Thursday, 28 June 2018

IT Security and ISB

IT Security and ISB::

Backup site: Is a location where an organisation can easily relocate following a disaster,
such as fire, flood, terrorist threat or other disruptive event. This is an integral part of the
disaster recovery plan and wider business continuity planning of an organisation. A backup
site can be another location operated by the organisation, or contracted via a company that
specialises in disaster recovery services. In some cases, an organisation will have an
agreement with a second organisation to operate a joint backup site.
There are three main types of backup sites:
• cold sites
• warm sites
• hot sites
Differences between them are determined by costs and effort required to implement each.
Another term used to describe a backup site is a work area recovery site.
1. Cold Sites: A cold site is the most inexpensive type of backup site for an organisation to
operate. It does not include backed up copies of data and information from the original
location of the organisation, nor does it include hardware already set up. The lack of
hardware contributes to the minimal start up costs of the cold site, but requires additional
time following the disaster to have the operation running at a capacity close to that prior to
the disaster.

2. Hot Sites: A hot site is a duplicate of the original site of the organisation, with full
computer systems as well as near-complete backups of user data. Real-time
synchronisation between the two sites may be used to mirror the data environment of the
original site, using wide area network links and specialised software. Following a disruption
to the original site, the hot site exists so that the organisation can relocate with minimal
losses to normal operations. Ideally, a hot site will be up and running within a matter of hours
or even less. Personnel may still have to be moved to the hot site so it is possible that the
hot site may be operational from a data processing perspective before staff has relocated.
The capacity of the hot site may or may not match the capacity of the original site depending
on the organisation's requirements. This type of backup site is the most expensive to
operate. Hot sites are popular with organisations that operate real time processes such as
financial institutions, government agencies and ecommerce providers
3. Warm Sites: A warm site is, quite logically, a compromise between hot and cold. These
sites will have hardware and connectivity already established, though on a smaller scale
than the original production site or even a hot site. Warm sites will have backups on hand,
but they may not be complete and may be between several days and a week old. An
example would be backup tapes sent to the warm site by courier.

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