Disaster Recovery - Business Continuity
	Business continuity and disaster recovery planning are now accepted as a basic requirement for every organisation. In the event of a disaster such as fire vandalism, natural disaster or system failure, pre-determined plans and procedures will enable an organisation to set-up, reconfigure and continue with 'business as usual'. Events such as floods, earthquakes and fires can destroy buildings and computer rooms and therefore a backup stored away from the building can keep data safe and ensure a quick recovery. A disaster recovery infrastructure and policy addresses business processes, continuity needs and the precautions required to minimise the effects of a disaster. This will enable the organisation to either maintain or quickly resume mission-critical functions. Disaster recovery practice requires the maintenance of periodical backups from which the application or environment can be restored with full system and data integrity to the client site or a designated site alternative. The plan must be continually reviewed, updated and communicated and should reflect any changes in the organisation's processes or objectives. Areas for consideration: Key business areas Business processes Industry regulations and guidelines Off-site storage procedures Service level agreements A good network disaster recovery policy will detail: Back-up practices Infrastructure contingency Application contingency Power supply contingency PC contingency See also - Services - Data Backup and Restore Backup and Restore