Disaster Recovery Planning
A2Z Computing can help formulate the process, policies and procedures related to preparing for recovery or continuation of technology infrastructure critical to an organization after a natural or human caused disaster. Disaster recovery is a subset of business continuity. While this involves planning for keeping all aspects of a business functioning in the midst of disruptive events, disaster recovery focuses on the IT or technology systems that support business functions.
Allow A2Z Computing to step in and offer a business continuity plan with a disaster recovery implementation. We can offer our services from a few hours to several weeks until the plans are complete. This all depends on the time and resources to document a solution.
As IT systems have become increasingly critical to the smooth operation of a company, and arguably the economy as a whole, the importance of ensuring the continued operation of those systems, or the rapid recovery of the systems, has increased.
It is estimated that most large companies spend between 2% and 4% of their IT budget on disaster recovery planning, with the aim of avoiding larger losses in the event that the business cannot continue to function due to loss of IT infrastructure and data. Of companies that had a major loss of business data, 43% never reopen, 51% close within two years, and only 6% will survive long-term.
Strategy for Protection
The following is a list of the most common strategies for data protection:
• Backups made to tape and sent/taken off-site at regular intervals
• Backups made to disk on-site and automatically copied to off-site disk, or made directly to off-site disk
• Replication of data to an off-site location, which overcomes the need to restore the data (only the systems then need to be restored or synchronized). This generally makes use of storage area network (SAN) technology
• High availability systems which keep both the data and system replicated off-site, enabling continuous access to systems and data
In many cases, an organisation may elect to use A2Z Computing's remote backup disaster recovery to provide a stand-by site and systems rather than using your own remote facilities.
In addition to preparing for the need to recover systems, organisations must also implement precautionary measures with an objective of preventing a disaster in the first place. These may include some of the following:
• Local mirrors of systems and/or data and use of disk protection technology such as RAID
• Surge protectors — to minimise the effect of power surges on delicate electronic equipment
• Un-interruptible power supply (UPS) and/or backup generator to keep systems going in the event of a power failure
• Fire prevention — alarms, fire extinguishers
• Anti-virus software and other security measures
Top Ten Tips for Business Continuity Planning:
1. When prioritising your plan, think about the cheque that you can't afford to write
2. Run regular rehearsals
3. Create a "first hour" plan of action
4. Back up computer data regularly and off-site
5. Consider how will you contact your customers and suppliers
6. Identify the nearest person that can help you - how is your relationship with your neighbours?
7. Role-play your attacker - if you wanted to ruin your business, what would you do?
8. Share vital skills amongst your employees so that no-one can take them away with them
9. Ensure the safety of your people first with an appropriate evacuation plan
10. Manage your risk through appropriate insurance
This list is not exhaustive, for some more examples visit http://www.sans.org/resources/policies/ and download their template policies.
