Developing a disaster recovery plan

Cataloging and assessing the importance of data sources

1. List All Data Sources: Begin by creating a comprehensive list of all the data feeds into your Splunk instance. This could include logs from web servers, network devices, applications, databases, and other system logs.
2. Characterize Data Source: For each source, provide a brief description. For instance:
   • Web server logs: Capture website activity, user interactions, and potential security breaches.
   • Database transaction logs: Track changes and transactions within the primary database.
   • Network device logs: Monitor network traffic, possible breaches, and device health.
3. Evaluate Criticality: For every data source, assess its importance using criteria such as:
   • Operational Significance: How crucial is the source for day-to-day operations? For instance, an e-commerce company might consider web server logs as vital due to their role in tracking user activity and sales.
   • Compliance and Legal Requirements: Some logs, like those for financial transactions or personally identifiable information (PII), might be mandated for retention by laws or industry regulations.
   • Historical Value: Some logs, though not critical for immediate operations, might be valuable for long-term analysis or historical trending.
4. Assign Importance Rankings: Based on the assessment, label each data source with a ranking indicating its importance:
   • Essential: Data sources vital for daily operations, without which the business would face significant disruptions.
   • Secondary: Important but not immediately critical. Restoration can wait after primary sources are addressed.
   • Tertiary: Data sources whose restoration can be further deferred without major impacts.
5. Document the Information: Maintain a centralized document or database detailing each data source, its description, and its assigned importance. This serves as a reference during disaster recovery scenarios.

Understanding potential threats and risks in your Splunk environment

Reference your company’s internal documentation around threats and risks. For example, an organization using the Splunk platform for security information and event management (SIEM) might catalog these common threats:

• Hardware Failure of Splunk Indexer:
  • Type: Physical threat
  • Impact: High – This can disrupt real-time security event logging and analysis.
• DDoS Attack on Splunk Web Interface:
  • Type: Digital threat
  • Impact: Medium – might prevent users from accessing Splunk dashboards but won't affect data ingestion.
• Configuration Mistakes during a Splunk platform Upgrade:
  • Type: Operational risk
  • Impact: High – Incorrect configurations can lead to data loss or service interruptions.

Questions to answer

1. What are your recovery objectives?
   • Recovery Time Objective (RTO): How quickly do you need to restore Splunk operations after a disruption?
   • Recovery Point Objective (RPO): How much data can you afford to lose?
2. What are the critical components of your Splunk deployment?
   • Which indexers, search heads, forwarders, or other components are most critical?
3. Where will the recovery site be located?
   • Will you use an off-site data center, a cloud solution, or another alternative? Is geographic redundancy necessary for your business?
4. How frequently will backups occur?
   • This relates directly to your RPO. More frequent backups mean less potential data loss but might also require more resources.
5. How will data be restored?
   • Will it be from backups, replicated data, or some other source?
6. Who are the stakeholders and what are their roles in recovery?
   • Clearly define the roles and responsibilities of IT staff, Splunk administrators, and other relevant personnel.
7. How will communication occur during a disaster and recovery?
   • Establish clear lines of communication internally (among the recovery team) and externally (with stakeholders, end-users, etc.)
8. What risks and threats are specific to your Splunk deployment and environment?
   • This can be determined from the risk assessment you've already conducted.

Determining Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

• RTO is the targeted duration of time within which a business process or system must be restored after a disaster to avoid unacceptable consequences.
• RPO is the maximum targeted period in which data might be lost due to a major incident.

The data-intensive Splunk platform can contain a mix of critical real-time data and less time-sensitive logs. How RTO and RPO influence disaster recovery in the Splunk platform depends on the function. For example:

• Real-time Security Monitoring: For Splunk deployments that focus on real-time security monitoring, a low RTO is essential because prolonged downtime can expose the organization to unidentified threats. Similarly, a low RPO is crucial as losing even a short period of security logs can hinder incident detection and response.
• Historical Data Analysis: If the Splunk platform is primarily used for historical data analysis, the RTO might be more lenient. However, the RPO might still be strict, especially if data feeds are infrequent but critical.

