The difference between disaster recovery, backup and business continuity
We often hear that the phrase “disaster recovery” and “backup” are used interchangeably, and sometimes in a bad context. Some customers may request disaster recovery at the time they need backup as well. So what is the difference and why is it so important?
Disaster recovery is the recovery of critical IT functions after a disaster. An accident can be any incident from a server crash to a natural disaster (flood, hurricane, fire), as well as to man-made accidents - incidents due to miscalculations in construction, theft, sabotage or chemical leakage. The bottom line is to restore critical functions in the shortest possible time. Obviously, disaster recovery can involve much more than just data recovery. A comprehensive disaster recovery plan can be complemented by alternative sites, replacement equipment, and so on.
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Backups, on the other hand, may include the ability to perform a quick recovery — yes, disaster recovery, but backups can also give you access to your backup history. This is the big difference between backup and disaster recovery. There are some really excellent disaster recovery products that provide very fast recovery of the latest server copy in the event of a disaster, but they were never intended to provide access to data copies even two weeks old, the least time - six months or a year data.
In addition to being able to restore the most recent data files, a backup also allows you to get old versions of files. Saving all versions of a document can protect against data loss that occurred in the past, but only now it has been noticed.
Cryptolocker ransomware - a new type of ransomware program - is a good example of the fact that the latest backup may contain infected versions, so you may need older saved copies of documents. Everyone knows that saving a monthly report is very easy to miss and click “Save” instead of “Save As”, thus rewriting the original document. Without saving all versions of the documents, you may lose important data. For some organizations, the obligation to keep copies of all files is legally approved: for example, this applies to medicine, where it is necessary to keep patient data for years.
Legal requests are also a common reason for recovering past data. The former employee sues his former employer and the lawyer picks up the e-mail records and many others. Data for backup can serve as the current data used for disaster recovery, but it is also previous versions of the data and the ability to play data that existed at a particular point in time.
Business continuity is often referred to as the ability of an organization to continue substantial business processes, despite the accident. A quality business continuity plan is much more than server and data recovery, and it often includes things that are not at all related to IT.
The needs of each organization in the continuity of certain business processes vary. For some types of business, it is critical to have a stable telephone connection, for others - the safety of specialized equipment that cannot be moved in a short time. Which employees perform the most important business functions? What are these features? Where will these employees be able to work if office work is impossible? All these and many other questions need to be asked if you are going to create an effective business continuity plan, and data recovery is only one of the questions you need to think about.
Disaster recovery
Disaster recovery is the recovery of critical IT functions after a disaster. An accident can be any incident from a server crash to a natural disaster (flood, hurricane, fire), as well as to man-made accidents - incidents due to miscalculations in construction, theft, sabotage or chemical leakage. The bottom line is to restore critical functions in the shortest possible time. Obviously, disaster recovery can involve much more than just data recovery. A comprehensive disaster recovery plan can be complemented by alternative sites, replacement equipment, and so on.
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Backup
Backups, on the other hand, may include the ability to perform a quick recovery — yes, disaster recovery, but backups can also give you access to your backup history. This is the big difference between backup and disaster recovery. There are some really excellent disaster recovery products that provide very fast recovery of the latest server copy in the event of a disaster, but they were never intended to provide access to data copies even two weeks old, the least time - six months or a year data.
In addition to being able to restore the most recent data files, a backup also allows you to get old versions of files. Saving all versions of a document can protect against data loss that occurred in the past, but only now it has been noticed.
Cryptolocker ransomware - a new type of ransomware program - is a good example of the fact that the latest backup may contain infected versions, so you may need older saved copies of documents. Everyone knows that saving a monthly report is very easy to miss and click “Save” instead of “Save As”, thus rewriting the original document. Without saving all versions of the documents, you may lose important data. For some organizations, the obligation to keep copies of all files is legally approved: for example, this applies to medicine, where it is necessary to keep patient data for years.
Legal requests are also a common reason for recovering past data. The former employee sues his former employer and the lawyer picks up the e-mail records and many others. Data for backup can serve as the current data used for disaster recovery, but it is also previous versions of the data and the ability to play data that existed at a particular point in time.
Business continuity
Business continuity is often referred to as the ability of an organization to continue substantial business processes, despite the accident. A quality business continuity plan is much more than server and data recovery, and it often includes things that are not at all related to IT.
The needs of each organization in the continuity of certain business processes vary. For some types of business, it is critical to have a stable telephone connection, for others - the safety of specialized equipment that cannot be moved in a short time. Which employees perform the most important business functions? What are these features? Where will these employees be able to work if office work is impossible? All these and many other questions need to be asked if you are going to create an effective business continuity plan, and data recovery is only one of the questions you need to think about.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/302904/
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