Business continuity planning is, in simple terms, the way business owners make sure they can continue working and producing in the event of a disaster.  The United Kingdom is the only country that has legal standards for business continuity – local governments are required by law to provide advice to businesses on how to continue in the event of a disaster.  Businesses in the Hudson Valley don't have that level of governmental support, but developing a business continuity plan is no less important in this region.

Disasters and computers
Business computers are more vulnerable to some types of disasters than other aspects of the business, and business servers in particular are very important to safeguard.  Surge protectors and tape backups aren't enough to guarantee business continuity in the face of a calamity, and the recovery of mission-critical data without proper planning can be expensive, time-consuming, and – worst of all – incomplete.

• Surge protectors are not all made equally.  Storms and other electrical problems can do serious damage to a server that is not properly protected.  Data and software can be lost in the blink of an eye.
• Tape backups, even when performed consistently, are not guaranteed.  The backups must be checked for problems, and they must be stored in a secure location so the same disaster doesn't destroy the only other copy of the data.
• Fires and floods can affect a single business or a wide area.  Water and fire damage often is enough to destroy a server, rather than damage it. 

Business continuity planning should include an estimate for how long it would take the business to get back up and running if the server or servers were lost.  This estimate should include:

• Delivery time for new server
• Length of time to install server on the network and configure the workstation computers to recognize it
• Installation time for relevant software
• Restoration of data from backup system
• Cost of replacing any software with missing licenses
• Time needed to recreate any data that are not recoverable from backup

Use of a virtualized server such as Remote Vault Pro Enterprise can cut down the time and expense of such a recovery operation, typically having the office network back up in about fifteen minutes after the office is able to be occupied.

This blog provides information about the value of backing up, the dangers of tape backup drives proving unreliable, and the need to consider the recovery speed of any business continuity plan before it's put into place.  The backup and recovery options you choose are as important as any business insurance you may have – perhaps even more important.

An insurance policy is there to protect you against loss, but in truth it doesn't do that.  What insurance does is help you recover from the loss by providing the money you need when the worst happens.  Remote Vault Pro Enterprise can often do more than that for your computer data – instead of helping you rebuild what you've lost, it can prevent you from losing it in the first place.  Emails that you've been saving for months or years, sensitive information about competition and clients, and vital financial data can't be recreated from scratch, but they can be recovered – in as little as fifteen minutes – from the Remote Vault Pro hardware.  It doesn't require a degree in computer science or a call to a support line in another time zone, either – our Hudson Valley technicians will probably know about the problem before you do.

Disasters can destroy an entire business location, but even that doesn't mean all the computer records are gone.  Since RVPE backs all your data up to two remote locations, one of those backups can be overnighted to your new location as soon as you're ready to accept it.  The unit will function as a virtualized server, permitting you to run all of your programs and access all of your information, until a new server can be set up.  No business owner likes to think about the possibility of being hit by a serious disaster like an earthquake, hurricane, fire or flood.  However, if losing a building is a nightmare, surely losing all the information that drives your business would be far worse.

When a server can't be repaired and must instead be replaced, it can be a major problem for an unprepared business.  Taking the time to put in place a business continuity plan can save a business countless hours in lost productivity while a new server is shipped, the software installed, and data are recovered from backup drives or the old server itself.
Causes of major server crashes

The phrase “major server crash” suggests that something has gone wrong with the computer itself, but from a business standpoint it's no different if it was the hard drive or an office fire that causes the problem.  Any situation that damages a server so seriously that it can't be repaired will have the same effect upon a business, and those situations run the gamut from hardware problems (like disk failure) to large scale disasters (such as Hurricane Katrina).

In extreme situations such as Hurricane Katrina, a business owner may not even be able to continue working in the same location, much less on the same server.  Even when the disaster is a small one, such as a building fire, any backup tapes that were forgotten in the office were probably destroyed with the server itself.

Replacing a server
A new server may be overnighted if an appropriate model is in stock, but work to replace it may be delayed longer if an appropriate replacement isn't immediately available.  Steps that must be taken include:

• Installing all the necessary software – if the licensed copies were destroyed, replacements must be obtained.
• Reconfiguring all the business computers to recognize the new server.
• Recovering the business data, either from a backup drive or from the old server's hard drive, if it's available.  Recovery from a damaged hard drive is a tricky business, and predicting how much information will be recovered is all but impossible ahead of time.

Depending on the availability of software and the completeness of backup data, those two steps can take from several hours to days.

The fifteen-minute recovery plan
In the case of a server meltdown in the office due to a problem in the machine, a system like Remote Vault Pro Enterprise can provide the same quick response as it would for a minor server crash.  In the event of a larger disaster, the remote backup would be used to load onto a new server everything that the business had on its old one.  All the files that were backed up (from as little as fifteen minutes before the problem occurred) would be in the same locations, and the new server would already have all necessary software installed and ready to go.

