Disaster Recovery

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Disaster Recovery for Peace of Mind
Purpose of a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP)

A DRP Identifies Steps to be Performed in Case:

	The company loses a key employee
	The company unable to access the network
	Information on a computer or server was lost
	The office building was damaged or destroyed
	Information has been corrupted

to name but a few contingencies.

What is Data Loss

Data loss can occur on any device that stores data. Although any loss of data, even a simple misplacement, is by definition technically a loss, what we are primarily concerned with is the permanent loss of data that is important to your business' ongoing success.

Types of Data Loss

Human error - accidental or unknowing data deletion, modification, overwrites
File corruption - software error, virus infection
Hardware Failure - drive failure, controller failure and CPU failure
Site-related - theft, fire, flood, earthquake, lightning, etc.

Over 6% of PCs will suffer data loss in any year - a total of 2.2 million incidents. There are five (5) main causes of loss of data:

1.    Hardware failure, including damage by power surge and drive failure (44%)
2.    Human error, including accidental deletion (32%)
3.    Software file corruption (14%)
4.    Virus-infection (7%)
5.    Hardware loss, including floods, fires, lightning, power failure, theft (3%)
Data Loss Chart

Data Loss Statistics

6% of all PCs will suffer an episode of data loss in any given year. Given the number of PCs used in US businesses in 1998, that translates to approximately 4.6 million data loss episodes. At a conservative estimate, data loss cost US businesses $11.8 billion in 1998. (The Cost Of Lost Data, David M. Smith)

30% of all businesses that have a major fire go out of business within a year. 70% fail within five years. (Home Office Computing Magazine)

31% of PC users have lost all of their files due to events beyond their control.

34% of companies fail to test their tape backups, and of those that do, 77% have found tape back-up failures.

60% of companies that lose their data will shut down within 6 months of the disaster.

93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster. 50% of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately. (National Archives & Records Administration in Washington)

American businesses lost more than $7.6 billion as a result of viruses during first six months of 1999. (Research by Computer Economics)

Companies that aren't able to resume operations within ten days (of a disaster hit) are not likely to survive. (Strategic Research Institute)

Simple drive recovery can cost upwards of $7,500 and success is not guaranteed.