Definition of Hotsite, Coldsite, and Warmsite for Credit Unions

by Royce

What is a DR hotsite, coldsite, and warmsite? The standard definition is below:

Hotsite – A disaster recovery facility that mirrors the organization’s production databases and other IT resources in real time. A hotsite will also have the other equipment necessary to become active at a moments notice, including but not limited to; office furniture, active network/internet connections, phones, etc.

Coldsite – An available facility that has not yet been fitted out with an organization’s hardware or other necessary items to begin operations immediately but is under the control of an organization. A cold site typically requires some significant effort and time to become operational, but is available to the organization at a moment’s notice.

Warmsite – A warmsite is somewhere in between hot and cold sites. The space is available and some preparations have been made, but the site is not ready to be operational immediately.

continue reading »