Disaster recovery strategies (backup, pilot light, warm standby) in AWS - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - Disaster recovery strategies (backup, pilot light, warm standby)

Disaster Occurs

↓

Choose Recovery Strategy

↓

Backup

↓

Restore

↓

System Up and Running

↓

Monitor

This flow shows how after a disaster, you pick a recovery method: restore from backup, activate a minimal pilot light system, or switch to a warm standby environment, then monitor the system.

Execution Sample

AWS

1. Backup: Save data regularly
2. Pilot Light: Minimal system running
3. Warm Standby: Partial system ready
4. On disaster, restore or activate
5. System recovers and runs

This sequence shows the steps of each disaster recovery strategy from preparation to recovery.

Process Table

Step	Strategy	Action	System State	Next Step
1	Backup	Data backed up to storage	Backup available	Wait for disaster
2	Pilot Light	Minimal core system running	Pilot light active	Wait for disaster
3	Warm Standby	Partial system running and ready	Warm standby active	Wait for disaster
4	Disaster occurs	Trigger recovery	Primary system down	Start recovery
5	Backup	Restore data and systems	System restoring	System up
6	Pilot Light	Activate full system from pilot light	System activating	System up
7	Warm Standby	Switch traffic to warm standby	System running on standby	System up
8	All	Monitor system health	System operational	Normal operation
9	All	Recovery complete	System stable	End

💡 Recovery complete and system stable, normal operation resumed

Status Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 3	After Step 6	Final
Backup State	No backup	Backup available	Backup available	Backup available
Pilot Light State	Off	Pilot light active	System activating	System operational
Warm Standby State	Off	Warm standby active	Warm standby active	System running on standby
System State	Primary running	Primary running	Primary down	System stable

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the pilot light strategy have a minimal system running before disaster?

Because the pilot light keeps a small core system active (see execution_table step 2) so it can quickly activate full services after disaster (step 6), reducing downtime.

How is warm standby different from pilot light in system readiness?

Warm standby runs a partial system ready to take over immediately (step 3), while pilot light only runs a minimal core system and needs activation (step 6).

Why does backup strategy take longer to recover?

Backup requires restoring data and systems from storage after disaster (step 5), which takes more time than activating or switching to a running system.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table at step 4, what is the system state?

A Primary system down

B System operational

C Backup available

D Pilot light active

💡 Hint

Check the 'System State' column at step 4 in execution_table

At which step does the warm standby strategy switch traffic to standby?

A Step 5

B Step 3

C Step 7

D Step 6

💡 Hint

Look for 'Switch traffic to warm standby' action in execution_table

If the pilot light system was not running before disaster, how would recovery time change?

A Recovery would be faster

B Recovery would be slower

C No change in recovery time

D System would not recover

💡 Hint

Refer to key_moments about pilot light minimal system running before disaster

Concept Snapshot

Disaster recovery strategies:
- Backup: Regular data saves, restore after disaster (slowest)
- Pilot Light: Minimal system runs, activate full system on disaster (medium speed)
- Warm Standby: Partial system runs, switch traffic immediately (fastest)
Choose based on recovery time and cost needs.

Full Transcript

Disaster recovery strategies help systems recover after failures. Backup saves data regularly and restores it after disaster, which takes time. Pilot light keeps a minimal system running to quickly activate full services. Warm standby runs a partial system ready to take over immediately. After disaster, you choose a strategy to restore or switch systems, then monitor until stable. Each strategy balances cost and recovery speed differently.