Can you take your server, right now, and toss it out the window and recover by the end of the day?

Most will answer yes. Because they think they have backups. They put the tape in every night, it makes noise, then they put the tape in a "fire proof" safe in the morning when they come in.

If the tape is good (check your backups!) then all you have are the files.

To recover from a server being tossed out of the window here are the steps you will have take:

1) Find hardware (new server)
2) Install Operating System (windows or linux)
3) Install any applications (Exchange, web server, 3rd party software, etc...)
4) Patch the applications (if you can remember)
5) Spend the day figuring out why the applications will not work as you try to remember the registry hacks you did 3 years ago to get it working :)
6) Install the backup software
7) Restore the files
8) Take a nap!

This will most likely take at least one day but more like two.

To prevent this you should take snapshots of your servers. A snapshot is an identical copy of your server. Once you have this snapshot you can restore to another server in an hour or two. This takes care of all of the steps above. A common and popular program for Linux is rsync. Symantec makes a great product for Windows Servers. You can also use virtual servers which allow you to take snapshots. The most common virtual server software is vmware. Microsoft has Virtual Server 2005 which is free, if you can believe that.

Rethink your backup strategy. Just having the files on a tape is not enough. Have your IT guys toss the server out the window and ask them how long before you will be back up :0

Enjoy!

Labels: backup plan disaster recovery