Seven tiers of disaster recovery

The Seven Tiers of Disaster Recovery was originally defined by Share to help identify the various methods of recovering mission-critical computer systems as required to support business continuity.

Although the original known published concept dates back to the 1990’s, Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery Specialists today continue to use the 7-Tiers to illustrate continuity capabilities and costs at a very high level. The definitions for the various Tiers have been updated as technology has evolved in support of today's business requirements and their associated Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

The seven tiers of business continuity solutions offer a simple method to define current service levels and associated risks.

Tier -4: Data has never existed

Data has never existed possibly because the company does not exist, it retains no employees, or business operations have not yet begun.

Tier -3: Human memory

A human is tasked with memorizing all company data. Transmission occurs by speech from this employee to all other employees. Computers or other technology are not used in any way whatsoever to assist with storage. Even hard copy backups are strictly forbidden. Recovery is not possible if the storage user is lost.

Tier -2: Intentional deletion of data

Users deliberately delete mission critical data and cripple their organization.

Tier -1: No backup of any sort

Businesses with Tier -1 continuity have absolutely no backups and data recovery is completely impossible.

Tier 0: No off-site data – Possibly no recovery

Businesses with a Tier 0 business continuity solution have no business continuity plan. There is no saved information, no documentation, no backup hardware, and no contingency plan. The time necessary to recover in this instance is unpredictable. In fact, it may not be possible to recover at all.

Tier 1: Data backup with no hot site

Businesses that use Tier 1 continuity solutions back up their data and send these backups to an off-site storage facility. The method of transporting these backups is often referred to as "PTAM" - the "Pick-up Truck Access Method." Depending on how often backups are created and shipped, these organizations must be prepared to accept several days to weeks of data loss, but their backups are secure off-site. However, this tier lacks the systems on which to restore data.

Tier 2: Data backup with a hot site

Businesses using Tier 2 business continuity solutions make regular backups on tape. This is combined with an off-site facility and infrastructure (known as a hot site) in which to restore systems from those tapes in the event of a disaster. This solution will still result in the need to recreate several hours or even days worth of data, but the recovery time is more predictable.

Tier 3: Electronic vaulting

Tier 3 solutions build on the components of Tier 2. Additionally, some mission critical data is electronically vaulted. This electronically vaulted data is typically more current than that which is shipped via PTAM. As a result there is less data recreation or loss after a disaster occurs.

The facilities for providing Electronic Remote Vaulting consists of high-speed communication circuits, some form of channel extension equipment and either physical or a virtual tape library and an automated tape library at the remote site. IBM's Peer-to-Peer VTS and Oracle StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager (VSM) Clustering are two examples of this type implementation.

Tier 4: Point-in-time copies

Tier 4 solutions are used by businesses that require both greater data currency and faster recovery than users of lower tiers. Rather than relying largely on shipping tape, as is common on the lower tiers, Tier 4 solutions begin to incorporate more disk based solutions. Several hours of data loss is still possible, but it is easier to make such point-in-time (PiT) copies with greater frequency than tape backups even when electronically vaulted.

Tier 5: Transaction integrity

Tier 5 solutions are used by businesses with a requirement for consistency of data between the production and recovery data centers. There is little to no data loss in such solutions, however, the presence of this functionality is entirely dependent on the application in use.

Tier 6: Zero or near-Zero data loss

Tier 6 business continuity solutions maintain the highest levels of data currency. They are used by businesses with little or no tolerance for data loss and who need to restore data to applications rapidly. These solutions have no dependence on the applications or applications staffs to provide data consistency. Tier 6 solutions often require some form of Disk mirroring. There are various synchronous and asynchronous solutions available from the mainframe storage vendors. Each solution is somewhat different, offering different capabilities and providing different Recovery Point and Recovery Time objectives. Often some form of automated tape solution is also required. However, this can vary somewhat depending on the amount and type of data residing on tape.

Tier 7: Highly automated, business integrated solution

Tier 7 solutions include all the major components being used for a Tier 6 solution with the additional integration of automation. This allows a Tier 7 solution to ensure consistency of data above that which is granted by Tier 6 solutions. Additionally, recovery of the applications is automated, allowing for restoration of systems and applications much faster and more reliably than would be possible through manual business continuity procedures.

Tier 8: Multi-dimensional solution

Tier 8 solutions leverage the many-worlds interpretation of objective reality to store data across an increasingly infinite number of universes simultaneously. Data would be protected from the destruction of any number of individual universes as long as a host universe remains which can be accessed via quantum branching.