BDR (Backup and Disaster Recovery)

Definition

BDR (backup and disaster recovery) is the combined service of taking regular copies of a client's systems and being able to run them again, to a stated recovery point, after hardware failure, ransomware, or site loss. In MSP usage it usually means a specific architecture: a local physical or virtual appliance that takes image-based backups of servers, can boot them as virtual machines on-site, and replicates the images to the vendor's cloud for off-site recovery.

Why it matters to an MSP

Clients undervalue backup until it is the only thing that matters; BDR converts it from a checkbox into a recovery commitment with an RTO and RPO you can sign. File-based backup is cheap – typically $5–15 per workstation per month – but a dead server still means rebuilding the operating system, applications, and configuration before restoring data, a day or more of labor you may not be able to bill. Image-based backup captures the entire system, so recovery is booting the last snapshot on the appliance or in the cloud within minutes to an hour. That is the difference between a four-hour RTO and a two-day one.

The appliance-plus-cloud model costs real money – typically $150–500 per month for a server-class client as of 2026 in hardware and per-terabyte cloud fees – which you mark up inside a managed plan or bill as a separate line. It also carries the ransomware requirement – the cloud copy must be immutable and the appliance must not share credentials with the production domain – and an obligation to test: insurers and auditors now ask for quarterly boot-verification screenshots or documented restore tests. Untested BDR is the largest single liability an MSP carries. Architecture choices are in backup and recovery design.

Related terms: RTO, RPO, DRaaS, Business Continuity Plan