Disaster Recovery Planning"Disaster recovery planning consists of a set of activities aimed at reducing the likely hood and limiting the impact of disaster events on critical business processes" Togio (2000).The disaster recovery plan, which should address various levels of response to a number of possible disasters and should provide for partial or complete recovery of all data, application software, network components, and physical facilities.The recovery plan should have specific goals for different types of disasters. For example, if the main database server was destroyed, how long should it take the organization to have the software and data back in operation by using the backups? ...view middle of the document...
Here are some of the objectives that might want to be considered.·Safety and welfare to the people on the premises at the time of the disaster·Protection of critical information and records·Protection of business sites and facilities·Protection and availability of materials, supplies and equipment for the safety and recovery of vital records·Minimize the duration of disasters·Reduction of the immediate damage and loss·Business contingency in the event of a disaster·Recovery of lost and damaged records or lost information after a disasterDisaster recovery procedures are designed to reduce the aftermath of disasters and to ensure recovery of the business operations. To achieve its purpose, a disaster recovery plan must have the following characteristics:Authority. Disasters often result in chaos when they are not adequately planed for. An important cause for the lack of specification or communication of the flow of authority. A disaster recovery plan clearly states the flow of authority in times of a disaster. It is also necessary to specify the roles and responsibilities of individuals in level of authority. It should be clearly stated who makes key decisions when responding to and recovering from a disasterProcess. The response to and recovery from disasters involves a set of processes and procedures that need to be performed. These processes and procedures should be clearly specified in a disaster recovery plan. This helps minimize the impact of the disaster on the organisation.Accessibility. A disaster recovery plan should be accessible in times of need. To facilitate accessibility, the plan should be created in a format that is accessible during a disaster. For example if a disaster recovery plan is kept on a computer that has had no data backup and this computer is stolen, then the disaster recovery plan will be no be retrievable.Effective Disaster Recovery PlanningAn effective disaster recovery plan should aim to cover some or all of the following points.·Assessment of which systems are critical for business continuity detailed in order of importance - e.g. Customer Relationship Management database, finance data, sales and data, application data, intellectual property, email, etc.·Describe an effective backup of data and off-site archiving together with periodic testing of data restores from backup.·Hardware - include an up to date list of infrastructure specifications and suppliers, together with the configuration documents, to facilitate swift replacement and rebuilding.·Management and documentation of Internet service provider (ISP) accounts, 'phone service providers, IP addresses, passwords, email accounts, maintenance accounts etc.·Limiting disasters before they happen - anti-virus, uninterruptible power supply (UPS), firewall, and halon fire extinguishers.Recovery TeamBefore creating a disaster recovery plan a disaster recovery team should...
