Almost everything in business operations nowadays runs on IT. Although every business owner takes as many steps as possible to ensure that their IT system does not suffer any downtime, there are some elements that might be beyond your control. Natural disasters and at times infiltration of your system by hackers are the most common elements that affect IT systems. In these times, having a disaster recovery plan in place will keep your data safe and enable you to maintain your operations’ continuity.
There are different forms of disaster recovery plans among office IT solutions. The process of finding an ideal fit for your company can be overwhelming since every business is different and one size will not fit all people. The following are tidbits on the four disaster recovery plan options available to help you pick the best for your company:
Backup-Only Disaster Recovery
This is the minimum plan for IT disaster recovery offered by IT service providers. Under this plan, your data will be stored daily on three different sites. These include a removable disk, onsite, and in data centers. Backup-only disaster recovery only focuses on your files rather than your entire IT infrastructure. You will hence need another recovery option for your apps, computers, and servers.
Cold Site Data Recovery
This involves the renting of space in a secondary facility for the installation of a temporary office in times of disaster. Here, you will have your basic IT infrastructure including cooling, network connectivity, and power to get your data and servers online. Cold site data recovery will provide a solution for your operation in events that render your primary site inhabitable like floods and fires. It is also inexpensive since you do not need much maintenance throughout. Unfortunately, it is slower to recover data than in other plans since the recovery will take three to five days rather than a few hours.
Hot Site Disaster Recovery
This plan also features a secondary facility with IT infrastructure, data, apps, software, and at times other equipment used for your business’ operations. Unlike cold site recovery plan, this plan is active throughout and has updated copies of your data. Hence, you will have your data immediately if anything happens to your primary site. It is unfortunately expensive due to the high maintenance costs of your infrastructure, licensing, cooling, power, and network connectivity.
Virtual Data Recovery
This plan is inexpensive, is easy to manage and test, and creates a replica of your work environment, including your operating systems, data, storage space, and apps. Virtual data recovery plans can run on all workstations, so you do not need to have a secondary location for disaster recovery. The plans are also configuration- and hardware-independent with no downtime on your system in case of a disaster.
Your choice from the plans mentioned above for your business’ disaster recovery mainly depends on your type of data and systems and your available budget. Hot site recovery plans, for instance, will suffice for large companies with high IT availability needs and a considerable budget. Small businesses, on the other hand, looking for a flexible disaster recovery option can find their answer in virtual data recovery plans.
