What is a disaster recovery plan (DRP)? This lesson explains disaster recovery planning as a key part of business resiliency — the steps to build a DRP, recovery objectives like RTO and RPO, and the differences between cold, warm, and hot backup sites — built for BAR CPA Exam candidates, CMA students, and accounting students studying business resiliency and IT risk.

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Video Timeline & Key Concepts:
0:00 — Introduction
2:19 — Risk assessment: identify and prioritize threats
3:02 — Recovery objectives: RTO and RPO
4:13 — Identify critical systems and dependencies
4:49 — Assign responsibilities to a recovery team
5:15 — Communication and documentation protocols
6:04 — Training and testing the plan
6:40 — Alternative recovery sites: cold, warm, and hot

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is a disaster recovery plan?

A disaster recovery plan is a documented set of procedures that helps an organization recover its systems and resume operations after a disruptive event such as a natural disaster, cyberattack, or equipment failure. It is a core component of business resiliency.

What is the difference between RTO and RPO?

The recovery time objective (RTO) is the maximum tolerable downtime before systems must be restored, while the recovery point objective (RPO) is the maximum tolerable amount of data loss measured back to the last usable backup.

What is the difference between a cold, warm, and hot site?

A cold site is the least expensive but slowest to recover, providing only physical space. A warm site is partially equipped with some hardware and software. A hot site is a fully equipped mirror of the primary site that allows near-immediate failover.

Why is testing a disaster recovery plan important?

Regular testing and simulation drills confirm that the plan actually works, expose gaps, and keep procedures current. A plan that is never tested may fail during a real disruption when it is needed most.

Which recovery site offers the fastest recovery?

A hot site offers the fastest recovery because it is a fully operational duplicate of the primary environment. It is the most expensive option but supports near-immediate failover with minimal downtime.

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