Disaster Recovery Planning

On any typical day, your IT infrastructure whirs along business as usual: serving up files, databases, and emails. You have a good software system in place that keeps customers happy, making your business happy. Life is good! ​Until that phone call in the middle of the night. 

Security alerts are going off. There has been a fire at your business and servers are down. Life becomes not so good…

While we certainly hope situations like this don’t arise, fires and natural disasters are still a very real threat to your technology. Starting to get concerned? There is a solution! Backups can save your data if you have the proper measures in place.

There are two types of backups to consider for your business, onsite and offsite.

Onsite Backups
Onsite backups can be as simple as a USB hard drive used to make copies of all your data. This is a good option for quick recovery when you need a file fast. OR you can use a stand-alone workstation with backup software installed.

This solution comes with a lot of versatility but does not keep you protected from disasters like tornadoes and fires. Hard drives can melt or be destroyed in a natural disaster. In those instances, you’ll want offsite backups.

Offsite Backups
Offsite backups copy your computer data to a remote location. You can choose to store data “in the cloud” or a server in another physical location. (Total Solutions can even store your backup at our office!)

Surviving an IT disaster takes a complete plan, and backups should be your first step. We suggest considering the following questions to create a complete disaster recovery plan. 

1. What are key servers, services, and software you need to keep operating as a business?
2. How long do you need to keep past data available to reference?
3. How fast do you need to restore data from backups?
4. Are your backups safe from ransomware?
5. Do you test restoring data regularly?
6. Do you have the ability to move your business to a new location during the recovery period?
7. Will you be able to acquire new server and network devices to rebuild in a timely manner?
8. Do you have a plan for deploying new PCs, monitors, printers, and phones? 

While it is very stressful to go through a disaster recovery situation, having a plan set in place before you ever need it will make the process much easier. Restoring your data and technology quickly is essential to keep your business running and bring normalcy back to your employees.

Total Solutions goes beyond typical helpdesk services. Our IT team will work with you to create a complete disaster recovery plan so you can get back to business. 

Submitted by ​Steve Kratz, Sr. Systems Engineer