Backup plan identifies which information stored

Understanding Business Continuity 393

Many file systems used on servers include journaling. A journaled file system (JFS) includes a log file of all changes and transactions that have occurred within a set period of time (such as the last few hours). If a crash occurs, the operating system can check the log files to see what transactions have been committed and which ones have not.

This technology works well and allows unsaved data to be written after the recovery, and the system is usually successfully restored to its precrash condition.

If you choose to depend entirely on onsite storage, make sure the containers you acquire can withstand the worst-case environmental catastrophes that could happen at your location. Make sure, as well, that they are in locations where you can easily find them after the disaster and access them (near exterior walls, on the ground floor, and so forth).

Crafting a Disaster-Recovery Plan

A disaster-recovery plan, or scheme, helps an organization respond effectively when a disas-ter occurs. Disasters may include system failure, network failure, infrastructure failure, and natural disaster. The primary emphasis of such a plan is reestablishing services and minimiz-ing losses.

Let’s look at those different systems and applications:

Database systems Most modern database systems provide the ability to globally back up data or certain sections of the database without difficulty. Larger-scale database systems also provide transaction auditing and data-recovery capabilities.