• July 12, 2010
• Articles
• Joy Milkowski

Your business is always at risk from uncontrollable threats. Whether it’s a natural disaster such as a hurricane, flood or tornado, or physical disasters like explosions, fires or black-outs, any of these situations can stop your business cold. Worse still are man-made disasters such as terrorist attacks, internal employee sabotage or foul play. No matter the type of disaster, critical data such as business transactions and client information could be at risk of loss.

The only way to manage these various risks is by creating and executing a business continuity and disaster recovery plan, but that highlights another challenge – budget. How do you deploy BC/DR plan, including data center space, and balance it with the costs of the primary system? By starting with a cost-conscious approach to your BC/DR facility, it is possible to have the necessary redundancy without spending a fortune or placing another huge responsibility upon the IT department.

Typically, a major portion of a company’s BC/DR expense is the data center, and it’s helpful to remember that a disaster recovery or back-up facility is just that – back-up. Avoid spending on “non-essential” features or so-called amenities like those of the primary location. The secondary system is merely a mirror used if things fail, and as such, can be streamlined to the bare essentials to save money and minimize management requirements.

Carrier hotels make it possible to save a great deal of money on your secondary site while maintaining key features. They are typically devoid of bells and whistles common in high-end data centers, but those are the types of trappings that drive up costs. The common characteristics of a carrier hotel are a perfect fit for a secondary site: the affordability, the scalable power options, lower cost of connectivity and the flexibility available for layout and equipment.

With a focus on infrastructure rather the aesthetics, carrier hotels are often more affordable than traditional data centers. Beyond the reasonable cost of the space of most carrier hotels, other efficiencies add up to savings for customers. For example, in some cases the facilities will offer metered power, so users are only charged for what they actually use. This enables users to go online only as needed and remain offline the rest of the time.

Making a Checklist

Like everything else in business, the biggest key to finding the right backup facility that meets your needs and budget is shopping around. A good start is to create a checklist list before you start the process so you get what you need – at the right price.

System Requirements – Begin by identifying the minimal system requirements. A backup system does not require the same level of sophistication as the primary operation. Ask the tough questions about what you absolutely cannot live without – remember, each added function will raise the cost of something you may never use.

Layout Configurations – Some facilities have significant restrictions on space configurations, while others offer completely flexible space at no extra cost. It’s important to ask the question so you don’t run into unexpected problems after the contract is signed.

Connectivity & Carrier Diversity – Consider how you plan connect to your secondary site. Do you need a specific provider? Carrier hotels are desirable because of the carrier diversity typically present in the facility. The more options for network you have, the better the price and SLA you can negotiate. Also, because carriers often offer core nodes you can be assured of reliable connectivity, particularly if you need a high-availability backup site.

Power Options – Power can become a “gotcha” in a data center so you’ll want to consider more advantageous power options. For example, some carrier hotels charge based on metered power, so you only pay for the power you actually consume. With proper planning, you can go online only when needed, remaining offline the rest of the time, thus saving power and money.

Location – Where the data center is located may not matter, but if it does, consider this: The backup facility should be close enough to reach easily, yet far enough away to not be affected by the same disaster which takes down your primary location. Some companies are comfortable with a backup facility as close as 20 miles away, while other experts tout a minimum of 40 miles as a requirement. Consider factors such as reaching the location by both a primary and secondary route and take note of any possible natural or man-made impediments (such as a bridge collapsing over a river) which may prevent you from reaching the backup-facility during a disaster.

Latency – Determine what levels of latency are acceptable. It is important to find a facility with a carrier that meets your minimum latency requirements while not getting entranced by extra speed that really isn’t necessary for backup.

Low-Maintenance – The best part about carefully choosing your BC/DR back up facility is that the project typically only needs to be done once. Unless your company’s needs change significantly, once the backup facility is in place, it requires little more than the appointed testing and maintenance to ensure that the systems are working properly.

Making the Search Process Easier

Once you’ve got a running checklist, it is advantageous to enlist help in conducting the actual search. Companies such as NEF have expertise, relationships and intelligence to help you identify and source the optimal BC/DR solution. NEF boasts a leading proprietary database containing numerous data center facilities across the country specializing in BC/DR space – along with millions of miles of fiber and high capacity optical network to connect your sites. In fact, NEF launched BizContinuance.com as a way to help companies start the search process for an affordable disaster recovery facility.

NEF specializes in finding BC/DR sites with robust infrastructure as well as knowing the specifics about the available carriers, power costs, connectivity, configuration options, etc, for each location. In addition, NEF continually updates the network intelligence and mapping data for the most accurate provider information available. Once a location is identified NEF can report on all of the critical information you need in the final selection process and even help you price and procure the ultimate solution.