Data center disater recovery runbook--Chapter three: Software and services

[IMAGE]

In simpler times, disaster recovery may have been characterized by system admins backing up a few tapes and moving them offsite. But today's system architectures are more complicated and call for a variety of approaches. Data center...

BROWSE BY TAG Data center disaster recovery,   VIEW ALL TAGS

RELATED CONTENT Data center disaster recovery Data center flywheel gets thumbs-up from colo provider Data center pros must prepare for increased space weather How will ultra-low sulfur diesel affect data center generator performance? Are you wasting disaster recovery budget to avoid employee inconvenience? Uptime Institute opens data center availability tiers Four ways to extend data center UPS battery life Why SunGard uses flywheel UPSes in its data centers Lower disaster recovery costs with open source replication tools Apple updates Xserve, Symantec ships DR monitoring software: News in brief Data center disaster recovery planning Data center disaster recovery Research

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary high availability  (SearchDataCenter.com) RAIN  (SearchDataCenter.com) uninterruptible power supply  (SearchDataCenter.com) Uptime Institute, Inc.  (SearchDataCenter.com)

RELATED RESOURCES 2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary

managers now have their pick from a number of DR software and services, including virtualization, continuous data protection (CDP) or wholesale outsourcing.

Technology-based DR strategies Server virtualization isn't just for test and dev sandboxes anymore. IT departments are relying on virtualization for disaster recovery and business continuity planning according to SearchDataCenter.com's 2007 data center purchasing intentions survey. This is primarily due to failover capabilities offered in products such as VMware's ESX server.

Data center experts can't stress enough how important it is to be proactive in DR planning. To this end, IT departments can try deploying DR management software to help automate processes such as vulnerability discovery. Far from perfect, DR management software offers data center managers with more tools for providing their businesses with computing uptime.

DR outsourcing and services
IT departments stretched too thin may want to outsource their backup facilities, data storage or some other aspect of their data centers. Backup data center hosting is big business and, as such, data center managers must choose their outsource site wisely. Experts recommend determining what level of involvement your company wants to maintain and find a facility that matches your needs. Furthermore, there are federal regulations for how data can be handled when it comes to outsourcing your data recovery and storage. So it's a good idea to make sure you're compliant.

An additional outsourcing caveat is security. Some colocation facilities are lacking in physical security, which can put DR plans at risk if the hosting facility is being used as a backup site. But, even leaders in the DR services businesses run into problems. Such was the case when data protection services provider Iron Mountain had a backup tape problem that cause at least one customer to go elsewhere for their DR planning needs.

Rate this Tip To rate tips, you must be a member of SearchDataCenter.com. Register now to start rating these tips. Log in if you are already a member. DISCLAIMER: Our Tips Exchange is a forum for you to share technical advice and expertise with your peers and to learn from other enterprise IT professionals. TechTarget provides the infrastructure to facilitate this sharing of information. However, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or validity of the material submitted. You agree that your use of the Ask The Expert services and your reliance on any questions, answers, information or other materials received through this Web site is at your own risk.