Disaster RecoveryCategory

Running release R minus 1? What about release R plus 45 days? We all know the Patch Tuesday update cycle where Microsoft releases their updates. It is common practice for risk-averse companies to not run the very latest release of software, instead having a policy of running “R-1” – which… Continue Reading R-1 is dead, long live R+45

I always recommend to create a dedicated management cluster for your vSphere virtual environment, but what is a dedicated management cluster, and why is it so important to have one? Not only is it best practice, there are real reasons why you should choose to do this. What is a… Continue Reading Dedicated Management Cluster

Ring, ring. “Hello, is that the IT Manager? Can I ask you a few questions for a survey? <preamble here to build a relationship and feeling of trust, like complimenting the company or asking what the company does, saying that it’s impressive or hard work>. Can you tell me what… Continue Reading Information disclosure as a security risk

Assumptions are often made that if you have storage, you need to use RAID. If you have moving parts like fans, the assumption is that you need a hot spare (or at least the ability to hot replace the part), and then it goes on to redundant network connections, warm… Continue Reading The concept of redundancy – is it redundant?

I had a question from a company that had lots of small regional sites, asking “Is a single VM on a single host viable?”, in response to my query about why they were buying one or two servers for these sites. There was an assumption that it was only worthwhile… Continue Reading Is a Single VM on a Single Host viable?

In today’s modern world, the task of threat and risk assessment is based on prior experience and history. It is human nature to be limited in our imagination by prior experience. When identifying the threats to your business and systems, you need to have an imagination on the possibilities that… Continue Reading Threat and risk assessment

One of the first steps in preparing for a Business Continuity Plan and developing a Disaster Recovery Plan is to first identify the impact that your business would experience as the result of a disaster. Engage with senior management (as this process takes up considerable time and needs focus and… Continue Reading Business Impact Analysis questionnaire template

You may be one of the many people who ask what is the difference between BCP and DR – that is, what is the difference between a Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery planning? First a little history – back in the pre-computing era, for most businesses, if they suffered… Continue Reading The difference between BCP and DR

Some people will just jump straight into Disaster Recovery Planning, without considering what they are planning for – how do you categorise a disaster? Who  decides, and what information do they need to make a decision? What parts of your business can continue to operate using other means – that… Continue Reading Disaster Recovery planning to do before the planning

What is the difference between DR and BCP? For that matter, what is the difference between Backup, Disaster Avoidance, Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity? It’s a mistake to consider all of these as lumped into the same concept, as that leads to further mistakes such as skipping steps. Mistake 1:… Continue Reading 9 big mistakes in disaster recovery planning (DRP)

Without exception, every organisation I have worked at (or for) has had concerns over coping with the disaster of data loss or being unable to use their systems for business. It’s not surprising as it is reported that 60 percent of businesses that suffer data loss will end up failing… Continue Reading The silver bullet for a perfect DR plan

Running release N minus 1? What about release N plus 45 days? Software update best practice should mean that patches and updates are tested, but not held back when it provides known fixes. It is common practice for risk-averse companies to not run the very latest release of software, instead… Continue Reading n-1 is dead, long live N+45