Chapter 3. Design and Implement a Disaster Recovery Plan for Your Organization

Implementing a Disaster Recovery guide in an organization that has never had one, or has had one that is outdated, may seem like an easy task. But it is not, as there are many hurdles that need to be overcome in the Disaster Recovery process. So, an accurate and proper method of implementation is very important. This chapter is designed to help you take that approach and get the whole process of Disaster Recovery implemented as fast as possible.

A lot of people assume that a Disaster Recovery guide (DRG) explains reasonably well what needs to be done to get systems back online. This is absolutely wrong. The first question that this assumption could raise is, why would one superficially touch the subject when you are writing a guide already? The second question could be that one never knows who will do the actual recovery. This statement is something that quite a few administrators that I know smiled over so at. The most compelling arguments, however are that someone technical is always around and that a non-technical person is unlikely to perform the recovery.

While both arguments have their validity, the risk of a non-technical person restoring one of the mission-critical systems and clicking the wrong button in the process, is just too high. Even if it takes a few more hours to write a proper guide, it can save days during system recovery.

The key to a successful and well-implemented DRG is motivation. If there is no motivation from the management and no motivation from the actual technical personnel, then it is not possible to develop a well-implemented and functional DRG. The all-too-common problem, though, is that the motivation usually comes in the form of an incident where a DRG would have helped but was not available.