status = 'completed';
    } catch (error) {
      console.error(`Test execution failed: ${error.message}`);
      
      results.status = 'failed';
      results.error = error.message;
    }
    
    results.endTime = new Date().toISOString();
    
    // Generate report
    const report = await this.generateTestReport(testPlan, results);
    
    await this.storeTestResults(results, report);
    
    return {
      results,
      report
    };
  },
  
  // Test reporting
  async generateTestReport(testPlan, results) {
    console.log('Generating test report');
    
    const successfulSteps = Object.values(results.steps).filter(s => s.status === 'success').length;
    const totalSteps = testPlan.steps.length;
    const successRate = (successfulSteps / totalSteps) * 100;
    
    const report = {
      testId: results.testId,
      title: `${testPlan.type} - ${testPlan.scenario}`,
      executionDate: results.startTime,
      duration: this.calculateDuration(results.startTime, results.endTime),
      summary: {
        status: results.status,
        successRate: `${successRate.toFixed(1)}%`,
        successfulSteps,
        totalSteps
      },
      objectives: {
        defined: testPlan.objectives,
        achieved: this.evaluateObjectives(testPlan.objectives, results)
      },
      findings: await this.identifyFindings(results),
      recommendations: await this.generateRecommendations(results)
    };
    
    return report;
  }
};
5

Incident Response Integration

Integrate disaster recovery with incident response:

// Incident response integration
const incidentResponseIntegration = {
  // Incident severity levels
  severityLevels: {
    critical: {
      name: 'Critical',
      description: 'Severe impact on critical business functions',
      responseTime: 15, // minutes
      drActivation: 'automatic',
      notificationChannels: ['email', 'sms', 'phone', 'slack']
    },
    high: {
      name: 'High',
      description: 'Significant impact on important business functions',
      responseTime: 30, // minutes
      drActivation: 'manual_approval',
      notificationChannels: ['email', 'sms', 'slack']
    },
    medium: {
      name: 'Medium',
      description: 'Limited impact on business functions',
      responseTime: 60, // minutes
      drActivation: 'assessment_required',
      notificationChannels: ['email', 'slack']
    },
    low: {
      name: 'Low',
      description: 'Minimal impact on business functions',
      responseTime: 240, // minutes
      drActivation: 'none',
      notificationChannels: ['email']
    }
  },
  
  // Incident types that may trigger DR
  incidentTypes: {
    infrastructure_failure: {
      name: 'Infrastructure Failure',
      drProcedures: ['system_recovery', 'failover'],
      assessmentCriteria: [
        'Duration exceeds 30 minutes',
        'Affects multiple availability zones',
        'No ETA for resolution'
      ]
    },
    data_corruption: {
      name: 'Data Corruption',
      drProcedures: ['data_recovery', 'point_in_time_restore'],
      assessmentCriteria: [
        'Affects critical data',
        'Corruption is widespread',
        'Cannot be fixed with simple queries'
      ]
    },
    security_breach: {
      name: 'Security Breach',
      drProcedures: ['containment', 'clean_recovery'],
      assessmentCriteria: [
        'Evidence of data exfiltration',
        'System compromise',
        'Malware infection'
      ]
    },
    natural_disaster: {
      name: 'Natural Disaster',
      drProcedures: ['regional_failover', 'alternate_site_activation'],
      assessmentCriteria: [
        'Physical damage to data center',
        'Extended power or connectivity loss',
        'Staff unable to access facilities'
      ]
    }
  },
  
  // Incident handling
  async handleIncident(incident) {
    console.log(`Handling incident: ${incident.id} - ${incident.type}`);
    
    // Determine severity
    const severity = incident.severity || await this.assessSeverity(incident);
    const severityConfig = this.severityLevels[severity];
    
    if (!severityConfig) {
      throw new Error(`Unknown severity level: ${severity}`);
    }
    
    // Determine if DR should be activated
    let activateDR = false;
    
    if (severityConfig.drActivation === 'automatic') {
      activateDR = true;
    } else if (severityConfig.drActivation === 'manual_approval') {
      activateDR = await this.requestDRApproval(incident);
    } else if (severityConfig.drActivation === 'assessment_required') {
      activateDR = await this.assessDRNeed(incident);
    }
    
    // Execute DR procedures if needed
    if (activateDR) {
      const incidentTypeConfig = this.incidentTypes[incident.type];
      
      if (!incidentTypeConfig) {
        console.warn(`No DR procedures defined for incident type: ${incident.type}`);
        return;
      }
      
      console.log(`Activating DR procedures for incident ${incident.id}`);
      
      for (const procedure of incidentTypeConfig.drProcedures) {
        await this.executeDRProcedure(procedure, incident);
      }
    }
    
