TOP FIVE THINGS NEEDED IN A DR PLAN
Disasters strike without warning, at any time and this is the reason all businesses should have a tried and tested DR plan. There are five essential things needed for an effective DR plan. They are:
- Analysis of Risk Factors
- Prevention, Detection & Recovery
- Recovery of Data Loss
- Testing and Maintenance of DR plan
The disaster recovery plan basics
The DR plan should be thoroughly documented in all aspects. It will cost money upfront, but better a small investment now than regrets later.
Risk Factors
All the risks that can affect the business should be analyzed in detail. The analysis should detail how the various risk factors impact critical business functions. The DR plan should include details of how critical functions will be restarted in the event of a disaster.
Prevention, Detection and Recovery
Some risks can be prevented by building redundancy into the system. For risk detection, equipment such as smoke detectors, fire alarms, anti-virus software etc. can be installed. Once the immediate threats of the disaster have been tackled, then recovery procedures can be started as per the DR plan.
Recovery of Data Loss
Data loss in virtual environments affects all business’ once in some way. File corruption, accidental deletion, storage/server hardware failure etc. are some of the reasons for data loss. IT Department should back-up data at regular intervals or replicate data offsite.
Once the DR plan has completed, it must be tested and modified as needed. Many unanticipated problems may arise. They should be corrected and the plan tested again. When every aspect of the Disaster Recovery plan works as anticipated, the DR plan is sound and the business is ready to face and recover from a disaster.
Categories: Disaster Recovery Planning, DR Plans
