Without adequate data backup and recovery strategies, business operations become vulnerable to unexpected events and disasters. The outcome of significant downtime or data loss can be catastrophic. According to Cybercrime Magazine, approximately 60 percent of businesses that lose their data are forced to close within six months of the failure.
Recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO) are two critical components of disaster recovery. When businesses better understand their RTO and RPO, they become better equipped to build a system that is able to adapt and recover faster from disaster.
Similar Characteristics Of RTO & RPO
Both recovery point objective and recovery time objective are parameters that can help guide an enterprise to choose the most optimal backup plan for their data and operations. Here is a look at some top characteristics of RTO and RPO.
Both Are Measured In Units Of Time
One of the most significant similarities between RTOs and RPOs is that they are both measured in units of time. Recovery time objective refers to the total length of time to fully recover business operations, such as data recovery. RTO is the total span of time between when a system fails and when it is recovered.
Recovery point objective, on the other hand, focuses on the maximum allowable tolerance of threshold that a business is able to handle during a disruption before there are unacceptable consequences.
Applications & Data Expenses Are Matched To Achieve Both
Another major similarity between RTO and RPO is that applications and data expenses are matched to achieve both. IT prioritizes applications and data, which are guided by both risk and revenue. Even if a business does not use a certain application very often, a company could potentially face significant fines if the data lost was being regulated.
Implementation Of Continuous Data Replication
With modern technology, it is possible to immediately failover applications to continuously replicate data, resulting in minimal to no data loss. However, this process can be costly and time-consuming. In cases where both RTO and RPO are near-zero, continuous replication and failover services can help achieve near-100 percent data and application availability.
Investing in a failover virtual environment with continuous data replication is the only way to achieve 100 percent uptime without any data loss.
How RTO & RPO Differ
While recovery time objective and recovery point objective do have several similarities, there are also some distinct differences. The main difference is in how these metrics are defined. RTO is the amount of time that a business needs to bring a system back online, while RPO is a business calculation that identifies the acceptable amount of data loss from downtime. Here is a closer look at the differences between RTOs and RPOs.
Purpose Of Recovery Time Objectives
Recovery time objectives are used to measure the length of time for an IT department to recover data after disaster strikes. This number can give businesses a general idea of how long the business can survive without IT infrastructure if a power outage, fire, natural disaster, or other unexpected event occurs.
RTOs require an IT department to carefully sort applications based on priority and business loss risks. The IT department can then give each application the appropriate amount of time, money, and other resources. RTOs can be complex as they involve restoring all IT operations. However, this process can be streamlined by automating as much of the process as possible.
Purpose Of Recovery Point Objectives
Recovery point objectives are used to measure the amount of time that can occur between the last data backup and a disastrous event that causes serious damage to the business. Establishing an RPO can help businesses identify how often they should perform backups.
It is common to lose some data when a disaster occurs, even if a business is stringent with its data backup policies. Some businesses back up their data as often as once per hour, while others only back up data once a day or even once a week. An RPO can be useful for determining the last point in which data was available in a usable format and how much data is lost during a disaster.
Reach Out To An Experienced Managed IT Services Provider
There are also other differences between RTOs and RPOs that businesses should consider when developing a disaster recovery plan. Recovery time objectives are usually larger in scale and look at the business and its systems as a whole. RPO primarily focuses on business data and the business’s overall resilience to data loss.
To learn more about recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives or to speak with an experienced managed IT services provider, reach out to the IT experts at SeaGlass Technology today by calling 212.886.0790 or schedule a consultation online.