Disaster Recovery |
..is the process, policies
and procedures of restoring
operations critical to the
resumption of business, including
regaining access to data (records,
hardware, software, etc.)...
Wikipedia (excerpt)
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Disaster Recovery |
Disaster Recovery(DR) is a component of a larger Business Continuation Plan(BCP).
A BCP covers every aspect of a companies business recovery requirements, while the DR plan focuses on the
restoration of computers, servers, software applications and data.
Business Continuity Planning (BCP) is the overall plans and processes put into place to recover all aspects of a companies day to day operations in the case of a disaster.
Disasters can include company incidents like the loss of a critical computer or a server room, local incidents like building fires, regional incidents like earthquakes, or national incidents like pandemic illnesses.
While many larger companies have extensive Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery plans, even to the point of having entire departments dedicated to the tasks. Small Businesses do not have the need, nor
resources for this extensive planning. But a few simple steps and some proper planning can provide peace of mind and a roadmap for getting your business back up and running quickly regardless
of what type of disaster strikes.
• Maintain backups of your critical business data, including customer records, accounting files, brochures, templates, etc.
• Make routine data backups part of your normal daily/eweekly schedule.
• Keep your backups off-site. Keep 2 copies, one at the office, and another at home. If a problem happens at the office, you need to have your data stored away from the computer systems at work.
Added security can be achieved inexpensively with a network device that will provide RAID storage for your data. For between $500 and $2000, a network device can be added into your network that provides multiple hard drives,
for which every pair of drives will act as a single drive providing a mirrored copy of your data. If one of the drives fails, the data is stored on the other and the failed drive can be replaced easily and the data will repopulate onto the new drive
maintaining a redundant copy of your data for you.
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Questions to ask yourself to determine if your data is safe:
• Have I identified the data critical to running my business?
Data that is critical to your business is sometimes easy to take for granted, until you lose it. Something that most everyone has and uses on a daily basis
is their e-mail contact list. What about your accounting or payroll files? Forms, brochures, templates? Any files that you rely on to run your business
should be considered critical and you should have up to date copies of these files. Why? Very simply, computers and hardware will fail over time. Even if you don't
have any major disaster, you can still lose valuable information, not to mention the time to recreate what was lost.
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• Do I make regular backups of my critical business data?
Once you have identified the data that is critical to your business, you need to put a backup plan in place. This need not be an expensive process that requires
you to purchase expensive backup packages and tape drives. There are many ways to safely backup your data based on the amount of data you have, and the type of
computer systems and/or network that you have in place.
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• Are my data backups stored in a safe location?
Keeping a copy of your data with your computer probably seems like the most natural thing to do, and most buusinesses do just that. What happens if there is a
problem that renders your office inaccessible, such as a building fire or other disaster? If you keep your backups in the same place as your computer(s), they will
suffer the same fate as your computer should something happen. This might seem like one of thoses things that will just never happen to you, but proper planning
and following some simple guidelines can mean the difference between being able to easily get back to business, or not.
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• Have I tested my backups to insure that the data is recoverable?
This is just common sense. Once you begin to make backups of your data, test to insure that the backups work properly and that you can recover the
data. Having a software package tell you everything is alright is one thing, actually being able to test this on a regular basis is the real test, and the cornerstone
of any disaster recovery plan. You should test your backups at least once a year at a minimum. Twice yearly would be preferable. Depending on the backup medium
you choose, such as a DAT tape, this will wear over time and need to be replaced on a regular basis. A good rule of thumb when using backup tapes is to replace
them on an annual basis.
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• As my business grows, do I revise my backup and recovery strategies to meet any new requirements?
If you have a backup plan in place and have tested your backups, then you have done more than most small businesses think to do, and are well on your way
to having a Disaster Recovery plan in place for your business. Besides regular testing and replacement of your backup media, the one thing that you will
need to do is review your plans and strategies on a regular basis. Annual reviews will provide you with the security of knowing that any new applications,
and their data files, have been integrated into your plans, and can be recovered should the need arise.
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Copyright 2007-2009, Jacobs Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved.
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