Syntel CQA Forum Diaster Recovery Plan
• User operations
Definitions
Disaster is any sudden or unplanned
calamitous event that causes a significant
disruption in information systems and/or
telecommunications systems that affects the
operation of an organization.
Disaster Recovery/Business Contingency
These are commonly used terms to refer to
the recovery of service following either a
disaster or other actions which would disrupt
business activity.
Recovery Plan is a documents used to define
actions to be taken in the event of a disaster
and reduce the number of decisions required
during a stressful situation.
Business resumption is the process of
restoring business activity to an acceptable
level, and then to a normal level after an
emergency event has disrupted normal
operations.
Purpose and Scope
Most organizations now have installed very
complicated on-line and diverse network
systems. Although organizations may have
similar equipment and operating systems,
they generally do not have the capacity to
add a large number of users from another on-
line environment to their systems even if the
technical problems could be solved.
A trend is evolving to provide alternate sites
near the central local systems where any
additional equipment needed can be shipped
in rapidly, and critical on-line operations for
the organization can be resumed in a
reasonable time.
Redundancy in the communications network
and a tie-in to the alternate site, or the ability
to rapidly tie-in, is an important part of the
disaster plan. This type of site is called a cold
backup site, as opposed to a hot backup site
which contains all equipment necessary to
start immediate operations.
DISASTER PLANNING PROCESS
In the event of a disaster, a business should
have a back-up for the following:
• Data file storage and retrieval
• Customer Services
• Communications and User Operations
• Hardware
• Software
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• Facilities for MIS and for users
An effective disaster recovery plan clearly
identifies even the obvious details of how you
will respond to disaster to ensure some of
those details do not escape attention. It
spells out those details, which establishes the
plan is comprehensive and well-organized.
It is important to keep in mind, that the aim
of the planning process is to:
• Assess existing vulnerabilities
• Implement disaster avoidance and
prevention procedures
• Develop a comprehensive plan that will
enable the organization to react
appropriately and in a timely manner if
disaster strikes
• Create an an awareness program to
educate management and senior
individuals who will be required to
participate in the project
Preparing for a Disaster
This section contains the minimum steps
necessary to prepare for a possible disaster
and as preparation for implementing the
recovery procedures. An important part of
these procedures is ensuring that the off-site
storage facility contains adequate and timely
computer backup tapes and documentation
for applications systems, operating systems,
support packages, and operating procedures.
General Procedures
Responsibilities have been given for ensuring
each of following actions have been taken
and that any updating needed is continued.
• Maintaining and updating the disaster
recovery plan.
• Ensuring that periodic scheduled rotation
of backup media is being followed for the
off-site storage facilities.
• Maintaining and periodically updating
disaster recovery materials, specifically
documentation and systems information,
stored in the off-site areas.
Software Safeguards
Administrative software and data are secured
by full backups each week and differential
backups each weekday evening. The first
backup of each month is retained for one
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year. Nightly differential backups are retained
in Systems & Operations until the next full
backup. A copy of the full backups is also
stored in a safe deposit box. Backups are
stored on 4mm DAT tapes and other compact
media.
Recovery Procedures
Systems & Operations
In case of either a move to an alternate site,
or a plan to continue operations at the main
site, the following general steps must be
taken:
• Determine the extent of the damage and
if additional equipment and supplies are
needed.
• Obtain approval for expenditure of funds
to bring in any needed equipment and
supplies.
• Notify local vendor marketing and/or
service representatives if there is a need
of immediate delivery of components to
bring the computer systems to an
operational level even in a degraded
mode.
• If it is judged advisable, check with third-
party vendors to see if a faster delivery
schedule can be obtained.
• Notify vendor hardware support personnel
that a priority should be placed on
assistance to add and/or replace any
additional components.
• Notify vendor systems support personnel
that help is needed immediately to begin
procedures to restore systems software
• Order any additional electrical cables
needed from suppliers.
• Rush order any supplies, forms, or media
that may be needed.
• In addition to the general steps listed at
the beginning of this section, the
following additional major tasks must be
followed in use of the alternate site:
• Notify officials that an alternate site will
be needed for an alternate facility.
• Coordinate moving of equipment and
support personnel into the alternate site
with appropriate personnel.
• Bring the recovery materials from the off-
site storage to the alternate site.
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• As soon as the hardware is up to
specifications to run the operating
system, load software and run necessary
tests.
• Determine the priorities of the client
software that need to be available and
load these packages in order. These
priorities often are a factor of the time of
the month and semester when the
disaster occurs.
• Prepare backup materials and return
these to the off-site storage area.
• Set up operations in the alternate site.
• Coordinate client activities to ensure the
most critical jobs are being supported as
needed.
• As production begins, ensure that
periodic backup procedures are being
followed and materials are being placed
in off-site storage periodically.
• Work out plans to ensure all critical
support will be phased in.
• Keep administration and clients informed
of the status, progress, and problems.
• Coordinate the longer range plans with
the administration, the alternate site
officials, and staff for time of continuing
support and ultimately restoring the
Systems & Operations section.
Managing Recovery Procedures
A disaster recovery plan must do more than
identify alternatives. It should identify how all
members of a business organization should
respond in the event of a disaster. This
includes the following:
• Develop a clear chain of command. It
should be clear whom employees need to
go to if they see a problem.
• Establish a clear sense of individual
responsibility. All employees should be
trained to look for signs of disaster and to
respond immediately when they see
these.
Documenting Procedures and Training
Employees
Documentation of the disaster recovery plan
needs to be readily available to all
employees. It should be
• written out and frequently revised as the
business and threats change;
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• available on the business network;
• referred to frequently in the training and
ongoing education of all employees.
Training should help build employee
awareness of what disasters might look like
as they begin. Also, employees need to be
aware of how, in addition to notifying
someone else, they might immediately
respond. Training should include
• practice exercises;
• clearly written documents but
frequent instruction in identifying who
is to be notified and how to respond to
a disaster.

Testing the Disaster Recovery Plan

A disaster recovery plan is only as good as its
ability to be put into action. You may want to
consider the following kinds of tests of your
plan to maintain its effectiveness:
• An initial comprehensive test of
responses to several kinds of disasters
• Tests that simulate specific disasters,
affecting one part of the network
• Tests that simulate worst-case scenarios,
when the entire network is affected

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