Backup and Recovery Strategy Components

The content in this chapter is not a backup and recovery strategy. Instead it outlines what is needed in such a strategy, namely:

• Complete list of software installed per server, including versions and patch levels

• Strategy for handling Windows updates, software updates, and application updates

• Licenses backup

• Archiving plan (archiving is part of backup and recovery)

• Application Deployment Guide that describes how to install the system from the source media and backups

• Backup plan, including system configuration and process data

• Recovery plan and recovery tests

• Offsite storage plan (backup media should be taken off site and rotated)

• Security requirements of the users administering the plan and the security of the data; this includes encrypting the database backups