Table of Contents

Introduction. 2

Database Backup. 2

Types of Database Backup. 2

Disaster Recovery. 4

Types of Disaster Recovery Controls. 4

Strategies. 4

Integration of Database Backup and Disaster Recovery. 6

References. 7

Introduction

The aim of this research paper is to discuss about database backup, disaster planning and the importance of integration of both if both are not effectively executed. In the following sections of the report, first there will be information about database backup, then disaster recovery and then about the integration of both.

Database Backup

Database backup refers to a copy of the data in a database. Important parts of a database or the whole database is copied into some other storage location for recovery or performance purpose. Usually, a database backup is intended to provide safeguard against some errors, system failure and unexpected loss of data. In case of such events, if original data is lost then the backup can be used for reconstructing the database. Other than the purpose of recovery or data in case of some data loss, database backup can also be used in data retention. It defined how long data will be retained.(Gorman, 2014)

A database backup holds at least one copy of important data in the original database. It is a complicated process to decide which data to keep backup and how the storage should be used. For storage of data, it needs structuring of the storage efficiently, a data repository can help in structuring the storage for a database. There are various types of data storage devices and various ways for arranging these device to ensure security, portability and geographical redundancy of data. (Mullins, 2012)

Data selection, extraction and manipulation are performed before sending those data to storage locations. There are various procedures to optimize the data backups. For example, optimization for working with the open files, de-duplication, compressions, encryptions etc. In every scheme for data backups, it must validate the reliability of data by using ‘dry runs’ and understanding the human factors related to the scheme. (Ward & Dafoulas, 2011)

Types of Database Backup

There are two types of database backups. Those are, (Preston, 2011)

1. Logical backup
2. Physical backup

A logical backup contains logical data like stored procedures, tables etc. Logical backups can work as supplements of physical backups. On the other hand, a physical backup contains physical data from source database via some recovery manager application or utility.

Consistency is another criterion of database backups. There will be two types of database backups in terms of consistency. Those are, (Mullins, 2012)

1. Consistent backup
2. Inconsistent backup

In case of consistent backup, database files are backed up with all changes at certain point of time. If database backup is consistent backup, then it may not need explicit recovery implementation. On the other hand, in case of an inconsistent database backup, database files are made after some abnormal shut down of database or when the database file is open. For example, if a database if open for 24×7 then the database backup process will be inconsistent backup.

Media recovery technique for database recovery is used when more than one database files are damaged physically. It may be caused by some user level errors or hardware errors. Total media recovery technique is used for taking backup of whole database, table space or data files. Partial media recovery is used in case of whole database only rather than table space or data files.  Block media recovery process is used when some blocks of some data file is physically damaged. Causes like hardware failure, disk controller failure, I/O error in OS etc. may cause physical damage to a database. During block media recovery, rest of the database is available or online during the recovery process. (Coyne, et al., 2014)

Disaster Recovery

Disaster recovery consists of a set of procedures and policies to help an organization in maintaining business continuity in the face of some human induced or natural disaster to the information technology infrastructure and information systems of the organization. Disaster recovery planning and process is mainly focused on the information technology involved in the critical and core business processes. Such processes are critical to a business as these keeps the business going. Hence, disaster recovery is a subset of whole set of business continuity planning for an organization. (Bartkowski, et al., 2012)

There are various mechanism and measurements that helps in elimination of the threats to an organization. Hence, there are different types of disaster recovery measurements for an organization. These mechanisms will be in the disaster recovery plan. As, disaster recovery plan is a part of business continuity plan, hence, it contains planning for continuation of data, application communication, hardware and networking infrastructure etc. It may also include non IT criteria that are important for business, for example, crisis communication, protection of reputation, facilities, key personnel etc. (Phillips, 2011)

Types of Disaster Recovery Controls

The controls and measurements for disaster recovery can be classified into three categories. Those are,

1. Preventive controls and measurements to prevent an event from happening.
2. Detective controls and measurements to discovery or detect an unwanted event.
3. Corrective controls and measurements to restore or correct a system after an event or disaster.

