What is disaster recovery ?

Disaster recovery (DR) is the process of regaining access to the data, hardware and software necessary to resume critical business operations after a natural or human-induced disaster. DR is a coordinated activity to enable the recovery of IT/business systems due to a disruption. DR can be achieved by restoring IT/business operations at an alternate location, recovering IT/business operations using alternate equipment, and/or performing some or all of the affected business processes using manual methods. Finding the ideal DR solution can be a daunting task, and even more so when faced with tight budget constraints.

Disaster recovery planning is the process of developing advance arrangements and procedures that enable an organization to respond to a disaster by resuming critical business functions within a defined time frame minimizing loss, and restoring affected areas.

It is now generally recognized that Business continuity planning and disaster recovery planning are vital activities. However, the creation of (and maintenance of) a sound business continuity and disaster recovery plan, is a complex undertaking, involving a series of steps.

With the rise in information technology and the reliance on business-critical data, the landscape has changed in recent years in favor of protecting irreplaceable data. This is especially evident in information technology, with most large computer systems backing up digital information to limit data loss and to aid data recovery.