Disaster recovery specialists such as Share have developed methodologies such as the Seven Tiers methodology, to demonstrate ways of recovering computer systems that have been affected by a disaster of problem. The aim is to easily demonstrate how a disaster recovery service can be used to support an organisation from a business continuity perspective.
The Seven Tiers methodology is worth evaluating by companies that are in the process of reviewing their a Disaster Recovery plan as it outlines what types of services are available, and what is the most suitable according to an organisation’s needs and naturally, budget.
These are the tiers demonstrated by the Seven Tier Methodology:
Tier 0
Organisations that have no disaster recover plan or any saved information are described as Tier 0. At such point it may be impossible to recover any information at all and indeed to recover as a business entity.
Tier 1
Organisations that implement a Tier 1 recovery plan, back-up their data and send it to an off-site storage facility. This ensures that in the event of a disaster, the information is recoverable but there are no computer systems on which to download the information. It should be noted that the information retrieved may be several days old.
Tier 2
Organisations that implement a Tier 2 system, back-up their data regularly but combine this with an off-site facility and a ‘hot-site’. This enables organisations to restore their computer systems relatively quickly. As above, the information may be several days old but there will be computer systems in place in which to continue working.
Tier 3
Tier 3 is often referred to as electronic vaulting. This includes the elements outlined in Tier 2 but some mission critical information is sent automatically to an off-site or remote premises ensuring that the information is generally more up to date.
Tier 4
Tier 4 is used by organisations that require faster recovery than Tier 0-3 can provide. This form of disaster recovery ensures that far more information is backed-up but still may require the recovery of several hours of information rather than days of information.
Tier 5
Tier 5 solutions are used by organisations that need to have very little data loss in the event of a disaster.
Tier 6
Tier 6 is implemented by organisations that require the vast majority of their information and systems to be completely up to date.
Tier 7
Tier 7 is similar to Tier 6 but the process is fully automated allowing systems to be restored extremely quickly and easily.