Disaster Recovery

Chapter 1

Real World Disasters

Disaster Recovery Planning

What is Disaster Recovery

Planning?
The

practice of developing policies and

procedures to ensure rapid restoration of
computer systems and resumption of
computer-based operations in the event of a
systems disruption.

Why Should You Care About

DRP?
Your

business survival might depend on it

It could cost you money
It might be a contractual obligation
It might be required by law

Measure Your Risk

Likelihood

of a true catastrophic business

disaster is remote
Probability that your business will be
impacted by some natural or manmade
calamity is very high.
Consider geographical scope
Predict risk through use of Business Impact
Analysis

Disaster Recovery Planning

First

Steps

Determine where the business is at risk, by

performing a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)

Prevention begins with simple tasks such as
using surge protectors, and monitoring climate
control
When

created DRP should be widely

distributed

Business Impact Analysis

(BIA)
A qualified measurement that tells your
company where it is most exposed.

BIA
Single most important step in building
and selling management on the need
for a solid business continuity plan.

BIA Project Phases

Planning

your BIA

project
Gathering
Analyzing

Documenting

your

findings
Information

the
Information

Meet

with Senior
Management

Important Procedures
Involved in DRP
Backup
Monitoring
Duplicate

services
On-site inventory
Automatic system recovery
Use of less vital machines for fail over

Duplicate Services
Critical

operations should be redundantly

available
Power
Phone
Mirroring Systems

On-site Inventory
Recovery

is much more rapid when parts

are available on site
Ensuring access to emergency phone
numbers will minimize downtime

Common Reasons for DRP

Failure
Ill-defined

scope
Ambiguous objectives
Never had real commitment
Budget constraints
Unrealistic target dates
Lack of accountability
Poor communication

Common Reasons for DRP

Failure
Lack

of technical expertise
Inadequate testing
Poor maintenance

DISASTER RECOVERY

What is Disaster Recovery?

The function of Planning for
the recovery and restoration
of the data processing
function of an organization.

Causes of Downtime
Acts

of God
Slack Employees
Computer Viruses
Lost Productivity
Increased Technical
Support Costs
Onsite Repair

Malicious

Hackers
Simple Operator
Errors
Legal Liabilities
Bad Reputation For
Customer Service

Vulnerabilities
Social

Engineering
Physical Access
Data Integrity
Third Party Authentication
System Integrity

Categories of Downtime
Maintenance

and Reconfiguration Outages

Physical

Outages

Software

Design Outages

Operations

Outages

Environmental

Outages

Costs of Downtime
World

Trade Center Bombing

Flooding

of Chicago

Reservation
San

System

Francisco Earthquake

Five Steps to Disaster

Recovery
Step

1: Develop the Budget

Current cost of downtime?

The cost of re-creating data?
The cost of expert assistance?

Step

2: Consider the Issues

Greatest risk?
How are various groups affected?
What preventive measures are in place right now?
How will data be recovered?

Five Steps (cont.)

Step

3: Create a Procedure

Define how to deal with various aspects of the

network.
Specify who arranges for repairs or
reconstruction and how the data recovery
process occurs.
Create a check-list

Five Steps (cont.)

Step

4: Test the Procedure

Step 5: Keep Pace With Changes
Are processes in place to include new

departments, faculty, etc.?

Who maintains the disaster management roster?
Could a new employee execute the plan?
How are changes or modifications
communicated to people?

Dont Be Caught With Your

Data Down!!

REFERENCES

http://home.att.net/~nickols/change.htm
www.inc.com/articles/details/printaable/0,3535,CID804_reg14,00.html
http://ehostvgw8.epnet.com/delivery.asp
www.wiredforgood.org/resources/change_man_tips.html
www.sun.com/storage/white-papers/backup-article2.html
www.dlttape.com/proveit/steps/plan/bia/mod2.asp
www.sans.org/infosecFAQ/policy/disaster.htm
www.dlttape.com/proveit/steps/plan/bia/mod1.asp
http://www.itpapers.com/cgi/PSummaryIT.pl?paperid=23774&scid=76
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=091301-SevenDRPsteps
http://www.workforce.com/archive/article/000/86/33.xci
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