Disaster Recovery Strategies in Infrastructure as Code

2.1 Definitions

• Infrastructure as Code (IaC): The practice of managing and provisioning computing infrastructure through machine-readable definition files, rather than physical hardware configuration or interactive configuration tools.
• Disaster Recovery (DR): A set of policies and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a disaster.
• Recovery Time Objective (RTO): The maximum acceptable amount of time that a system can be down after a disaster occurs.
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO): The maximum acceptable amount of data loss, measured in time, that can occur during a disaster.

3.1 Types of Strategies

1. Backup and Restore: Regular backups of data and configurations are saved and can be restored when needed.
2. Pilot Light: A minimal version of an environment is always running and can be quickly scaled up.
3. Warm Standby: A scaled-down version of a fully functional environment is running at all times, ready to scale up.
4. Multi-Site: Full production environments are available in multiple locations, providing redundancy.

4.1 Step-by-Step Process

graph TD;
            A[Define Strategy] --> B[Identify Key Resources];
            B --> C[Set RTO and RPO];
            C --> D[Design Infrastructure];
            D --> E[Automate Deployment with IaC];
            E --> F[Test Recovery Process];
            F --> G[Review and Update Regularly];
        

Utilizing the above flowchart, you can visualize the steps involved in setting up a disaster recovery strategy using Infrastructure as Code.

5.1 Recommendations

• Regularly test your disaster recovery plan to ensure effectiveness.
• Document all configurations and procedures in a centralized repository.
• Use version control for all IaC scripts to track changes over time.
• Implement monitoring and alerting for critical systems.
• Ensure team members are trained on disaster recovery processes.