Andrew Martin
Something that I have become aware of over the years, but never really stopped to analyse is the concept of disaster recovery planning.
Many people from vendors (including myself) often extol the virtues of Disaster Recovery Planning. We will preach to IT departments that the starting point of protecting your data is to put a disaster recovery plan in place first and then make sure the technology you implement allows you to meet the criteria of that plan.
Great advice? Well, I always thought so when I have given it, however when I really stop to think about it, I am actually doing a great disservice to those companies that do real disaster recovery consultancy and services.
The problem is this - Disaster Recovery is about much more than IT alone. It is about “hot” office space, diverting phone systems and ensuring personnel are accounted for. The list goes on and on. This was graphically demonstrated to me recently on a trip to Shanghai, when a partner that BakBone is starting to work with showed me their disaster recovery facilities that have been in place for their financial customers. It included a server room with warm, standby pre-configured servers ready to “kick in,” office space with workstations ready for staff to use with just hours of notice, office equipment, security access control, etc.
In IT, when we talk about “disaster recovery” what we are really talking about is “data recovery” and whilst data is often a critical part of any business asset, it is only a subset of a full disaster recovery initiative.
I am not advocating that we in the IT space stop discussing Disaster Recovery Planning, however I am suggesting that we position our contribution to the process correctly. We are a component, albeit a vital component, of the total plan.
That said we should not shy away from continuing to advocate the importance of planning. However, to be accurate, perhaps we should refer to this as “Data Recovery Planning” and we should recognize that without a robust “Data Recovery Plan” it is difficult for companies to ensure that their data protection solutions are truly delivering the required level of assurance.
Many companies will never implement a full disaster recovery plan and as such data recovery will still often be the centre of their business continuity preparations. Vendors and SI’s have great knowledge, skill and experience in this area and we can work with our users to develop comprehensive plans that ensure data is protected and recoverable in a way suited to the needs of your business.
Areas that need to be considered include:
- How fast is your data growing?
- Do you have backup windows available?
- How quickly do I need to recover my data?
- Can I classify my data with different levels of recovery priority?
- Do I regularly perform spot checks to prove my data can be recovered?
Of course these are just top-level questions and an in-depth plan will cover significantly more than this.
The important point here is that having a plan is vital. Without it you can never be sure that your data protection solution delivers the recovery times that your business needs. However, the truth is that many of the companies I speak to do not have any kind of documented data recovery plan at all.
Many vendors, including companies like BakBone (and many of our competitors and cooperative vendors) have the ability to help you with this process.
It may be time to take us up on the offer!
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Most companies believe that backing up data counts as a disaster recovery and business continuity strategy. In truth, unless they back up their applications and operating systems (called bare-metal) these companies are vulnerable to a major crash that can cripple the business for days – not hours. In a series of videos on SearchStorageAsia.com, I discuss proper backup strategies. You can watch the videos here: http://www.searchstorageasia.com/content/importance-bare-metal-recovery-drbc
