Reference, Billing, and Troubleshooting
1. Billing and Pricing
Pricing Components
Your DRaaS bill has three components:
| Component | Basis | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DR Plan Fee | Per active plan, per hour/month | Flat fee for standby VM and replication infrastructure |
| Recovery Point Storage | Per GB per hour | Total storage size of recovery point snapshots at target |
| Volume Storage | Per GB per hour | Size of replica block storage volumes at target |
When Billing Starts and Stops
| Event | Billing Impact |
|---|---|
| DR plan becomes Active | Billing starts |
| DR plan is Stopped | Billing continues (standby VM and snapshots retained) |
| DR plan is Deleted | Billing stops |
| DR plan reaches Recovered | Billing stops |
Note: stopping a plan does not stop billing. Billing ends only after delete or successful recovery completion.
Cost-Saving Tips
- Delete plans you no longer need.
- Tune retention period based on compliance and operational needs.
- Balance RPO and cost (lower RPO generates more snapshots and higher storage cost).
2. Audit Logs
Every DR action is logged for compliance and troubleshooting, including actor, timestamp, and outcome.
Viewing Audit Logs
- Go to Settings -> Audit Logs
- Filter by Disaster Recovery
- View, download, or request logs by email
Logged Events
| Event | Triggered By |
|---|---|
| DR PLAN CREATION | Creating a new DR plan |
| DR PLAN DELETION | Deleting a DR plan |
| START DR PLAN | Resuming a stopped plan |
| STOP DR PLAN | Pausing a plan |
| START DR DRILL | Starting a drill |
| STOP DR DRILL | Stopping a drill |
| RECOVER DR | Initiating recovery |
| DR RPO UPDATE | Changing RPO |
| MANUAL RECOVERY POINT CREATION | Creating on-demand recovery point |
| RECOVERY POINT NAME UPDATION | Renaming recovery point |
| RECOVERY POINT DELETION | Deleting recovery point |
| RECOVERY POINT RETENTION DAYS UPDATE | Changing retention period |
3. Limitations and Constraints
| Limitation | Details |
|---|---|
| One DR plan per source VM | A VM can be protected by only one DR plan at a time |
| Source and target must differ | Same-region DR is not supported |
| Source VM must be Running at creation | Stopped source VM cannot be protected |
| Encrypted disks not supported | DRaaS does not support encrypted disks currently |
| No auto-terminate on source | Disable Reserved Instance auto-terminate before creation |
| No scheduled power-off on source | Remove source node power scheduling before creation |
| Supported VM series only | C3, M3, E1 |
| Same OS/SKU must exist at target | Required image and plan must exist in target region |
| Actions blocked during replication | Stop/delete/drill/recovery blocked while shipment is active |
| Target VM stays powered off | It powers on only during drill/recovery |
| Minimum RPO | 1 hour |
| Maximum RPO | 240 hours (10 days) |
| Retention range | 1 to 365 days |
| Retention cleanup granularity | Cleanup job runs every 6 hours, so expired recovery points may remain up to 6 hours past retention time |
| Recovery is irreversible | Automatic failback to source is not supported |
4. Frequently Asked Questions
Will DRaaS affect production VM performance?
No. Replication operates at the storage layer below the operating system using changed-block replication, so CPU and memory overhead on the source VM from DRaaS operations is minimal.
What is the difference between DR Drill and Recovery?
- DR Drill is a non-destructive test. Production VM continues running.
- Recovery is the real failover event. DR plan ends and target becomes new primary.
- Use recovery only when source region has actually failed.
What happens to source VM during recovery?
DRaaS does not delete or modify source VM state. You decide whether to keep, repurpose, or decommission it.
Can I have multiple DR plans for same VM?
No. One source VM can have only one active DR plan. If you need protection in another target region, delete existing plan first and then create a new plan.
What happens if one replication cycle fails?
DRaaS retries failed replication automatically. If failure persists, an email notification is sent. The plan stays active and the next cycle continues.
Can I pause replication without losing existing recovery points?
Yes. Stopping plan preserves existing recovery points. Billing continues while stopped.
Can I replicate only block storage volume without VM?
No. Standalone volume DR is not currently supported.
How many recovery points should I keep?
Guideline:
- Short retention (7 to 14 days) with low RPO (1 to 4 hours) for dense recent restore points.
- Longer retention (30 to 90 days) with higher RPO (12 to 24 hours) for broader historical window.
Higher retention increases storage cost.
What should I do after successful recovery?
- Validate application behavior on target VM.
- Update DNS/load balancers to target IP.
- Notify stakeholders.
- Create a new DR plan once target-side environment is stable.
- Decide source VM disposition.
Can I test DR without affecting production traffic?
Yes. DR Drill is designed for this purpose. Source VM and production traffic remain unaffected, and target VM is powered on in isolation in target region for testing.
5. Troubleshooting
"Not allowed when data shipment is going on. Please wait."
A shipment cycle is currently in progress. Wait for completion and retry. Check Recovery Points listing to confirm whether entries are still in SHIPPING status.
"Source Resource is not Running."
Source VM must be running before creating or resuming DR.
"Disaster Recovery not available for the selected resource type."
Only Node (VM) resource type is currently supported.
"You do not have sufficient infra credits."
Top up infra credits and retry action.
"Invalid name: Must be 1-128 characters, start with a letter..."
Plan name rules:
- Starts with a letter
- Ends with a letter or digit
- Allowed characters: letters, digits, hyphen, underscore
- Length: 1 to 128 characters
Valid examples: web-server-dr, prod_api_dr2, MyDRPlan
Invalid examples: 1-dr-plan, my dr plan, dr!
Recovery point stuck in SHIPPING
If SHIPPING lasts unusually long, retries may still be running. If retries all fail, the status becomes SHIPPING FAILED and a notification email is sent.
Target VM not accessible after DR Drill
After a drill starts, the target VM IP is from the target region, not the source region. Use the target-region IP, verify credentials, and validate security-group access. If needed, check the DR plan details in the console to confirm the target VM IP.
Plan stuck in Creating
If a plan remains in Creating for an extended period, contact support with the DR plan ID.
"Same OS/SKU not available at target"
Required OS image or VM plan does not exist in target region. Contact E2E Networks support.