A disaster recovery plan begins by asking some questions.

1. What is the current restoration time?
2. What is the maximum downtime my business can afford?
3. What are my key business applications?
4. How reliable is my backup?

A disaster recovery plan is a set of instructions that outlines the tasks, resources and actions required to manage the restoration of the business system.

Although it is generally recognised that a disaster recovery plan is vital to the well being of a business, it is often times overlooked.

A disaster recovery plan begins by asking some questions.

1. What is the current restoration time?
2. What is the maximum downtime my business can afford?
3. What are my key business applications?
4. How reliable is my backup?

The answers to the above questions will determine the equipment and methods to achieve the desired results.

Various Methods of Disaster Recovery

1. BACKUP TAPE

   Backup tape is utilize together with a backup program and it provides data protection.

   In an event where the server requires a full restore, the following procedure is required:

   1. Server OS installation
   2. Restore server database (Active Directory, NDS, etc)
   3. Application installation (may require third party vendors)
   4. Data restoration by tape backup

   Key Points

   1. Comprehensive server documentation is required to ensure all configurations are complete during the installation
   2. Time consuming, restoration can take 2 to 3 days

   What is required to successfully achieve this?

   1. Establish a server documentation
   2. Reliable backup software and tape drive
   3. Document recovery procedure

2. DISK IMAGING

   Disk imaging is a software utilize to image the entire server into one file and provides full server protection.

   In an event of a disaster, a typical restoration process includes:

   1. Booting server with the imaging CD
   2. Restore from image file

   Key Points
   

   1. Simple procedure, no installation and configuration of software
   2. Require identical server hardware which requires the same server model if the server is lost through physical failure, theft or fire
   3. Quick restore, typically 1 hr

   What is required to successfully achieve this?

   1. Imaging software
   2. External hard disk
   3. Document recovery procedure

   Cost of Hardware & Software: $2K approx

3. SERVER REDUNDANCY

   Server redundancy is an infrastructure that provides failover to another server should the main server fail.

   A growing popular infrastructure is virtualization.

   Virtualisation allows the server operating system to be transferred from one server to another irrespective of hardware type.

   In an event of a disaster, the image of a server file can be established on another server.

   Key Points

   1. Simple procedure, no installation and configuration of software
   2. Hardware independent
   3. Fast restoration time, typically 1hr

   What is required to successfully achieve this?

   1. Additional Server
   2. Network Storage (not required but highly recommended)
   3. Server license
   4. Document recovery procedure

   Cost of Hardware & Software: $5-10K approx.