IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies

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1. Daniel A. Funck says:

   July 1, 2010 at 5:47 pm

   Review by Daniel A. Funck for IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies
   Rating:
   This is a well written, fact filled book with a pinch of humor. Peter does an excellent job explaining disaster recovery that even management will ‘get it!’ This book will guide even the most novice systems administrator through the process of planning and executing a DR plan. Once business, that relies on computing, discovers this book, it will become mandatory reading.

   As a International Technical Coordinator, I work with hundreds of collaborative sites, most in 3rd world nations.
   
   This book has helped me with being able to present recommendations, with common ideas/scenarios, on protecting the site’s data…especially sites with very little to no technical expertise.
2. P. J Rothstein says:

   July 1, 2010 at 6:21 pm

   Review by P. J Rothstein for IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies
   Rating:
   Disaster Recovery is not simply about Katrinas nor earthquakes nor 9/11 catastrophes. Sometimes, the focus on these monumental events could intimidate even the most committed IT manager from tackling Disaster Recovery Planning. Disaster Recovery is really about the ability to maintain business as usual – or as close to ‘as usual’ as is feasible and justifiable – whatever gets thrown at IT.

   Unfortunately, too many data center managers have not been able to effectively address disaster recovery, whether because of lack of management commitment, lack of knowledge or lack of resources. By effectively, I mean:
   
   - a comprehensive disaster recovery plan, based on objective assessment of threats, vulnerabilities and exposure to loss;
   
   - integration with comprehensive enterprise business continuity programs so that IT Disaster Recovery is consistent with overall business needs and priorities; and,
   
   - a meaningful exercise program, combined with training and plan maintenance to ensure that the plan is current, realistic, and likely to work when called upon.
   
   The good news is that with Peter Gregory’s new book, even a team without prior experience in disaster recovery planning – “…those frustrated and hard-working souls who know they’re not dumb, but find that the technical complexities of computers and the myriad of personal and business issues ­ and all the accompanying horror stories ­ make them feel helpless” as http://www.Dummies.com points out – can begin to address these issues.

   Peter Gregory’s book helps to establish a realistic perspective for Disaster Recovery and provides a no-nonsense yet manageable foundation. He has identified many issues, techniques and tips which I found quite useful, despite my 25+ years involvement with business continuity and disaster recovery.

   Okay, so it is a “… For Dummies” book – that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously. While I confess I enjoyed Italian Wines for Dummies more, Peter Gregory’s new book succeeds in taking the intimidation factor out of IT Disaster Recovery and offers a common-sense, practical, yet comprehensive process for analyzing, developing, implementing, exercising and maintaining a successful IT Disaster Recovery program – even if he has, regrettably failed miserably to enlighten me about Super-Tuscan wines.
3. Thomas Duff says:

   July 1, 2010 at 7:12 pm

   Review by Thomas Duff for IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies
   Rating:
   It would be tempting to make all sorts of snide comments about a Dummies book that wants to take a serious look at disaster recovery of your IT area. But this is a Dummies title that you’ll actually go back to a number of times if you’re responsible for making sure your organization survives a disaster… IT Disaster Recovery Planning for Dummies by Peter Gregory. It’s actually the first book on the subject that I found interesting *and* readable to an average computer professional.

   Contents:
   
   Part 1 – Getting Started with Disaster Recovery: Understanding Disaster Recovery; Bootstrapping the DR Plan Effort; Developing and Using a Business Impact Analysis
   
   Part 2 – Building Technology Recovery Plans: Mapping Business Functions to Infrastructure; Planning User Recovery; Planning Facilities Protection and Recovery; Planning System and Network Recovery; Planning Data Recovery; Writing the Disaster Recovery Plans
   
   Part 3 – Managing Recovery Plans: Testing the Recovery Plans; Keeping DR Plans and Staff Current; Understanding the Role of Prevention; Planning for Various Disaster Scenarios
   