An efficient and complete disaster recovery plan will have all these three categories of disaster recovery plans. Regular exercise of a disaster recovery plan is called DR test. (Wallace & Webber, 2011)

Strategies

A business continuity plan of an organization sums up the recovery point objectives and recovery time objectives for different business processes. There are metrics to measure these objectives. Each item in a disaster recovery plan will have these two objectives defined. Then the metrics are mapped to the ICT infrastructure of the organization. After completion of the mapping, the disaster recovery plan can provide optimized strategies for the organization. Based on such strategies and optimization, an organization can set the budget for IT. An organization will try to have zero or negligible loss in terms of cost and time. But it may increase the cost for setting up and management of level of protection and availability of its infrastructure. Hence, an organization may undergo a cost benefit analysis for more than one disaster recovery plans. Then it will be able to understand the most cost effective one. (Whitman, Mattord, & Green, 2013)

Some common disaster recovery strategies are, (Snedaker, 2013)

• Regular back up of data on cost effective storage devices like magnetic tape.
• Automatic backup of data to on-site and off-site disks.
• Replicating data over the network and to some off-site storage using SAN or storage area network.
• Replication of data over private cloud.
• Replication of data using hybrid cloud solutions. It supports on-site and off-site backup of data.
• Keeping data replication over on-site and off-site using systems with high availability.
• Use of dis protection strategy based on local mirrors and RAID.
• Use of surge protectors for important IT devices and equipment.
• Use of UPS, backup generator etc. for ensuring availability of the backup system even there is power failure.
• Implementation of strategies for mitigating or preventing fire.
• Use of information security measurements like firewall, IDS, antivirus, proxy server, encryption etc.

Integration of Database Backup and Disaster Recovery

Database recovery is an important part of disaster recovery. The sole intention of database backup is to safeguard data in case of some destructive event. On the other hand, the disaster recovery strategies aim to safeguard data as well as physical devices. Database backup and disaster recovery may work as complementary to each other in case both of those are not implemented properly. The integration of both in such cases will help in the various ways. Database backup will help in deciding which data to keep backup for and the disaster recovery plan will help in selecting a suitable back up plan for physical storage of data. For example, database backup can decide whether consistent or inconsistent backup in needed. On the other hand, disaster recovery plan can help in deciding whether to use on-site solution or offsite solution, whether to use private storage or cloud solution etc. Further it will ensure protection of the storage devices and a cost benefit analysis for the solution. As a whole, the organization can have a complete package for keeping their data safe using backup and replication. (Preston, 2011)

References

Bartkowski, S., Buitlear, C. D., Kalicki, A., Loster, M., Marczewski, M., Mosaad, A., . . . Zimnol, K. (2012). High Availability and Disaster Recovery Options for DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows. IBM Redbooks.

Coyne, L., Becker, G., Langnor, R., Lindstrom, M., Nymann, P., Peres, F., . . . Yildirim, G. (2014). IBM Tivoli Storage Manager as a Data Protection Solution. IBM Redbooks.

Gorman, M. M. (2014). Database Management Systems. Butterworth-Heinemann.

Mullins, C. S. (2012). Database Administration. Addison-Wesley.

Phillips, B. D. (2011). Disaster Recovery. CRC Press.

Preston, W. C. (2011). Backup & Recovery. O’Reilly Media, Inc.

Snedaker, S. (2013). Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Planning for IT Professionals. Newnes.

Wallace, M., & Webber, L. (2011). The Disaster Recovery Handbook. AMACOM.

Ward, P., & Dafoulas, G. (2011). Database Management Systems. Cengage Learning.

Whitman, M., Mattord, H., & Green, A. (2013). Principles of Incident Response and Disaster Recovery. Cengage Learning.