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Choose a disaster recovery site by defining which business functions must return, how quickly they must resume, and how much data loss is tolerable. Then assess whether each candidate can withstand the hazards affecting your primary site, remain accessible during a regional disruption, and provide the capacity, equipment, security, and support needed to meet those recovery objectives. There is no universal safe-distance rule: separation should reflect your organization’s risks.
Start with business impact and recovery objectives
Do not shortlist sites before you know what they must recover. A business impact analysis (BIA) identifies essential functions, the systems and dependencies they rely on, and the consequences of interruption. Use that analysis to set recovery time objectives (RTOs)—how quickly a function or system must be restored—and recovery point objectives (RPOs)—how much data loss, measured in time, can be tolerated.
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These targets determine what a site needs to provide. A location that can eventually host your systems is not adequate if its capacity, connectivity, staffing, or provisioning time cannot support the required recovery window. NIST SP 800-34 Rev. 1 describes contingency planning as a lifecycle that includes a BIA, recovery strategy, plan development, testing, and maintenance: NIST SP 800-34 Rev. 1.
Evaluate whether the site shares your primary site’s risks
Geographic separation matters because a recovery site should not be disabled by the same event that makes the primary location unavailable. Start with the hazards identified in your risk assessment—such as the relevant natural, infrastructure, or regional threats—and compare each candidate against them. Consider shared utilities, communications routes, transport links, and other dependencies where they could create a common failure domain.
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NIST does not prescribe one mileage threshold that makes a site safe. Its CP-7 enhancement calls for a site “sufficiently separated from the primary processing site to reduce susceptibility to the same threats.” What counts as sufficient depends on the threats and the organization’s circumstances. See NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, control CP-7.
Check access during a regional disruption
A site is only useful if the people, equipment, and supplies needed for recovery can reach it when the primary area is disrupted. Consider road closures, transit interruptions, local power or communications outages, and whether staff can safely report to the alternate location. Ask the provider and internal teams how they would respond if ordinary access routes or arrangements were unavailable.
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Document specific mitigations for likely access problems rather than relying on an assumption that the site will remain reachable. NIST CP-7 explicitly calls for identifying potential accessibility problems during an area-wide disruption or disaster and outlining mitigation actions.
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Verify recovery capacity, timing, and supplies
Confirm that the site can support the systems and workload in scope, and that operations can resume within the RTOs established by your BIA. Clarify what capacity is available immediately, what must be provisioned, who is responsible for provisioning, and how long each step takes. Validate the arrangements against the recovery sequence and dependencies for essential functions.
Check whether required equipment and supplies are already present or covered by delivery commitments that can be met within the recovery period. A contract that promises eventual delivery does not establish that the organization can meet its recovery target. NIST CP-7 addresses alternate-site processing capability, recovery within the organization’s defined time period, and equipment and supplies either available at the site or obtainable through agreements.
Compare safeguards and operational dependencies
NIST calls for security controls at an alternate processing site to be equivalent to those at the primary site. Compare the actual protections and operating arrangements, not just a provider’s general assurance. Your requirements may include physical and environmental protections, access rules, personnel coordination, and controls for systems and data. Confirm that the candidate and its providers can meet the organization’s security and privacy obligations.
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Also map dependencies that could prevent recovery even if the facility itself is available. Review power and communications arrangements, access to required services, escalation contacts, and responsibilities across your staff and the provider. Ask what evidence supports commitments about capacity, access, delivery, and recovery timing; reflect the necessary commitments in agreements and operating procedures.
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Apply a consistent scorecard to every candidate so that a favorable impression or a single attractive feature does not obscure a recovery gap. Record evidence, assumptions, owners, and unresolved questions for each criterion.
| Criterion | Questions to answer |
|---|---|
| Hazards and shared dependencies | Could the same threats or failure domains affect both sites? Is the separation appropriate for the risks identified in your assessment? |
| Access during disruption | Can staff, equipment, and supplies reach the site during a regional event? What is the mitigation if normal access fails? |
| Recovery objectives | Can the site support the required RTO and RPO for the functions and systems in scope? |
| Capacity and provisioning | What processing capacity is ready, what must be provisioned, and how long will that take? |
| Equipment and supplies | Are essentials on site, or do delivery arrangements meet the recovery period? |
| Safeguards and dependencies | Are controls equivalent to those at the primary site, and are power, communications, personnel, and provider responsibilities understood? |
| Agreement and evidence | Do written terms support required priority, delivery, access, and recovery commitments, and can those commitments be verified? |
Select an approach and test the plan
An alternate processing site is one possible recovery strategy, not the only one. NIST SP 800-34 describes options such as alternate equipment, short-term manual procedures, and recovery at an alternate location. The right combination depends on the system, the disruption, and the recovery objectives. A site agreement alone does not demonstrate that the organization can restore operations.
Exercise the recovery plan against the RTOs and RPOs you set. Test the people, procedures, dependencies, equipment, and provider commitments that recovery actually relies on, then update the plan when systems or dependencies change. NIST SP 800-34 Rev. 1 includes testing and maintenance as part of contingency planning. NIST’s SP 800-53 page notes Release 5.2.0, issued August 27, 2025; consult the current control text and errata when using CP-7 for compliance decisions: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 page.
These NIST publications provide general planning and control guidance. Set site requirements according to your organization’s mission, risk, applicable obligations, and system impact.
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