Disaster Backup and Disaster RecoveryA Story by Winnie Melda The research paper offers a comprehensive analysis of database backup, disaster planning, and the importance of integrating both. The aspects have been
presented in separate sections for a clear discussion of ideas. As identified
in the research, database backup is an important consideration in the effort of
ensuring business continuity if a disaster occurs. It is important to integrate
both backup and disaster planning since none of the measures can be effective
in isolation. Database
backup Database backup is a copy of the data and information
files from a database. The crucial parts of the database or the whole are
copied to anther storage media for easy recovery and retrieval of information.
The major purpose of a database backup is to offer an alternative data source
in case of system errors, failure, or unexpected data loss. The backup helps to
retrieve the information back to the database after a disaster. The backup can
also be useful for data retention for later use. Database backups have at least
a copy of the most used data stored in the database (Preston, 2007). It is important to restructure the storage media by use
of data repository to ensure security and improved portability. Data selection,
extraction, and manipulation are necessary before storing the data in a
separate location. In most instances, the data is optimized through compression
and encryptions to enhance efficiency and security during retrieval. The main
goal of having a database backup is to enhance data security. Thus, it requires
the use of reliable media for the backup and an off-site storage facility
(Sohal, 2013). The most used data requires regular backing and updating to
ensure consistency. The methods used to back up the database takes different
forms including cloud and physical types. Organizations can create backups
using physical media like disks, external hard drives, online methods, and
offsite backup methods. The selection of each method depends on the type of
data stored and its importance to the continuity of the business. Many
organizations rely on the information technology systems to facilitate the
business operations. Thus, a disruption to the main database would be
detrimental to the business operations. The need for a database backup is due
to the increasing business reliance on IT systems in running the major
operations. Database backup can be full, incremental, or differential
depending on the amount of data created and utilized in the organization. A
full backup method stores all the details of a database at the time of backup.
The method is time-consuming, though provides a reliable source of data to
restore the database. Incremental backups store the data that has had changes
since the last full backup. The method helps to store the recent changes in a
database. Differential backups store the data that has had changes since the
last full backup. It is fast to retrieve data from a differential backup rather
than another method (Preston, 2007). Disaster
planning Disaster planning is a set of procedures and policies
that enable an organization to have continuity when faced with a disaster or
other unlikely occurrences. Disasters are common occurrences, and none of the
business can be immune to such occurrences. Thus, it is important to have
adequate planning on how to address the disasters that strike. Disaster
planning is focused on information technology as a critical business process.
Disaster planning is a comprehensive process that seeks to ensure business continuity
by defining the likely conduct before, during, and after a disaster (Snedaker,
2013). The disaster plan ought to discuss the process of data recovery,
application of communication, hardware and networking facilities, and also the
personnel required in disaster recovery. A disaster plan helps to minimize the impacts of
disasters that are a threat to its continuity. Some measures can be in place to
prevent some negative occurrences, but not all are preventable. The plans vary
from one organization type to another depending on the type of business,
activities involved, and the level of data security desired (Bartkowski,
Buitlear, et.al. 2012). Many organizations lack adequate disaster preparedness
plans thereby are susceptible to losses after a disaster. An IT disaster
plan should be a part of the business continuity plan. It should have details
of how to restore the hardware, applications, and the database back to normal
operation. The plan should have an inventory of the required hardware,
software, and data files as used by the business. In most instances, IT
disaster planning achieves similar targets to database backup. Businesses use
IT in information processing and the server’s process significant amounts of
data which is crucial for the major operations. Thus, the disaster plan should
have a consideration of the security of all the information processed by the IT
systems and describe a method to backup and restore it. Importance
of integrating both backups and disaster planning and impact of not executing
them effectively Database backup is an important part of disaster
planning. The main purpose of the database backup is to safeguard data if a
destructive occurrence arises. For disaster planning, the main goal is to
safeguard data and also the facilities. The two aspects work as complimentary
to each other, hence necessary to integrate them. The integration is crucial
since it allows easy handling of disasters that seek to destroy both the data
and the business premises. Database back helps to select the appropriate data
to store while disaster planning helps to select a suitable plan for the
physical storage of the data. Disaster planning ensures a physical protection
of the database backup methods used (Gregory, 2011). The execution of both
mandates effectively helps to ensure that a business can recover fully from a
disaster and also have limited impacts from the disaster. A disaster plan
cannot be fully reliable if it does not have a backup strategy, hence necessary
to integrate. The measures taken to safeguard data and business
facilities are useful when disasters arise. The organizations with poor backup
and recovery strategies fail to continue with business operations after the
disasters strike. Such occurrences have a high likelihood of causing failure to
the progress of business operations. The failure of executing both backups and
disaster planning effectively results to negative impacts to the business which
can be difficult to recover (Hawkins, Yen & Chou, 2000). The lack of a backup
and a disaster recovery method makes the organization vulnerable to loss of
vital information that would impair the operations in the organization. It is
more cost intensive to restore a business to the normal operations without a
proper backup strategy than one with a well defined disaster plan. Conclusion The success of an organization depends on its ability to
withstand disasters that occur unexpectedly. Database backup is an important
aspect of the disaster planning of an organization and helps in the planning of
the recovery processes within the organization. Both strategies ought to work
together for a reliable and effective business continuity plan. The failure of
executing them effectively results to limited chances of survival past a
disaster. Bartkowski, S., Buitlear, C. D., Kalicki, A.,
Loster, M., Marczewski, M., Mosaad, A., . . . Zimnol, K. (2012). High Availability and Disaster Recovery
Options for DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and
Windows: IBM Redbooks. Gregory
P.H (2011) IT Disaster Recovery Planning
for Dummies; John Wiley & Sons, 2011, ISBN 1118050630, 9781118050637 Hawkins,
S. M., Yen, D. C., & Chou, D. C. (2000). Disaster recovery planning: a
strategy for data security. Information
management & computer security, 8(5), 222-230 Preston
W. C. (2007) Backup & Recovery:
Inexpensive Backup Solutions for Open Systems: "O'Reilly Media,
Inc.", 2007. ISBN 0596555040, 9780596555047 Snedaker,
S. (2013). Business Continuity and
Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Professionals: Newnes Sohal,
G. (2013). Changing expectations for
backup and disaster recovery: Computer Fraud & Security, 2013(1),
16-18. Doi: 10.1016/S1361-3723(13)70008-3 Author is associated with MeldaResearch.Com which is a global free research papers provider. If you would like help in essays, research papers, term papers and dissertations, you can visit ResearchPapers247.com © 2018 Winnie MeldaReviews
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Winnie MeldaNew York, NYAboutWinnie Melda is an academic writer and an editor and she offers academic writing help online. Thus, people that doubt their own writing abilities can use the best paper writing service for sale online.. more..Writing
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