You are on page 1of 4

1

LIST HARDWARE/SOFTWARE AND RTOS AND RPOS INDICATED:

Software Hardware #Servers RTO RPO


PeopleSoft Sun Fire V880 Midrange 3 2 Weeks 1 Day
WinFax* LAN Servers 2 2 Weeks 1 Day

Aspect Call PBX System 2 Weeks 1 Day


Management Software*

Some of the assumptions made were that the WinFax and Aspect software had call logging data
and fax netted within the system, necessitated an RPO of 1 day.

TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY
The recommendation to the client is to use electronic vaulting with a warm site at an external
vendor. To ensure that the credit RPO of the one day is met, the electronic vaulting will happen
once per day. The warm site will also be functional and running within two weeks to ensure that
the TRO is met.
How Will Strategy Work
A warm site approach will be applied. The network interfaces and hardware will be provided by
an off-site vendor whose facility must be no less than 75 miles from the Lincoln, NE
Collections/Credit location. This other processing site will be open to clients at the time of
tragedy. The hardware will be available so that the client can,
Configure the essential hardware such as the Operating System and corporate server policies
Install the necessary software such as WinFax and PeopleSoft
Reinstate required information such as PeopleSoft Databases
Examine the system
Permit credit/collections where workers can access the system and execute their job functions

The electronic vaulting approach will also be applied to meet the RTO for one day; hence, the
system data will be backed up every day. The met RTO will always be sent to an off-site locality
for storage. It is recommendable to store the data at a third-party vendor rather than in a location
2

owned by the client. Another possible alternative is to have back up the data and hoard it at the
warm site. However, the client needs to ensure that they incorporate this into the contract as they
may incur additional costs.

Vendor/Internal Strategy:
For the warm site, an external strategy is the most suitable to implement, most particularly if a
third-party vendor holds the site.
Justify Vendor/Internal Strategy:
The main aim of using the hosting strategy in the warm site is to alleviate costs. When utilizing
the warm site strategy, it is recommendable that the hardware must be made available at the
remote vendor facility during the time of disaster. However, the hardware doesn't have to be
currently running accessible. It minimizes the maintenance because no system administrators
will be required for repairs. Also, the system will not use the power to run.
As the RTO for the software/hardware will be two weeks, the client will have adequate time to
operate and configure the warm site. By backing up systems every day and transferring to
another site, it will be immensely more comfortable to meet the RPO of 1 day.

Strategies NOT Recommended:


When making this recommendation, lots of disaster recovery strategies were considered.
Although it is not recommendable to use the following techniques, they were still considered:
(Please note: in the approach highlighted below, a Hot Site will be applied. A Hot Site is
essential when the strategy needs a replicated environment at a different facility. However, the
environment has to have the same software, hardware, and infrastructure components.
Continuous Availability (with Hot Site) – This strategy is applied when companies have an
RPO of 0 or have a low RTOS. A hot site is essential in this strategy as information will always
replicate between the host site and the primary site. Furthermore, a seamless operation will be
provided when the prior site automatically fails over to the hot site at the time of disaster.
Constant Availability is NOT advocated for the client because of the RTOs and RPOs needed.
As the department's RPO is one day and the RTO is two weeks, this strategy offers more
aptitudes than required because; the strategy delivers an RPO and RTO of close to 0 or 0.
Replication/High Availability (with Hot Site)
3

To start, the Replication/High Availability needs a Hot Site. At scheduled times; information is
copied to the system at the Hot Site from the Production System. By regulating transmission time
to minutes or an hour, a low RPO will be obtained by this strategy. Loss of data would be
restricted to the rate of transmission times. Additionally, it is appropriate to use a manual
failover instead of an automatic failover in this strategy. When only a few systems use this
strategy, the failover will achieve a low RTO. However, the RTO can increase if many systems
must be failed over at the same time. Also, the RTO can still increase in case the failover process
has problems.
Replication/High Availability is NOT endorsed for the client as it offers RTOs and RPOs that are
less than 24 hours. Bearing in mind that our RPO is one day and, our client's RTO is two weeks,
this strategy delivers lesser RTOs and RPOs than required. Due to this, the strategy will not
overkill for this department but will also be unnecessarily expensive.
Remote Journaling (with Hot Site)
This strategy is used for database systems as it needs a Hot Site. Only changes in the database
are copied to the Hot Site system in a Journal. Later, changes made in the Journal are applied to
the Hot Site database. Loss of data and delays in activating the Hot Suite system may also be
experienced when there is a lag time in updating the Journal at the Hot Site database. These
problems could result in significant interruptions (RTO) and loss of data (RPO). In case
difficulties are recovering the Hot Site database, the RTO could be considerably increased.
Cold/Shell Site
The cold strategy is a computer-ready facility or room. Its infrastructure, such as cabling,
electricity, HVAC, raised floors, in a built-in place, although the hardware is not open as this
must be delivered at the time of disaster.
It is NOT recommendable to use the cold/shell site because there is a menace that it will be
impossible to meet the RTO in two weeks. The hardware must be bought and installed before the
client restores the systems, and it can take even more than two weeks for the restoration to occur.
Quick Ship—Purchase at Time of Disaster –
This strategy consists of attaining all hardware during the disaster. The facility needs to be
identified before the recovery takes place.
A quick ship strategy is NOT suggested as there is a possibility that the RTO will not be met in
the expected two weeks because the hardware requires purchasing and installing before the client
4

starts restoring the systems. The project is disadvantageous as it takes more than two weeks and
maybe expensive if the crisis is a regional catastrophe.
Reciprocal Agreement
A reciprocal agreement strategy is where a treaty between two comparable companies from an
infrastructure perspective or two in-house departments is prepared. Every company approves that
the other company can use their specified systems at the time of the disaster. The information
from one company is copied onto the plans with the correct presentations at the responding
company. Hence, the company uses the techniques at the responding company for its precise
applications.
A collective agreement is never recommended because of the threat of attainment. The
responding company can never pull through when required, and even when they do, the client is
prone to threats around information security and intrusion from the other company.

WRAP-UP OF ANALYSIS
What advantages would there be for your recommended strategy? What are the
disadvantages of this strategy?
Although there are several benefits of using an Electronic Vault at a Warm Site strategy, the cost
is the most significant advantage. The systems in the department of collections/credit are not
considered hazardous to everyday operations. The substantial cost can be held back using this
strategy while still meeting the RPO and RTO. It is also advantageous as the contract is in place
with a vendor who will assure hardware availability at a time of disaster. Backups will be stored
off-site, and this is an advantage to electronic vaulting.
However, electronic vaulting has several disadvantages, such as the risk of data loss when
transmitting to the site. When the system is in the recovery state, no electronic vaulting can
occur, and this can even last up to two weeks. The latest backup would transpire one day before
the tragedy. Finally, as restoration of the software and data onto the hardware is done during the
disaster, problems may arise during installation hence not meeting the RTO/RPO even if it is two
weeks/1 days.

You might also like