Tips For Planning System Recovery

Disaster recovery is certainly an apt name following a massive IT meltdown. Businesses and individuals can lose a lot of time and money by not having a system in place to recover when the absolute worst happens to a computer system or network. The loss of data can be catastrophic to a company. However, those companies that are prepared stand the best chance to recover from a major data loss.

Have a Storage Plan

Disaster recovery will be absolutely impossible without the way to obtain backup data to restore systems. While individuals can use something as simple as a pin drive to hold all their system required folders, big companies will have a much more difficult time. In this case, companies need to consider off-site data storage or even cloud storage of their systems. The need for off-site storage is extremely important, in the event that the companies systems are damaged due to a natural disaster.

Keep Several Copies

One backup of data is not enough for a disaster recovery plan. There should be several complete backups available, in the event that the problem is internal. If a company only has one backup, that will not help them if the system failure is caused by a virus that was saved in the backup file. Instead, two or three backups taken at different times should be available in the event of complete data loss. That way, the company is guaranteed to always have a clear copy on hand.

Get a Great Team

In the event of data loss due to a disaster, it is important to have a team in place to restore files and get the system back on line. These positions should be filled well ahead of any disaster. This way, there will be people there to determine the cause of the failure, recommend the needed hardware, and restore that data one the system is back on-line. The best companies pick team members that are specifically experienced in recovering large systems after massive data loss.

Have Spare Hardware

If the damage that causes a loss of data is external, nothing can be done until that hardware is repaired. The most common cause of data loss is hard drive failure. This is why companies that are prepared have back up hard drives and other components on hand. Having the major components that might need to be replaced is important to prevent downtime while waiting to repair the system. In addition, companies need to keep these spare parts off site.

Disaster recovery is only possible if the company is prepared in advance. This means having the data, the hardware and the staff are ready and able to implement any disaster recovery plans. Whether the loss of data is caused by a virus or natural disaster, companies need to have plans to implement the recovery processes right away. Losing data can be catastrophic for a company. In order to avoid such catastrophes, a disaster recovery plan is absolutely imperative.