What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?
A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is a document that outlines how an organization will recover from a data loss or system outage. A disaster recovery plan aims to minimize downtime and data loss by providing a step-by-step guide for restoring critical systems and data. A disaster recovery plan DRP should be tailored to an organization's specific needs and should consider the organization's size and complexity, as well as the types of data and systems critical to its operations.
Data backup is one of the important element of disaster recovery; which is discussed in details in this webpage. Data backup is copying data from one location to another to protect it from loss or damage. When creating a data backup plan, it is important to consider both on-site and off-site storage options. On-site storage is typically less expensive, but it can be vulnerable to the same disasters that threaten the primary data center. Off-site storage is more expensive but provides an additional layer of protection against disasters.
Another important element of a disaster recovery plan is server replication. Server replication is the process of creating copies of data and applications on multiple servers at different locations. This ensures that if one server is lost or damaged, the others can pick up the slack. Server replication can be done manually, but it is often automated using software tools.
Disaster recovery planning is essential for any organization that relies on data and applications to conduct business. By taking the time to create a comprehensive plan, organizations can minimize the risk of disruptions and ensure that their data and applications are always available when they are needed most.
What is the impact of not having a disaster recovery plan?
The importance of data backup and disaster recovery planning should never be overlooked. In a data loss incident, having a reliable data backup and disaster recovery plan in place can mean the difference between a minor setback and a major catastrophe. Without data backup, businesses risk losing critical data that could impact operations, customers, and revenue. Furthermore, data backup as specified in a DRP ensures that businesses can continue to operate in the event of a disaster.
For example, the disaster recovery plan enables businesses protect their data and infrastructure by having servers at multiple locations and automating processes. In case of any unfortunate event, companies can still work normally without any interruption.
How can a DRP help your business?
For any business, knowing what the upside of a DRP is, means knowing that data is essential. Sales data, customer data, financial data - all of it needs to be stored securely and accessible at a moment's notice. However, data can be lost or corrupted in several ways, from accidental deletion to hardware failure to malicious attacks.
A good example of a disaster recovery plan would include storing data on servers at multiple locations. In such a scenario, through automation, the lost server can be replaced by another instantly. In addition, automated data backups in a DRP will ensure data is always current and available when needed.
Implementing a DRP can help give you peace of mind knowing that your data is safe and sound - no matter what happens. Here are some other instances where having a DRP in place can help:
1. Prevent or limit the overall damage
The more you’ve planned out ahead of time while in a calm and objective frame of mind, the better. For instance, in the case of a flood in an office, a DRP may specify that the first step is to save the main servers first, detailing exactly where they are and how to do that. This will allow whichever staff is around at the time of the disaster to do this quickly. This is what a disaster recovery plan can do for you – allow you to have instructions ready to go in the case of an emergency.
If something like this were to happen and you didn’t have a DRP in place, it’s possible that the personnel with the knowledge of the importance of the servers, where they are, and how to disconnect them may not be around at the time. Therefore, it’s more likely that this valuable equipment would get damaged.
2. Decrease interruption so as to restore services and business operations
When it comes to business, interruptions in your operations and workday can be detrimental to the overall and eventual survival of your business. Too much downtime will lead to customers losing faith in your ability to function effectively and securely. If they’re paying for a service, they’ll expect to receive that service. Even in the case of those who are the most understanding, nobody can continue to pay for something that is ineffective – especially if the service you provide is essential to their operations. Eventually, customers will move on and away, and who could blame them? Statistics show that the longer a business takes to re-open after suffering a major disaster, the less likely they are to be able to re-open at all.
Of course, without a DRP prepared and ready to go, re-opening quickly is seriously unlikely – at this point, your business’s future will be looking pretty grim. Therefore, what a DRP is supposed to do is to set out a step-by-step process that can be followed quickly and easily. Most importantly, you need to set out your mission critical services so that you can get things back up and running as efficiently as possible.
The advantages of having these things set out ahead of time can’t be overstated:
- You will have been able to think things through in a calm and rational manner from an objective perspective.
- Your instructions on what to do next will already be ready to go, so it’ll save time.
- It’ll be guaranteed that the person in charge of making the decisions about what to do is qualified and allowed to make such important decisions.
- It will calm things down.