    // Update incident with DR information
    await this.updateIncidentWithDRInfo(incident, {
      drActivated: activateDR,
      procedures: activateDR ? this.incidentTypes[incident.type].drProcedures : [],
      timestamp: new Date().toISOString()
    });
  },
  
  // Execute DR procedure
  async executeDRProcedure(procedure, incident) {
    console.log(`Executing DR procedure: ${procedure}`);
    
    switch (procedure) {
      case 'system_recovery':
        await this.recoverSystems(incident);
        break;
      case 'failover':
        await this.executeFaailover(incident);
        break;
      case 'data_recovery':
        await this.recoverData(incident);
        break;
      case 'point_in_time_restore':
        await this.restoreToPointInTime(incident);
        break;
      case 'containment':
        await this.containSecurity(incident);
        break;
      case 'clean_recovery':
        await this.recoverCleanSystems(incident);
        break;
      case 'regional_failover':
        await this.failoverToAlternateRegion(incident);
        break;
      case 'alternate_site_activation':
        await this.activateAlternateSite(incident);
        break;
      default:
        throw new Error(`Unknown DR procedure: ${procedure}`);
    }
  }
};

Best Practices

Planning

Best practices for DR planning:

  • Define clear RTO and RPO
  • Document all procedures
  • Assign clear responsibilities
  • Regular plan updates

Backup Strategy

Effective backup approach:

  • 3-2-1 backup rule
  • Regular testing
  • Encryption of backups
  • Automated verification

Testing

DR testing best practices:

  • Regular scheduled tests
  • Realistic scenarios
  • Document findings
  • Continuous improvement

Disaster Recovery Strategies

Backup and Restore

RTO: 24+ hours
RPO: 24+ hours
Cost: $

The simplest DR strategy involving regular backups that are stored offsite and restored when needed. Suitable for non-critical systems.

Pros:

  • Low cost
  • Simple implementation
  • Minimal ongoing maintenance

Cons:

  • Long recovery time
  • Potential for significant data loss
  • Manual recovery process

Pilot Light

RTO: 4-8 hours
RPO: 1-4 hours
Cost: $$

Core components are kept running in the recovery environment, while other components are only started during a disaster.

Pros:

  • Moderate recovery time
  • Reduced data loss
  • Lower cost than warm standby

Cons:

  • Partial infrastructure costs
  • More complex setup
  • Some manual intervention required

Warm Standby

RTO: 1-4 hours
RPO: Minutes
Cost: $$$

A scaled-down but fully functional version of the production environment is always running and ready to scale up during a disaster.

Pros:

  • Faster recovery time
  • Minimal data loss
  • Regular testing possible

Cons:

  • Higher ongoing costs
  • Complex data replication
  • Requires scaling procedures

Hot Standby / Multi-Site

RTO: Minutes
RPO: Near-zero
Cost: $$$$

Full production environment is replicated and running in multiple locations, with automatic failover capabilities.

Pros:

  • Near-instant recovery
  • Minimal to no data loss
  • Automatic failover

Cons:

  • Highest cost
  • Complex implementation
  • Requires sophisticated monitoring

Key Disaster Recovery Terms

RTO (Recovery Time Objective)

The maximum acceptable length of time that your application can be offline. This defines how quickly you need to recover from a disaster.

Example: An RTO of 4 hours means your systems must be restored within 4 hours of a disaster.

RPO (Recovery Point Objective)

The maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time. This defines how much data you can afford to lose during a disaster.

Example: An RPO of 1 hour means you might lose up to 1 hour of data during recovery.

Business Continuity Plan (BCP)

A comprehensive document that outlines how a business will continue operating during an unplanned disruption in service.

Example: A BCP might include procedures for working from alternate locations if the main office is inaccessible.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

A documented process to recover and protect IT infrastructure in the event of a disaster. It's a subset of the broader BCP.

Example: A DRP includes specific technical procedures for restoring systems and data after a failure.

Common Challenges

Recovery Issues

Common recovery problems:

  • Incomplete backups
  • Corrupted backup data
  • Missing dependencies
  • Configuration discrepancies

Testing Challenges

DR testing challenges:

  • Production impact concerns
  • Incomplete test scenarios
  • Resource constraints
  • Unrealistic conditions

Next Steps

Now that you understand disaster recovery, explore these related topics: