Glossary · Cloud Recovery
Offsite recovery without owning a second site
Disaster Recovery as a Service extends Quorum’s Instant Recovery Platform into the cloud, giving organizations a remote recovery environment without the cost and complexity of owning a second facility. Protected systems replicate to Quorum Cloud and can be activated there during a declared disaster event.
Two copies. One architecture.
01 The Premise
Recovery should not depend on a building
A secondary data center provides strong resilience, but not every organization wants to own, staff, maintain, and refresh a second site. DRaaS gives you geographic resilience through Quorum Cloud, preserving the same snapshot-based activation model used across onQ. When the primary site is unavailable:
Boot first. Restore whenever.
02 The Definition
What DRaaS means
Disaster Recovery as a Service provides offsite recovery through cloud-hosted recovery infrastructure. It is not remote-only backup. It is not cold storage. It is not a restore queue. Quorum DRaaS combines:
- Local High Availability
- Replicated cloud copy
- Cloud activation capability
- Dedicated recovery resources
- Secure connectivity
- Policy-based recovery
One protected copy keeps systems recoverable locally. A second protected copy in Quorum Cloud protects the business when the primary site is unavailable.
03 The Foundation
High Availability is the foundation
Effective DRaaS starts with local protection. A primary onQ system creates frequent, consistent snapshots — stored locally for HA and replicated securely to Quorum Cloud. That gives you two layers of protection:
01 Local copy
Used for rapid recovery from hardware failure, localized outages, or system-level issues.
02 Cloud copy
Used for site-level failure, facility loss, or disasters that make the primary environment unavailable.
HA protects systems. DRaaS protects the business without requiring a second customer-owned site.
04 The Workflow
How Quorum DRaaS works
The recovery model stays the same. The activation location changes.
05 Storage vs Recovery
Cloud backup vs DRaaS
Traditional cloud backup stores data. Quorum DRaaS restores operations.
| Traditional Cloud Backup | Quorum DRaaS |
|---|---|
| Stores backup data | Maintains recoverable systems |
| Requires restore before operation | Activates workloads directly in cloud |
| Downtime grows with data size | Recovery time becomes boot time |
| Focuses on retention | Focuses on operational continuity |
| Cloud is storage | Cloud is a recovery platform |
A backup may prove the data exists. DRaaS proves the business can run.
06 The Cloud Environment
Dedicated recovery infrastructure
During a declared recovery event, Quorum Cloud provides the infrastructure needed to activate protected workloads.
- Dedicated recovery resources per customer
- Secure VPN connectivity
- Isolated firewall instances
- Cloud activation environment
- Compliance-aligned infrastructure
- 24/7 security monitoring
- No runtime charges during declared disasters
The goal is to remove uncertainty during an event. Your team should be focused on restoring operations — not scrambling to provision infrastructure or manage unexpected recovery billing.
07 Structured Recovery
Policy-based cloud activation
Disaster recovery is rarely one server at a time. Applications depend on databases, authentication, DNS, file services, network access, and supporting systems. DRaaS supports policy-based cloud activation so recovery happens in the right order.
- Multi-server recovery groups
- Application-tier sequencing
- Domain controller alignment
- Database-first activation
- Dependency-aware recovery
- Full infrastructure stack activation
Recovery remains structured. Not improvised.
08 DR vs DRaaS
DR vs DRaaS
Both solve the same core problem: site-level resilience. The difference is ownership of the secondary environment.
Disaster Recovery
A customer-owned or customer-managed secondary site.
- Secondary onQ appliance
- Remote onQ Flex deployment
- Customer-owned data center
- Managed secondary facility
Best when you want direct control over the remote environment.
DRaaS
Uses Quorum Cloud as the secondary site — no need to own, maintain, refresh, and secure a second physical location.
Best when you want offsite resilience without infrastructure ownership.
Both use the same recovery architecture. The difference is where the second copy runs.
09 DRaaS vs Direct to Cloud
DRaaS vs Direct to Cloud
Related, but the intent is different.
