Disaster recovery is the process of maintaining stored data after a natural or man-made disaster or emergency threatens the location in which the data is stored or the infrastructure that manages it. Any disaster that threatens data centers or servers can require a recovery process, not just a flood or tornado. A gas leak or a nuclear explosion, for example, also apply, as well as widespread illness. Just a few methods of preparing for disaster recovery include:
- Having both physical servers and cloud infrastructure
- Having virtual servers or virtual machines in case physical servers are incapacitated and the ability to quickly transfer data to those other servers
- Considering locations and methods for IT personnel and data center employees to continue working, such as a secondary data center or rented disaster recovery space well outside of the affected area. Saving data is important, but so is helping employees recover.
- Backing up data regularly and knowing how quickly data will need to be recovered in a disaster
- Implementing security solutions for your sensitive data. A few examples include extended detection and response (XDR), endpoint detection and response (EDR), threat intelligence, and network security.
Disaster recovery requires a specific team within an organization. Employees at different levels of leadership and responsibility must be aware of disaster recovery plans, and an organization should put a specific plan in place in case a disaster occurs. A disaster recovery plan should include legal compliance plans as well: which customer records does the law require a business to keep, and what security measures need to be placed for certain data?
Disaster-Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) allows businesses to rent servers and infrastructure in case of emergency, providing them with services to continue running applications and storing data. Finding a pay-per-use DRaaS plan is a good option for businesses so they are only charged for the services they use and applications they run. DRaaS providers should also be able to transfer data to a secure cloud environment if physical infrastructure is destroyed.
