Disaster Recovery Plans
Today, businesses of all types are dependent upon their information technology. Almost all work carried out is recorded
in some way onto a computer system. Most people now have a computer on their desk or access to a computer. However,
rarely do people stop and consider what would happen if they arrived at work and that computer was no longer there or all the data was gone.
Disasters can take many forms from natural disasters to power surges to computer viruses or sabotage. Consideration needs to be
given to all of these situations and how the Information Technology Systems currently in place will firstly be affected and secondly,
what contingencies can be put in place to minimise interruption to business.
By identifying critical data and systems, plans can be put in place ensure they can be fully restored in the minimal possible timeframe.
Things to consider when discussing disaster planning are:
- Do you know the cost of reconstructing your company’s financial, personnel and other business data?
- Do you know if your business insurance would cover any or all of the cost of replacing data?
- Do you know how long it would take to reconstruct your business data?
- Do you know the cost per hour of server downtime?
Once your Disaster Plan is complete, copies should be kept both on and off site for easy access. The disaster recovery plan will
cover the following issues:
- What data do you need to backup and how often should these backups be performed?
- Saving critical computer or other hardware configuration information that is not saved during normal tape backups.
- What data needs to be stored on-site, and how should it be physically stored?
- What data should be stored offsite, and how should it be physically stored?
- What training is required so server operators and administrators can respond quickly and efficiently if an emergency occurs?
When considering disaster recovery, there are a number of options ranging from having a redundant server available to install
if an emergency arises to having redundant components such as hard drives available to a full backup strategy for protecting
software and data. When a server fails, it needs to be understood that the term “server” refers to a large number of components that may fail.
DWM is able to provide a full range of advice and services to ensure you are fully prepared to deal with a Disaster Recovery scenario.