Disaster Recovery Planning

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Introduction to Disaster Recovery Planning

Disaster recovery planning in CICS involves planning and implementing strategies to recover CICS systems from disasters. It ensures business continuity and minimizes downtime in the event of system failures or disasters.

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What is Disaster Recovery Planning?

Disaster recovery planning in CICS involves planning and implementing strategies to recover CICS systems from disasters. It includes disaster recovery strategies, backup and recovery procedures, business continuity planning, and recovery testing and validation for comprehensive disaster recovery.

Planning Components

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Disaster Recovery Strategies

Disaster recovery strategies in CICS are approaches for recovering CICS systems from various disaster scenarios. They include hot standby strategies, cold standby strategies, warm standby strategies, and cloud-based recovery strategies for comprehensive disaster recovery.

Strategy Types

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Hot Standby Strategies:
1. Active-Active Configuration
   - Dual active systems
   - Load balancing
   - Real-time synchronization
   - Automatic failover
 
2. Active-Passive Configuration
   - Primary system active
   - Standby system ready
   - Real-time data replication
   - Automatic failover
 
3. Data Synchronization
   - Real-time data replication
   - Transaction log shipping
   - Data consistency validation
   - Synchronization monitoring
 
4. Failover Procedures
   - Automatic failover detection
   - Automatic failover execution
   - Failover validation
   - Failover rollback
 
Example Hot Standby Configuration:
Primary: CICS system running in production
Standby: Identical CICS system ready for failover
Synchronization: Real-time data replication
Failover: Automatic failover in < 30 seconds
Validation: Continuous failover testing
Monitoring: Real-time system health monitoring
Recovery: Automatic recovery when primary restored

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Cold Standby Strategies:
1. Standby System Preparation
   - Standby hardware preparation
   - Standby software installation
   - Standby configuration
   - Standby testing
 
2. Data Backup and Storage
   - Regular data backups
   - Backup storage management
   - Backup validation
   - Backup restoration procedures
 
3. Recovery Procedures
   - Recovery activation procedures
   - Data restoration procedures
   - System startup procedures
   - Service activation procedures
 
4. Recovery Validation
   - Recovery testing
   - Recovery validation
   - Recovery documentation
   - Recovery training
 
Example Cold Standby Configuration:
Standby: Hardware ready but not running
Backup: Daily data backups stored offsite
Recovery: Manual recovery activation
Time: Recovery time 4-8 hours
Testing: Monthly recovery testing
Documentation: Detailed recovery procedures
Training: Staff training on recovery procedures
Validation: Recovery validation and testing

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Backup and Recovery Procedures

Backup and recovery procedures in CICS are procedures for backing up CICS data and recovering from disasters. They include data backup procedures, system backup procedures, recovery procedures, and validation procedures for reliable disaster recovery.

Backup Procedures

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Data Backup Procedures:
1. Backup Types
   - Full backup procedures
   - Incremental backup procedures
   - Differential backup procedures
   - Transaction log backup procedures
 
2. Backup Scheduling
   - Daily backup scheduling
   - Weekly backup scheduling
   - Monthly backup scheduling
   - On-demand backup procedures
 
3. Backup Storage
   - Local backup storage
   - Remote backup storage
   - Cloud backup storage
   - Offsite backup storage
 
4. Backup Validation
   - Backup integrity validation
   - Backup completeness validation
   - Backup restoration testing
   - Backup monitoring
 
Example Data Backup Procedures:
Full Backup: Weekly full system backup
Incremental: Daily incremental data backup
Storage: Local and remote backup storage
Validation: Daily backup integrity validation
Testing: Monthly backup restoration testing
Monitoring: Real-time backup monitoring
Documentation: Backup procedure documentation
Automation: Automated backup scheduling

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Recovery Procedures:
1. Recovery Types
   - Full system recovery
   - Partial system recovery
   - Point-in-time recovery
   - Selective data recovery
 
2. Recovery Steps
   - Recovery assessment
   - Recovery planning
   - Recovery execution
   - Recovery validation
 
3. Recovery Testing
   - Recovery procedure testing
   - Recovery time testing
   - Recovery validation testing
   - Recovery documentation testing
 
4. Recovery Documentation
   - Recovery procedure documentation
   - Recovery time documentation
   - Recovery validation documentation
   - Recovery training documentation
 
Example Recovery Procedures:
Assessment: Assess disaster impact and scope
Planning: Plan recovery approach and timeline
Execution: Execute recovery procedures
Validation: Validate recovery success
Testing: Regular recovery testing
Documentation: Detailed recovery procedures
Training: Staff training on recovery procedures
Monitoring: Recovery progress monitoring

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Business Continuity Planning

Business continuity planning in CICS involves planning to maintain business operations during disasters. It includes business impact analysis, continuity strategies, recovery time objectives, and recovery point objectives for comprehensive business continuity.

