The Importance of Regular DRaaS Monitoring and Updates

Ongoing change is a reality of business (and of life in general). It’s therefore vital to keep adapting to these changes. This includes updating services such as DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service). With that in mind, here is a straightforward guide to implementing DRaaS monitoring effectively.

Why continuous monitoring is crucial for DRaaS

There are five main reasons why continuous monitoring is crucial for DRaaS. These are as follows.

Real-time threat detection: It allows for early identification of potential risks, ensuring quick responses to prevent disruptions.
System health checks: Ensures the infrastructure, servers, and networks are functioning correctly, reducing the risk of failure during a disaster.
Compliance: Many industries require constant monitoring to meet regulatory standards for data protection and recovery.
Resource optimization: Tracks resource usage to avoid over-provisioning or under-provisioning, optimizing cost and performance.
Performance tracking: Helps assess the efficiency of recovery strategies, improving recovery time and reducing downtime.

Key metrics to track in DRaaS

Here is an overview of the 7 key metrics to track in DRaaS.

Recovery Time Objective (RTO): Measures how quickly systems can be restored after a disaster.
Recovery Point Objective (RPO): Tracks the maximum allowable data loss, determining how frequently backups are taken.
Uptime and availability: Monitors system availability to ensure minimal downtime during recovery.
Data integrity: Verifies that backup data is consistent and accurate, preventing corruption.
Failover success rate: Measures how reliably failover systems work during a disaster.
Backup frequency and completeness: Tracks the schedule and success of backups to ensure comprehensive recovery coverage.
Alert response time: Measures how quickly teams respond to critical alerts for effective issue resolution.

How to set up DRaaS monitoring

These are the 7 main steps to follow to set up DRaaS monitoring.

Define recovery objectives: Establish clear RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective) to guide monitoring requirements.
Select monitoring tools: Choose appropriate DRaaS monitoring tools (e.g., Veeam, Zerto) that provide real-time tracking of backups, failover processes, and system performance.
Set alerts: Configure automated alerts to notify IT teams of critical issues such as backup failures, resource shortages, or system performance degradation.
Monitor backup processes: Track the success and frequency of backups, ensuring they meet your defined RPO.
Test failover: Regularly test failover processes to ensure that systems can be restored quickly and effectively in case of a disaster.
Review and audit: Regularly review monitoring data and perform audits to identify areas for improvement and ensure compliance with regulatory standards.
Update regularly: Keep monitoring tools and DRaaS configurations up to date to handle new challenges and technologies.

Common monitoring tools for DRaaS

Here is an overview of five common monitoring tools for DRaaS.

Veeam: Provides backup and disaster recovery monitoring with real-time alerts, data integrity checks, and detailed performance metrics.
Zerto: Offers continuous replication and monitoring to ensure RTO and RPO objectives are met, with automated failover and reporting features.
SolarWinds: A comprehensive IT management platform that includes disaster recovery monitoring, network performance tracking, and system health checks.
Datto: Specializes in business continuity and disaster recovery, offering monitoring of backups, cloud storage, and network performance.
Acronis: Provides integrated backup and recovery solutions with continuous monitoring and performance analysis.

How to ensure DRaaS compliance with regular monitoring

Follow these five steps to ensure DRaaS compliance with regular monitoring.

Identify regulatory requirements: Understand the industry-specific compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS, that apply to your DRaaS setup.
Implement real-time monitoring: Set up continuous monitoring tools that track system performance, data integrity, and security in real-time.
Conduct regular audits: Conduct periodic audits to assess compliance with security protocols and recovery procedures, ensuring alignment with regulatory requirements.
Create data retention policies: Establish and monitor data retention policies to ensure that backup data is kept for the required duration.
Use automated alerts: Configure automated alerts to notify teams of any compliance violations or performance issues for quick remediation.

Benefits of regular updates in DRaaS solutions

These are five of the major benefits of regular updates in DRaaS solutions.

Enhanced security: Updates address vulnerabilities, protecting data and systems from evolving cyber threats.
Improved performance: New features and optimizations can boost system efficiency, ensuring faster recovery times and better resource utilization. Updates also ensure that DRaaS solutions remain compatible with other IT infrastructure and cloud services.
Compliance: Updates ensure that DRaaS solutions align with changing regulatory (and legal) requirements.
Bug fixes: Addressing known issues and software bugs ensures smoother operations and reduces the risk of system failures during a disaster.
New capabilities: Regular updates introduce new functionalities, improving disaster recovery strategies and enabling better scalability.

Real-world examples of DRaaS monitoring success

Here are just three real-world examples of DRaaS monitoring success.

Healthcare industry: A hospital using DRaaS implemented continuous monitoring to detect data inconsistencies and network failures. This proactive approach prevented a potential disruption to patient data access during a system upgrade, ensuring uninterrupted care.

Financial services: A bank deployed DRaaS with continuous monitoring, quickly identifying unusual traffic patterns signaling a cyberattack. The system was able to trigger automatic failover to secure backup systems, preventing a data breach.

E-commerce: An online retailer experienced spikes in traffic during a sales event. Continuous monitoring of DRaaS ensured that their servers automatically scaled to meet demand, preventing downtime and maintaining smooth transactions throughout the event.