Disaster is a relative term. It could apply to an entire network being taken offline due to an earthquake, or a computer virus that’s infected a few critical workstations. Regardless of the scope, disasters will strike at the most inopportune times. Smart businesses will have a disaster recovery plan in place to ensure that no matter what happens, business can resume as soon as possible. A good plan should include contingencies for possible disasters, a selection of possible backup alternatives, a process for data recovery and testing and a general emergency response plan.
There are numerous ways to backup mission critical data. While each method has strengths, no single one can match the reliability of a combined system. On-site backups are simple to setup. Data can be backed up to a dedicated machine on the network, or an external media drive. In the case of a virus or other small-scale disaster, an on-site backup will suffice. Should the scope of the disaster be much larger, and effect the entire network, such as a fire or natural disaster, an offsite backup unified storage solutions will ensure all of your data survives.
Having a plan to safeguard your data is essential, but in the event of a disaster, you need to have a fast and secure way of recovering the information. You need a plan to have all of the affected hardware replaced and a reliable method of restoring the data from the secured backups. Once your system has been reinitialized, you’ll need to thoroughly test the setup to ensure that the recovery was complete and that the equipment functions as it should. Having this process laid out ahead of time will ensure that no unnecessary time is lost.
Smart businesses will also have an emergency response plan in place. In the event of a disaster, there may be time to secure certain assets. A comprehensive emergency response plan will ensure that each member of your team knows exactly what duties to perform. I resources that can be sheltered from the disaster, it will lower both the cost of the recovery and the time that it will take to get up and running again.
Disasters happen every day and affect business of all types and sizes. The ones who took the time to plan for emergencies are the ones most likely to survive.
About the Author: Deney Dentel is the CEO at Nordisk Systems, Inc., partnered with IBM on ProtectTIER in Portland, Oregon to provide an improved data restore process and storage consolidation with higher performance.
License: Creative Commons image source
