For every IT manager or key executive the worst words they can here is, "Our system is down, our data is not retrievable." If you have been fortunate and have not had to endure this painful process, consider yourself lucky. For many of our customers, this is how we started our relationship.
What is our
recovery strategy for system outage and data loss?
If your organization has not asked these questions and planned for a failure,
then a system failure may be in your future. While your systems were once
sized properly for effective operation, your company's growth has taxed the
system to the point of failure, and unfortunately can't plan acceptable time
for the failure to occur.
What causes
system failures and data loss?
The majority of the non-software related components that make up a network
installation have design criteria that call for a Mean Time Between Failure.
(MTBF) In grouping many of these components in the system, the chances for
ultimate failure get more probable. When a component fails, the operations
that it was installed to support cannot be performed. This results in either
a partial or complete failure of your network.
How do you
prevent system failures and network outages?
Systems, which have been properly designed, have redundant systems designed
in the system for just such an occurrence. If your system contains duplexed
hard drives with identical data being written to each disk and one fails,
the system can be designed to immediately switch from the defective drive
to the operational drive with no interruption of operation. It can also automatically
notify your network support team (internal or external) of the failure and
allows for correction of the situation. If each function of the system has
redundancy, then the likelihood of failure is reduced to virtually zero.
If our system
has already failed, how should we proceed?
The first issue at hand is to determine the cause of the outage and determine
the amount of damage to systems, components and data. Once this has been determined,
a logical recovery plan can be established for re-creation of the system to
get your organization operational again. Depending on the extent of the damage
and loss, this can take anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks. Although
it's not a pretty picture, each system failure can be overcome and prevented
in the future.
If you are concerned about the stability of your networking environment, or you do not have a formal strategy for recovery from system outages, we can assist. We can sit down with the key members of your organization to determine the exact condition of your system, determine the key operational needs and develop plans for effective recovery. This includes not only assisting in the documentation of the plan, but also develop plans for effective recovery, training of key personnel in execution of the plan. The confidence of knowing you are prepared for this potential threat will allow your organization to concentrate on the job of conducting your business without the fear of system failure and data loss.
