Disaster Recovery Planning

The data may be lost owing to any number of eventualities – either natural or man-made or mechanical. Irrespective of the causes its effects can be resounding on the given company.

Loss of Data

Data is so vital for the operations of a company that some of the major corporations are willing to spend as much as 25 percent of their budget in ensuring that they have appropriate backup in case of a loss of data. This is because in case of a major data loss up to 43 percent companies fail to reopen and only a minuscule 6 percent are able to survive its effects in the long term.

Loss of data can be owing to any one or more eventualities. It may be a natural disaster, a fire, or a power outage. It can also be due to a terrorist attack such as on the world trade towers on 9 / 11. A disgruntled employee or some competing company can cause it. It may be on account of some human error or theft too. Some virus or hardware or software / logical failure of the system can also bring about a loss of data.

If the data is lost, then it can bring the operations of a company to a grinding halt. In such a scenario it becomes important that the lost data be recovered at the earliest possible. This process of trying to regain the data that has been lost is referred to as Disaster Recovery. In business parlance, this is also called contingency planning or otherwise business continuity planning. Ideally speaking, it should also have a plan for the loss of key persons associated with the operations.

Preventive Efforts

Companies take several steps towards disaster recovery. Some of them are:

• Creation of a Backup: This is the most vital aspect of all. As the data can be lost owing to a variety of causes one must have an appropriate backup of all software and data information stored at a different site.



• Making a Microfilm: Making a microfilm of all data that is important for the operations of the company and storing the same at another site is also done by some major setups.



• Antivirus: With the multiplicity of viruses this can be a lifesaver for all important data.



• Storage Area Networks: This is a comparatively new development but makes the task much simpler.



• Surge Protectors: These are used to minimise the possibility of the equipment being harmed owing to a power surge.



• Power Backup: This is as crucial as surge protectors as any sudden interruption to the power supply can also cause damage to the systems.

Article Source: http://www.goldenpalacedownload.com/articles/

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. If you are concerned about data loss and would like more information on Data Recovery see www.fields-data-recovery.co.uk

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