Having a disaster recovery plan is a critical part of any organization’s business continuity strategy. But too often one key detail is overlooked: where is your DR site located? It’s not good enough to simply have a backup system in place. You must think through how you will recover in the event of a disaster. Part of that plan is making sure you don’t expose your business to unnecessary risk by having your disaster recovery environment in the same geographic region as your production environment. Here are several reasons why the location of your disaster recovery site matters.
Natural Disasters
Natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, tornadoes, and earthquakes often affect large geographic areas. If your DR site is too close to your production environment, it could be affected by the same event.
Regional Issues
The same goes for localized issues like power grid failures, cyberattacks targeting a specific area, or even civil disturbances. Having both your DR and production environments separated geographically reduces the risk that both sites could go offline at the same time.
Regulatory and Compliance Requirements
Another reason to keep your disaster recovery site geographically separate from your production site could come down to compliance and regulatory requirements for your business. Financial institutions, medical facilities, and other organizations are required to maintain business continuity plans, which include having your DR site geographically separated from your production environment.
More Than Just Backups
Disaster recovery is more than just storing copies of your data to keep it in a safe place. While that’s certainly part of it, disaster recovery is more about maintaining your business operations. A disaster recovery site in a separate geographical location ensures that critical systems can come online quickly in the event of a disaster, or even a minor disruption. This minimized downtime keeps your business operational and ultimately protects your bottom line.
In Summary
Disaster recovery is much more than simply storing your data in a different location or keeping your data safe. It is a strategic investment in your business ensuring you can continue to operate in the event of a disaster. For this to be successful, it is important to locate your disaster recovery site in a different location—many, many miles from your production site. Doing so reduces risk, ensures compliance, and gives your stakeholders and customers peace of mind knowing your business can withstand a disaster.
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