backups

Disaster plans must vary

Thu, 01 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

IT executives often focus on data center replication, building design and backups when doing disaster planning. Yet experts say that recovery plans should be customized for whichever type of major disaster is most likely to occur in any given area. Ken Brill, founder and executive director of The Uptime Institute in Santa Fe, New Mexico, believes that regional considerations such as city location, proximity to the ocean, whether the data center will be near a flood plain and even variables such as whether the data center is near an exterior wall, should all be considered carefully, not on broad computing guidelines.

For more on how to craft a disaster plan:
- Check out this CIO Magazine article

If the Internet disappeared...

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 06:59:58 -0500

There are plenty of Sci-Fi stories about a world without the Internet. What would happen if the Internet went down? It would not be a joke, and your workplace would come to a screeching halt. No email, no social networking, no online banking. Can you even imagine it? And with so many companies online full time, it would create massive paralysis. Backup systems wouldn't work, and you would be lost without the ability to function in a normal environment. The moral of this story is a simple one. Make sure you have adequate backups for all your systems and have an alternative route if the electricity goes down. Test your backup systems on a regular basis. And for sure, be grateful for the Internet-driven world we live in. Just never take it for granted.

To see this spooky story:
- Check out this CIO Magazine article

Controlled processes: Better risk mitigation

Mon, 07 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

For better risk mitigation, process controls need to be incorporated from the start. A control requiring a data and signature might be instituted to ensure that a review is performed. Another control might be instituted to perform periodic restoration testing to further validate that the backups are effective. To implement effective controls, ask yourself what the objective of the process is, the value of the objective, what other processes are dependent on the process and what their values are to the organization, what other processes this process is dependent on, what are the risks to the objective, and what risks are unacceptable. Also, does the cost/benefit ratio make sense, what are the implementation costs and ongoing operating expenses, how it will impact productivity, how long it will take to implement, and will the mitigation activity will be reliable? Often, several lower cost controls can be combined to yield better risk reduction than one complex expensive control.

Learn more about the importance of process controls:
- read the article at CIO Update

ALSO NOTED: Companies are too lax about data security; Taking a unified approach to IT;

Wed, 18 Apr 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Survey: Nine out of ten consumers think companies are too lax about data security. Article

> Take a unified approach to IT, experts say. Article

> Oracle issues 36 patches. Article

> Symantec tests Software-as-a-Service for backups. Article

> Intel outlines mobile roadmap. Article

And Finally … The ROI of BPM. Chart

ALSO NOTED: Security managers are stressed out; project managers are in short supply;

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 20:01:38 -0400

> Security managers are at least as stressed as IT managers. Blog

> Project managers are in short supply. Article

> Study: Data loss and downtime are biggest risks to IT planning. Article

> Red Hat to include virtualization support in its latest business Linux distribution. Article

> IT managers don't trust distributed backups. Article

> Security issues are a big concern for SMEs. Article

> Justify CRM rollouts on the basis of long-term business growth rather than short-term cost savings. Article

And Finally… CIOs find vendor websites lacking. Article

Taking a proactive approach to IT support

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 19:01:38 -0500

Although there are times when it's tempting to react to IT problems as they are encountered, it's much more productive to treat them pro-actively whenever possible. That means everything from the simplest installing of antivirus software on every computer in the organization to failsafe backups. Other proactive measures include downloading and installing all critical updates and locking down your systems via firewalls and setting up comprehensive intrusion detection systems.

Learn more about acting pro-actively:
- read the blog at Computerworld

Morgan Stanley email actions under scrutiny

Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:01:38 -0500

Proper email retention and storage is a must these days, thanks to new compliance rules and regulations, and companies who don't follow the letter of the law could find themselves in hot water. That's exactly what happened to Morgan Stanley--allegations claim that it lied about lost emails and didn't provide email evidence in litigation matters as it was mandated to do. The National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD) claims that not only did Morgan Stanley lie about email loss, it actually had backups but then deleted valuable emails it should have kept.

For more on the email allegations:
- read the article at Computerworld

StorageConsole 6.0 has backups covered

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:01:35 -0500

Aptare has announced version 6.0 of its backup reporting tool, StorageConsole, which adds support for EMC NetWorker, Symantec NetBackup and IBM Tivoli Storage Manager. StorageConsole now supports 90 percent of the backup software on the market, making it, essentially, a catch-all solution for backup reporting. "Typically, enterprises use one vendor for disk to disk and another for tape. They might be using NetApp for D2D and EMC NetWorker to go from the NetApp system to a tape system, for example," said Marc Staimer, president of Dragon Slayer Consulting. "In that case, something like this could be useful to standardize and provide a window into the entire process."

For more on StorageConsole's new features:
- see this article in eWeek

Continuous backup trend is gaining traction

Tue, 11 Jul 2006 20:01:38 -0400

CA's acquisition this week of XOSoft, which makes continuous backup software, is part of an ongoing trend. The technology works by taking frequent but incremental snapshots of computer data, storing each with unique identifiers, and therefore letting users restore systems to specific points in time--as opposed to traditional full backups nightly or weekly, although those are still urged as a Plan B.

For more on backup:
- take a look at this eWeek article

ALSO: Perfect storage, according to Hitachi. Article

Top six disaster recovery steps

Wed, 12 Apr 2006 20:01:37 -0400

Hey, want some good advice for avoiding IT disasters or solving them when they happen? Here goes: test your backups, splurge on high-end backup software, store copies of backups off-site, physically protect your servers and backup media (but make it quickly accessible in case of fire or natural disasters), and then--perhaps most important--articulate your thoughts about such things to your company's executives in a formal manner. You'll look and feel better for it.

For more of the advice:
- read this InfoWorld op-ed

ALSO: Web app-jacking increasing. Article