 
Take a moment to think about the consequences of a catastrophic failure of your computer network.
How you would recover your data? What would be the effects on your business? What is the daily
cost your business would suffer, should your network be inaccessible?
If you find the answers to these questions to be unsatisfactory, or worse yet - unknown, you cannot
afford to stop reading. VirtuWorks has put together this Disaster Planning & Recovery guide with the
South Florida Business Community in mind. You owe it to yourself, your business and your customers
to be prepared.
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Disaster planning is critical for any company. Still, only 20% of desktop PCs and less than 50%
of network servers are backed-up regularly. The companies who avoid this unnecessary risk are
the ones that survive, and even thrive in times of disaster. You may choose to ignore the
warnings, but your competition may not. In such a case, your business will continue to feel
the affects of your neglect through the loss of business you encounter, long after the winds
have subsided and power is restored.
If you are one of those forward-thinkers who have made preparations for potential disasters,
ask yourself "How complete is my plan?" If regular back-ups are made, are those back-ups
immediately taken out of harm's way? How long will it take to restore that data once your
systems are operational again? What will your downtime be? Questions regarding your internet
and power connectivity can be even more difficult to answer.
The purpose of this guide is to expose you to possible answers to these questions. It is possible that
after examining your situation, more questions will arise. VirtuWorks is here to answer those questions,
propose solutions, and help you put those solutions into practice. The most important question to
ask yourself is "What is the cost of doing nothing?"
Data Storage and Redundancy
While the most common data back-up method is that of the tape cartridge, in practice it can be problematic
and sometimes useless when called upon to save the day. An employee assigned to change the daily tape
forgets to do so on the day it was needed most. You try to restore data from a tape, only to find the
tape is defective or the data is corrupt. The list goes on.
Major advancements in Backup-To-Disk technologies have been made in both hardware and software that make
this solution the new standard for companies that understand the importance of readily accessible archived
data, and are serious about protecting that data.
Below are links to solutions VirtuWorks can employ to bring your back-up and redundancy solution into the 21st century.
Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM)
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 - Distributed File System
Off-Site Servers & Remote Workplace (Colocation)
Why spend hundreds of thousands of dollars fortifying your office space? There are fundamental aspects
of system redundancy that are too intricate and expensive for the majority of businesses to
implement effectively. Beyond steel and concrete; Beyond avoiding flood zones; Beyond battery back-ups.
Do you have enough office space to house a diesel generator? Do you have room in your parking lot for
tanks filled with diesel fuel to power that generator? Do you have multiple Internet Carriers
terminating at your building over separate networks? Is your building equipped with the latest in
fire suppression systems? Unless your business is a world-class data center, the answer to most, if
not all of these questions, is undoubtedly - "No."
Housing your back-up, mail and even domain controller and file servers in a remote facility
designed for that specific purpose is the only intelligent choice when considering the physical
protection of your key network infrastructure components.
Admittedly, during the months in which natural disasters pose little risk, many business owners using
conventional reasoning are hard-pressed to justify a monthly cost for such services. However, in
today's competitive market, the remote workplace is gaining massive popularity among progressive
business owners who are keen on maximum efficiency and employee morale. Data centers, such as the
NAP of the Americas used by VirtuWorks, facilitate this type of model on a level virtually unattainable
by most businesses. Guaranteed availability, highly qualified onsite technicians, burstable bandwidth,
and more. Modifying your existing in-office model to that of an Anytime/Anywhere workplace will not only
put your business on the "cutting-edge," it will neutralize the shock when this model is necessary in times
of crisis.
Below is a link to a page further describing the Colocation services provided by VirtuWorks.
VirtuWorks Colocation Services
Mobile Internet Connectivity
No matter how advanced your network infrastructure may be, it is of little use to you if you are unable to
connect to and interact with it. During the highly active 2005 hurricane season, countless businesses
were left without internet connection for days, weeks and even months at a time. This is one of the easiest
obsticles to overcome during a disaster, yet it is largely ignored until it is too late. VirtuWorks offers a simple device
called a "Junxion Box" that enables you to securely connect up to 4 workstations to the internet simultaneously using cellular modem
technology. Multiple Junxion Boxes can operate on the same network, simultaneously.
Click below for more information.
Junxion Box - Mobile Internet Router
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