04. Disaster Recovery Plan (431)

Question 1

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) - reduce risks related to disasters
Mainly an IT function - ensure IT systems to support critical business functions available

431

Question 2

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Disaster Recovery Plasn (DRP) need to specify teams and their roles and responsibilities

431

Question 3

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Shorter Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) are more expensive

433

Question 4

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Management must decide how much they will invest to manage RTO and RPO at acceptable levels

RTO / RPO Cost Balance

434

Question 5

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

Developing recovery strategies to meet recovery targets is iterative process
Develop a strategy to reach specific target at a specific cost. Management decide it is to much, they increase RPO or RTO targets accordingly.

434

Question 6

Site Recovery Options

Assumption is that in a disaster scenario, organisations recover critical applications to a recovery site.
Choosing a recovery site includes 2 key factors;

1. Speed that application will be recovered
2. Location of the recovery site

435

Question 7

Site Recovery Options

Hot sites
More expensive
Faster
Near-real time readiness, likely a full replication of operating primary site
Warm Sites
Less expensive than hot site - data recovered by media, replication technology not required
Medium time frame to recovery
Recovery systems in place, but at a lower state of readiness i.e. OS may be patch levels behind primary systems
Cold Sites
Least expensive
Longest time to recovery
May consist of just rack space but lacking any state of readiness i.e. little or no equipment, and not ready to go - will need time to build and implement.
Mobile Site
Portable recovery center
Can be shipped to any location, delivered by means of transport options
Buy on demand
Cloud Site
Recovery into the cloud in virtual environments
Capital costs are negligable
Costs involved only when recovery begins
Reciprocal Site
Contractual agreement with another or more organisations
Legal contracts that obligate the housing of another business systems temporarily

437-438

Question 8

DRP for SaaS

Considerations for DRP planning when using a SaaS;

Direct Connectivity
SaaS provider may switch to alternative hosting environment
Organisation needs to consider VPN or MPLS connectivity to new hosted environment
Integrations
Integration between SaaS services and organisation services may become an issue if SaaS moves hosting location
Machine authentication, licence keys, encryption keys, email, message routing
Fourth Parties
Other third parties to the organisation, who are fourth party to the SaaS, may be affected

439

Question 9

Distributed Workforce

Disaster Recovery Plans must be written for an audience less familiar with the organisation as it is likely to involve outsiders in implementation i.e. use of contractors

440

Question 10

Recovery and Resilience Technologies

Technologies must be surveyed to validate they can meet the Recovery Time Objectives and Recovery Point Objectives. (RTO and RPO)

341

Answer 10

1. Does tech help info systems achieve RTO, RPO, RCapO targets
2. Cost of technology meet or exceed budget constrains
3. Can technology be used to ebnefit other information systems (cost-benefits)
4. Does technology “fit” with IT operations (capabilities, knowledge, skillset)
5. Does technology require specialised training
6. Does technology complicate existing IT architecture