Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts

• 12 steps for a successful DRaaS implementation

  Thinking of activating disaster recovery as a service? As you start this important process, consider these best practices that will help protect your organization.  Continue Reading

• Compare and contrast business resilience vs. business continuity

  Business continuity and resilience go hand in hand and play a role in an organization's disaster recovery plan. Essentially, business continuity is needed to achieve resilience.  Continue Reading

• What will disaster recovery strategy look like in 2020?

  Disaster recovery planning is an ever-evolving process, and organizations should be aware of new threats and tools. Ensure that your strategy isn't behind the times in 2020.  Continue Reading

• When is having a cloud-based disaster recovery plan critical?

  Cloud disaster recovery is accessible, affordable and reliable and has become a strong alternative to on-premises DR. In some situations, it may even be essential.  Continue Reading

• What is the role of HCI in a disaster recovery architecture?

  Is hyper-convergence a good fit for disaster recovery? More organizations appear to believe so and are increasingly using hyper-converged infrastructure in backup and DR.  Continue Reading

• How do a business impact analysis and risk assessment differ?

  When it comes to disaster recovery strategy, business impact analyses and risk assessments both play key roles. Make sure you include them in your DR planning.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of outsourcing risk mitigation and management?

  Rather than handling risk management and mitigation within your organization, outsourcing these important processes to a third party comes with substantial benefits.  Continue Reading

• How can your IT resilience plan incorporate big data analytics?

  Big data analytics can help businesses spot past mistakes, forecast conditions and improve future strategies. So, why should resilience planning be any different?  Continue Reading

• How does a data archiving strategy benefit DR and backup?

  In order to be truly resilient, your organization needs more than just a backup and disaster recovery plan. Integrating archiving into your strategy offers some serious benefits.  Continue Reading

• What DR requirements belong in a cloud computing SLA?

  Many organizations are making the move to DRaaS. But, before you dive in, be sure the cloud provider's SLA meets the needs of your business and its end users.  Continue Reading

• Is VMware SRM disaster recovery a good fit for your DR plan?

  VMware Site Recovery Manager brings a number of benefits to the disaster recovery process. One of the lesser known roles of SRM is as a planning tool.  Continue Reading

• Can you use blockchain for disaster recovery purposes?

  Disaster recovery may not be the most prominent use case for blockchain technology, but the idea of using it for data protection and recovery is beginning to gain traction.  Continue Reading

• How do slow data transfer speeds affect VM disaster recovery?

  When failing over VMs to the cloud or a remote data center, slow data transfer speeds can spell disaster. Don't let failed replications and partial failovers upset your DR plan.  Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of disaster recovery orchestration?

  A disaster recovery plan that uses orchestration can simplify the process of failing VMs over to the cloud. Unfortunately, there are some caveats to take into account.  Continue Reading

• How has ransomware recovery changed in recent years?

  The threat of ransomware has evolved over the past few years, causing many organizations to re-examine how they plan to recover data in the event of an attack.  Continue Reading

• Can your disaster recovery strategy keep up?

  Disaster recovery requirements are constantly changing, and a DR plan must do the same. Frequent testing and clear communication can go a long way toward keeping a plan up to date.  Continue Reading

• Cloud disaster recovery options: Public or purpose-built?

  Despite the popularity of public cloud for disaster recovery, it's not the only option out there. Purpose-built clouds can offer greater flexibility and provider assistance.  Continue Reading

• What are the pros and cons of on-premises disaster recovery?

  While cloud DR is gaining popularity, it may not be the right choice for every organization. On-premises DR often comes with more predictable pricing and lower latency.  Continue Reading

• What's the difference between a hot site and cold site for DR?

  The hot site vs. cold site debate requires users to understand how each DR site works and the resources needed. While one is more budget-friendly, downtime can be a deciding factor.  Continue Reading

• How to create an emergency phone tree and template

  When disaster strikes an organization, employees must be alerted. Using a call tree in emergency situations is a time-tested way to effectively communicate events and next steps.  Continue Reading

• What 5 skills should a disaster recovery team leader have?

  Is the right person in charge of your disaster recovery planning? Look for a DR team leader who has the knowledge to run the show and the accessibility needed from a good manager.  Continue Reading

• Can an SMB business continuity strategy compete with larger firms?

