Recipe: RTO/RPO target setting
Define recovery-time and recovery-point objectives that match your workload tier and compliance posture.
Prerequisites
- Workload inventory with criticality tiers assigned
- Current backup cadence and retention policy documented
- Stakeholder sign-off on maximum tolerable downtime
Step 1 — Tier your workloads
Classify every service as Tier-1 (seconds of downtime unacceptable), Tier-2 (minutes acceptable), or Tier-3 (hours acceptable). Tag resources in Meridian so the dashboard can enforce RTO/RPO per tier.
Step 2 — Set numeric targets
| Tier | RTO | RPO |
|---|---|---|
| Tier-1 | < 60 s | Zero |
| Tier-2 | < 15 min | < 5 min |
| Tier-3 | < 4 h | < 1 h |
Step 3 — Validate with a fire drill
Run a controlled failover for one Tier-2 workload. Measure actual recovery time and data loss window. Adjust targets if the measured gap exceeds the stated objective by more than 20%.
Pro tip: Meridian auto-generates an RTO/RPO compliance report every week. Pin it to your team channel so drift is caught before the next audit.