Disaster Recovery
The process and strategies for restoring IT systems and data after a catastrophic event.
Also known as: DR, IT Disaster Recovery, Disaster Recovery Planning
Category: Concepts
Tags: security, recovery, business-continuity, planning, resilience
Explanation
Disaster recovery (DR) encompasses the policies, tools, and procedures designed to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster. It focuses specifically on restoring IT systems, data, and operations after events that cause significant disruption.
**Key components of disaster recovery**:
- **Risk assessment**: Identifying potential disasters and their impact on systems
- **Recovery objectives**: Defining RPO (Recovery Point Objective) and RTO (Recovery Time Objective)
- **Backup strategy**: Implementing comprehensive data protection following the 3-2-1 rule
- **Recovery procedures**: Documented step-by-step restoration processes
- **Testing and validation**: Regular drills to ensure plans work when needed
**Types of disasters addressed**:
- Natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, fires)
- Cyberattacks (ransomware, data breaches)
- Hardware failures (server crashes, storage failures)
- Human errors (accidental deletion, misconfigurations)
- Power outages and utility failures
**Disaster recovery strategies**:
- **Cold site**: Basic facility with power and connectivity, longest recovery time
- **Warm site**: Partially equipped facility with some systems pre-installed
- **Hot site**: Fully operational duplicate facility for rapid failover
- **Cloud-based DR**: Using cloud services for backup and recovery infrastructure
**Best practices**:
- Document all procedures clearly and keep them accessible
- Assign roles and responsibilities for DR team members
- Test recovery procedures regularly (at least annually)
- Update plans when systems or business requirements change
- Maintain communication plans for stakeholder notification
Effective disaster recovery is essential for organizational resilience, minimizing downtime, data loss, and financial impact when disasters occur.
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