Complex Hosting Can Ensure Continuity

BY Rawlson O'Neil King, theWHIR.com

August 27, 2003 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Complex Web hosting firms were put to the test following an unprecedented power outage on the afternoon of August 14, 2003, that affected major parts of Canada and the United States, leaving over 50 million people without electricity and disrupting thousands of businesses.

After an unexplained grid failure darkened most of Southern Ontario and the American Northeast, data center operations rapidly implemented their disaster recovery plans. As a result, most service providers were able to provide continuous service throughout the duration of the blackout. Disaster planning for many service providers included the use of auxiliary diesel generators and good crisis communication techniques.

Consequently, despite the severity of the blackout, which experts have called the worst in history, firms responsible for recovering lost or corrupted data reported little change in their day-to-day business. The continuity of data services during this disaster can hence be considered a great victory for the industry. In today's business climate, downtime is too costly for businesses and unacceptable to customers. Service providers who provided continuous service during the outage enabled enterprises to maintain operations, retain customers and prevent long-term damage. This is evidence that reliance on third-party Web hosting firms, as an integral component of a business continuance plan, can be crucial to efforts to maintain IT systems during extraordinary incidents.

Statistics indicate however that more businesses need to develop such plans. Gartner research shows that fewer than 30 per cent of Fortune 2000 companies have invested in a full business continuance plan. The reason for this oversight may simply be that the technical challenges seem too daunting. Or perhaps the cost of implementation is perceived as too great. These are viable concerns, but in the wake of events such as the recent power outage and the September 11 terrorist attacks, the creation of a cost-effective disaster recovery plan is essential to any large organization.

A larger company should always have a disaster recovery plan ready to be implemented at a moment's notice. A major factor that an organization should consider to aid in recovery efforts is the use of a secondary site. Many companies subscribe to a secondary disaster recovery "hot site" for use with other subscribers in the event of a business interruption. Most hot sites are actually facilities operated by complex Web hosts. The hot site will fill up fast in the event of a major event such as the recent power outage in the Northeastern United States, so organizations must be sure to call and declare a disaster as early as possible.

To ensure availability of a secondary site, many organizations equip their own, leased secondary data center through complex hostng firms for disaster recovery purposes, and using high availability software to switch operations from the affected site to the secondary site without disruption to the business - helping to minimize impact on customers and partners. Leveraging such facilites offered by complex Web hosts ensures the continuity of business operations during times of large-scale crisis.