3. Train and prepare your staff
Everybody reacts differently when things go wrong, and that’s normal. However, adverse reactions and panic can be exacerbated by not knowing what to do next and not having a plan. This is what a DRP is designed for and that is to help you and your staff be prepared so that you can all respond calmly and logically.
In addition, it will also ensure that everybody knows exactly what they need to be doing and how to do it, rather than having to figure things out in the moment. If your staff is trained, it’s more likely that they’ll be able to figure out what the problem is and know how to solve it.
What Should Be Included in Disaster Recovery Plan?
Disaster recovery plans will differ from business to business, depending on the industry, the style of management, the people in charge, and many other factors. Here is the disaster recovery plan checklist of what should be included for the DR planning to be comprehensive and effective:
1. Catalogue all your data assets
The first step is to catalogue all of your data assets and determine which ones are critical to your business operations. Once you have identified your critical data, you need to devise a plan for backing it up.
This should include both on-site and off-site storage options. Additionally, you should consider storing your data on servers at multiple locations. This will help to ensure that you can access your data even if one location is impacted by any unfortunate event.
Finally, automation can play a key role in disaster recovery. By automating data backup and restoration, you can minimize the impact of a disaster on your business operations. By being aware of all your data assets and including them in your disaster recovery plan, you can help to protect your company from the devastating effects of data loss.
2. Identify Your Threats
If you have an idea of the types of threats your business may be vulnerable to, you’ll be better equipped to deal with them should they occur. The types of threats you may face will depend on your business. This is what a DRP is all about.
Start by doing research on your company’s history, the general industry, and the geographical region in which your business is located. The types of threats a business may want to consider and be prepared for include some of the following:
- Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, or hurricanes
- Geopolitical events like wars or civil unrest
- Cyber attacks
- Technological hardware malfunctions
The next thing to do is to rank the risks in order of which ones are most threatening to your business. Remember, it’s about doing your very best to be prepared for any possible scenario, but prioritizing the ones you think you are most susceptible to.
3. Establish a Disaster Recovery Site
When it comes to IT orientated businesses, replicating data and backing it up on alternate servers is essential. Many companies will rely on periodic scheduled data backups, but for the purposes of disaster recovery, the best thing to do is to continuously replicate data to another system.
There are a few options, including on-site cold storage, off-site cold storage, one-site warm back up, and off-site warm back up. Ensure that things are pre-organized in your DRP.
4. Set Out Your RTO and RPO
When it comes to what a disaster recovery plan metric is, two of the most essential are your Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and your Recovery Point Objective (RPO).
- RTO: An RTO is the amount of time that your business can withstand your critical assets being offline/out of action. Once you’ve established your RTO, put together a plan that will help you get your systems back in order within the determined time.
- RPO: Your RPO, on the other hand, is all about what needs to be recovered – that is, the age of the maximum age of files that ought to be recovered in order to be able to resume normal operations. Thus, the RPO is used by businesses to determine the minimum frequency of backups.
Test Your Back Up
Any good disaster recovery plan should include testing your backup and automation procedures to make sure that they are working correctly. This can be done by simulating a disaster scenario and testing how well your data is recovered.
If your backup and automation procedures are not working correctly, you may need to revise your plan. By testing your backup and automation regularly, you can ensure that your data is protected. Remember, it is no good if your plan isn’t actually functional and effective.
Types of disaster recovery solutions
Asking what a DRP is will invite different answers from different businesses. It all depends on the infrastructure that they decide is most important to protect, as well as the backup and recovery plans they intend on using.
Here are some examples of disaster recovery solutions:
- Disaster recovery as a service (DRAAS): Companies may choose to employ a third-party to take care of their cloud-based virtual and physical servers. This third party will be responsible for the disaster recovery in totality.
- Data center disaster recovery: This is for organizations that have their primary data centers on site.
- Network disaster recovery: Emphasizing access to backup sites and data, this is about maintaining network connectivity for communication, application access and the sharing of data during a disaster.
- Cloud disaster recovery: This negates the need for a physical backup location, but it’s also more than a simple cloud backup.
- Visualized disaster recovery: This replicates workloads to alternative cloud-based or physical locations so that operations can continue.
Sangfor's DR solution with HCI
Business continuity can be ensured based on simplified disaster recovery solution with Sangfor HCI. Watch the detailed whiteboard video to learn more.
Contact Sangfor today to make enquiries about creating a DRP for your business.