It's never pleasant to think about worst-case scenarios, but a commercial insurance agent would agree that thinking about the worst before it happens makes it much more bearable if it ever does.

It seems that the more important a server is to a business, the more factors can bring it down for a short period of time.  Minor server crashes shouldn't result in more than minor interruptions to business continuity, but that depends on the nature of the server problem, the steps needed to fix it, and the continuity system that the business has in place to prevent small problems from becoming big ones.

Causes of minor server crashes
A “minor server crash” can be defined is something that stops a server from performing its function, but can be rectified without replacing or completely overhauling the system.  A number of factors can cause or contribute to a minor server crash, including:

• Software conflicts – software developed by different companies may demand that the server do contradictory things with the same resources.  With thousands of software applications available for businesses, it can be difficult to predict how they will work with one another in your server environment.  Removing some software may be necessary to resolve the issue.
• Malware – malicious software can sometimes make it through a server's firewall and cause problems.
• Temperature regulation – if the server's fan malfunctions, the machine is not positioned for optimal air circulation, or the the temperature in the server room increases for any reason, it can cause a server to shut down.
• Network problems – it's possible that a server is functioning normally, but has become disconnected from the network and is unable to communicate with your other machines.
• Hardware problems – minor problems in the server's hardware may require that a part be replaced or other repairs be made to bring the machine back to the land of the living.

Timeline to crash recovery
It doesn't take long to discover a problem with a server, but getting the business back up and running can be more complex.  Steps include:

1. Diagnosing the problem
2. Order necessary parts
3. Make necessary repairs

Seems like a simple process, but for a company with outsourced computer support, this could easily translate into two or three days without that server.  With a good backup system it may be possible to recover the data and continue working – if there's another machine available that can do the job of the server, and all the necessary software applications are installed on it.  Much of that two or three days may be taken up with setting up a machine to do the server's job, only to have the original back up and running by the time you're done.

Business continuity plans make the crash transition seamless
Even with an orderly plan in place, it can take time to recover from a minor server crash.  Since the primary goal of any business continuity plan is to keep the business up and running, it may be worthwhile to consider a plan like Remote Vault Pro Enterprise.  The onsite backup can be up and running as a virtualized server within minutes, so your employees (whether in the office or working at home) will be able to do what you pay them to without interruption

Backing up data online is the recommended business continuity system for today's high-productivity world.  As you can see by reading this article, there are some pretty standard limitations with most offsite backup solutions. 

Time to back up

The article is written in support of a system called Back2zip, and warns readers that most backup systems "will only allow one initial complete backup of a hard drive, but as the time taken for the first backup of even an average PC can exceed 24 hours this may not bother you."

Take a look at that emphasized statement . . . the first backup of even an average PC can exceed 24 hours."  This is probably true with most backup systems, although using Remote Vault Pro Enterprises for the first time will generally take less than an hour to back up your entire network.

Backup failure

No system is perfect, and offsite backups are no exception.  They are head-and-shoulders above antiquated tape backups when it comes to errors, however.  With a tape, you won't know if there was a problem until the system has run its course, and then the only option is to start over!

Offsite systems such as Dell's Online Backup & Restore allow their users to "run on-demand reports on the backup status of all managed PCs to give you a comprehensive and up to date picture on the security of your data."  This means that you get to roll up your sleeves and analyze those reports to make sure everything was backed up properly.   Other systems, such as RVP, have dedicated technicians whose primary responsibility is monitoring Remote Vault Pro and ensuring that everything's running smoothly.  If something goes wrong, you'll probably never know because they'll fix the problem long before you need your data back. 

Make sure you ask who's responsibility it is to identify problems with your backup files before you sign on the bottom line.

No software to manage

Some online systems, like Back2zip, use software downloaded on your computers to compile and back your data up.  (In the case of Back2zip, it's a free "beta" program, which to a computer tech means it's full of bugs and nobody's being paid to remove them, but that's another concenr entirely.)  Look for a hardware-based backup solution that gets hooked up to your server.  The hardware should encrypt your data (so it can't be deciphered by anyone else) and manage the backing up of your entire network. 

Seamless recovery

The article from Back2zip warns that "a confusing file structure or files with obscure names can get in the way of a clean restore."  The writer goes on to say, "It is unlikely that application files [programs] will be retrievable from a backup, they usually need to be installed using their own programs." 

Frankly, you shouldn't ever have to worry about questions like file structure and reinstalling your programs.  In the event that your server crashes, a state-of-the-art backup solution will provide a virtual server that has all your files on it, just where you expect them to be.  No worrying about what files to restore or where the software CDs were stored by your last office manager  . . . you're back up and doing business instead.

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