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 level, list of file systems, sensitivity level, and any other pertinent information.
Keep copies in a remote location. A “live” copy of all backups should be kept in the office for immediate recovery (in the event that a hard drive crashes or a laptop gets stolen). A copy of all backups should be kept off-site. An incident such as a fire could destroy tapes stored on site. A natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina could destroy an entire city or state, so make sure a copy of the backup tapes is kept at least 500 miles away from the originals.
Protect backups from viruses. Ensure that up-to-date Antivirus software is running on all your systems. Scan all files before a back up to ensure they are virus free.
(And last but not least)
Attempt to restore frequently. A backup procedure is worthless if you can't restore the data. Ensure data can be easily recovered by p eriodically restore backup tapes to a test machine. Verify the backup data using a scanning/testing tool.
Backing up data is too easy to ignore, and most people do. But if you think about how much time and effort is required to replace the information, you'll agree that regular backups shouldn't be optional.
Like everything else, your best backup option is one you'll actually use. Stick to the guidelines presented above as much as possible. And in the event that you believe these rules are overkill, then feel free to simplify them. But by all means, back up your data !
This article was originally published on www.gantthead.com.