Choosing Recovery Point Objective Values

The minimum, recommended maximum, and default RPO values are described in One View and Disaster Recovery Considerations and Requirements. When choosing an RPO value you must consider its affect on the recovery span. The recovery span is defined by the oldest retained snapshot and represents the oldest point in time on which a recovery can be based. The following formula describes the relationship.

For example, with a minimum RPO value of 15 minutes and 20 retained snapshots, the oldest point from which you can recover is only about 2.3 hours back in time as shown below.

Using an RPO of 30 minutes and 20 retained snapshots allows recovery from a point in time 4.75 hours old.