Now I can sleep at night Presented by Reliant Data, LLC
He who fails to plan is planning to fail Winston Churchill
What you will learn today The difference between Backup, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Types of disasters, their frequency and severity Evolution of backups The different types of backups What a good backup system looks like Where to begin
What s the difference between backup, disaster recovery and business continuity?
Backups Analysis Files and Folders Images Testing Integrity Restores Backup Copying your data to a safe medium for recovery in the event of data loss due to a disaster or error. Protection from some disasters, like fire or flood, requires two-step backup On-site Off-site
Disaster Recovery Planning Backup Backup NOC Third Party Vendors Alternative Location Key Staff Disaster Recovery is the process, policies, and procedures of restoring operations critical to the resumption of business after a disaster.
Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Emergency Services All employees All Customers Insurance Vendors Federal Assistance Communications Business Continuity is a holistic management process that identifies potential impacts that threaten an organization and provides a framework for building resilience and the capability for an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and value creating activities.
Business Continuity is not just about IT Issues Plan for immediate disaster response including safety of employees Identification of critical processes Review insurance coverage Disaster prevention Key suppliers/service providers
Disasters
What is a Disaster? A disaster is any event that interrupts your ability to run your organization!
Types of Disasters? Human Error Third Party Failures Environmental Hazards Natural Disasters Terrorism and Sabotage Other Disasters
Human Errors Unintentional actions taken by users acting in good faith Most common causes Inadequate user training Fatigue Carelessness
Third Party Failures Service delivery failures Electrical power Phone service Internet service Software Hardware
Environmental Hazards Denial of access due to Smoke from nearby fire Hazardous substances in buildings Irritants such as Fresh paint Radioactive, biological or chemical substances
Natural Disasters Natural Events Earthquakes Tornados Floods Hurricanes Fire
Terrorism and Sabotage Intentional, systematic, planned and organized Based on malicious intent Possibility of very concentrated damage with relatively little effort Perpetrated by Terrorists Computer hackers Disgruntled Employees
Other Disasters Gas leaks Water pipe leaks Failed HVAC equipment
Evaluate Each Disaster Based on Probability of occurrence Impact Human possibility of death or injury Property cost of repair/replacement Business potential interruption of operation Ability to respond Internal resources External resources
What s the Goal? Make sure you never lose critical data Minimize downtime Recover as quickly as possible in the event of a disaster Know how to evaluate and communicate the value of your data
Backup
Evolution of Backup 3000 BC Clay Tables 2500 BC Papyrus 197 BC Vellum or Parchment 105 AD Paper 1900 1950s Punchcards 1960s Magnetic Tape 1969 First floppy disk 1970s Tape Cartridges 1980s CD-R and CD-RW 1994 - Iomega zip drive Late 90 s SAN s 2000 s USB flash drive Mid 2000 s External hard drive Late 2000 s NAS 2006 - Amazon launches EC2 and S3 Cloud Storage 2009 - SSD
Traditional Backup Methodology Backups are performed nightly Someone must remove the media and replace it with the next days media Two-step backup accomplished by taking a recent backup off-site Relies on your staff to make sure that backup is working Single snapshot per day
Backup Types
Backup to Tape Slow can take hours to backup and restore Media degrades over time and is greatly affected by the environment Tape drive is expensive Additional capacity is difficult to add Formats are typically proprietary must have same type of drive and same software to restore
Backup to External Hard Drive Backup and restore times are much faster Capacity is increased Solutions may use standard Windows file systems Still requires user interaction
Backup to Cloud Data is off-site Backups can be scheduled File/Folder vs Image Unlimited storage you pay as you go Integration with mobile platforms, etc
What Should a Backup System include?
What should a good backup system include? Simply stated your backup system(s) must include the necessary requirements that align with your disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
Characteristics of a Backup System that supports Business Continuity Limits the amount of human interaction ALL files are backed up Automated and easy Continuous Backups Must not impact day to day operations Fast restores and Fast backups Ability to recover a single file/folder Bare Metal Recovery The ability to replicate off-site The ability to launch a virtual instance of failed machine(s) from a backup file The ability to run systems in failover NOC Secure client access to failover NOC Failback procedures
Getting serious about it all What does that mean and where to begin?
Where to begin? Ensuring that disaster recovery for IT is part of the business continuity plan Select a backup service or platform that will support the goals of the organization
How to create a backup plan that supports your goals? Identify Data that is critical and must be available AND accessible during a disaster Identify RPO and RTO Identify the costs associated with system outages Identify key components, LAN, WAN, Systems, Remote NOC Ensure your backup solution can accommodate all backup types in other words, do NOT try to manage too many backup platforms Identify who will need access Design and train key staff on how they will access the remote systems Validate and Test both local and remote access
Key Concepts Recovery Time Objective RTO How long can your organization survive before you have to be operational to continue providing the services your customers depend on? How long before the costs of being down outweigh the costs of recovery? Recovery Point Objective RPO How old can your data be and still have value? How old can your data be before the cost of recovering outweighs the cost of protecting it?
14 days 7 days 2 days 1 hour 1 day 2 days Lower cost Higher Cost Higher Cost Lower cost
Questions to ask How much revenue do you generate? How much does it cost to run your organization? How much of that is facilitated, or even dependent, on your IT infrastructure?
Questions to ask How will a failure even short lived failures be perceived by your customers and your employees? What type of impact can this cause to your customers? How quickly can you recover lost files? If a server fails, how long will it be before you are back up and running how much opportunity cost would this represent?
Additional Considerations Vulnerability Assessment Probability Potential Impact List potential threats considering History Geography Technology Building Characteristics
Key Points Review your business continuity/disaster recovery plan to ensure it includes IT infrastructure Identify all key components of IT that must be considered, including LAN, WAN, systems, and remote NOC Determine whether your current backup solution will provide you with the desired outcome for business continuity Understand that backup systems in place are ONLY a piece of the puzzle to continued operations during a disaster
Could you Survive...?
BDR Demonstration Reliant Data, LLC
On-line Resources www.ready.gov/business www.disastersafety.org/business_protection www.fema.gov www.rothstein.com www.thebci.org
Conference Attendees Reliant Data is offering a free backup systems evaluation for anyone who calls and said they attended the conference. The evaluation includes Analysis of current backup processes Analysis of systems in place Analysis of disaster recovery/business continuity Recommendations for enhancements/changes in backup systems
Contact Reliant Data Laura Strickland Senior Account Manager lstrickland@reliantdata.com 361-433-0199 102 Westbrook Dr Victoria, TX 77904 Tim Meador Co-Founder/CEO tmeador@reliantdata.com 361-433-0199 102 Westbrook Dr Victoria, TX 77904