# RTO, RPO, WRT
One-sentence definition: Recovery Time Objective (RTO) = target time to restore service; Recovery Point Objective (RPO) = acceptable data loss window; Work Recovery Time (WRT) = time to restore business after IT recovery.
## Key Facts
- RTO set per process/system, derived from BIA and MTD.
- RPO drives backup/replication frequency and architecture.
- WRT follows IT recovery to resume normal business operations.
- Validate objectives via tests; monitor gaps vs actuals.
- Achieving tighter RTO/RPO increases cost/complexity (trade-off).
- **Label:** **Objectives** guide DR architecture and runbooks.
- **Verify:** check official (ISC)² CBK and current exam outline.
## Exam Relevance
- Match solutions to meet RTO/RPO (e.g., async vs sync replication).
**Mnemonic:** “Time to run; Point of data; Work to resume.”
## Mini Scenario
Q: RPO is 15 minutes—are nightly backups sufficient?
A: No—need frequent snapshots or replication.
## Revision Checklist
- Define RTO, RPO, WRT.
- Provide one technology that improves each.
- Explain cost vs objective trade-off.
## Related
[[Business Impact Analysis (BIA)]] · [[Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP)]] · [[Backup Strategies (Full, Incremental, Differential)]] · [[Redundancy and Resilience (HA, Clustering, FT)]] · [[Business Continuity Management (BCP)]] · [[Domain 1 - Index]]