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Technology
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Disaster recovery: Hindsight is 20/20
Lessons learned by the Midwest Ice Storm of 2006
When you buy a new computer, you check to make sure it will
run your software. Size of the monitor and footprint of the
unit are also concerns, but what about disaster recovery? I
am speaking not only about the backup of data, but also what
you do in case of a real disaster. Many people in Illinois
and Missouri have found themselves asking that question in
the aftermath of one of the worst ice storms in history.
What do you need to have in place to lessen the pain of no
power and no heat, so it does not include loss of data and
the investment of your computer?
Backups?
OK. Show of hands, how many people back up their data? Hmmm,
not as many hands as I would like to see. Perhaps this is a
better question: How many of you have data on your system,
drawings, documents, photos etc. that you do not want to
lose? Wow, now there are lots of hands in the air! Those two
groups, the ones that back up their data and the people who
have data they do not want to lose should be the same! The
problem is that we all tend not to worry about the data on
our home computers as much as we should. On business
computers, we depend on the
people in IT to back up our data. The problem is that not
all backups are created equal. Better than 90 percent of
todays computers have CD-RW or DVD-RW drives. It only takes
a few minutes to highlight, copy and paste the files you
want to save into software that burns CDs or DVDs on your
system. Backups done by the IT Department are good in that
they are centralized, but they can have two pitfalls. The
first is that if the job is not set to back up files from
the location where you have them stored, they are not being
backed up, and you have a false sense of security. The
second pitfall is that many users now have laptops. If the
laptop is not left in the office and turned on when the
backup job runs you guessed it, no backup!
Computers powered up 24/7
We have all heard how with todays cable or DSL internet,
the Internet is up all the time and as we are no longer
paying at home for a dialup call, we can leave the computer
on. Show of hands again: How many people leave their
computer powered up 24/7 at home or at work? Lots of hands
again! Now, how many of you with your hands up have a UPS on
your computer? Not very many.
If you have ever been using your tower or desktop computer,
you know what happens if the power drops out; your system
hangs or reboots. Anyone who has ever experienced this will
know that often times when the computer comes back up it
complains about lost or missing files and in some cases with
older operating systems would even require a system reload
due to a corrupted operating system. With a UPS or
Uninterruptible Power System attached to the computer, you
can ride
through those little blips in power. More importantly, in
the case of an all out power outage, a UPS with the correct
configuration can perform a logical shutdown of your system,
protecting the investment on your hardware, software and the
data stored on that system. Many people with laptops need
not worry about having a UPS as the unit will automatically
switch over to battery if AC power is lost. So, if you have
a laptop with a bad battery or one that does not hold a
charge very long, now would be a good time to get it
replaced before you experience a problem!
Generators
Many larger business concerns will use generators to provide
power for their buildings and systems in the event of a
power outage. In my community, the local Lowes had a
generator that was supplying power to the entire building
and even their parking lot lights! These systems are
generally professional-grade. They run on large diesel
engines and are hard-wired to their buildings power with a
cross-over system, so that when power is restored, the
electrical system can return to normal without damage to any
devices attached to the power system or the
generator itself. Smaller generators can provide the same
kind of protection for small business and home users. The
thing to keep in mind is that electronic equipment such as
computers, servers, phones, televisions, etc. are more
susceptible to power impurities than, say, a heater. Smaller
generators can often produce these power impurities
including spikes, non-sinusoidal power wave formations, etc.
As with any other item you purchase, make sure the unit you
use is acceptable and rated for the job you have in mind.
Aftermath of the ice storm
Hagerman & Company, Inc. came through the storm virtually
unscathed. While we experienced brief outages in service as
the utility power came back on, UPS systems were recharged
and our servers, phones and network infrastructure came back
online. The planning to make our system as fault-tolerant as
possible and careful attention to disaster recovery plans
resulted in little more than a blip on the scale of outages
suffered by businesses and people throughout Illinois and
Missouri. Those of us who were without power for more than
five days in our homes in the cities and towns may well have
to evaluate whether we were prepared for this storm, or if
the sheer magnitude of the damage would have resulted in a
collapse
of any home plans. Our rural neighbors may have fared better
than we city dwellers, as many of them already had
generators in case of power outages anytime during the year.
While I would have liked my power to be restored within 24
hours, for my part, I would like to commend the efforts of
the linemen and crews from Ameren and other utility
companies across the United States and Canada who came to
restore the power and heat to our homes. I would also like
to think that we are all tough enough to handle this problem
which we have rarely seen, and for only a few days, when our
forefathers in the 1800s endured conditions most of us
could not imagine! After all, the utility companies do not
control the weather!
Questions or comments?
I always welcome questions or comments on my articles.
Should you have any, please let me know, and as always,
thanks for reading my contribution to our newsletter!
All product names / logos, company names /
logos are copyrights of their respective holders. John
Boline is an MCSE, CNE, USE and a member of the Network
Professional Association. The content herein is often based
on late-breaking events. Much of the material is based on
information from sources that are believed to be reliable.
Hagerman & Company, Inc. disclaims all warranties as to the
ultimate accuracy or completeness of the information.
Hagerman & Company, Inc. and its employees shall have no
liability for errors, omissions or inadequacies in the
information contained within this article or for any
interpretations thereof. The recommendations, positions and
best practice policies outlined herein represent Hagerman &
Company, Inc. initial analysis and therefore are subject to
change as further information which may have bearing on
these positions is made available. The reader assumes sole
responsibility for the selection of these materials to
achieve its intended results. The opinions expressed herein
are subject to change without notice. Entire contents 2006
Hagerman & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
of this publication in any form without prior written
permission is forbidden
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This page last edited on
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
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by John Boline
Service Manager,
MCSE, CNE, USE
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CAD/CAM/CAE
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