How To Design An IBM i (iSeries/AS400) Disaster Recovery Plan That Actually Works
When Disaster Strikes, Will Your
IBM i Environment Be Ready?
Spoiler alert: There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But with the right planning—and the right technology—you can minimize downtime, protect your data, and sleep better at night.
Step 1: Know Your Recovery Objectives
Before choosing a disaster recovery (DR) strategy, you must define two critical benchmarks:
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Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How quickly do systems need to be back online—within hours or days?
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Recovery Point Objective (RPO): How much data can you afford to lose—minutes, hours, or a full day?
These objectives vary by workload. For example, a distributor may require near-instant recovery for order entry and e-commerce but can tolerate longer delays for marketing systems.
Pro tip: The stricter your RTO and RPO, the more advanced (and expensive) your recovery solution needs to be.
5 IBM i Disaster Recovery Options — Ranked by Speed, Risk & Cost
Let’s break down your most viable IBM i disaster recovery options—from rapid response to budget-friendly backups.
Option 1: High Availability (Fastest Recovery, Highest Cost)
For mission-critical systems, nothing beats high availability (HA).
At Cloud400, we use Precisely’s replication suite—including MIMIX™, iTera™, and QEDD™—to continuously mirror your environment to a secondary site. This delivers near-zero data loss and the fastest failover possible.
Best for: Mission-critical workloads
Downside: Premium price tag
Option 2: SAN-to-SAN Replication (Fast Recovery Without HA Costs)
Need solid performance without the licensing fees?
SAN-to-SAN replication offers similar RTO/RPO to HA—without a “live” DR LPAR or third-party software. It requires matching external storage arrays on both ends.
Recovery involves a slightly longer Initial Program Load (IPL), but it’s usually within acceptable limits.
Best for: Organizations with compatible SAN infrastructure
Watch out for: Hardware compatibility limitations
Option 3: Online Hosted Backup (Practical, Affordable DR for Most)
This approach uses an on-premise Virtual Tape Library (VTL) connected to your IBM i server. You back up to the VTL instead of a traditional tape drive. After the backup:
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The data is deduplicated, encrypted, and
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Replicated securely to a Cloud400 data center.
In the event of a declared disaster, Cloud400 can restore your environment to an IBM i LPAR within 12–24 hours, depending on your data size.
Pro: More affordable than HA
Con: Recovery from point of last backup, not real-time replication
Option 4: Tape Recovery (Budget-Friendly, But Not True DR)
Quarterly you send us a Save21 backup that we store in our fire-proof vault. When you declare a disaster we restore your Save21 backup to a Cloud400 LPAR. Additionally, you overnight us your most current backup for us to restore to your Cloud400 LPAR. You RTO can range from 24 -36 hours. It’s a step up from local tape—but still not suitable for mission-critical workloads.
Best for: Archival and non-critical systems
Downside: Up to 24 hours of data loss, slow RTO
💰 Budget level: Less expensive than HA and Hosted Backup, but still limited in recovery capabilities
Option 5: Local Tape Backup (Lowest Cost, Longest Downtime)
Still using tape or disk-based backups?
While cost-effective, this option is risky and slow. Drawbacks include:
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Long recovery times
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High risk of losing a day or more of data
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Media degradation over time
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Offsite storage delays
Best for: Budget-conscious environments with minimal uptime demands
Risk: Delayed recovery, data loss, and potential media failure
Why More Businesses Are Choosing IBM i Disaster Recovery As A Service (DRaaS)
You could build and staff your own DR site… but why would you?
With rising IT costs and a shortage of skilled IBM i professionals, Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) is becoming the go-to solution for modern enterprises.
DRaaS replicates your entire environment—apps, data, and OS—to a commercial provider’s cloud. In the event of an outage, systems are restored automatically within your defined RTO/RPO.
Key Benefits of DRaaS:
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No secondary data center required
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Predictable monthly costs
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Fully managed testing, failover, and recovery
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Guaranteed uptime SLAs
Fun fact: As of 2020, 42% of large enterprises and 38% of mid-sized businesses had already adopted DRaaS to ensure business continuity.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Let a Disaster Destroy Your IBM i Environment
Here’s the hard truth:
Most businesses don’t regularly test their DR plans. Many skip backups, delay failover testing, or lack the specialized staff to act when disaster strikes.
That’s why smart IBM i organizations partner with Cloud400—to reduce risk, lower costs, and ensure their systems work when it matters most.
Ready to protect your IBM i investment?
Let’s design a disaster recovery plan that actually works when you need it most.
Need help with your IBM i?
Call me at (714) 593-0387 or email me at [email protected].
- Bryan Cafaro, Focus Network Services
Providing IBM i Customers with Solutions & Expertise Since 1979.
Source Data Products offers reliable, cost-effective solutions for IBM i, AS400, and iSeries systems. With over four decades of experience, we deliver expert cloud hosting, upgrades, and disaster recovery.
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