backup sites or workplace restore sites are locations where organizations can move after a disaster, such as a fire, flood, terrorist threat, or other disturbing event. It is an integral part of the disaster recovery plan and the broader business sustainability plan of an organization.
Backup sites, or alternatives, may be the location of other data centers operated by the organization, or contracted through companies that specialize in disaster recovery services. In some cases, an organization will have an agreement with a second organization to operate a shared backup site. In addition, organizations can have reciprocal agreements with other organizations to create a warm site in each of their data centers.
There are three types of backup sites, including cool sites, warm sites, and hot sites. The difference between types is determined by the cost and effort required to apply each.
Video Backup site
Cold Site
In plain language, cold sites are just empty operational space with basic facilities such as elevated floors, air conditioning, power lines and communications, etc. In the event of an incident and if the operation can be done with a little time stopping, alternative facilities are brought to and arranged on cold sites to continue operations. Cool sites are the cheapest type of backup site for an organization to operate. This does not include a copy of the data and information supported from the original location of the organization, nor does it include any hardware already set up. The lack of supplied hardware contributes to the minimal initial cost of the cold site, but it takes additional time after the disaster to run operations at near capacity before the disaster. In some cases, cold sites may have available equipment, but are not operational.
Maps Backup site
Warm Site
Warm sites are a compromise between hot and cold. These sites will have hardware and connectivity already established, albeit on a smaller scale than the original production sites or even hot sites. Warm sites may have backup in hand, but may be incomplete and may be between a few days and a week long. Recovery will be suspended while backup recordings are sent to warm site, or network connectivity is created and data is restored from remote backup site (Example: SAN.)
Hot Sites
Hot sites are duplicates of the original site of the organization, with complete computer systems and almost complete data backup of users. Real time sync between two sites can be used to fully reflect the data environment of the original site using broad area network links and special software. After disruption to the original site, hot site exists so that the organization can move with minimal loss to normal operation in the shortest recovery time. Ideally, hot sites will be up and running in a matter of hours. Personnel may have to be moved to a hot site, but perhaps the hot site can operate from a data processing perspective before the staff is moved. The hot site capacity may or may not fit the capacity of the original site depending on the organization's needs. This type of backup site is the most expensive to operate. Popular sites are popular with organizations that operate real-time processes such as financial institutions, government agencies, and e-Commerce providers. The most important feature offered from a hot site is that the production environment (s) runs simultaneously with the main data center. This synchronization allows for minimal impact and stop time for business operations. In the event of significant outages, hot sites may replace affected sites immediately. However, this level of redundancy is not cheap, and businesses should consider a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of hot site utilization. Currently if the backup site goes down and loses the "proactive" approach it may not be considered a hot site depending on the level of organization maturity regarding the approach of ISO 22301 (international standard for Business Continuity Management).
Other Sites
In general, the Alternate Site refers to sites where people and equipment they need to work are moved for a certain period until a normal production environment, either rebuilt or replaced, is available.
Choose
Selecting the type of backup site that will be used is decided by the organization based on cost vs analysis. benefits. Hot sites are traditionally more expensive than cold sites, because many of the equipment the company needs to buy and thus people are required to maintain it, making operational costs higher. However, if the same organization loses a large amount of revenue for each day they are inactive, then it might be worth the cost. Another advantage of hot sites is that it can be used for pre-disaster operations. This balanced production processing method can be cost-effective, and will give users minimal security downtime during events affecting any of the data centers.
The advantages of cold site is simple - cost. This requires less resources to operate cold sites because no equipment is brought before the disaster. Some organizations may store older hardware versions at the center. This may be appropriate in server farming environments, where old hardware can be used in many cases. Weakness with cold sites is the potential cost that must be spent to make cold sites become effective. The cost of purchasing equipment with very short notice may be higher and disasters can make the equipment difficult to obtain.
Commercial Sites
When contracting services from commercial providers of backup site capabilities, organizations should pay close attention to terms of use of contracts and demand procedures. Providers may register more than one organization for a particular site or facility, often depending on different levels of service. This is a reasonable proposition because it is unlikely that all organizations that use the service may need it at the same time and allow service providers to offer services at affordable costs. However, in large-scale incidents affecting large areas, it is likely that this facility will become more subscribed. An organization may request Priority Service from the provider, often for a higher monthly fee. Commercial sites can also be used as secondary production sites with full-scale mirroring environments for their primary data centers. Again, higher costs will be required, but the security of the site and the ability of the organization to provide users with uninterrupted access to their data and applications can justify the cost.
See also
- Off-site Data Protection
- Back up
References
- Archive Management Services (2004, July 15). Vital Records: How Do You Protect And Store Vital Recordings? Retrieved from the UW Archives Management website: http://f2.washington.edu/fm/recmgt/managing/vitalrecords/store
- Haag, Cummings, McCubbrey, Pinsonneult, and Donovan. (2004). Information Management System, For the Information Age. McGraw-Hill Ryerson.
- Continuity of IT Services (2007, ITIL v3). Continuity of IT Services. Retrieved from: http://itlibrary.org/index.php?page=IT_Service_Continuity_Management on 03SEP14
- http://www.seguetech.com/blog/2013/11/20/three-stages-disaster-recovery-sites
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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