Re. Disaster recovery

[Geoff Hart <geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

     Josee Sevigny wrote to ask about disaster recovery. Assuming the
     context is safeguarding your data, I'd add the following general
     comments:

     1. Make backup copies. Sure, we all know about this, but it's easy to
     mess this up on a network. Some users store all data on the network
     drives, some on their local hard disk, and some on a combination of
     both. Make sure you know where your valuable data lies, and back up
     _all of it_. Backup all your system software (thus, your various
     config files) and your application software (thus, your preference
     files and any document templates). Disasters often take out your
     original software disks, and replacing them isn't a pleasant process.

     2. Take the backups off-site. Most people who do their backups
     religiously promptly store them in the desk beneath their PC. If the
     PC goes to join Dorothy in Oz (Frank Baum's version, not the one with
     the southern cross on its flag!), the desk will go to... and even if
     it does land on the Wicked Witch of the East, do you really want to go
     fetch the backups from her sister? ("Sorry ma'am, but do you mind if I
     grab the backups?") Backups for my home PC are at work, and vice
     versa. Backups at my former employer went home each night with the MIS
     director. Current corporate backups are stored on-site in a fireproof
     safe (good but not great), but I'm working on them...

     3. Do a dry run. The best plans in the world are useless if they
     contain a glitch or two you hadn't foreseen.

     --Geoff Hart     #8^{)}
     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

     Disclaimer: These comments are my own and don't represent the opinions
     of the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada.