Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS): What It Is & How It Works

Your business data isn’t just an asset—it’s the lifeblood of your operations. However, it’s under attack. Cybercriminals know how valuable it is, and they either want it for themselves or want to sell it back to you (aka, ransom). 

Fortunately, you’re not at their whim. With Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS), you can keep your entire business online, no matter what happens.

Cyber attacks, natural calamities, even a coffee spill on the wrong server—they’re all waiting to take your operations offline. DRaaS guarantees that doesn’t happen.

However, DRaaS isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. As cyber threats get craftier and business needs more nuanced, you need a solution that’s smart, efficient, and tailored to your business goals.

Below, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about disaster recovery as a service to find the solution that best protects your business.

What Is Disaster Recovery as a Service?

DRaaS is a cloud-based service that provides a fully-managed system for backing up and recovering your critical data and applications. It’s a comprehensive approach that includes:

• Continuous Data Replication: Your data is constantly mirrored to a secure, off-site location. This isn’t your traditional nightly backup – we’re talking real-time or near-real-time syncing.
• Automated Failover: When disaster strikes, DRaaS springs into action automatically. Your operations switch over to the backup environment with minimal downtime.
• Orchestrated Recovery: DRaaS doesn’t just recover your data—it brings your entire IT environment back online in a predetermined sequence.
• Testing and Validation: Regular dry runs guarantee your disaster recovery plan actually works when you need it.
• Expert Management: DRaaS providers handle the complex backend operations, freeing up your IT team to focus on strategic initiatives rather than disaster planning.

Now, you might be wondering, “How is this different from traditional disaster recovery?” Great question. Traditional DR often involves maintaining a secondary physical site—a costly and management-intensive approach. DRaaS leverages the cloud to provide a more flexible, scalable, and often more cost-effective solution.

Think of it this way: Traditional DR is like having a fully-stocked backup generator for your house. It’ll do the job, but it’s expensive, needs regular maintenance, and you’re on your own to get it running when the power goes out. DRaaS, on the other hand, is like having a smart power grid that automatically routes electricity from unaffected areas to your home during an outage. It’s seamless, efficient, and managed by experts.

How Does Disaster Recovery as a Service Work?

First, let’s take a look at setting up your DRaaS solution and what that process looks like. Then, we’ll look at the step-by-step work that happens when a disaster strikes and your solution goes into action:

Implementing a DRaaS Solution

1. Assessment and Planning

Before diving into implementation, you need to understand your current IT landscape. This stage involves a thorough analysis of your infrastructure to identify critical systems that need priority protection. You’ll work with your DRaaS provider to determine Recovery Time Objectives (RTO) and Recovery Point Objectives (RPO), deciding how quickly you need to be back up and running and how much data loss you can tolerate.

2. Data Replication

With your plan in place, it’s time to start mirroring your data. Continuous data replication is set up between your primary site and the cloud environment provided by your DRaaS service. This isn’t a simple copy-paste job—it’s an ongoing process that guarantees your backup is always up-to-date. Secure connections are established to protect your data during transit, keeping your information safe from prying eyes.

3. Environment Configuration

Next, your DRaaS provider creates a virtual copy of your production environment in the cloud. This involves setting up virtual machines that mirror your existing systems, configuring networking to match your current setup, and implementing security protocols. The goal is to create a carbon copy of your IT environment that can spring into action at a moment’s notice.

4. Testing and Optimization

With your virtual environment ready, it’s time for a dress rehearsal. Initial failover tests are conducted to double-check all systems work as expected in the backup environment. These tests often reveal areas for improvement, allowing you to fine-tune the recovery process.

5. Documentation and Training

The final step in implementation is guaranteeing everyone knows their role when disaster strikes. Detailed documentation is created, outlining every step of the disaster recovery process. Key personnel are then trained on these procedures to confirm they’re ready to act swiftly and confidently in case of an emergency. 

Remember, a plan is only as good as the people executing it.

DRaaS in Action During an Emergency

1. Disaster Detection

The first step in any disaster recovery scenario is identifying that there’s a problem. Advanced monitoring systems continuously watch your IT environment for any signs of trouble. When an issue is detected—whether it’s a cyber attack, hardware failure, or natural disaster—automated alerts are immediately sent to key personnel and your DRaaS provider. 

Speed matters: the faster a problem is identified, the quicker it can be addressed.

2. Assessment and Declaration

Once an alert is received, the situation is quickly evaluated to determine its severity. If the incident is deemed critical, a disaster is officially declared, triggering the DRaaS protocol. This isn’t a decision taken lightly, but with a solid plan in place, it’s one that can be made swiftly and confidently.

3. Failover Initiation

With a disaster declared, the failover process begins automatically. Critical systems and applications are brought online in the cloud environment in a carefully orchestrated sequence. This process, which could take days or weeks with traditional disaster recovery methods, is completed in a matter of hours or even minutes with DRaaS.

4. Data Synchronization

As the failover environment comes online, any final data changes are synchronized to guarantee minimal data loss. Rigorous integrity checks are performed to guarantee that all information is accurate and up-to-date. This step confirms that when you resume operations, you’re working with the most current data possible.

