Disaster Recovery for System Architecture Using Cloud Computing - Assignment Example

Disaster Recovery for System Architecture Using Cloud Computing Introduction The information technology department of the American public education inc. requires a written disaster recovery plan. The plan issues the information resources that reduce the impacts of a disaster. The department will help the company to maintain or resume its function immediately after the disaster. This plan works as the guide of American public education inc. administration and the employee. Plan approval American public education inc. , Version 1.0, dated December 1, 2018, has been reviewed and approved. Chief Information Officer Date PERSONNEL TO DECLARE A DISASTER OR RESUME NORMAL OPERATIONS The vice president of information technology and the manager of American public education inc. are given the mandate to announce information technology systems disaster as well as the resumption of normal processing. RESUMPTION OF NORMAL OPERATIONS Once the threat is over and the affected items repaired or replaced or new data stocked, the disaster recovery team is supposed to access the situation and declare the company to resume the normal operations. PLAN OBJECTIVES The main objective of American public education inc. Is to protect the records and to guarantee the availability of information technology services. The role of this plan is to give written agreed discussions and to design and implement a sufficient set of procedures for responding in case of any disaster. A disaster is referred to as the occurrence of any event that causes noticeable interruptions in IT functions. This plan assumes the most severe disaster, the kind that needs moving computing resource to a different location. The basic approach, the main assumption and possible sequence that are supposed to be followed are written in this plan. It outlines the prior preparations to a disaster and any emergency procedures after a disaster. The plan is a road map to a disaster to recovery The plan represents a dynamic process that will be kept current through updates, testing, and reviews. As recommendations are completed or as new areas of concern are recognized, the plan will be revised to reflect the current IT environment. DISASTER ASSESSMENT The disaster assessment stage lasts from the beginning of the disaster up to when it is under control and the damage can be assessed. ALTERNATE SITE OPERATION/DATA CENTER REBUILD This stage involves continuing operations at the alternate place from where the main place is being restored. KEY DISASTER RECOVERY ACTIVITIES Declaring a disaster means: 1. Activating the recovery plan 2. Notifying leaders 3. Notifying key management contacts 4. Redirecting service to an alternate place 5. Securing a new location center 6. Configuring replacement equipment 7. Reconfiguring the network 8. Reinstalling software and data 9. Updating the management 10. Updating the user 11. Updating the public RECOVERY TIME OBJECTIVES (RTO) The Recovery Time Objectives are based on the configurations and operation. This is a general overview a detailed listing of applications and their associated Recovery Tiers are listed later in this document. Network service Recovery goal LAN (Local Area Network) 6-11 days estimate WAN (Wide Area Network) 28 days estimate Internet 28 days estimate APPLICATION RECOVERY TIER RECOVERY GOAL Tier 0 Applications Immediately after WAN/Internet restore Tier 1 Applications 5 days after LAN/WAN restore Tier 2 Applications 10 days after LAN/WAN restore Tier 3 Applications 15 days after LAN/WAN restore Tier 4 Applications When Possible These recovery time objectives (RTO) should be given the best estimates. In the event of a disaster, hardware would have to be located, purchased, shipped, installed, and configured before any installation. The network services and application recovery times are additive in case of a disaster that has some effects to the servers and the LAN. though, a WAN disaster takes much time to recover. DISASTER RECOVERY COORDINATOR The Disaster Recovery Coordinator is important in maintaining the plan in a consistent state of readiness. The Recovery Coordinator’s role is multifaceted. The primary responsibilities of the Disaster Recovery Plan Coordinator are as follows: division of the Disaster Recovery Plan Training Testing Evaluation of the Plan Tests Review, change and update the Plan In a disaster situation, the Disaster Recovery Plan Coordinator will: help communication between technical and non-technical staff Be the Project Manager to coordinate the efforts of 1. Technical staff 2. Business staff 3. Vendors 4. Management 5. Other personnel as needed DISASTER RECOVERY TEAM The IT Disaster Recovery management team is the one responsible for the overall coordination of the disaster recovery process from an information technology systems perspective. All other teams report to this team in case of any disaster. Members of this team also have other roles like administrative, public relations, supply responsibilities during a disaster. Each responsibility is headed by a member of the team. (Johnson, L. A. Et al 2012) Main activities 1. Perform an assessment and if nee declare a disaster. 