Disaster Recovery

Disasters may negatively impact normal operations of an organization. A risk assessment should be performed to determine what constitutes a disaster and which risks a specific company is most susceptible to, including:

• Natural disasters
• Fire
• Power failure
• Terrorist attacks
• Organized or deliberate disruptions
• Theft
• System and/or equipment failures
• Human error
• Computer viruses
• Legal issues
• Worker strikes
• Testing

We may be able to help you email us at info@ensigncom.com

Some measures for prevention against data loss are stated here:

• Backups sent off-site at regular intervals
• Includes software as well as all data information, to facilitate recovery
• Create an insurance copy on Microfilm or similar and store the records off-site
• Use a Remote backup facility if possible to minimize data loss
• Storage Area Networks (SANs) over multiple sites are a recent development (since 2003) which make data immediately available without the need to recover or synchronize it
• Surge Protectors to minimize the effect of power surges on delicate electronic equipment
• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and/or Backup Generator
• Fire Preventions more alarms, accessible extinguishers
• Anti-virus software and other security measures

Disaster recovery planning:

Disaster recovery planning falls into the realm of Business continuity planning, as well as Risk management. The planning process consists of the following steps:

• Assess business impact and risk. This should include an assessment of the business unit's function and, preferably, a business impact analysis (BIA). The purpose of the assessment is to determine the business unit's relative contribution to the larger organization (monetary and functional).
• Develop a Disaster Recovery framework. Data should be categorized by importance. Two measures of importance are used, RTO and RPO. Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the acceptable amount of time between the disaster and the post-disaster resumption of function (how long can we wait to restore data?). Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the acceptable data roll-back (how current does the data have to be?).
• Develop a recovery strategy and then a written Disaster Recovery Plan. That written plan should address at a minimum: response, recovery, and resumption of services detailed tasks.
• Adjust information systems to make Disaster Recovery easier. This includes consolidating servers and data, perhaps with a Storage Area Network or other archival storage method.

A good plan takes into account many different factors. The most important are:

• Communication
• Personnel notify all key personnel of the problem and assign them tasks focused toward the recovery plan.
• Customers notifying clients about the problem minimizes panic.
• Recall backups If backup tapes are taken offsite, these need to be recalled. If using remote backup services, a network connection to the remote backup location (or the Internet) will be required.
• Facilities having backup hot sites or cold sites for larger companies. Mobile recovery facilities are also available from many suppliers.
• Prepare your employees during a disaster, employees are required to work longer, more stressful hours, and a support system should be in place to alleviate some of the stress. Prepare them ahead of time to ensure that work runs smoothly.
• Business information backups should be stored in a completely separate location from the company
• Testing the plan provisions, directions, frequency for testing the plan should be stipulated.

We may be able to help you email us at info@ensigncom.com