Disaster Recovery is the process, policies and procedures of restoring operations critical to the resumption of business, including regaining access to data (records, hardware, software, etc.), communications (incoming, outgoing, toll-free, fax, etc.), workspace, and other business processes after a natural or man made disaster.

To increase the opportunity for a successful recovery of valuable records, a well-established and thoroughly tested disaster recovery plan must be developed.

With the rise of information technology and the reliance on business-critical information the importance of protecting irreplaceable data has become a business priority in recent years. Most companies rely on their computer systems as critical infrastructure in their business. As a result, most companies are aware that they need to backup their digital information to limit data loss and to aid  data recovery. Most large companies spend between 2% and 4% of their IT budget on disaster recovery planning; this is intended to avoid larger losses. Of companies that had a major loss of computerized data, 43% never reopen, 51% close within two years, and only 6% will survive long-term.

The following is a list of the most common strategies for data protection.

• Backups made to tape and sent off-site at regular intervals (preferably daily)

• 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. 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 addition to preparing for the need to recover systems, organizations must also implement precautionary measures with an objective of preventing a disaster situation 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 minimize the effect of power surges on delicate electronic equipment

• Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and/or Backup Generator to keep systems going in the event of a power failure

• Fire Preventions — more alarms, accessible fire extinguishers

• Anti-virus software and other security measures

 

Please contact A4 Computers to discuss your existing policies and allow us to make any appropriate recommendations.