Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Questions and Answers for Viva

Answer-1: Disaster Recovery is a set of policies, tools, and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a disaster.

Answer-2: Business Continuity ensures that critical business functions continue during and after a disaster or disruption.

Answer-3: DR focuses on IT systems recovery, while BC covers maintaining all critical business operations.

Answer-4: Risk assessment, recovery strategies, data backup, communication plans, and testing.

Answer-5: RTO is the target time to restore IT and business processes after a disruption.

Answer-6: RPO defines the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time before a disaster.

Answer-7: They help set goals for recovery speed and data backup frequency.

Answer-8: Natural disasters, cyberattacks, hardware failures, human error, and power outages.

Answer-9: BIA identifies critical business functions and the impact of disruption on those functions.

Answer-10: Backups are essential for restoring lost or corrupted data.

Answer-11: On-site backups are stored locally; off-site backups are stored remotely for added safety.

Answer-12: A location where IT infrastructure can be restored after a disaster, such as cold, warm, or hot sites.

Answer-13: A fully operational backup site with real-time data replication and immediate failover capabilities.

Answer-14: An empty facility with power and connectivity but no pre-installed hardware or data.

Answer-15: A backup site partially equipped with hardware and data, requiring some time to become operational.

Answer-16: At least annually or after significant changes in the IT environment.

Answer-17: Automatic switching to a standby system when the primary system fails.

Answer-18: The process of returning operations to the original primary system after recovery.

Answer-19: Cloud provides scalable, cost-effective, and geographically diverse recovery options.

Answer-20: Virtualization enables faster recovery by encapsulating entire systems into portable virtual machines.

Answer-21: A cloud-based service that manages and executes disaster recovery.

Answer-22: Effective communication ensures coordinated response and minimal confusion during recovery.

Answer-23: To plan, coordinate, and execute recovery activities.

Answer-24: Preventive controls avoid disasters; corrective controls help recover after disasters.

Answer-25: A plan detailing immediate actions during and after a disaster to ensure safety and reduce damage.

Answer-26: BCP covers overall business function continuity, including non-IT aspects, while DR focuses on IT systems.

Answer-27: Clear policies, regular testing, staff training, and up-to-date documentation.

Answer-28: A component whose failure can halt the entire system or process.

Answer-29: By duplicating critical components to prevent failure impact.

Answer-30: Synchronous replication updates backup instantly; asynchronous updates backups with a delay.

Answer-31: Ensuring data remains accurate and consistent throughout backup and recovery.

Answer-32: Based on business impact analysis and criticality to operations.

Answer-33: A documented procedure to restore systems and data after a disruption.

Answer-34: Backup software, replication tools, virtualization platforms, and monitoring systems.

Answer-35: Cyberattacks can cause disasters; DR plans must include cyberattack recovery.

Answer-36: An organizational directive defining objectives and responsibilities for maintaining continuity.

Answer-37: Through training, drills, and clear communication protocols.

Answer-38: Resource constraints, outdated documentation, lack of testing, and insufficient training.

Answer-39: A simulation meeting where team members discuss and walk through disaster scenarios.

Answer-40: Through regular testing, audits, and feedback from simulations.

Answer-41: To provide clear instructions and guidelines for recovery procedures.

Answer-42: They offer automated, off-site, and scalable backups with quick access.

Answer-43: High availability minimizes downtime with failover; DR focuses on recovery after major failures.

Answer-44: Laws may mandate specific recovery timeframes and data protection measures.

Answer-45: RTO, RPO, downtime, recovery cost, and testing success rates.

Answer-46: Ensuring vendors have their own DR plans to avoid supply chain disruptions.

Answer-47: By encrypting backups and restricting access during recovery.

Answer-48: Cold data is rarely accessed data, often archived with longer RTOs.

Answer-49: At least annually or after significant organizational changes.

Answer-50: Increased use of AI, automation, cloud-based DR, and integrated cyber resilience.