# High availability and disaster recovery by deployment

*MuleSoft Platform Integration Architect Study Guide · Designing integration solutions to meet reliability requirements · Last updated November 13, 2026 · https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/mulesoft-platform-integration-architect/designing-integration-solutions-to-meet-reliability-requirements/high-availability-and-disaster-recovery-by-deployment*

Separate high availability (surviving a component or zone failure with no loss of service) from disaster recovery (restoring to an acceptable earlier state within an RPO and RTO), then apply the standby types and the MuleSoft-versus-customer responsibility split on CloudHub 1.0, CloudHub 2.0, Runtime Fabric and customer-hosted runtimes.

- Certification: Salesforce MuleSoft Platform Integration Architect
- Exam section: Designing integration solutions to meet reliability requirements
- Study guide: https://www.certifyforce.com/study-guide/mulesoft-platform-integration-architect

**Official exam objective:**

> Differentiate between disaster recovery and high availability and the basic approaches to achieving either in all deployment options.

## What the exam expects

- Differentiate high availability from disaster recovery and record a business requirement as an RPO or an RTO.
- Choose a cold, warm, hot or active-active standby from tolerated downtime, cost and control-plane dependence.
- State what MuleSoft handles and what the customer owns on CloudHub 1.0, CloudHub 2.0, Runtime Fabric and customer-hosted runtimes.
- Plan a DR design where the platform provides none.

**High availability (HA)**: a system's ability to remain accessible when a component fails. **Disaster recovery (DR)**: restoring a system to an acceptable previous state after a disaster. **RPO**: the maximum data loss a business accepts. **RTO**: the maximum downtime a business tolerates. **Standby**: how much of the backup environment runs before a disaster ([HA and DR guide](https://docs.mulesoft.com/hosting-home/hadr-guide), [CloudHub 2.0 HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr)).

## Key facts

| Fact | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| RPO vs RTO | RPO: maximum data loss; RTO: maximum downtime. | [CloudHub 2.0 HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr) |
| 99.9% uptime | 10.1 minutes a week, 8.75 hours a year of downtime. | [HA and DR guide](https://docs.mulesoft.com/hosting-home/hadr-guide) |
| CloudHub 1.0 multi-worker | Separate AZs by default; single worker restarts elsewhere with downtime. | [CloudHub HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub/cloudhub-hadr) |
| CloudHub 1.0 log buffer | Up to 1 GB while the control plane is unavailable. | [CloudHub HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub/cloudhub-hadr) |
| CloudHub 2.0 replicas | Two or more AZs by default; restart in another AZ on failure. | [CloudHub 2.0 HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr) |
| Warm standby on CloudHub 2.0 | Cannot start backups while the control plane is down. | [CloudHub 2.0 HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr) |
| Cold standby on CloudHub 2.0 | Consumes no DR-region entitlements before the outage; longest RTO. | [CloudHub 2.0 HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr) |
| `rtfctl` backup scope | Cluster configuration only; not application state. | [Runtime Fabric HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/runtime-fabric/latest/rtf-ha-dr) |
| On-premises cluster across sites | Latency below 10 ms between nodes. | [On-premises HA and DR](https://docs.mulesoft.com/on-premises/latest/on-premises-hadr) |

## Check yourself

- Why does HPA alone not keep Runtime Fabric replicas balanced across zones?
- When the CloudHub 1.0 control plane is unavailable, how much log and telemetry data can a worker hold?
- What does a cold standby mean for an on-premises deployment?
- When does a CloudHub 2.0 hot standby still depend on the control plane during an outage?

## Sources

- [High Availability and Disaster Recovery Across Deployment Models](https://docs.mulesoft.com/hosting-home/hadr-guide)
- [CloudHub High Availability and Disaster Recovery](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub/cloudhub-hadr)
- [CloudHub 2.0 High Availability and Disaster Recovery](https://docs.mulesoft.com/cloudhub-2/ch2-ha-dr)
- [Runtime Fabric High Availability and Disaster Recovery](https://docs.mulesoft.com/runtime-fabric/latest/rtf-ha-dr)
- [High Availability and Disaster Recovery for On-Premises Mule Runtime Engine](https://docs.mulesoft.com/on-premises/latest/on-premises-hadr)
- [High Availability Clusters](https://docs.mulesoft.com/on-premises/4.6/mule-high-availability-ha-clusters)

## About the full unit

The "Core concepts", "Exam traps" and "Worked scenario" sections of this unit, its 7 linked practice questions, and unlimited timed mock exams are included with the MuleSoft Platform Integration Architect pack (USD $19): https://www.certifyforce.com/practice-exams