Step1: Answer the right questions.
How long can I be without my applications and data?
How much am I willing to invest in my plan?
What is the risk of a disaster impacting my business?
As is everything else in life, time and money are critical factors.
To start with I can't confuse the terms Disaster Prevention with Disaster Recovery. I may have redundancy built into my servers and infrastructure with RAID, UPS Systems, Multiple Power Circuits and even a Generator, but this only helps prevent. I need to expect the best, while planning for the worst.
The reality is the "tape in a briefcase" solution is not a bad one. Let's face it, the majority of businesses don't need nor can they afford standing up duplicate infrastructures in multiple regions all synchronizing data across multiple networks. Even if I could afford the infrastructure I'm only dealing with 25% of the equation. When I add in the necessary expertise I need from my ERP consultant, CRM specialist and database architects, working together rebuilding my system...now we're talking a price tag! This reason alone is why most companies are satisfied with "tape in a briefcase" strategies.
So what are my REAL options if a Fire, Tornado, Hurricane, Power Outage or a simple Thunderstorm damages my server infrastructure. What good is my tape without infrastructure to restore too? As I think this through and accept the fact that I'm at a minimum of week to replace hardware, load OS, reinstall network connectivity and install applications before you are ready to restore. The reality is a week is making good time! This can get costly, but all in all a manageable solution for some companies as long as day to day order fulfillment, customer service and billing can continue manually.
Caution: A week can easily turn into two weeks, without having had the ability to fully test a Disaster Recovery Plan and according to Disaster Recovery Planning.Org companies without access to mission critical data for more than 48 hours, will more than likely be out of business in less than a year.
Step 2: Understand what a public cloud can do.
I must decide what applications and data are critical to the survival of my business. Once established the cloud presents an alternative to DR planning that is worth real consideration. Without a high dollar investment in redundant infrastructure, I only pay for what I need when I need it. Appica is in its full scale launch mode and is stacked with features.
As is everything else in life, time and money are critical factors.
To start with I can't confuse the terms Disaster Prevention with Disaster Recovery. I may have redundancy built into my servers and infrastructure with RAID, UPS Systems, Multiple Power Circuits and even a Generator, but this only helps prevent. I need to expect the best, while planning for the worst.
The reality is the "tape in a briefcase" solution is not a bad one. Let's face it, the majority of businesses don't need nor can they afford standing up duplicate infrastructures in multiple regions all synchronizing data across multiple networks. Even if I could afford the infrastructure I'm only dealing with 25% of the equation. When I add in the necessary expertise I need from my ERP consultant, CRM specialist and database architects, working together rebuilding my system...now we're talking a price tag! This reason alone is why most companies are satisfied with "tape in a briefcase" strategies.
So what are my REAL options if a Fire, Tornado, Hurricane, Power Outage or a simple Thunderstorm damages my server infrastructure. What good is my tape without infrastructure to restore too? As I think this through and accept the fact that I'm at a minimum of week to replace hardware, load OS, reinstall network connectivity and install applications before you are ready to restore. The reality is a week is making good time! This can get costly, but all in all a manageable solution for some companies as long as day to day order fulfillment, customer service and billing can continue manually.
Caution: A week can easily turn into two weeks, without having had the ability to fully test a Disaster Recovery Plan and according to Disaster Recovery Planning.Org companies without access to mission critical data for more than 48 hours, will more than likely be out of business in less than a year.
Step 2: Understand what a public cloud can do.
I must decide what applications and data are critical to the survival of my business. Once established the cloud presents an alternative to DR planning that is worth real consideration. Without a high dollar investment in redundant infrastructure, I only pay for what I need when I need it. Appica is in its full scale launch mode and is stacked with features.
Within seconds I can login and create a virtual instance, choosing from a variety of Operating Systems and configurations. I select storage quantities and in less than 3 minutes I have a server at my disposal. What I was not expecting was the ability to use images, ISO’s and templates that mirror my existing servers! Not only can I select a generic install of a Windows or Linux Operating systems, but I can get my exact configuration, patch level and applications by taking a snapshot and creating a custom template.
Additionally I can scale on demand by simply shutting down an instance and changing my service to add more power.
If a disaster strikes the Appica cloud gives me the flexibility to take snapshots of my data, create templates, add volumes, create load balancing and manage my firewall from a user friendly console.
Step 3: Choose a vendor
Appica is one of a handful of Infrastructure As A Service public cloud offerings, I would look at your current trusted relationships and see who might be offering a public cloud. Will they allow you to test the environment? What is their track record for releasing new products or services?
When it comes to public cloud service offerings understanding the billing is key. Do they have add on charges for load balancing, fire-walling and IP addresses? Do they have limitations on storages, snapshots and templates? How is the storage provisioned and what is the architecture? Ideally you want multiple storage SAN's available to provide the ultimate protection for your data.
As the cloud becomes more readily adopted, functionality will continue to improve. I am seeing more and more companies investigating cloud services as a feature of their overall DR strategy. It seems everyone has an opinion and definition of what the cloud looks like, I suggest using the cloud for your next project and let the products speak for itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment