Emergency Planning/Disaster Recovery

Introduction
Planning
Operational Considerations
Processes

Introduction:

CaTS is responsible for delivering the University's computing and networking infrastructure. Part of this function is the development, maintenance, and periodic review of disaster recovery processes that facilitate restoration of its own operation, assist with recovery of client information resources, and guarantee the safety and integrity of client information.

In most cases CaTS will be involved with restoring communications or computing capabilities for other areas without having to do a recovery of its own facility. These tasks require expediting of services that are well understood by the CaTS staff. CaTS will assist clients with the organization and implementation of resources and processes to accelerate the restoration of services.

Planning:

1. CaTS shall maintain a formal emergency preparedness document that details personnel, equipment, software, and procedures required for expediting its recovery from unscheduled outages. This document shall be updated several times each year to maintain currency.
   
2. Updates to the emergency preparedness document shall reflect changes in equipment, software, procedures, and personnel.
   
3. Advanced planning for quick failover to alternative resources for the normal operational needs of the CaTS facilities shall be an ongoing process. These mitigative processes provide for continuous operation, insulated from many events that might affect the rest of the University.
   

Operational Considerations:

1. Normal operational processes shall include those activities that will facilitate emergency response and recovery. These shall include, but are not limited to, planned and tested fallback procedures, the timely backup of data, the design and implementation of functions that protect the environment from disruption, and designation of priorities for recovery situations.
   
2. A management line of succession shall be established and maintained in the event of the unavailability of various managers during an emergency response/recovery operation.
   
3. Vital records and their associated retention schedules shall be identified and implemented to ensure the availability of information critical to organizational viability and continuity.
   

Processes:

1. The level of response shall be dictated by the scope of the emergency. An activation of the campus-wide emergency plan may require the presence of the ranking CaTS director at the campus' Emergency Operations Center. In this event the next available director in the departmental line of succession will be in charge of the CaTS operation.
   
2. Response/recovery operations shall be user oriented. CaTS will work to restore client operability as quickly as the client's resources are operationally available. Prioritization of the recoveries for our client areas shall depend on the overall needs of the university at the time of the emergency; recovery for critical areas will not have to wait for full restoration of CaTS' functionality.