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Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is a cloud-based service that allows organizations to protect their applications and data from disruption caused by natural or man-made disasters. DRaaS is provided by third-party vendors that own the infrastructure and perform failover to a cloud computing environment, based on requirements and expectations documented in a service-level agreement. Concurrent with the rise of the cloud computing, DRaaS emerged as an alternative tool for organizations that needed to set up disaster recovery plans (DRP). DRaaS leverages cloud-based resources that are offered by service providers. Service providers also maintain the technical back-end configuration and usually provide user interface for centralized management of the DR operations. The term DRaaS is considered to be part of the nomenclature of cloud computing, along with Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS).

DRaaS options
Organizations can implement DRaaS in different ways, depending on their needs and the type of cloud they use: private cloud, public cloud or hybrid cloud.

Public cloud
DRaaS from public cloud providers is based on shared resources and available to the general public over the Internet. Public cloud services are normally considered an inexpensive option, because providers own and manage the hardware infrastructure and tenants pay per usage. However, because it is designed for multi-tenancy, public cloud is a rigid solution that’s best suited for less confidential information, and this sometimes raises security concerns for enterprises.

Private cloud
Private cloud DRaaS is operated by organizations that have their own data centers and infrastructure and it is dedicated to organizations’ own use. Because of its proprietary architecture, this solution is usually preferred by companies that need increased control and security for their data or that have compliance issues. Unlike public cloud, private cloud is auto-managed and requires management, maintenance or virtualization expenses.

Hybrid cloud
Hybrid cloud DRaaS combines the capabilities of public cloud and private cloud. Because it is managed both internally and externally, this solution provides flexibility and different deployment options, but requires more technical and complex management.

DRaaS implementation
Prior to implementing DRaaS, organizations need to set up a DR plan to evaluate and define critical systems that need protection in order to choose a suitable service to protect them. A consistent DR plan includes a Business Impact Analysis, which helps organizations to determine the most critical applications for their business operations, as well as set recovery targets. Another aspect of implementing DRaaS is choosing the service provider. A service provider rents a cloud infrastructure to customers with a pay-as-you-go model and it also provides technical support, maintenance and documentation. Usually, companies cooperate with their chosen service provider and select a subscription plan that matches their recovery time objectives and recovery point objectives (service-level agreements). For proper functioning, DRaaS requires a stable network connection, sufficient bandwidth and occasional testing.

Recovery testing
Some DRaaS solutions feature sandboxes for testing purposes. A DRaaS sandbox is a pool of infrastructure resources, where a copy of an application protected in the cloud infrastructure can be deployed and tested. The sandbox copy is restricted from accessing the network and is only accessible to the system administrator. Sandbox capabilities are used to test DRaaS recovery process, without affecting the running production application. Cloud sandbox resources are created on-demand, paid for while used and discarded at recovery testing completion.

DRaaS characteristics
DRaaS is an alternative to traditional DR for companies that need to increase the availability of their systems and services and save on maintaining their own secondary site. DRaaS allows for compliance evidence, scalability, constant data monitoring and automated testing. DRaaS can be a convenient DR option for small businesses on a budget, because it doesn’t require investments in building and maintaining a secondary physical site. Concerns regarding DRaaS are usually linked to data security, bandwidth or long-term expense commitments. Consequently, customers are looking for trustworthy and certified service providers that operate with affordable prices, who provide them with unlimited bandwidth, guarantee data confidentiality and who are able to implement the required DR plan in case of a disaster.