There are numerous options available to all sizes of organizations for offsite disaster recovery facilities. Understanding the solutions available will help meet the enterprise’s disaster recovery requirements.
Technology Point According to Harris Interactive, 71% of IT managers state that DRP is critical to the business, while only 49% of executives feel the same. About 66% of IT executives feel that DRP should be given top priority to resume information services, compared to only 54% of business executives. As such, fewer budget dollars are designated to DRP than there should be for backup and availability. Given the attitude of business executives towards what is essentially a high-priced insurance policy, it should come as little surprise that only a small number of enterprises build a full backup site to ensure redundancy. There are three types of sites available:
» Hot site. Fully operational secondary data center with the same systems, data, and functionality. » Cold site. Bare-bones office space that has to be equipped by the enterprise before it's operational. » Mobile data center (MDC). A hot site on wheels designed for quick response to emergencies that compromise continuity of business.
What It Is & How It Works Some organizations refer to a cold or hot site as an offsite facility that houses lower quality servers that are also synched with the bare minimum of production data and applications and will serve the business in case of a disaster. Some basic facts about hot sites, cold sites, and MDCs are: » Hot site refers to an offsite facility (either hosted by a third party or owned by the enterprise) that houses all servers and technology components necessary to continue business operations in case of a disaster. Hot sites contain duplicate hardware and software as in production, and are updated or synched to the production data and systems regularly. A hot site agreement is a contract where the enterprise pays a monthly fee to retain the use of a hot site. Typically, the hot site is furnished with hardware, software and communications capabilities. The agreement is with a third party vendor for use of their maintained facility.
» A cold site agreement provides the customer with data center facilities, but no system or prearranged communications. In the event of a disaster, the vendor has no responsibility other than providing the space. Often, organizations hold one of their own facilities as a cold site. In the event of a disaster that impacts the actual data center facility, a cold site provides the space required to get up and running. The downside is that a cold site agreement provides no consideration to equipment or communications services that may be required. As a result, organizations using a cold site approach tend to be down for longer periods of time in the event of a disaster. Technology Insight 3 Hot Site? Cold Site? Explore Your DRP Options www.infotech.com
» An MDC is basically a data center in a truck that arrives with the data center configuration that was pre-designed by the enterprise in collaboration with the vendor. To keep the unit on retainer from the vendor at a remote location, there is a monthly rental fee. Common features include modular design, configurable and scalable set up, generator, climate control, UPS, pho... [download for more]
