Introduction

A disaster recovery plan covers both the hardware and software required to run critical business applications and the associated processes to transition smoothly in the event of a natural or human-caused disaster. To plan effectively, you need to first assess your mission-critical business processes and associated applications before creating the full disaster recovery plan.

This best-practice document outlines the steps you need to take to implement a successful disaster recovery plan. We’ll look at the following critical steps for best-practice disaster recovery: Management Awareness, Disaster Recovery Planning, Resiliency and Backup Services, and Vendor Support Services.

Performance Indicators for Disaster Recovery

Performance indicators provide the mechanism by which you can measure the success of your disaster recovery process and plan. Performance indicators for disaster recovery are somewhat different from those used to measure network performance, because they are a combination of project status and test runs of infrastructure. Indicators of success include:

· Periodic reports from the planning group to senior management.
· Representation of the network design team on the disaster recovery planning team.
· Periodic tests to verify implementation of the disaster recovery plan and reports about gaps and risks.
· A review process that includes the deployment of new solutions. Analysis of the disaster recovery handling, effectiveness, and impact on the business (after a disaster occurs).

Cisco – Disaster Recovery: Best Practices White Paper

Click here to download the full white paper in PDF.