Disaster Recovery

 

Natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina remind us that disaster, whether natural or man-made, can hit anywhere, anytime. When such an unforeseen event results in loss of critical business data, recovery from the incident requires up-to-date backups and proven restoration methods.

The following guidelines summarize how to develop a complete and recoverable backup environment.

Backup frequently. The frequency of your backups should depend on the risk and criticality of the data. Mission critical data such as source code should be backed up hourly or daily at the very least. Data that is less important, easier to recreate, or data that changes infrequently should be backed up daily or weekly.

Backup on a regular schedule. Maintain (and document) a regular backup schedule. This will allow you or anyone else to systematically determine when the last backup of specific files occurred.

Protect your backups. Protect your backup tapes the same way you protect your existing data. Maintain physical security of the backup tapes. Store them in fireproof and waterproof containers. Encrypt them whenever possible.

Rotate the backup tapes. Don't use the same backup tapes every day. Alternate backup tapes in the event that one of them is defective. Replace backup tapes on a regular basis (at least yearly)

Label the backup tapes. Label the tapes with a date, backup …

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