Implementing a high availability solution for your systems can be an expensive cost. But can you really afford not to do it? A business owner should ask themselves some questions to determine if High Availability is right for them. If a business can afford to be without their systems for 24 hours or more, then [...]
With the first public reviews of Windows 8 now over a year old, there has been a groundswell of emotion around the iconic Start button. First introduced in Windows 95, the Start button is analogous to a compass, clicking it was like finding true north. But Windows 8 took away our compass. However, there may [...]
DR, business resumption and emergency preparedness are three integrated components of a business continuity management solution. Some organizations focus on any one or part of the solution without realizing that it is possible to have a perfectly functioning redundant data center and still business cannot continue. It is imperative that all the below three components [...]
Choosing where you put your Disaster Recovery Center is an important part of your DR plan. It needs to be far enough away so that if disaster strikes, it doesn’t take out both your production data center and your disaster recovery center. Employees and customers need to have seamless access to the backup system in [...]
While RTO and RPO may be important when you are implementing a disaster/recovery plan, if you can’t get your system recovered after a disaster, you’re done. If you have never tested the recovery part of your backup and recovery strategy, then you have no strategy at all. Why even bother backing up your system if [...]
When a system administrator hears the word “hosting”, one thing will usually come to his mind – “I’m going to lose my job.” The fact is his job is in no more jeopardy than it was before. Most of the functions that hosting manages are the hassles of handling hardware. With a hosting solution, system [...]
Ever heard of a Bitcoin? Well, neither did I until two nerds I work with claimed they could use their computer graphics cards to get rich. Bitcoins are a virtual currency that is publically traded. How Bitcoins came about their fame is yet to be determined, but the value of a Bitcoin has gone from [...]
There is no such thing as an IT project – there are only business projects that are enabled by IT. IT professionals are becoming more attentive than ever to business and the role end users play in the ultimate success of the software. 2013 will involve businesses setting aside more time and budget toward intangibles [...]
A nexus of forces including cloud, Big Data, mobility and social media, along with continued global economic uncertainty, are accelerating the restructuring of the nearly $1 trillion IT services market. By 2015, low-cost cloud services will cannibalize up to 15 percent of top outsourcing players’ revenue, and more than 20 percent of large IT outsourcers [...]
As an IT and DR professional, you must be nimble and dynamic to match your ever changing corporate landscape. The challenge facing many DR professional s today is to keep current, as well as be proactive in your DR strategy as the business changes. There are many factors to consider when embarking on the task [...]