This document contains information on procedures to be used immediately following an incident to preserve and protect resources in the area damaged.

Protection

It is extremely important that any equipment, magnetic media, paper stocks, and other items at the damaged primary site be protected from the elements to avoid any further damage. Some of this may be salvagable or repairable and save time in restoring operations.

• Gather all magnetic tape cartridges into a central area and quickly cover with tarpolines or plastic sheeting to avoid water damage.
• Cover all computer equipment to avoid water damage.
• Cover all undamaged paper stock to avoid water damage.
• Ask the police to post security guards at the primary site to prevent looting or scavanging.

Salvage Magnetic and Optical Media

The magnetic and optical media on which our data is stored is priceless. Although we retain backups of our disk subsystems and primary application systems off-site, magnetic tapes stored in the tape vault and machine room area contain extremely valuable information that would be tough to lose. If the media has been destroyed, such as in a fire, then nothing can be done. However, water and smoke damage can often be reversed, at least good enough to copy the data to undamaged media.

After protecting the media from further damage, recovery should begin almost immediately to avoid further loss. A number of companies exist with which the University can contract for large scale media recovery services. A list of the companies that might be able to provide these services is found in Section DRPAP001: Media Recovery Services.

If more immediate attention is required than can be provided by a contractor, Section DRPAP002: Recovery of Damaged Magnetic Tape and Optical Disk Media describes the recovery process that can be used on-site. Also, additional information on the recovery of diskettes is found in Section DRPAP003: Recovery of Floppy Disk Media.

The following are links to sites that provide additional information about salvage techniques for magnetic and other media.

• University of Pittsburgh Library
  http://earth.library.pitt.edu/~webheads/ULS/policies/preserv/
  
• NML on Magnetic Media Recovery
  http://www.nml.org/presentations/disaster_recovery/lc_disaster_recovery_slides_2.html/

Salvage Equipment

As soon as practical, all salvagable equipment and supplies need to be moved to a secure location. If undamaged, transportation should be arranged through the Recovery Manager to move the equipment to the Cold Site, or to another protective area (such as a warehouse) until the Cold Site is ready.

TAKE GREAT CARE WHEN MOVING THE EQUIPMENT TO AVOID DAMAGE.

If the equipment has been damaged, but can be repaired or refurbished, the Cold Site may not be the best location for the equipment, especially if there is water or fire damaged that needs to be repaired. Contractors may recommend an alternate location where equipment can be dried out, repainted, and repaired.

Inventory

As soon as practical a complete inventory of all salvagable equipment must be taken, along with estimates about when the equipment will be ready for use (in the case that repairs or refurbishment is required). This inventory list should be delivered to the Technical Coordinator and Administrative Coordinator who will use it to determine which items from the disaster recovery hardware and supplies lists must be procured to begin building the recovery systems.

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