In this assignment, I will go over the different items related to the disaster recovery plan. I will go over the purpose of the plan, explain the key elements that go into a plan, the methods of testing the plan, and why we test the plan. All while explaining why the disaster recovery plan is so critical to businesses in the event of an emergency.
What is the purpose of a Disaster Recovery Plan?
The purpose of the disaster recovery plan is to ensure the process of recovering mission critical systems has a plan of action in case of a disaster. The disaster recovery plan makes sure all the steps to bring up the critical to less critical systems are laid out for all personnel to follow in the event a disaster happens. It advises each department that contains these systems to follow a process, which will create less downtime. A disaster recovery plan makes sure the business is running at all times so that there are no major interruptions due to a disaster. Not having a DRP leaves a business at risk of something going wrong that may cost the business a lot of money or shut the business down totally.
What are the key elements of a DRP?
The key elements of a disaster recovery plan are to keep computers running, meeting all agreements between customers and suppliers, and being proactive rather than reactive. Keeping the computers and systems running is an essential element to the disaster recovery plan. The systems and computers are the link to the services they provide. The business relies on the internet for their marketing or sales needs, especially in today’s world of business. Meeting the agreements between customers and suppliers is essential because they trust your business will deliver these services. Being proactive rather than reactive is always a good thing for a business to have. The employees or personnel should already know what to do when something happens that initiates the disaster recovery plan.
What are the five methods of testing a DRP?
The five methods of testing a disaster recovery plan are providing a walk-through, setting up simulations, having checklists, parallel testing, and making a full interruption test. The walk-through helps test the plan by finding things more important or irrelevant that can be added or omitted from the plan. Simulations provide practice sessions of what a disaster would or could do to a business. Simulations also show the plan when it is put into effect. Checklists provide a list that each department uses to check off tasks completed. Parallel testing is a clone system that runs with the main system until the main system is ready to come back online. Full interruption will stop the production systems fully and start them back up to see the programs work or fail.
Why does a DRP require testing?
A disaster recovery plan requires testing so that all things are planned ahead of time and ready to go in the case of an emergency. New items or untrained personnel can come into the business and need to be added to the plan. This will need to be tested also to ensure it is covered when an emergency happens. In addition, everything on the plan may look good when in writing but until the plan is used in a real situation, the business will never know if it works properly. Testing the plan in a simulation disaster scenario is the best way to know how objects and people react to the situation.
Conclusion
In this assignment I have went over all of the key ingredients to promote a successful disaster recovery plan and why businesses need one. Having a good plan of action in the case a disaster is critical to keeping business flowing smooth and not being shutdown.
