The phrase “expect the unexpected” has never been more relevant. Natural disaster, cyber attacks, insider threats—there’s a never-ending list of things trying to harm your business.
And it’s not a matter of if they’ll eventually succeed—it’s when.
That’s why Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) has become a non-negotiable part of running a business. Disasters will strike (that’s inevitable), but it’s about how quickly you can get back on your feet.
Imagine having a complete, up-to-date copy of your IT infrastructure ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice, all without the hefty price tag of traditional disaster recovery methods. That’s the power of DRaaS.
Below, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about disaster recovery as a service to get the 360, instantaneous protection your business needs to survive and thrive.
What Is Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)?
DRaaS is a cloud-based service that provides a complete recovery solution for your IT infrastructure. It’s like having a standby generator for your entire digital ecosystem, ready to power up at a moment’s notice. However, instead of electricity, we’re talking about your critical business data and applications.
Imagine it’s a typical Tuesday morning, and suddenly, your entire IT infrastructure goes dark. Servers are down, data is inaccessible, and your business grinds to a halt. Nightmare scenario, right? Well, with a DRaaS solution in place, you’re ready to get back to business in no time.
- Cloud-Based Replication: DRaaS continuously replicates your data, applications, and systems to a secure cloud environment.
- Rapid Recovery: When disaster strikes—whether it’s a cyber attack, hardware failure, or natural disaster—DRaaS lets you quickly spin up your systems in the cloud. Your business can continue operating with minimal downtime.
- Managed Service: DRaaS is typically managed by a provider (like us at Airiam). We handle the complex stuff, so you can focus on running your business.
- Scalability: DRaaS can easily scale up or down based on your needs.
- Cost-Effective: With DRaaS, you’re essentially renting recovery infrastructure rather than building and maintaining it yourself. This is often cheaper and more reliable.
The key difference between DRaaS and traditional disaster recovery methods is the “as a Service” part. Instead of investing in duplicate hardware and managing complex recovery processes yourself, you leverage the expertise and infrastructure of a specialized provider (like us).
For example, we don’t just replicate your data—we create an “air-gapped” backup that’s completely isolated from your network. This means even if a cyber attacker compromises your primary systems, they can’t touch your recovery data.
Benefits of DRaaS
Downtime isn’t just an inconvenience—it’s a potential business killer. Having a reliable DRaaS solution in place could be the difference between a minor hiccup and a full-blown business crisis.
Here are a few of the ways DRaaS can help your business:
- Speed: DRaaS reduces downtime. With traditional recovery methods, restoring operations could take days or even weeks. DRaaS can get you back up and running in hours or even minutes.
- Cost-Savings: Say goodbye to hefty upfront investments in duplicate hardware and facilities. DRaaS operates on a pay-as-you-go model to make enterprise-grade disaster recovery accessible to businesses of all sizes. You only pay for what you use (meaning you know what you’re going to pay).
- Scalability: Whether you’re adding new applications or expanding your data storage, DRaaS can scale to meet your evolving needs without requiring major infrastructure changes.
- Security: Your data is protected by state-of-the-art security measures. For example, our AirGapd™ solution creates an “air-gapped” backup that’s completely isolated from your network.
- Expert Management: DRaaS takes the complexity out of disaster recovery. Instead of requiring in-house expertise to manage and test recovery processes, you get a team of specialists dedicated to keeping your systems recoverable and up-to-date.
- Focus: With DRaaS handling your disaster recovery needs, your IT team can focus on initiatives that drive your business forward.
How Disaster Recovery as a Service Works
Here’s what a typical disaster recovery as a service implementation looks like:
- Continuous Data Replication: Your data, applications, and system configurations are continuously replicated to a secure cloud environment—this essentially creates a digital twin of your IT infrastructure that’s always up-to-date.
- Failover Process: When disaster strikes, the failover process is initiated. This spins up your systems in the cloud environment and redirects network traffic to allow your business to continue operating with minimal disruption.