2. Coordinate the efforts of this plan. 3. Issue strategic directions 4. Lias with the upper management team 5. Approve actions that were not in the plan 6. Counsel employees who are in need. 7. Train other staff about the disaster. After the disaster Create a report and issue recommendation on the challenges faced and how to handle them SUPPLY RESPONSIBILITIES The supply function is tasked to coordinate the purchases of needed supplies during this recovery period. The supplies include all types of equipment and supplies needed to enable the operations to return to normal. FACILITY TEAM CALL CHECKLIST TEAM LEADER INFORMATION CALLER NAME TELEPHONE PRIMARY IT Director ALTERNATE IT Tech TEAM MEMBER INFORMATION NAME TELEPHONE TIME CALLED /COMMENTS Public Works Director Public Works Manager SEQUENTIAL LIST OF DISASTER RECOVERY TASKS This part involves the list of items which are performed in the four phases of a disaster. The list gives a recommendation. In a disaster, some task may be done well. Sometimes, the sequence changes depending on the type of disaster or circumstances at the time. Some activities are ongoing, that is they span the entire phase or disaster. ( Park, J. S. Et al 2010) APPLICATION RECOVERY PRIORITIES American public education inc. applications are acknowledged and classified in precedence order. It depends on when the disaster takes place, the priorities may change. Tier 0 Applications It is known as hosted applications and there is no needed disaster recovery plan needed. Tier 1 Applications where the disasters plan to restore may take 5 days after LAN/WAN restore. Tier 2 Applications where the disasters plan to restore may take 10 days after LAN/WAN restore. Tier 3 Applications where the disasters plan to restore may take 15 days after LAN/WAN restore. Tier 4 Applications is restored When Possible. SERVER RECOVERY GENERAL INFORMATION This procedure gives the steps used to restore the server in American public education inc. Recovery for the server assumes that. A good backup of data can be accessed offsite storage. Also for a server to be replaced it should be done with equal or more capacity and there must be network connectivity. DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN MAINTENANCE The disaster recovery plan is the main document used in a company. If not well updated could affect the ability to successfully recover in the event of a disaster. Information in this document may differ in one way or the other. It is important to make sure that all the copies are updated. Changes to the plan may occur several times than the time frames which are given. Some hardware upgrades may affect business recovery contracts as well as the plan. Other changes which might affect the plan like software and personnel should also be updated. DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN RECOMMENDED MAINTENANCE PERIOD ACTION Quarterly Review all the changes and update plan Quarterly Have any new applications been implemented? If yes, all disaster recovery implications should be addressed. Quarterly Any major changes to existing applications? If yes, update the recovery plan accordingly. Quarterly Any changes in hardware configuration changed? If the changes have some effect make appropriate changes to the recovery configuration. Quarterly Update the Network Configuration. Quarterly Ensure all team assignments are still valid Semi-annually Test the plan and update based on results. Annually Review the backup requirements Annually Review the insurance coverage TESTING THE DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN The responsibility of The Disaster Recovery Coordinator is to test the plan to ensure the viability of the plan. A special test is issued when there are main revisions of the plan. The main goal for testing the plan is to determine the feasibility of the process applied to recover. It is also used to simulate the condition of actual business recovery situation. It is also used to test the completeness of the recovery data stored at the alternative location. Another main goal is to train members. ( Pokharel et al 2010) References Olshansky, R. B., Hopkins, L. D., & Johnson, L. A. (2012). Disaster and recovery: Processes compressed in time. Natural Hazards Review. Pokharel, M., Lee, S., & Park, J. S. (2010, July). Disaster recovery for system architecture using cloud computing. In Applications and the Internet (SAINT), 2010 10th IEEE/IPSJ International Symposium. Read More