Failover
What is Failover?
The automatic switching to a redundant or standby system, server, or network when the primary system fails. Failover ensures continuity of operations and is a critical component of high-availability architectures.
Terms that appear alongside failover
Each of these is named in at least one of the same controls as failover. The number is how many controls name both.
- business continuity 5 shared controls
- resilience 5 shared controls
- disaster recovery 4 shared controls
- iso 22301 4 shared controls
- nist 4 shared controls
- business impact analysis 3 shared controls
- redundancy 3 shared controls
- recovery point objective 3 shared controls
Frameworks that govern failover
What the standards actually require on failover
Requirements naming failover across 6 standards, quoted from the control text.
Agency networks must consider using call diversity and call failover configurations.
new-zealand-information-security-manual-nzism::19.5.26.C.05 · 19.5.26.C.05 Consider call diversity and failover configurations →Where a high availability requirement exists for online services, the services are architected to automatically transition between availability zones.
ISM-1580 · Automatic failover between availability zones →Provide [Selection: real-time; near real-time] [Assignment: organization-defined failover capability] for the system.
NIST800-SI-13(5) · SI-13(5) Predictable Failure Prevention | Failover Capability →The organization should test and exercise its ICT continuity plans, distinguishing tests, which verify that a technical capability such as failover or restoration works, from exercises, which rehearse the people, decisions and procedures of a plan, and using b...
iso-iec-27031-2025::11.2.1 · Test and exercise →Exercise and test objectives cover resilience, system monitoring and recovery of business processes and critical components, range from single-file recovery to full failover, include physical security, critical systems, multiple departments and third parties,...
ffiec-it-examination-handbook::BCM-VII.D · VII.D Exercise and Test Objectives (Business Continuity Management) →The first containment step limits damage as soon as possible, for example isolating the network segment of infected workstations, disconnecting cables or powering down switches or routers for affected parts of the network, or taking hacked production servers d...
sans-incident-handlers-handbook-and-picerl-methodology::C-1 · C-1 Short-term containment: limit the damage fast, from isolating a segment to failing over to other servers →Questions people ask about failover
What is Failover?
Why is Failover important for compliance?
Which compliance frameworks address Failover?
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See how Failover applies across compliance frameworks
Our platform maps 1,016 frameworks with 316K cross-framework control mappings. Explore how this concept is addressed across standards.