Every single organization is vulnerable to unforeseen disasters. Whether the business is struck by theft, vandalism, hardware failure, fire, hurricane, flooding, or similar natural hazard, the aftermath could very well cripple business operations. Clone Systems can design a DR Plan that will help you prepare for such occurrences. You will be able to continue all critical business operations and keep your company running smooth as ever, with little or no downtime. There’s no need to gamble with critical business data. Only a comprehensive and reliable Backup & Disaster Recovery scheme can ensure that Data loss and business interruptions are kept to a minimum.
Data Backup
A backup is a replication of the data and programs stored on your computer system. You can create complete system backups, or simply backup critical databases alone. There may be circumstances where all systems can be fully operational with the operating system within minutes, and the only thing necessary to continue with normal business operation is the restoration of the critical databases.
There are different ways to backup data. A full (or complete) backup will copy the entire hard drive to a secondary drive, or tape media. Incremental (or archival) backups allow you to backup only those files that have changed since the last backup was completed.
Disaster Recovery
Data backups alone will not help much, unless there is a Disaster Recovery (DR) Plan. The DR Plan indicates the exact steps necessary to get a copy of your data restored on a fully functioning server. In many cases this server must be located off site and immediately available for recovery.
The DR Plan involves much more than just planning for server needs. There are steps that can walk employees through recovering from any type of disaster. It even explains how employees can be relocated to an offsite facility, in order to continue with normal business operation. A thorough DR Plan can ensure a quick recovery from any Disaster.
A complete DR Plan can prepare you for the worst. DR has grown in popularity since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. As a result of the attacks, many companies were forced to file for bankruptcy. The main reason for this was poor DR planning. Even though terrorism is uncommon in the United States, a comprehensive DR Plan is a must for any company. The most effective DR Plan will ensure a quick recovery from any catastrophe. Fortune-500 companies have full-time employees dedicated to DR Planning, called DR Coordinators. This truly emphasizes the importance of DR.
High Availability & Redundancy
Storage devices are used to copy and protect data, by creating Backups. Backups alone will not keep your system up and running, following a hardware failure. A High Availability (HA) solution will, however, provide uninterruptible service.
Each HA solution may include identical pairs of servers, firewalls, switches, routers, etc. If one of the aforementioned hardware devices fails, the backup unit will seamlessly kick-in, and service will not be interrupted. This process is known as failover. Without built-in failover a HA system would require some type of human intervention, which is a waste of valuable time and resources. An HA infrastructure is a must for companies that cannot afford to have their computing hardware down. There’s no need to hire additional I.T. experts to configure and maintain this infrastructure. A Clone Systems Engineer can determine which HA solution will best suit your company, and configure it accordingly.
DR Testing
It is essential to perform DR Tests every so often. Backups must be occasionally tested, even if the backup server confirms that everything is fine. A failure in the backup mechanism could provide a false sense of security, when in fact the backups have failed. If frequent DR tests are not properly performed, then it may be too late to do anything about it after a disaster strikes.
A DR Test allows companies to scroll through a planned step-by-step Disaster & Recovery scenario. This prepares employees to handle any unexpected surprises. You will be surprised at just how many things can go wrong during a DR Recovery process. And if the process is delayed too long or fails altogether, the results could leave any successful business severely crippled. Every DR Plan should include steps for occasionally testing the complete Backup & Recovery scenario.
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