  When crafting a business continuity plan, an SMB must try and meet customers' enterprise-level expectations, while using its available resources to the fullest.  Continue Reading

• What standards for business continuity aid in compliance?

  Business continuity and disaster recovery compliance is a valuable asset and may require a deeper understanding of modern standards and changes your organization needs to make.  Continue Reading

• What does the ISO 22330 business continuity standard cover?

  With ISO/TS 22330, the International Organization for Standardization covers the issues related to the people involved in BC/DR incident response.  Continue Reading

• Is your cloud DR strategy agile enough?

  As business requirements evolve, not every DR tool can keep up. In the age of agile IT, there are drawbacks to consider with a cloud-based disaster recovery strategy.  Continue Reading

• Which modern disaster recovery tool is often overlooked?

  When crafting a DR strategy, there are a number of useful tools available. To avoid missing out on some serious benefits, make sure you take a look at all available options.  Continue Reading

• How does the ISO 22316 standard cover resilience?

  Definitions for business continuity and resilience sometimes clash, but both processes help an organization stay on its feet. A new ISO standard tackles the latter.  Continue Reading

• What are vital elements of a workplace emergency response plan?

  Emergency response planning needs to be specific and varied enough that it will enable an organization to recover in the event of many different kinds of incidents.  Continue Reading

• What is a short business continuity history?

  From mainframes to the cloud, the business continuity profession has seen a lot over the decades. How did we get to the business continuity process of today?  Continue Reading

• Which data protection trends will take off next?

  Expect data protection technologies to veer toward an expansion of recovery capabilities, as organizations need to be able to recover in multiple locations -- and fast.  Continue Reading

• What are the top disaster recovery trends for 2018?

  Expect disaster recovery market trends to include consolidation and simplification. Vendors should also note that quick failover and recovery time remain top needs for customers.  Continue Reading

• Private cloud disaster recovery services vs. public

  There is a wide range of cloud DR services. Whether you choose public or private cloud, or a little of both, you need to weigh the risk and cost of each option.  Continue Reading

• How can I keep my business disaster recovery plans relevant?

  Has your organization created a disaster recovery plan and left it on the shelf? You're not alone. Explore what you can do to improve your plan's effectiveness.  Continue Reading

• How can IT risk assessments best involve employees?

  In conducting an IT risk assessment, are you asking the right questions to your staff? Are you talking to the right people? These elements are important for disaster recovery.  Continue Reading

• How can I ensure recovery time objectives are up to date?

  As the desired recovery time objective continues to decrease, make sure your organization can handle it with the proper technology, employees and testing.  Continue Reading

• What did the British Airways outage teach us about DR?

  Can disaster recover planning save an organization from a costly IT outage? The British Airways IT disaster of 2017 has many wondering how to prevent such outages from occurring.  Continue Reading

• What are some virtual machine disaster recovery challenges?

  For improved virtual disaster recovery, it's important to keep an eye on server provisioning. Production machines that are not enabled for DR can cause big headaches later.  Continue Reading

• What business recovery planning resources are available?

  With software, consultants and standards at the ready, plus the rise of DR as a service, it's easy to get started on a business recovery plan. So just do it.  Continue Reading

• How can standards for business continuity aid compliance?

  Working with the right business continuity and disaster recovery standards should get your organization on the path to compliance. Reviewing and updating plans is also important.  Continue Reading

• How can I manage hybrid disaster recovery architecture effectively?

  When taking a hybrid disaster recovery approach -- using public and private components -- it's important to understand your requirements, assets and networks.  Continue Reading

• How can disaster recovery systems use software-defined networking?

  If you're considering software-defined networking in your disaster recovery platform, define your DR requirements first. SDN can help support data backup and replication.  Continue Reading

• How do I design and initiate a call tree procedure?

  A call tree can be an important piece of disaster recovery planning. Follow these steps for call tree design and execution to ensure your company is ready for unplanned events.  Continue Reading

• How can your backup and recovery system be more streamlined?

  Many organizations could stand to simplify their data backup and recovery systems. Consolidation is important, but make sure you have the right tools for optimum data protection.  Continue Reading

• Do you need an emergency communication plan for business?

