Is Your Network Disaster Recovery Plan Ready for Modern Threats?

December 3, 2024
Is Your Network Disaster Recovery Plan Ready for Modern Threats?

In the modern corporate IT ecosystem, micro networks, segmented networks, and enterprise networks are integral parts, making it essential to reevaluate network disaster recovery (DR) and failover strategies. Given the complexity and vital role of these various networks, a thorough reassessment of DR plans becomes crucial to ensure resilience and prompt recovery in case of a disaster. Historically, DR plans primarily focused on restoring enterprise systems and, at best, entire enterprise networks but often overlooked newer network deployments like subnetworks, micro networks, and edge computing.

Most organizations find it necessary to update their DR plans to keep pace with evolving network infrastructures. A comprehensive DR plan should address all network assets and configurations, ensuring they are well-prepared for quick recovery in emergencies. It is imperative to revisit network disaster recovery and restoration plans to assess their inclusivity and identify areas for improvement. By doing so, organizations can enhance their resilience and minimize downtime, safeguarding against potential network failures and disruptions.

1. Create a Network Disaster Recovery Failover Strategy

Developing a network DR failover plan should be the first step in ensuring that your network is fortified against unforeseen disasters. Conversations with CIOs reveal that while there’s a clear focus on mission-critical systems and recovery time, network-specific DR plans are often overlooked. A well-rounded risk assessment should include preparedness for vulnerabilities such as network security breaches, but too often, formal network DR plans are missing. Network staff may incorporate failovers into daily operations, but these practices are rarely formalized or tested.

To formalize a network disaster recovery strategy, it’s essential to combine administrative documentation with technical details. Begin by evaluating existing documentation, which typically includes network configurations, recovery procedures, and a list of network vendors along with their emergency contact information. In many cases, this documentation may be outdated or incomplete. Utilizing commercial network documentation tools can streamline the process, offering ease of use and some degree of automation, though the actual task of documenting remains with the network staff. Keeping this documentation current is crucial for effective disaster recovery.

2. Identify Potential Risk Areas

Before the advent of micro networks and edge computing, identifying network risk points involved mainly vulnerability and security testing at endpoints interfacing with the external environment. However, today’s networks, with their distributed edge and micro-network components, present a myriad of new risk points. Each new element, such as a micro-network in manufacturing or multi-cloud deployments, introduces potential vulnerabilities that need addressing.

Securing new micro networks at their edges, safeguarding multi-cloud deployment boundaries, and ensuring the safety of mobile devices and automated equipment present unique challenges. The sheer number of potential security and DR risk points has increased dramatically. Each of these points could pose a threat, requiring the network team to switch to DR mode. Identifying all potential risk points requires careful examination by the network staff, who must assess whether documented security and failover protocols exist and address any gaps.

3. Pinpoint Critical Failure Points

Networks comprise a complex integration of hardware, software, cabling, equipment, vendors, and communication technologies, forming a unified routing system that must support multiple traffic routes to be genuinely resilient and capable of failover. A primary goal of any network DR plan should be to eliminate as many single points of failure as possible, ensuring continued operation despite individual component failures.

For instance, if an ISP service experiences outages, the network, including micro-networks and cloud services, should switch seamlessly to an alternative ISP. While such practices are common today, less attention is devoted to ensuring the same resilience for micro networks and edge IT. Establishing failover mechanisms for micro networks is vital. If a micro-network within manufacturing fails, it should automatically failover to a cloud resource or the central network. Documenting network failovers for all company networks helps avoid single points of failure that could disrupt operations.

Another important consideration is addressing potential equipment failures. For example, if power fails and a generator malfunction occurs, an alternative power source should be available. Similarly, if a VoIP phone system fails, determining whether the VoIP provider offers failover or if an alternative plan is needed is essential. Ensuring redundancy and failover capabilities across all network components safeguards network integrity and reliability.

4. Document the Network Disaster Recovery Strategy

Formalizing your network DR plan in writing is critical to ensure comprehensive coverage of all networks across the enterprise, from the central corporate network to edge micro-networks. The documented plan should outline failover operations addressing probable failure points and providing specific operational directions for network personnel. Internal network policies and service level agreements (SLAs) with network users should also be incorporated.

Key considerations in the written DR plan include establishing a mean time to recovery (MTTR) and commitments to users regarding the best effort to restore service within a specified timeframe. Communication methods for informing users about ongoing network status during a recovery process are also essential. Additionally, exploring options for failing over users to a cloud service while restoration is in progress ensures continuous operation. Integrating the network DR plan with the overall IT DR plan guarantees a cohesive approach to disaster recovery throughout the organization.

5. Conduct Tests on Your Disaster Recovery Strategy

In today’s modern corporate IT landscape, micro networks, segmented networks, and enterprise networks are essential components, making it critical to revise network disaster recovery (DR) and failover plans. Given the complexity and importance of these diverse networks, a thorough evaluation of DR strategies is crucial to ensure robust resilience and speedy recovery during disasters. Historically, DR plans have mainly concentrated on restoring enterprise systems and full enterprise networks, often neglecting newer setups like subnetworks, micro networks, and edge computing.

Most organizations realize the need to update their DR plans to align with evolving network infrastructures. A well-rounded DR plan should cover all network assets and configurations, ensuring they’re ready for quick recovery in case of emergencies. It’s imperative to review network disaster recovery and restoration strategies to check their comprehensiveness and spot areas that need improvement. Doing so helps organizations boost their resilience, cut down downtime, and safeguard against potential network failures and disruptions.

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