Question

As an IT specialist, one of your responsibilities it to develop a disaster recovery plan (DRP) for the organization in case of an emergency. Last year, there was a devastating fire at your place of business that took out the local server room and required the organization to move to a different building. Fortunately, due to good business continuity planning, the backup database was at another location; however, the team struggled with backup tools, processes, and policies when it came to supporting newfound remote employees. Now, your IT manager has asked you to prepare a DRP so everyone can be ready in case of a future emergency. Your manager has asked you to write a 1,050-to 1,400-word disaster recovery plan in a Word document. Include the following in your plan: - Identify 2 tools used for backup purposes that would support business continuity to ensure that the data can be accessed during the disaster. - Explain who is responsible for the backup. How often should data be backed up? - How will the data be protected while at rest? What security requirements will be necessary? - With respect to disaster recovery, explain how quickly the primary database should be restored. Why? - Explain how employees would access the backup database during business continuity efforts. - Since the former office space is inaccessible, explain where the employees would work. - What communication methods would be used? - Outline the major components of a backup storage policy to include data at rest. Consider the steps you took in the week's labs to support your outline. Cite at least 2 resources to support your assignment.

Answer 1

In the Disaster Recovery Plan, two backup tools such as cloud-based services and onsite NAS systems are recommended. The DRP also outlines backup responsibilities, data protection methods, database recovery objectives, remote employee access, alternate workspaces, and communication methods. A comprehensive backup storage policy addressing data at rest is to be established.

Step-by-step explanation:

Developing a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is essential for ensuring business continuity in the event of unforeseen disasters. For data backup and recovery purposes, two useful tools that could be considered are cloud-based services, like Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure, and onsite hardware solutions such as Network Attached Storage (NAS) systems.

The responsibility for performing regular data backups should be assigned to IT staff who would ensure data is backed up according to the organization's policies, which commonly would be on a daily basis. Data at rest should be protected using encryption and access controls to meet the necessary security requirements.

In the event of a disaster, the primary database should be restored as quickly as possible, often aiming for a recovery time objective (RTO) that minimizes downtime and prevents significant loss of business operations. Employees would access the backup database remotely via VPN or cloud services to ensure continuous work during disaster recovery.

Regarding a workspace for employees, alternate locations like a co-working space or provision for a home office setup could be arranged. The organization would facilitate communication through tools like email, instant messaging, and video conferencing applications. A thorough backup storage policy would outline the procedures for handling, storing, and securing backups to ensure data integrity and confidentiality.