Integration of Database Backup and Disaster Planning
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Date Data backup implementation and management is one of the crucial tasks for IT providers, since it assures the users that every bit of information in the system is safely backed up, and can be restored as quickly as necessary in case a disaster occurs. This research papers looks at database backup, planning for disaster, and the importance of integrating both database backup and disaster planning in situation where they are not used effectively. The paper is subdivided into a few sections, which discuss why data backup as well as planning for disasters is important.
Database Backup
Database backup involves the storing up a copy of the data in a database. In the process, the whole database or some important parts are copied into a separate storage location for purposes of performance or recovery. In many cases, having a database is aimed at providing security against system failure, errors, and an unexpected loss of data. When such events happen and the original data is lost, the backup can essentially be use to restore the data and reconstruct the database. Database backup is also used for data retention inn case of data loss, and is defined by how long the data is retained.
The database backup essentially holds at least a single copy of important data contained in the original database. The process is quite complicated, especially when deciding what kind of data should be backed up,
The backup copy will be kept on a flash drive and will only be used in case of a disaster. A disaster recovery plan is used when a company needs to recover sensitive information if a system crashed and data was lost. My colleagues and I had to decide how often we should backup files and after doing some research, we came to a conclusion to backup data once a day due to the company’s sensitive data and operations so all information will be saved. If any changes are made to the company such as software updates the disaster recovery plan should be updated as well so it can be updated. Every six months the plan will be tested to make sure it is working properly and effectively. We decided that only authorized employees will have access to critical files to and to backup data. Next time a disaster occurs the Company will be prepared and not have information lost because all files will be on a flash drive and be updated once a day. We took into consideration other scenarios happening such as cyber attacks and decided to invest in an anti-hacking system and firewalls to make sure all information is
Incremental Backups: An incremental backup is a backup that compares the files with the previous back and stores all files that have changed. This results in smaller and faster backups being performed with the downside of the restore having to calculate and work through each incremental backup to locate the correct files needed to be restored. This means that restore time is increased.
Let 's go back to daily backups for an example. If you back up at night at 6:00 p.m. and the server goes down the following day at 4:00 p.m., then you 've potentially lost 22 hours of data that was created during that day. If you have no ability to recreate that data, then the data is lost.
* The technical assessment team is responsible for monitoring all sources of alerts, logs, and other warnings in the environment. In the event of an incident, they are responsible for determining if a response is necessary and notifying the coordinator.
The mission-critical business systems and services that must be protected by this DRP are: Payroll, Human Resource Data, POS backup media, and Web Servers
According to the article, How to Successfully Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan on ameinfo.com, “most major organizations are running critical enterprise applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). These applications are integrated across the enterprise to such an extent that they touch everyone from employees and customers to suppliers and partners, and they are the backbone and life-blood of the organization” (ameinfo.com, 2003). Implementing a good disaster recovery plan is highly imperative to ensure business continuity. However, one of the biggest challenges is convincing business leaders to recognize the need and fund the change. An organization should be prepared for all forms of disasters and catastrophes and have a disaster recovery plan in place that will allow the system should function normally under any of these circumstances. This alone will provide a huge competitive advantage and allow the organization to remain functional during potential down times. Natural or any other form of disaster is something that cannot be predicted and the company should be well prepared to deal with any untoward incidents. Any business utilizing IT systems should have proper backup and restoration methods to reset the system in case of emergencies.
Every year companies experience a fire, earthquake or hurricane that obliterates company servers, and hence, destroys all company data as well. Hackers and viruses can also result in major data loses. Let the biggest data recovery disasters of 2015 serve as a warning that if you don't have a backup plan for your data, your company could land in hot water. As a business owner, you work hard to put food on the table, so why leave a security hole open? Around 70 percent of businesses that experience a data loss will go out of business within the first year.
Backing up is when you save a copy of your data to another source so that if you lose your original data you still have it somewhere else. To back up your data you can use programs like Norton or cloud storage software. An example of why you would back up is if you had a virus on your computer you can revert to a previous back up that has all of your files but was saved before you got the virus.
Having a backup of data is important because if the data becomes corrupted or lost you will have it copied and stored so that you will still have it in future for if something goes wrong.
Best practice is for any organization to test the recovery plan at least once a year which will uncover problems, errors and resolve any issues before an actual recovery process is encountered.(Martin,2002).It will also educate all the staff in managing disaster recovery situations and depending on these observations they can be classified as tier 1, tier 2 and tier 3 assets.Assets are the recovery resources which include hardware, software, data and people.The hardware assets are physical components of a computer which help the software run like servers ,routers ,PCs ,cables,backup tape drive , modems , fax machines ,phone system ,printers , scanners and LAN setup , surge protectors , UPS and switches .(Martin,2002)
Disaster recovery plans allows and gives the opportunity to a business to be able to recoup from any number of disasters, whether it may be a natural disaster or a fault of equipment to include power loss. These plans can be fairly basic with a goal and summary of what is to happen in the event of a disaster, to intensely involved and well spelled out plans that break down the summary, personal, intent, goal, and a timeline of events to follow. While disasters are unforeseen events that a business may never see or have to implement their plan, it allows them to be setup for success if it were to happen and not be doomed for failure in hopes of it not being a possibility.
RPO is the time that the data for a business will need to be restored in order to meet the requirements for the owners. This will judge when the end user will be able to regain access to data on the system. RTO is the measured time a system or application will not be operational before it is considered insufferable to the business.
When a backup is conducted, it can be a full backup or a differential backup. A full backup will copy the entire database, while a differential backup will backup only the changes that have been made since the last backup was conducted. Whole, partial, and file/filegroup backups all can be full or differential backups. A copy-only backup can only be a full backup because it does not change the transaction log, and
This plugin automatically backs up the database, and sends it to your e-mail on the scheduled day specified. The plugin is regularly maintained and updated by its developers. To create a full backup, WordPress recommends you to use UpdraftPlus, it simplifies the backup and restoration process with simply just a click. Your files and database will be backed up into the cloud and can be easily restored it if something goes wrong. It is the most highly-rated and popular WordPress plugin and having vast user base, it’s tried and tested in a lot of different situations and has been user in over 1 million sites.
It is not hard to see the rapid growth of computer technology and the common usage on internet services across different industries. Many companies rely on Disaster Recovery (DR) services to minimise data loss and shorten the recovery time. However, the current DR services may be costly, or low efficiency about the amount of data loss and the time required restoring. In this essay, we intro the cloud services as the most suitable tool for DR due to the ‘pay-as-you-go’ model, which lower the costs and the automated function reduced the recovery time after any disaster occurred. Although Cloud Computing may not suit all enterprise, it did have huge advantages for organizations which were understaffed. It is not only able to