Richard Hasfurther March 31, 2013 ENGL 2100 042

What is a Disaster Recovery Plan?

A Disaster Recovery Plan is a plan for having business continuity in the event of a disaster that can destroy all or part of your businesss resources, which includes the computer equipment, and data records that are part of an organization. A Disaster Recovery Plan consists of the planning and precautions taken so that the effects of a disaster will be minimized to the organization so they will be able to maintain or quickly resume mission critical functions. Typically, disaster recovery planning involves an analysis of the business processes and continuity needs: it may also include a significant focus on disaster prevention.

Example of what you might want to include in a Disaster Recovery Plan.

Disaster Recovery is an extensive analysis of an organizations business processes, IT infrastructure, data backup, resources, continuity requirements and disaster prevention methods. It is the process of creating a comprehensive document encompassing details that will aid the business in recovering from a catastrophic event. Here is an example of what you will want to do to create an effective Disaster Recovery Plan. Phase I Data Collection 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Project should be organized with timeline, resources, and expected output Business impact analysis should be conducted at regular intervals Risk assessment should be conducted regularly Onsite and Offsite Backup and Recovery procedures should be reviewed Alternate site location must be selected and ready for use

Phase II Plan Development and Testing 1. Development of Disaster Recovery Plan 2. Testing the plan Phase III Monitoring and Maintenance

1. Maintenance of the Plan through updates and review 2. Periodic inspection of DRP 3. Documentation of changes

Disaster Recovery Plan is like a fire escape plan.

A fire escape plan is the knowledge and plan on how you will exit a building if there is a fire. You normally will go over the plan as an overview and then you will actual might test the plan by having a fire drill. Disaster Recovery Plan is like the fire escape plan in that you first come up with the plan then review it as you go along. You will want to test the plan to see how effective your plan is. You will also want to review and update those plans if you find that something didnt work the way you planned.