Continuity Components

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Business Impact Analysis:
1. Critical Business Functions
   - Function identification
   - Function prioritization
   - Function dependencies
   - Function impact assessment
 
2. Recovery Time Objectives (RTO)
   - RTO definition
   - RTO measurement
   - RTO validation
   - RTO optimization
 
3. Recovery Point Objectives (RPO)
   - RPO definition
   - RPO measurement
   - RPO validation
   - RPO optimization
 
4. Business Impact Assessment
   - Financial impact assessment
   - Operational impact assessment
   - Customer impact assessment
   - Regulatory impact assessment
 
Example Business Impact Analysis:
Functions: Customer service, order processing, payment processing
RTO: 4 hours for critical functions
RPO: 1 hour maximum data loss
Impact: $100,000 per hour downtime cost
Dependencies: Database, network, external systems
Prioritization: Critical, important, optional functions
Validation: Regular impact assessment updates
Documentation: Business impact documentation

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Continuity Strategies:
1. Alternative Processing Strategies
   - Manual processing procedures
   - Alternative system procedures
   - Outsourced processing procedures
   - Cloud-based processing procedures
 
2. Communication Strategies
   - Stakeholder communication
   - Customer communication
   - Vendor communication
   - Regulatory communication
 
3. Resource Strategies
   - Alternative resource allocation
   - Resource sharing agreements
   - Resource backup procedures
   - Resource recovery procedures
 
4. Operational Strategies
   - Alternative operational procedures
   - Reduced service procedures
   - Priority service procedures
   - Emergency operational procedures
 
Example Continuity Strategies:
Processing: Manual processing for critical functions
Communication: Automated stakeholder notifications
Resources: Alternative data center resources
Operations: Reduced service mode procedures
Processing: Cloud-based backup processing
Communication: Customer notification procedures
Resources: Resource sharing with partners
Operations: Emergency operational procedures

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Recovery Testing and Validation

Recovery testing and validation in CICS involves testing disaster recovery procedures to ensure they work effectively. It includes recovery testing procedures, validation procedures, testing schedules, and testing documentation for comprehensive recovery validation.

Testing Components

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Recovery Testing Procedures:
1. Testing Types
   - Full system testing
   - Partial system testing
   - Component testing
   - Integration testing
 
2. Testing Scenarios
   - Hardware failure scenarios
   - Software failure scenarios
   - Network failure scenarios
   - Data corruption scenarios
 
3. Testing Procedures
   - Test planning procedures
   - Test execution procedures
   - Test validation procedures
   - Test documentation procedures
 
4. Testing Schedules
   - Monthly testing schedules
   - Quarterly testing schedules
   - Annual testing schedules
   - Ad-hoc testing schedules
 
Example Recovery Testing:
Types: Full system recovery testing
Scenarios: Server failure, network outage, data corruption
Procedures: Planned test execution and validation
Schedules: Monthly partial tests, quarterly full tests
Planning: Detailed test planning and preparation
Execution: Controlled test execution
Validation: Test result validation and analysis
Documentation: Test result documentation and reporting

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Validation and Documentation:
1. Validation Procedures
   - Recovery validation
   - Performance validation
   - Functionality validation
   - Data integrity validation
 
2. Documentation Procedures
   - Test result documentation
   - Procedure documentation
   - Training documentation
   - Compliance documentation
 
3. Reporting Procedures
   - Test result reporting
   - Performance reporting
   - Issue reporting
   - Improvement reporting
 
4. Continuous Improvement
   - Procedure improvement
   - Process optimization
   - Training improvement
   - Technology updates
 
Example Validation and Documentation:
Validation: Comprehensive recovery validation
Documentation: Detailed test result documentation
Reporting: Test result and performance reporting
Improvement: Continuous procedure improvement
Validation: Recovery time and data integrity validation
Documentation: Procedure and training documentation
Reporting: Executive and technical reporting
Improvement: Regular procedure updates and optimization

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Summary

Disaster recovery planning in CICS provides comprehensive strategies for recovering from disasters and maintaining business continuity. Through disaster recovery strategies, backup and recovery procedures, business continuity planning, and recovery testing and validation, CICS environments can achieve robust disaster recovery capabilities.

Understanding disaster recovery planning concepts, strategies, procedures, continuity planning, and testing is essential for implementing comprehensive disaster recovery solutions in enterprise CICS environments.