Importance of the Stress Test - Research Paper Example

The stress test examines the stability of the system while handling many simultaneous functions and processes. Stress testing is far beyond normal operations as it can be categorized into application stress testing and hardware stress testing. The strict security measures, both in terms of physical and software security. Biometric identification systems and encryption techniques can be implemented to minimize database security. Moreover, the third step would be to replicate the core services that are running on a specific server or workstation.

This will facilitate the employees to entertain the patients, whenever a primary server goes down. Plans and Changes To minimize system failure in the future, risk analysis is required that will identify all the critical systems on the network. It will also demonstrate the factors that may disrupt the critical system on the network. Moreover, it also includes the implementation of adequate controls to prevent system failures. Daily backups are required on daily basis and a mechanism is required that will check the integrity of the backup at the same time, if the backup is corrupt, a new backup can be requested at the same time.

It is essential to prevent the backup database also by applying adequate security measures, as database contents are highly classified. In case of a natural disaster, data must be relocated to a separate data center situated far away geographically. Furthermore, to eliminate power issues, ‘PoE’ can be implemented to minimize electric outages as it contains a separate electric channel for the workstation and network devices. Root Cause Analysis The major impact that contributed to the system failure problem is the instability of the Tech Med system as well as the application that creates database backup.

However, the primary source of power was restored instantly and replaced by the secondary link. The impact of the Tech Med system resulted in halting all the operations associated with Jones Regional Medical Center (JRMC). Moreover, the impact of corrupt database backup resulted in a major halt in the system operations of the medical center. Manual entries were conducted, as full database recovery is required from journal articles to transactions. Likewise, when the system is not operational, the staff at the medical center has noted all the operational processes manually so that they can be entered, when the system becomes operational.

Disaster Recovery Plan The disaster recovery plan covering all the issues and countermeasures is demonstrated below (Sandhu, 2002): Threats Counter Measures Power Failure Alternate power distribution link Database Failure Backing up data on 3 different locations at the same time by disk mirroring, ciphering, DLT or manual backup on daily basis. System Failure Alternate system to replace the affected system Theft Lock Cabinets IP cameras, biometric fingerprint identification, Vandalism Hard steel box for Servers and Databases Flood Relocating or replicating the network room Create a duplicate or replica of crucial data servers that are geographically located away Firewater sprinklers, Fire extinguishers Earthquake Relocating data with data centers that are geographically located away Determining the Amount The initial step is to identify the information assets on the network along with the services associated with it.