Briefing Memo
BRIEFING MEMO
Disaster Recovery
Importance and Solutions
TO:
DATE: April 30, 2014
SUBJECT: Disaster Recovery: The Importance and the Solutions
INTRODUCTION:
1. In the information technology computer world Disaster Recovery (DR) plans are commonplace and have been around for many years. In general, a DR plan identifies the process a company or organization follows, to determine if and to what extent their data center has been adversely impacted by some kind of event and what actions can be taken in the interim. These processes take into consideration a business’s ability to continue to support its critical systems/applications when its data center is not fully operable. In this memorandum, I will discuss three technologies that can help in disaster recovery.
2. Disaster Recovery planning supports the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and systems during an event. No one technology is a complete solution but I will discuss three that are a good foundation to build upon.
3. The first step in a good DR plan is backing up you data. Backing up your data provides for availability during an event.
Symantec’s Backup Exec can be used ensure data availability by backing up data from physical or virtual machines. Using a full, incremental, or differential backup, Backup Exec can copy your data to media to be housed in a different location in case of emergency. Backup Exec also has the functionality to encrypt the tapes, ensuring confidentiality. The issue with this solution is that the Recovery Point Objective is when the last backups were sent off-site. http://www.symantec.com/backup-exec?fid=backup-exec
4. Another option for a shorter Recovery Point and Time Objective (RPO & RTO) is housing your data or systems in the cloud.
VMware’s VCloud Hybrid Service is Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS) solution that replicates vSphere virtual machines in the cloud. This solution enables RPO’s as low as 15 minutes up to
Disaster Recovery
Importance and Solutions
TO:
DATE: April 30, 2014
SUBJECT: Disaster Recovery: The Importance and the Solutions
INTRODUCTION:
1. In the information technology computer world Disaster Recovery (DR) plans are commonplace and have been around for many years. In general, a DR plan identifies the process a company or organization follows, to determine if and to what extent their data center has been adversely impacted by some kind of event and what actions can be taken in the interim. These processes take into consideration a business’s ability to continue to support its critical systems/applications when its data center is not fully operable. In this memorandum, I will discuss three technologies that can help in disaster recovery.
2. Disaster Recovery planning supports the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data and systems during an event. No one technology is a complete solution but I will discuss three that are a good foundation to build upon.
3. The first step in a good DR plan is backing up you data. Backing up your data provides for availability during an event.
Symantec’s Backup Exec can be used ensure data availability by backing up data from physical or virtual machines. Using a full, incremental, or differential backup, Backup Exec can copy your data to media to be housed in a different location in case of emergency. Backup Exec also has the functionality to encrypt the tapes, ensuring confidentiality. The issue with this solution is that the Recovery Point Objective is when the last backups were sent off-site. http://www.symantec.com/backup-exec?fid=backup-exec
4. Another option for a shorter Recovery Point and Time Objective (RPO & RTO) is housing your data or systems in the cloud.
VMware’s VCloud Hybrid Service is Recovery-as-a-Service (RaaS) solution that replicates vSphere virtual machines in the cloud. This solution enables RPO’s as low as 15 minutes up to
References: Sungard Availability Services. (2014). Disaster recovery: Mobile data recovery. Retrieved from http://www.sungardas.com/Solutions/DisasterRecovery/WorkforceContinuity/MobileRecovery/Pages/MobileRecovery.aspx. Symantec Corporation. (2014). Symantec Backup Exec. Retrieved from http://www.symantec.com/backup-exec. VMware, Inc. (2014). Business continuity & disaster recovery. Retrieved from http://www.vmware.com/business-continuity/disaster-recovery.