AbstractInformation technology disaster recovery plan is a critical asset in a business organization. It allows effectively and quickly processing of information. The employees in any organization make use of voice over internet protocol and electronic mails when communicating. The data transmission between different department make uses electronic data interchange. When is the need for an effective security system to be used and especially when handling critical data such as payment data. Wireless devices personal computers and laptops used by employee’s when creating managing, processing and communication uses information technology resources.A disaster recovery plan like setting up an alternative processing site as part of IT DRP should be designed to conform to the organization’s business continuity plan. Recovery times and priorities objectives for IT must be developed when formulating an analysis of business impact. All the technology recovery strategies should also be developed to ensure that the hardware, the software, data and application meets the organization’s security needs.PART ONEConsider the security implications to a client’s equipment racks under such conditions.The implication to a client’s equipment racks under third party data center has both strengths and weaknesses. Among the strength is the provision of valuable insight, in a confidential way, concerning how institutions handle the security problem of their data? If the outsourcing company has a team of experienced information security team, the client organization will not experience much trouble. This aspect is since the organization that offers outsourcing services can assist the clients in reengineering access privilege rules to strengthen the security or to adjust to regulatory changes.The security team of the outsourcer can facilitate curtail security information when the outsourcing company’s application programmers are carrying out base migration or performing updates involving security of internal application. They can also provide a recommendation on security product hence saves the client’s security team the lengthily and tedious process of security evaluation. Moreover, the client benefits from general state of the art information security environment since the service provider uphold its marketplace reputation by developing and enforcing proper documentation.On the other hand, the shared storage and computing environment by multiple clients poses several risks compared to an internal contained environment data center. In an outsourcing computing environment, wide area networks, Local area networks and dial-up access serving multiple clients makes the whole computing environment more vulnerable to a myriad of attacks. They include the possibility of the employees of a third-party to access unauthorized data. There is also the risk of sharing spool or direct access storage device, data transmission risks and sharing the network and sometime the risk of sharing the CPU. Moreover, some client cans posse’s gateways to the mainframe from distributed systems and local area networks. The worst of it all is the fact that a small vulnerability is magnificent when it comes to the cloud environment due to resource sharing.Is a firewall needed? How about remote access?A powerful firewall is very important in the cloud environment due to development in complexity of security threats. It is a critical asset which enables the organization to maintain its information system functionality and privacy in an environment that is which is protected. In a cloud environment, it prevents intrusion to a private network whether it is software or hardware. It acts as the initial level of defense by protecting the network from any cyber attack and maintaining a secure private network which protects critical data. The cloud-based firewalls are specially designed to curb any security challenge relating to complex computing platforms and networks. A cloud-based firewall creates a perimeter on the entire cloud operation of a specific client and adjusts to various services such as scalability, availability accessibility, extensibility and maintainability.Remote access is also necessary for a cloud platform since it enables the outsourcing clients to access programs, computer services and data from a remote location apart from the data center. It implies that any remote tech support application, online repository, backup and emails services can be accessed by any computer. It is an ideal path of accessing clients or employees at a distance hence saving the organization the travel cost and at the same time improve the quality of services offered to the customers.What is the physical security provided at the hosting company?The principle physical security in a data center entails the security of physical assets such as computers, servers and network devices. First, the data center should be located in a strategic place free from any physical interruption like power, lighting, intrusion and flood. The servers and other network devices should be placed inside cabinet. In addition, the number of personnel was entering the building should be controlled at time.Part twoRequirements for Pixel’s alternate processing siteEstablishing an alternative processing site for Pixels involves processing of all required agreements. These agreements allow the organization to resume the operation of information system for all the mission critical transaction, and Pixels business function within a period of one hour and in compliance with time objectives set for recovery. The alternative processing site is activated in case the primary processing site is experiencing system downtime.The processing site should make sure that the supplies and equipment needed to resume the information system operations should be readily available with the alternative processing site. Also, it should be obtained in the contract from nearby contractors that guarantees support delivery to the processing site to be established. They can also provide a recommendation on security product hence saves the client’s security team the lengthily and tedious process of security evaluation. Moreover, the client benefits from general state of the art information security environment since the service provider uphold its marketplace reputation by developing and enforcing proper documentation.Mission critical servicesThe Pixels mission critical application includes all the application the network and computer application which support the production of animation movies. There is also the web servers which facilitates the online distribution of its product worldwide all the application which support high-speed internet connection. The email servers and the application which facilitate payments. These are the key mission critical application.Mission critical applications· servers for the Web, file & print sharing, email, database, and a small 3D render farm· 10 megabit/second Internet access· critical network equipment· Offsite backup· the servers for sending and receiving emails· Server configuration not to directly forward email.Nonmission critical application · Employee email application· PCs running approved anti-virus and antispyware programs.· Printers connection· Intrusion monitoring systemDesign and walkthroughs for building the alternate sitePixel’s information security team identifies will indentify an alternative processing site that is completely separate from the primary processing site. This aspect is to eliminate susceptibility to the threats that can possibly affect the primary processing site. It is followed by identification of potential accessibility issues to the alternative processing site in case the disruption affect a wide area and gives a detailed outline of explicit mitigation strategies.Pixel then formulates an agreement of the alternative processing site which specify provision of priority of service in compliance with the availability requirements of the organization. The security team will then carry out the configuration of the alternative processing site to be operational for supporting critical missions and business processes. They should also ensure that the project has information security measures which are the same are those applied to the primary processing site.
Simple rack diagram and a network diagram
Network configuration info (IP, DNS, MX)
dns.software.com IN A 123.47.67.90www.software.com IN A 123.47.67.91mail.software.com IN A 123.47.67.92pop.software.com IN A 123.47.67.92smtp.software.com IN A 123.47.67.92
Bandwidth estimates
Activation process for the alternate processing sitePixel must establish a plan for continuation of critical business functions and essential mission with minimal disruption on operation continuity and sustainability. This operation runs until complete restoration of primary storage and processing sites. Pixel also gathers for the migration of all business functions and essential missions to the alternative processing site the least interruption of system continuity.Hand-back processThe most effective backup process for Pixel is warm sites. The warm site will entail creating a duplicate of the primary processing site of the organization’s mission critical data. The process should be carried in real-time by synchronizing the primary processing site and the alternative processing site. It is done in order to create an effective mirror of the information environment from the primary processing site with the use of special software and wide area network.
References
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