🛠️ Tools & Platforms — Disaster Recovery
ServiceNow — IT Service Continuity Management
ServiceNow provides an ITSCM module as part of its GRC suite.
| Feature | Capability |
|---|---|
| BIA Management | Structured BIA with service dependency mapping from CMDB |
| Recovery Plans | Documented DR runbooks linked to CIs and services |
| Test Management | Schedule and track DR test exercises |
| Crisis Management | Incident-to-crisis escalation workflows |
| Reporting | Recovery readiness dashboards and test compliance tracking |
Integration: Link ITSCM plans directly to CMDB CIs — when a CI is decommissioned, ServiceNow flags any DR plans referencing it for update.
AWS Disaster Recovery
AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS)
- Continuous block-level replication of on-premises or cloud servers
- Launch recovery instances in minutes in the target AWS Region
- Supports VMware, physical servers, and other cloud platforms as source
- Pricing: per protected server/hour (much cheaper than full secondary infrastructure)
Key AWS DR Services
| Service | Role in DR |
|---|---|
| AWS DRS | Continuous server replication + rapid recovery |
| S3 Cross-Region Replication | Object storage replication for data DR |
| RDS Multi-AZ | Automatic DB failover within region (near-zero RTO) |
| RDS Read Replicas | Cross-region replica for RPO < 1 min |
| Route 53 Health Checks | DNS failover to DR endpoint automatically |
| AWS Backup | Centralised backup across EC2, RDS, EFS, DynamoDB |
| CloudEndure (legacy) | Replaced by AWS DRS |
Reference Architecture (Pilot Light)
Primary Region (eu-west-1):
- EC2 instances (running)
- RDS Multi-AZ (active)
- S3 buckets (replicated to DR region)
DR Region (eu-west-3) — Pilot Light:
- EC2 AMIs updated regularly (stopped)
- RDS Read Replica (ready to promote)
- Route 53 health check → failover DNS
On declared disaster:
→ Promote RDS Read Replica to primary
→ Launch EC2 from AMIs
→ Update Route 53 record → DR endpoint
→ Validate via smoke testsAzure Disaster Recovery
Azure Site Recovery (ASR)
- Continuous replication of Azure VMs, Hyper-V, VMware, and physical servers
- Orchestrated failover and failback with recovery plans
- Non-disruptive DR drills without impacting production replication
Key Azure DR Services
| Service | Role |
|---|---|
| Azure Site Recovery | VM replication + orchestrated failover |
| Azure Backup | GRS vault for long-term backup |
| Traffic Manager | DNS-based global load balancing + health checks |
| Azure Front Door | Global anycast + failover for web applications |
| Azure SQL Geo-Replication | Automatic DB replication to secondary region |
| Availability Zones | Near-zero RTO for zone-redundant workloads |
VMware vSphere Replication & SRM
For on-premises VMware environments:
- vSphere Replication: Built-in replication for VMs to secondary site (RPO as low as 5 min)
- Site Recovery Manager (SRM): Orchestrated recovery plans with automated failover
- vSAN Stretched Cluster: Synchronous replication for near-zero RTO/RPO
- Integrates with AWS, Azure, and OVHcloud for hybrid DR strategies
Veeam Backup & Replication
Industry-leading data protection for hybrid environments:
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Backup | Agentless VM backup with compression and deduplication |
| Replication | VM replication to secondary site or cloud |
| Instant Recovery | Mount VM from backup in minutes |
| Cloud Mobility | Restore to AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud |
| Veeam ONE | Monitoring and reporting for backup jobs and DR readiness |
Best practice: Schedule daily Veeam backup jobs + weekly DR test restores with Veeam's SureBackup automatic verification.
Zerto (HPE)
Purpose-built continuous replication for enterprise DR:
- RPO as low as seconds (journal-based replication)
- Workload mobility across on-premises, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud
- Non-disruptive DR testing at any point in the journal
- Zerto Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS): managed DR via Zerto-certified partners
BCDR Planning Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Fusion Framework | Enterprise BCP/BIA software with risk mapping |
| Archer BCM | RSA Archer Business Continuity Management module |
| Quantivate | Cloud-based BCP planning and testing management |
| Riskonnect | Integrated risk and continuity management platform |
Tool Comparison
| Capability | AWS DRS | Azure ASR | VMware SRM | Veeam | Zerto |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Min RPO | Seconds | Seconds | 5 min | 15 min | Seconds |
| Min RTO | Minutes | Minutes | Minutes | Minutes | Minutes |
| Cloud target | AWS | Azure | Any | Any | Any |
| On-prem source | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| DR drill (non-disruptive) | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Orchestrated recovery | ✅ | ✅ | ✅✅ | ✅ | ✅✅ |
| Cost model | Per server/hr | Per server/hr | Licence | Licence | Licence/SaaS |
Downloadable Resources
| Resource | Format | Download |
|---|---|---|
| DR Asset Register | Excel | ⬇ Download |
| Disaster Recovery Plan | Word | ⬇ Download |
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