Disaster Recovery for Computer Networks

Oh no! Your entire computer network just crashed. What do you do? This article outlines the steps you need to take to protect your network.

First off, do not panic. Your network may have crashed for any number of reasons including:

• hacker attacks
• computer viruses
• electric power failures
• underground cable cuts or failures
• fire, flood, earthquake, and other natural disasters at a facility
• mistakes in system administration

To get your system back on line, you will need to first identify the problem. Then notify any affected parties so that they can also take the necessary steps to recovery. Isolate the problem so it cannot spread and then repair the damaged system.

When executed properly, disaster recovery procedures can save you lots and lots of money. If you do not have a recovery plan set in place, you should strongly consider putting one together.

When drafting up a plan, remember these three key areas:

• data
• systems
• people

Most backup strategies involve saving a copy of important data incase of an emergency. Then, if need be, you can restore a copy of the affected data from a previous point in time. But this is a very limited form of protection.

A more sophisticated solution to the problem is called mirroring, a procedure that ensures data from multiple source remains available in real-time. But this process only works over limited distances, meaning it is not ideal. Storage area network (SAN) and other such technologies can help, but these come at a much higher cost.

Another new trend in the fight against network crashes is third-party relocation, which gives organizations access to fully-equipped operations space at temporary facilities in remote locations.

But the biggest thing you need to do to protect your business is plan. Have procedures in place so that is disaster hits, you are not left scrambling.

If you have any questions about this or any other IT solutions, contact Certified CIO by calling 443-283-0666 or click here today!