5. Redirection of Traffic

With systems online and data synchronized, network traffic is rerouted to the failover environment. DNS changes are propagated, seamlessly directing users to the new environment. For most of your employees and customers, this transition happens without them even noticing—business continues as usual.

6. Operational Continuity

At this point, your business is up and running on the failover infrastructure. While this is happening, IT teams closely monitor performance, ready to address any issues that might arise. The goal here is to keep business operations continuing with minimal disruption, despite the crisis at your primary site.

7. Primary Site Recovery

While your business continues to operate from the failover environment, work begins on recovering your primary site. This might involve repairing hardware, clearing malware, or even setting up in a new physical location, depending on the nature of the disaster. Your DRaaS provider works closely with your team during this process.

8. Failback Process

Once your primary site is ready to resume operations, data is carefully synchronized back from the failover environment. This guarantees that any work done or data created during the failover period isn’t lost. Systems are then carefully transitioned back to the primary site, again with minimal disruption to ongoing business operations.

9. Post-Incident Review

After normal operations have resumed, a thorough analysis of the event and response is conducted. This review helps identify what went well and what could be improved in your disaster recovery process. Lessons learned are incorporated into future plans to help you better prepare for the next potential disaster.

Who Needs DRaaS Solutions?

The question isn’t so much who needs DRaaS, but rather, who can afford to operate without it? The short answer: virtually no one. However, here’s a little bit more information to help you decide if you fit into that bucket:

• Businesses with Mission-Critical Data: Organizations handling sensitive information like financial services, healthcare providers, or legal firms. DRaaS keeps critical data always recoverable, maintaining both business continuity and regulatory compliance.
• Companies with High-Availability Requirements: E-commerce platforms, online service providers, and businesses promising 24/7 availability. DRaaS helps maintain constant uptime, preventing revenue loss and reputational damage from even brief periods of downtime.
• Organizations in High-Risk Areas: Businesses located in regions prone to natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or floods. DRaaS provides a digital safe haven for data and operations, allowing quick relocation to safer infrastructure when disaster strikes.
• Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (SMBs): Often with the most to gain and the most to lose from downtime. DRaaS offers SMBs enterprise-grade recovery capabilities without the enterprise-grade price tag, leveling the playing field with larger competitors.
• Organizations with Limited IT Resources: Companies with stretched IT teams benefit from DRaaS. It’s like having an elite disaster recovery team on standby, allowing in-house IT to focus on strategic initiatives that drive the business forward.
• Businesses in Highly Regulated Industries: Industries subject to strict regulatory requirements such as healthcare (HIPAA), finance (SOX), or those handling EU citizen data (GDPR). DRaaS solutions often come with built-in compliance features to help with regulatory compliance.
• Companies with Remote or Distributed Workforces: Businesses with employees spread across different locations need robust, accessible disaster recovery. DRaaS makes critical systems and data available from anywhere, anytime, maintaining productivity even if primary office locations go offline.

Choose Airiam for Your DRaaS Solution

Your choice of a DRaaS provider can make or break your business continuity strategy. Fortunately, we can help.

Airiam’s disaster recovery as a service solution isn’t just a service—it’s a partnership in resilience with our cutting-edge AirGapd™ solution.

Why AirGapd™ Stands Out:

1. Ransomware Resilience: We’ve designed AirGapd™ for the modern threat landscape. Our solution doesn’t just back up your data—it makes your infrastructure impervious to ransomware attacks. Say goodbye to ransom payments and hello to uninterrupted business operations.
2. 3-2-1-1 Backup Rule: We go beyond the industry-standard 3-2-1 backup rule. Our approach includes an additional layer of protection with immutable, air-gapped backups. This means your data isn’t just backed up—it’s incorruptible.
3. Incident Response Expertise: With over 50,000 hours spent responding to cybersecurity incidents, our AirRescue™ team brings battle-tested experience to your disaster recovery strategy. We’re not just preparing for theoretical threats—we’re ready for real-world challenges.
4. 24/7/365 Monitoring: Our round-the-clock disaster recovery operations center guarantees your systems are always protected. We don’t just give you the tools—we actively manage your restoration and recovery plans.
5. Comprehensive Compatibility: Whether you’re running virtual or physical Windows and Linux servers, working with cloud services, or protecting workstations, AirGapd™ has you covered.
6. Compliance and Security: Our data centers are SOC 1 & 2, PCI DSS, HIPAA, and ISO 27001 compliant. Your data is encrypted end-to-end, both in transit and at rest, using AES 256-bit encryption and TLS 1.2 transmission.
7. Flexible Recovery Options: With low RTO and RPO options below 2 hours and archival options up to 60 days, we tailor our solution to your specific needs. Choose to restore operations on-site or pivot to our secure cloud—the flexibility is yours.

When you choose Airiam, you’re not just getting a DRaaS solution—you’re gaining a partner committed to your business continuity. Our team of seasoned IR project managers, cybersecurity experts, and system engineers are ready to fortify your defenses against any digital disaster.

Don’t wait for a crisis to test your disaster recovery strategy. Take the proactive step towards true business resilience today by contacting our team.