   Part 4 – The Part of Tens: Ten Disaster Recovery Planning Tools; Eleven Disaster Recovery Planning Web Sites; Ten Essentials for Disaster Planning Success; Ten Benefits of DR Planning
   
   Index

   I was prompted to read this when a colleague of mine recently went through a fire at their company location. For about a week, he lived through a nightmare of recovering data, setting up new workstations and servers, and fending off management who thought they had better ideas than everyone else on how to proceed. A book like this would have, if taken seriously and methodically, helped him avoid much of the confusion and headache that went with getting things back to a stable condition. Gregory presents a realistic view of what is needed to start preparing for a disaster that could cause your business to fold. He doesn’t assume that you have millions of dollars and unlimited staff resources at hand. He advocates getting a basic plan in place along with reviews by the major players. Once this outline is put down, then you can continue to build on it, going from scenario plan walkthroughs to full-blown hotsite cutovers that test the ability to bring your systems back up using all the processes you have in place. He also doesn’t just confine himself to the physical hardware/software elements. You may have your system recovered fine in terms of the main computer, but if your users have no place to work or system connectivity is missing, then all your plans are for naught. You will definitely get the full view of what needs to be taken into account for disaster planning, in a way that is approachable and doable without some expensive or complex methodology.

   I would say there’s a good chance that if you’re part of a large organization, you probably (I hope!) already have DR plans in place. But if you’re a smaller organization, it’s likely you’ve never given much thought to what would happen to your business if the building burned down or a hurricane flooded your office. Some time spent with this book might well be the difference between emerging from a disaster ready for business or ready to file chapter 7.
4. Sergio says:

   July 1, 2010 at 7:59 pm

   Review by Sergio for IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies
   Rating:
   Hay muy poca literatura en este tema tan claro y simple como este libro, simplemente excelente
5. Vincent Poirier says:

   July 1, 2010 at 8:09 pm

   Review by Vincent Poirier for IT Disaster Recovery Planning For Dummies
   Rating:
   If you find yourself suddenly in charge of creating a disaster recovery plan for your organization, this is the book for you. And since we’re already assuming you’ve been tasked with this, we can also assume you won’t have to sell management on the idea. Follow these steps.

   Step 1. Order it and read it cover to cover.

   Step 2. Follow the book’s instructions on creating a high-level Business Impact Analysis of the business. The BIA will allow you to decide what parts of the organization to tackle first.

   Step 3. Follow the instructions on creating an interim disaster recovery plan.

   The above may take a month or two in a medium size enterprise of a few hundred people. Afterwards, you’ll be ready to embark on the actual planning. Reread the book and pay special attention to the following.

   * How to conduct business impact analyses (BIAs) for each line of business in your enterprise so you can understand what are the business line’s key elements, viz. resources, people, relationships with other departments, with clients, and with vendors (a.k.a. dependencies).

   * If you are a technology person, learn to focus on the _business_ process. You already know about backups, server clusters, and database layers. Learn what those ERP applications are for.

   * If you are a business side person, learn about backups, server clusters, and database layers. Learn what makes those ERP applications reliable and fast.

   * In either case, learn to map business processes to your technology systems.

   Finally, the “Parts of Ten” section is a good resource for finding out what tools are available out there to create DR plans and BIAs, e.g. Strohl Systems’ Living Disaster Recovery Planning System (LDRPS).

   Vincent Poirier, Tokyo
6. E.Keller says:

   July 1, 2010 at 8:46 pm

   Review by E.Keller for Computer Data Recovery: Crucial Tips For Data Recovery And Maximizing The life Of Your Hard Drive
   Rating:
   It helps you figure out what you can handle yourself and when and where in the data recovery process do you need the help of professional services.
7. F.Alberts says:

   July 1, 2010 at 9:23 pm

   Review by F.Alberts for Computer Data Recovery: Crucial Tips For Data Recovery And Maximizing The life Of Your Hard Drive
   Rating:
   I think this is a good book for emergency data recovery because it showed me the really crucial information I needed in the event this happens and preventive techniques to save crucial data before a disaster happens.