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Disaster Recovery

60 minutes

A Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) are crucial for the survival and resilience of any organization. They serve as a roadmap to navigate through unforeseen challenges and minimize disruptions.

Example Disaster Recovery Plan: Small E-commerce Business

Introduction

This Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) outlines procedures for recovering IT systems and restoring business operations in case of a disaster affecting [Company Name]. The plan aims to minimize downtime, data loss, and financial impact.

Disaster Recovery Objectives

  1. RTO (Recovery Time Objective): Restore critical systems within 4 hours of a disaster.
  2. RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Maximum data loss is limited to 24 hours.

Disaster Recovery Team

  1. DR Coordinator: [Name], [Title]
  2. IT Support: [Names and Roles]
  3. Management: [Names and Roles]
  4. Communications: [Names and Roles]

Disaster Recovery Procedures

  • Phase 1: Notification and Activation. Upon incident notification, the DR Coordinator activates the DR team. Please initiate a communication plan to let key personnel and stakeholders know. Activate the disaster recovery site if necessary.

  • Phase 2: Assessment and Prioritization Assess the extent of the disaster and its impact on business operations. Prioritize system and data recovery based on criticality.

  • Phase 3: Recovery and Restoration Restore critical systems from backups. Implement data recovery procedures. Reconfigure network infrastructure. Test system functionality.

  • Phase 4: Resumption of Operations Gradually restore business operations. Conduct system and data verification. Initiate business continuity plans.

Backup and Recovery Procedures

  • Daily backups of critical data to an offsite location.
  • Weekly full system backups.
  • Regular testing of backup and restore procedures.
  • Use of cloud-based backup for additional redundancy.

Communication Plan

  • Primary and secondary contact information for key personnel.
  • Notification procedures for employees, customers, and partners.
  • Communication channels (email, SMS, phone).

Disaster Recovery Testing

  • Conduct regular tabletop exercises and full-scale tests.
  • Document test results and lessons learned.
  • Update the DR plan based on test findings.

Appendices

  • Contact list
  • Hardware and software inventory
  • Network diagrams
  • Backup schedules
  • Detailed recovery procedures

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