According to the National Archives and Records Administration, over 90 percent of companies that experience upwards of 10 days of downtime file for bankruptcy within the year. It is critical for every business to have a tested and effective business continuity plan that ensures that the company makes it out of a natural disaster with minimal disruption. The specifics of an enterprise’s disaster recovery plan will vary depending on the company’s location. For enterprises located in tornado and hurricane zones, a disaster recovery plan must meet a unique set of demands.
It is reported that 2015 saw 1,285 tornados and a record number of Category 4 and 5 hurricanes. Along the Atlantic coast, hundreds of businesses were devastated by the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Companies located in the geographic region referred to as Tornado Alley (Texas, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Eastern Colorado) are expected to be able to withstand upwards of 60 tornados a year, while companies located on the Atlantic Coastline need to protect data and equipment from the often devastating Atlantic Hurricane Season. Disaster Recovery Hosting provides businesses with a vital safeguard against the effects of natural disasters.
What Is Disaster Recovery
Whether an enterprise opts for Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) or colocation services, disaster recovery is a large-scale, holistic strategy for preparation and recovery from disasters that disrupt the environment and infrastructure of a business. These strategies should include people, processes, policies, and technology focused exclusively on restoring critical systems and providing overall support to the business in the immediate aftermath of a tornado or hurricane. Regardless of the specifics of a disaster recovery plan, the goal is always to protect mission critical applications, data, and infrastructure from costly downtime and outages.
There are two main options for disaster recovery hosting. These are Colocation Centers and Disaster Recovery As A Service (DRaaS). Colocation centers offer third party facilities that allow companies to set up their own network, servers, and storage for protection. DRaaS plans are designed for small to mid-sized companies that lack the needed expertise to create and implement an effective disaster recovery plan. These services include the replication and hosting of servers by a third party. In both cases, an off-site vendor is less likely to be affected by a natural disaster than the business itself.
Why Is Disaster Recovery Hosting Critical For Data Centers In At-Risk Areas
Today’s customers expect 24 hour a day service, every day of the week. Businesses looking to stay ahead of the competition are required to have the infrastructure to support continuous operation. Enterprises located in geographic regions prone to natural disasters risk irreparable damage to their data center’s physical and technological infrastructure. Possible threats to these centers include physical damage, flooding, power outages, and network breakages. Even if the data center itself is not hit by the storm – and thus incurs no direct damage to its physical foundation – power outages across the area can last for weeks at a time and can cost a business up to a million dollars in losses for every hour of the outage. The applications and networks operating out of a data center are in a class referred to as “mission critical.” This data is vital for the operation of an enterprise, and any downtime has the potential to cause irreparable damage to the business. Disaster recovery centers offset these risks by offering clients multiple locations and geographically redundant, cloud based systems with data protection.
Disaster Recovery Hosting For Data Centers
Disaster recovery services start with impact analysis to determine needed provisions and safeguards. Enterprises currently lacking a standardized set of procedures and protocols would be advised to contact potential data centers to learn the details of their disaster recovery hosting services.
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