DRaaS
A local HA foundation with replication to Quorum Cloud. Best when:
- You want local recovery for everyday failures
- You want cloud recovery for site-level events
- Cloud is used mainly during declared disasters
Direct to Cloud
Cloud as the primary recovery destination, backup target, or migration bridge. Best when:
- You are reducing on-prem infrastructure
- You are transitioning data centers
- You want cloud-first protection
- You do not require local recovery hardware
Both use cloud activation. The difference is deployment strategy.
10 The Objectives
RTO and RPO in DRaaS
RTO How quickly must systems return?
DRaaS reduces downtime by activating workloads directly in Quorum Cloud instead of requiring a full restore.
Recovery time becomes boot time.
RPO How much data can we lose?
Shaped by snapshot frequency, backup policy, replication cadence, network performance, and data change rate. Cloud replication determines how current the offsite copy remains.
Low RPO requires frequent protection and efficient replication.
The architecture must align both.
11 Protected By Design
Security architecture
DRaaS must protect the recovery path. Quorum Cloud preserves recovery integrity across cloud activation workflows.
- Immutable snapshots
- Encryption in transit and at rest
- Logical air gap from production
- Tenant isolation
- Individual firewall isolation per customer
- Zero-trust authentication
- Quarterly third-party penetration testing
- 24/7 monitoring
- Compliance-aligned, including HIPAA and PCI
Cloud recovery should not weaken the security posture. It should extend it.
12 The Modern Threat
DRaaS and ransomware recovery
Ransomware often creates more than a local outage — compromising production systems, damaging authentication infrastructure, targeting backup repositories, and forcing teams to isolate the primary environment. DRaaS gives you a protected cloud recovery path when the primary site cannot be trusted. Teams can:
Cloud activation reduces downtime. Clean validation reduces reinfection risk.
13 Knowing The Fit
When to choose DRaaS
Especially useful for organizations that need strong recovery capabilities but do not want to own and maintain a second facility.
- You do not operate a secondary data center
- You want geographic resilience without owning infrastructure
- You prefer operational expense over capital expense
- You need offsite recovery for compliance or insurance
- You want rapid cloud activation without rebuilding
- You want a remote site managed through Quorum Cloud
- You need resilience beyond local High Availability
Common DRaaS gaps to avoid
Organizations often weaken DRaaS strategies by assuming cloud storage is enough. Common gaps include:
- No local HA foundation
- Unclear RTO and RPO
- Replication without activation testing
- No dependency mapping
- No cloud networking validation
- No ransomware recovery workflow
- No Clean Room validation plan
- No documented failback process
- No regular recovery testing
DRaaS should answer one question clearly: can the business operate if the primary site is unavailable?
14 The Platform
How Quorum supports DRaaS
Powered by the same Instant Recovery Platform used across onQ.
- Snapshot-based protection
- Local High Availability foundation
- Secure cloud replication
- Cloud activation capability
- Independent block replication
- Policy-based infrastructure recovery
- Immutable recovery points
- Encrypted data transfer and storage
- Dedicated cloud recovery resources
- Secure VPN connectivity
- Isolated customer firewall instances
- Automated recovery testing
The architecture is consistent. The secondary site becomes Quorum Cloud.
15 Put It Into Practice
DRaaS checklist
A strong DRaaS strategy should answer:
- Which systems need cloud recovery?
- What is the RTO for each critical workload?
- What is the RPO for each critical workload?
- Is local HA in place?
- Are snapshots replicated to Quorum Cloud?
- Is replication encrypted?
- Are cloud recovery points immutable?
- Are dependencies mapped?
- Can systems activate in the correct order?
- Has cloud activation been tested?
- Is secure VPN connectivity planned?
- Are firewall and network rules defined?
- Is Clean Room validation included?
- Is the failback process documented?
DRaaS works best when it is planned, tested, and aligned to business risk.
Two Copies. One Architecture.
DRaaS protects the business without forcing you to own the remote infrastructure.
HA protects systems locally. DR protects the business remotely. Quorum DRaaS extends onQ into Quorum Cloud, giving organizations a secure, activation-ready recovery environment when the primary site is unavailable.
Right onQ. Off Was Never an Option.
Eliminate Downtime from Recovery
Eliminate Downtime from Recovery
Boot systems directly from snapshots and keep operations running without restore delays.