Disaster Recovery Plan

Disaster Recovery Plan – Preventing Massive Data Loss

Have you ever experienced losing something of a massive scale? How about experiencing software crash in your office? How about losing your most treasured collection of mp3s and images after a malware or computer virus bugged down your PC’s hard disk?

Well most companies actually don’t mourn on the loss of one of their major structures or buildings or even inventory. Large companies that breathe on data are more cautious of huge information theft or, worse, accidental data deletion. For these companies, a disaster recovery plan is never complete without a comprehensive back up of their database. If your company is frequently storing and updating customer info, then you should start making database duplicates. Here are tips on how you can minimize chances of massive data loss as part of your disaster recovery plan.

An effective disaster recovery plan must include the identification of threats to the company’s normal operations – and that covers data storage. In regions where natural disasters are most likely to happen identifying the hazards is relatively easier. California for instance is prone to wildfires, earthquakes and floods, so off the site data protection is very much needed. Off the site data protection means that the company’s database is backed up in storage media outside of company’s primary information center.

But in places where natural calamities are less likely to happen, the company must prepare for man-made disasters and machine errors. The threats include information theft, encoding error, computer viral infection, hardware crash, software crash, power failure, database testing and accidental deletions during database maintenance. The possibility of deliberate database deletion is not also left out especially when there are threats of worker strikes and legal issues.

In a disaster recovery plan, the company may focus data protection on natural disaster or man-made or machine caused disasters. But in most cases, companies prepare for all possible threats of data loss. Disasters are unfortunately unavoidable. But your company can do something to prevent large loss of data. As mentioned earlier, an off the site database back up will facilitate your disaster recovery plan. Company documents such as employee records or insurance copy must be captured on microfilms.

Data protection in a disaster recovery plan must also consider data recency. A regular back up of files on a monthly basis is more efficient than backing up every 6 months. Also consider magnifying fire detection systems such as alarms and use surge protectors to protect computers from power surge. Even back ups need to be backed up too. Data, unlike other company assets, are not readily available for purchase when lost. Prevent massive data loss, back up your records now.