Answers to the most commonly asked questions about disaster recovery testing, so you can be prepared for any emergency scenario.

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Preparing for
Frequently Asked Questions
about Disaster Recovery Tests

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A good disaster recovery plan is like
insurance.

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You
you’ll never have
to use it.
HOPE

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But what happens if…

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But what happens if…

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…?

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or WORSE

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A full disaster recovery plan will ensure your
employees can stay connected, accessing their
work-related data through remote computers,
smartphones and other personal devices.

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But it’s not enough to just create the plan.
You must put it to the test.

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Here are the most
frequently asked
questions about
disaster recovery tests
so you can be prepared
for the worst.

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Q
A
What is a disaster recovery test?
A DR test is a process to evaluate the procedures
an organization has in place for ensuring business
continuity in the event of a major service
interruption or catastrophic event.
Q Why is disaster recovery testing important to
my organization?
A
Disaster recovery testing gives you the ability to
assess and correct your procedures before an
actual disaster forces your organization to use
them. When performed on a regular basis, DR
tests are a critical component of a sound business
continuity strategy.
Tests allow Xtium
and its customers to
ensure the integrity
of protected data as
well as execute and
refine processes for
making that data
available in the
event of a declared
disaster.

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Q
A
How often should I do a disaster recovery test?
Typically, DR tests are performed once per year,
but some organizations require multiple tests each
year. We see this in the case of highly regulated
industries such as financial services or other
businesses in which the frequency of testing is
mandated by regulatory compliance guidelines.
Q When do you do disaster recovery tests?
A
DR tests are performed around your organization’s
schedule. This is to ensure that the appropriate
personnel are available to participate in the test
and assist in creating a DR run book. Consider
annual testing a starting point for your company.
Xtium asks that
tests be scheduled
as far in advance of
the requested date
as possible,
requiring at least
two weeks’ notice in
order to ensure the
proper test
resources are
aligned.
Xtium recommends
DR testing after any
major event, such
as changing office
locations, opening a
new office, major
architectural or
infrastructure
upgrades, or
mergers and
acquisitions.

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Q
A
What is a run book and why is it critical to a
DR test?
A disaster recovery run book is a working
document unique to every organization that
outlines the steps the company needs to take to
recover from a disaster. Run books, or updates to
run books, are the outputs of every DR test.
A run book includes a prioritization sequence of
events for a successful recovery of business
services, applications and infrastructure
components.
It also contains a list of critical contacts that can
be reached in the event of a disaster. These
include the IT department heads, leads for
specific applications, administrators of particular
systems, and the managed service provider,
among others.
We find that email is
usually the first
application on the
recovery list,
enabling employee
communication in
case of a disaster.
In close second are
core business
applications such as
accounting apps,
investor relation
apps, and CRM or
ERP systems,
among others.

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Q
A
What kind of downtime should I expect
during a disaster recovery test?
None. Tests are performed in an isolated
environment in parallel to production. The two
systems don't cross-communicate, so production
systems won't be affected during a test.
Q Can I cheat on my DR test?
A
While it would certainly be possible to submit
fabricated results, why would you? In the event of
a true disaster, you’ll want to ensure that your
tests have vetted and documented all of the
correct steps and procedures for recovery.
Xtium strongly
advises against
actively failing
over production
systems for testing
purposes due to
the risk of
compromising data
while in a test
state.
The benefits of
correctly going
through the DR
testing process
regularly are
mutually beneficial
for both your
company and Xtium
as your provider.

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Q
A
How should I prepare for a disaster
recovery test?
First establish your DR team. Members should
include the head of the technology department
(i.e. CIO, CTO or Director of IT), leads and/or
power users of specific applications (i.e. email,
business apps, etc.), administrators of particular
systems, and other third-party IT providers you
may use.
Identify which infrastructure components,
applications and business services your test will
include. And don’t forget to set success and failure
criteria. Remember, a test is meant to show you
where the plan has holes, so don’t be afraid to
have it fail!
As your service
provider, Xtium is
also part of your DR
test team.

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Q
A
Walk me through the steps of a typical
DR test.
Each test will be a little different, so here is a
“framework” level overview:
1. Declare a mock “disaster.”
2. Execute a communication plan.
3. Identify order of restoration of failed systems.
4. Execute run book restoration procedures.
5. Validate recovery and data integrity.
6. Communicate results.
7. Conclude test and return to normal operating
procedures.
Make sure that each
of your tests
contains these
steps, and that the
supporting activities
are reviewed once
the test is
completed.

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Q
A
What are RPO and RTO and why do they
matter?
RPO (Recovery Point Objective) is the point in
time from which your data is restored. Typical
RPOs range from one hour to 24 hours,
depending on the sensitivity of the data and the
business service that data supports. The more
real-time the service, the lower the RPO and vice
versa.
RTO (Recovery Time Objective) is the amount of
time it takes to recover your systems in the event
of a disaster. This is the amount of downtime that
is acceptable before there is a significant impact to
business operations. The same principle that
holds true for RPO also supports RTO targets.
Both RTO and RPO
are affected by the
amount of data that
is
protected/replicated
and the change rate
of that data. When
change rates are
lower, RPOs can be
a lot shorter. The
greater the rate of
change, the longer a
backup can run.

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Q
A
How do you know if a disaster recovery test was
a success?
There are three constants that suggest success
across all testing scenarios:
1. Ability to meet your assigned RTOs and
RPOs.
2. Successfully restoring your data and system
connectivity.
3. Processing business transactions in a DR/test
environment.
Q What do you do with the results of a DR test?
A
Test results go into the organization’s DR run book
with a list of any known issues or workarounds to
be performed to the systems upon restoration.
Each organization
can and should set
their own success
criteria for the
success of DR
tests.
DR run books are
the go-to documents
in the event of a
major service
interruption or
catastrophic event.

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Need help testing your DR plan?
Xtium can assist.
Numerous systems are involved in
the daily operation of Independence
Capital Partners and our goal is to
protect those systems and data while
providing a recovery mechanism.
Xtium has enabled us to simplify our
DR testing process and be prepared
in the event of a system failure or true
disaster.
- George Scheffey, CIO
“
”
Contact us for more
information
solutions@xtium.com
www.xtium.com
800-707-9116