There are three different ways you can store business-critical data: local data center, in the cloud, or you can take a hybrid approach.
With a data center, your critical data is stored off-site in a physical location, but disaster recovery can take days or weeks. Although this is considered the most secure storage option, it is also the most expensive as facilities, and additional systems and staff are required.
Cloud disaster recovery is the most cost-effective and scalable option. With this option, you leverage a cloud data center to store your critical systems (whether physical or virtual), data, and applications. Cloud disaster recovery allows you to keep entire virtual environments at the ready, reducing recovery from a disaster or business outage to minutes or even seconds.
A hybrid cloud disaster recovery method uses a public cloud and private data center (physical or cloud). This provides a great degree of flexibility, keeps costs down, while also meeting any regulatory and compliance needs.
With all three methods, be sure to evaluate the pros and cons of each against your individual business requirements.