When properly planned and implemented, a
disaster recovery plan makes possible the
retrieval of lost data and the resumption of
system operations. Such procedures are a
critical part of computer operations at all
levels, especially those involving the storage
of long-term or permanent records on electronic
media. A solid disaster recovery plan may also
be critical to the fulfillment of audit
requirements and the maintenance of audit trails
in fiscal systems. For many applications,
multiple copies and/or generations of backups
may be required. One of the requirements of
the Sarbanes Oxley Act is that systems
containing financial data maintained by a
publicly traded company be backed up
periodically, that the backup media is stored in
a secure off-site location and requires that
periodic test be run to prove that financial
systems can be recovered from backup in the
event a disaster strikes. The purpose of
the disaster recovery plan is to provide a means
to: (1) restore the integrity of the computer
systems in the event of a hardware/software
failure or physical disaster, and (2) provide a
measure of protection against human error or the
inadvertent deletion of important files.
The design of backup and recovery solutions
needs to take into account business requirements
of the organization as well as its operational
environment. The backup and recovery solutions
that are deployed must be predictable, reliable,
and capable of processing data as quickly as
possible. Challenges that are faced by
organizations in managing data
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