How to make an organization more resilient

to a faster version to reduce the time it takes to complete a backup cycle. Automated, remote backup services are available from many vendors.

 

Organizations should also store multiple copies of data off site and a long distance from the primary data center. Outsourcing this service may make sense for small and mid-sized organizations that do not currently operate in a suitable, alternative location.

There are a few different approaches to backing up data that are increasingly affordable for smaller agencies and institutions. They include:

  • Tape Rotation: Information on servers is copied to storage media (typically tapes) on a set schedule. These tapes are then removed to an offsite location for safe storage. This is the most basic approach to data backup
  • Data Replication: Information on servers in one location are copied — either in real time or on a set schedule — to servers in another location. As a result, the data in one location has an exact mirror image in another location – often at a great distance. The off-site server then takes over operations if the primary server is damaged
  • Appliance Backup: Like data replication, the information on servers in one location is copied — either in real time or on a set schedule — to a storage appliance in another location.This does allow for a mirror image of the data on the server, but does not include offsite facilities should the primary server infrastructure be destroyed
  • Data Vaulting Facilities: Information on servers is copied to an on-site central depository, which is then replicated to an off-site data vaulting facility typically owned by a third-party organization

Once data is backed up, organizations will need to carry out a practical and well-tested plan to retrieve the information. The same IT architecture should frame both the organization’s disaster recovery site and the primary data center, reducing complications. If the organization uses a wide-are network (WAN), the Internet, an intranet portal and telephones to provide citizen services, the same infrastructure should be built at its backup facility, for example.

Organizations focus so much on protecting and backing up network server data that they often fail to take steps to ensure their employees can remotely access that data if they are unable to work in the office. Remote-access software, such as products provided by Citrix and Microsoft, can enable employees to access networked server or desktop information offsite.

3. Review power options

Organizations should add uninterrupted