- Recovery Time and Point Objectives (RTO and RPO): RTO determines how quickly you can be back up and running, while RPO defines how much data you can afford to lose. DRaaS solutions like Airiam’s AirGapd™ minimize both.
- Testing and Validation: Providers typically offer automated testing capabilities to help you verify recovery processes without disrupting your production environment.
- Failback Process: Once the crisis is over, DRaaS helps you return to normal operations. The failback process reverses the failover by migrating your operations back to your primary infrastructure (while guaranteeing all data changes made during the disaster are preserved).
Choosing the Right DRaaS Provider
DRaaS isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Each provider has strengths, weaknesses, and specializations that make them a better fit for different industries, businesses, and scenarios.
And that’s a good thing—it means you can find a provider more perfectly aligned with your business’s specific needs, industry requirements, and risk profile. However, it also means you need to do your homework before investing.
Here are a few factors to consider to help narrow down your options:
- Industry Expertise: Look for a provider with experience in your specific industry. They’ll understand your unique compliance requirements, common threats, and operational nuances.
- Security Measures: Do they offer features like Airiam’s air-gapped backups? The last thing you want is for your disaster recovery solution to become a security vulnerability.
- Scalability: Your DRaaS solution should be able to accommodate increases in data volume and complexity.
- Recovery Time and Point Objectives (RTO/RPO): Verify that the provider can meet your required RTO and RPO.
- Testing and Support: Look for providers that offer frequent, non-disruptive testing options and reliable support during both testing and actual recovery scenarios.
- Customization Options: Choose a provider that offers customizable solutions rather than rigid, one-size-fits-all packages.
- Pricing Model: Is the pricing based on data volume, number of protected servers, or a flat fee? Make sure it aligns with your budget.
Airiam’s Approach to DRaaS (AirGapd™)
At Airiam, we don’t just offer Disaster Recovery as a Service – we’ve reimagined it. Here’s what makes our solutions stand out in a crowded field of DRaaS providers:
- True Air-Gapped Protection: The cornerstone of AirGapd™ is our air-gapped backup approach. We create a complete copy of your data that’s physically and logically isolated from your network. This means even if a cyber attacker compromises your primary systems, they can’t touch your recovery data.
- Ransomware Resilience: We understand the tactics that hackers use to deliver ransomware and damage recovery paths. AirGapd™ is specifically designed to make your infrastructure ransomware resilient. No more worrying about paying ransom to recover your data—we’ve got you covered.
- Rapid Recovery: AirGapd™ is engineered for speed to help you restore your systems and data quickly. We offer flexible recovery options, whether you need to recover on-site or pivot to our secure cloud environment.
- 24/7 Expert Monitoring: We’re not just storing your data—we’re actively monitoring your systems. We jump into action at the first sign of trouble (and often even before it).
- Compliance and Security Focus: AirGapd™ is built with compliance in mind. Our data centers are SOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 compliant. We use AES 256-bit encryption for data at rest and TLS 1.2 for data in transit.
- Flexible RTO and RPO Options: Different businesses have different tolerance for downtime and data loss. AirGapd™ provides RTO and RPO options—as low as 2 hours—with archival options up to 60 days.
- Seamless Integration: AirGapd™ works with your existing IT infrastructure. Virtual Windows or Linux servers—we’ve got you covered.
Partner with Airiam to Protect Your Business
Imagine a world where you no longer have to worry about ransomware attacks, data breaches, or system failures. A world where you can focus on growing your business while being 100% confident that your data and systems are protected by one of the most advanced DRaaS solutions available.
That’s the world we can help you create.
Airiam AirGapd™ combines air-gapped protection with rapid recovery and 24/7 support. In the world of disaster recovery, preparation is everything. And there’s no better time to prepare than now.
Contact Airiam today, and let’s build a more resilient future for your business together.
