Kutztown University 2012:
ITC 425 Computer Networks for Educators
Group 3 Project (Leigh-Anne Yacovelli & Chip Carnes)
Disaster Recovery is the process an organization uses to recover access to their software, data, and/or hardware that are needed to resume the performance of normal business functions after the event of either a natural disaster or a disaster caused by humans. Disaster Recovery is not about recovering from a disaster, but planning for one, as business continuity (ensuring business continues if a disaster befalls the organization) is
What are the disasters we are talking about?
Recovery after a disaster is expensive, so planning is essential! This involves well-informed IT support staff members who will implement several phases of a disaster recovery plan.
Planning and Prevention – What does a disaster recovery plan need to do?
- DETECT the disaster effects as quickly as possible
- NOTIFY all affected parties so they too can take action
- ISOLATE the affected systems so the damage cannot spread
- REPAIR the affected systems so operations can resume
The Disaster Recovery Plan:
The following are some of the general steps required to develop and implement a plan.
- Create a policy statement. Include the goal, reasons, and resources of the plan. How does a disaster impact the organization?
- Identify preventive steps. Can disaster be avoided by taking the correct steps?
- Develop recovery strategies. How and what will you need to recover?
- Write a plan and implement its elements. Flip charts with the plan's steps will aid personnel in an emergency.
- Test and get everyone to buy-in to the plan. This is very important so that everyone knows what to do.
- Continuously make changes to reflect any current situations.
REDUNDANCY - REDUNDANCY - REDUNDANCY
Saying it over and over is kind of redundant, isn’t it? Look in the dictionary for “redundant” and it says, “See redundant”, right? So what is the link between redundancy and disaster recovery? Redundancy provides for a secondary set of data or saved systems that you can call up in an emergency to replace what was damaged or destroyed in the disaster.
A traditional method that helps you recover your data is the backup of critical data, preferably stored off-site. Replicating your server and storing the copy offsite is also useful, but might not be practical. The use of outside storage services fits this need, but can be costly. Some organizations share the burden of off-site storage so that each place is responsible for storing only a portion of everyone’s data.
A growing tool for immediate recovery is the institution of periodic backups kept on the computers or servers on-site. These tend to take up a lot of space, which in turn slows processing, and require the installation of a program that also takes up space.
A feasible on-site solution is a redundant array of independent disks (“RAID”) to segment hard drives. This allows for the replacement a critical network component that might go down without the need to cease operation.
What about Cloud backup? The Cloud is owned by for-profit companies. The cost to organizations with a lot of data is often too great. Security on the cloud is also controversial. Backups commonly contain an organization’s emails and personal information that belong to workers.
If it costs so much, and you have to hire or train people, what are the benefits of a Disaster Recovery Plan?
A growing tool for immediate recovery is the institution of periodic backups kept on the computers or servers on-site. These tend to take up a lot of space, which in turn slows processing, and require the installation of a program that also takes up space.
A feasible on-site solution is a redundant array of independent disks (“RAID”) to segment hard drives. This allows for the replacement a critical network component that might go down without the need to cease operation.
What about Cloud backup? The Cloud is owned by for-profit companies. The cost to organizations with a lot of data is often too great. Security on the cloud is also controversial. Backups commonly contain an organization’s emails and personal information that belong to workers.
If it costs so much, and you have to hire or train people, what are the benefits of a Disaster Recovery Plan?
- It reduces the need for decision making when a disaster happens.
- Gives the business confidence that it can continue after a disaster.
- Provides a back-up of information and documents if the original is destroyed.
- It reduces the risk of a human disaster when people are trained in the reasons for a disaster recovery plan.
- It can also lower insurance premiums. Many insurance policies allow for the purchase of new, or newer used, hardware at anytime and for any reason if the disaster recovery plan includes it as a preventative measure.