DRaaS (Disaster Recovery as a Service)

Definition

DRaaS is a subscription service that continuously or periodically replicates a client's servers to a provider-hosted cloud and can boot those replicas as running virtual machines when the primary environment is lost. It is the failover target in a recovery plan – the answer to "the building is gone" – rather than a copy of files.

Why it matters to an MSP

A DRaaS offering has three parts, and a client is not buying it unless all three exist. Replication: image-based backups or block-level replication of the protected servers, on a schedule set by the RPO. A failover target: reserved compute in the vendor's cloud where the replicas boot, plus the networking to reach them – a VPN or remote-access gateway staff can actually use from home. Testing: scheduled failover tests, ideally automated, that prove the replica boots and the application runs. Most BDR platforms bundle the first two; the third is where MSPs cut corners and get burned.

Pricing usually has the same shape across vendors: a per-server or per-protected-device fee (typically $50–$150 per server per month wholesale), plus storage per TB retained in the cloud, plus compute charges only while a failover is running – commonly free for a 30–60 day disaster window, then metered. Bill it as a fixed per-server line inside your backup tier, with margin to cover the failover labor you are committing to: a real invocation is 8–20 technician hours of failover, DNS changes, user support, and later failback, and an SLA that promises a four-hour RTO has to fund that. DRaaS is also the middle option for clients who reject a $5,000 local appliance: same-day recovery from site loss without on-premises hardware, at the cost of a slower, bandwidth-bound failback.

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