Suggested recovery procedures

1. Initial Assessment and Declaration of a Disaster Event
   • Document the steps on how to assess the situation and determine if it qualifies as a disaster scenario that warrants the activation of the DRP.
   • Identify who has the authority to declare a disaster and initiate the recovery process.
2. Notification and Communication
   • List the contact details of all key personnel involved in the DRP. This might include Splunk administrators, IT support, business unit leaders, and external vendors.
   • Outline a communication protocol. Who gets informed first? How are they notified (for example, phone, email, alert systems)?
3. Activation of the Recovery Site (if applicable)
   • If you have a standby recovery site, detail the steps to activate it. This might involve booting up servers, initializing databases, or redirecting network traffic.
4. Restoration of Data
   • Based on the RPO, guide the team on where to restore data from (for example, the most recent backup, a replicated server).
   • Detail the order of data restoration. As per your earlier prioritization, some data sources might need to be restored before others.
5. Restoration of Applications and Services
   • Detail the sequence in which services need to be restored. Some services might be dependent on others. For Splunk, this might involve ensuring that indexers are up before search heads.
   • Provide instructions on how to verify that a service is operational. This could be through internal tests or external monitoring tools.
6. Network Configuration
   • If there are network-related tasks (e.g., updating DNS entries, reconfiguring load balancers), provide explicit instructions. Network misconfigurations can exacerbate recovery times.
7. Verification of System Functionality
   • After systems are restored, there should be procedures to verify that they are working as expected. This might involve running specific tests, checking data integrity, or validating against external systems.
8. Notification of Stakeholders
   • After successful recovery, stakeholders (both internal and external) need to be informed about the system's operational status.
   • Provide templates or guidelines for such communications to ensure clarity and transparency.
9. Transition Back to Normal Operations
   • If the recovery involved a switchover to a standby site, guide the team on transitioning back to the primary site, if and when it becomes available.
10. Post-Recovery Review
    • After the system is stable, a review of the recovery process should be conducted. This involves:
      • Documenting what went well and what didn’t.
      • Analyzing any data loss or disruptions.
      • Suggesting improvements for the future.

Throughout this procedure, ensure that all actions are logged, including times, issues encountered, and any deviations from the plan. This log becomes crucial for post-recovery analysis and for any regulatory or compliance needs.

Lastly, remember that the recovery procedure should be a living document. It requires regular updates, reviews, and drills to ensure its effectiveness during a real disaster scenario.

Suggested roles and responsibilities during recovery

Splunk Administrator’s responsibilities

• Restoring Splunk configurations, apps, and knowledge objects.
• Verifying the functionality of Splunk post-restoration, ensuring all dashboards, saved searches, and alerts are intact and operational.
• Coordinating with the data restoration specialist to ensure indexed data is appropriately restored.
• Ensuring that Splunk components, such as indexers, search heads, heavy forwarders, and universal forwarders, are communicating and operating correctly.
• Troubleshooting and resolving any component-specific issues, like a search head not recognizing an indexer.
• Coordinating with Splunk (the vendor) for support.
• Collaborating with the network specialist to make sure network routes and ports required for Splunk platform operation are functional.
• Collaborating with the data restoration specialist to ensure all indexed data is available and searchable post-restoration.
• Performing sample searches across various time frames to validate the completeness and accuracy of the indexed data.
• Monitoring the Splunk environment for any performance degradation post-recovery.
• Addressing performance issues, possibly through optimizations or liaising with the system/infrastructure lead.
• Confirming that Splunk licenses are valid post-recovery.
• Resolving any license conflicts or overages that might occur due to the restoration process.
• Logging all Splunk restoration activities and challenges faced during the process.
• Providing feedback on the Splunk recovery procedures based on the disaster recovery exercise's learnings.

Suggested supported roles

• Recovery Lead
• Storage SME
• Communication Lead
• System/Infrastructure SME
• Network SME
• Business Continuity Lead
• Security SME
• External Vendor

For every role:

• Clearly document their specific responsibilities.
• Ensure they have the required resources and access rights to perform their duties.
• Designate backups for each role, so there's always someone available to take over if the primary person is unavailable.
• Ensure role-holders are adequately trained and are familiar with the disaster recovery plan.

By having specific roles outlined in your DRP, you streamline the recovery process, reduce downtime, and ensure efficient communication and collaboration among all involved parties.