  Emergency communications is one of the first actions to be taken following an incident. Find out what happens when an organization doesn't have an emergency communications plan.  Continue Reading

• Are business recovery plans useful beyond pure DR reasons?

  Business disaster recovery plans can identify opportunities for process improvement, and can be employed as reference documents for use in other new activities.  Continue Reading

• Is disaster recovery a good data lake use case?

  Before wading into a data lake to help with protection, it's important to analyze what you're doing with your data and its backup and disaster recovery.  Continue Reading

• How can cybersecurity events impact business continuity and DR?

  An organization's cybersecurity work is often separate from its business continuity and disaster recovery. But BC/DR events and cybersecurity incidents can have a similar effect.  Continue Reading

• How has IT continuity planning changed with cloud technology?

  Despite business disaster recovery planning shifting to the cloud, historically crucial elements of legacy DR, such as location and testing, are still important.  Continue Reading

• How has disaster recovery monitoring software evolved?

  Explore details regarding the growth of DR monitoring software from a focus on configuration validation to today's automated and more comprehensive disaster recovery scanning.  Continue Reading

• What are the latest Windows Server disaster recovery capabilities?

  Microsoft Windows Server 2016 offers more advanced disaster recovery resources than the 2012 R2 edition. Features include deduplication, replication and availability.  Continue Reading

• Should business continuity and disaster recovery plans involve staff?

  Employee involvement in business continuity and disaster recovery planning starts with a business impact analysis. But participation in the rest of the BC/DR process is encouraged.  Continue Reading

• Can you create a BC plan without conducting a risk assessment?

  If time constraints and other factors force you to eliminate risk assessment from your business continuity plan, discover how to focus your development efforts more precisely.  Continue Reading

• Can you prepare a business recovery plan without management approval?

  You should be able to justify the need for a BC/DR plan. But here's what you can do if you fail to get management buy-in and you still want disaster recovery in your organization.  Continue Reading

• Can you conduct a disaster recovery test plan on a budget?

  While it's always safer for businesses to have properly funded DR plan testing, there are ways to assess your plan even when the data storage budget is not there.  Continue Reading

• What are the top cloud recovery service misconceptions?

  Is DRaaS reliable? Is failing over to the cloud a smooth procedure? Expert Brien Posey breaks down these two widespread concerns with the cloud recovery process.  Continue Reading

• What BC/DR plan alternatives can I use for disruptive events?

  For those organizations that believe 'It will never happen to me,' options to a formal business continuity/disaster recovery plan do exist if the inevitable occurs.  Continue Reading

• What are major operational availability challenges?

  With system availability so critical to an organization's health, administrators need to constantly monitor their environments to ensure mission-critical data is not disturbed.  Continue Reading

• What are top operational availability risks in data centers?

  Reasons for operational downtime range from the mundane to the extreme. If your organization wants to keep its mission-critical workloads running, here are three areas to monitor.  Continue Reading

• How can I manage hardware redundancy costs in my DR plan?

  Adding redundant hardware to your disaster recovery strategy doesn't have to break the bank. Here are three tips that can help to protect your data at a more reasonable price.  Continue Reading

• Do cloud-based disaster recovery service providers use removable media?

  Some cloud-based DR service providers are using removable media to circumvent any restoration and synchronization issues customers might encounter.  Continue Reading

• Do DRaaS providers have an issue with cloud bandwidth?

  Disaster recovery as a service providers may have to restrict cloud bandwidth during certain disaster recovery events. Find out why organizations should explore this issue before choosing a provider.  Continue Reading

• What are some cloud storage disaster recovery issues with multiple hypervisors?

  Cloud-based DR providers are improving their support of multiple hypervisors, but your organization still needs to consider these four key elements when choosing a provider.  Continue Reading

• What are some distributed database recovery issues?

  In this expert answer, learn why data integrity and point-in-time recovery are essential to distributed database recovery in your computing environment.  Continue Reading

• Remote backups or remote replication to protect ROBO data?

  Several factors determine whether you use remote backups or remote replication for your organization's ROBO data protection. This expert answer provides use cases for each method.  Continue Reading

• What can Amanda open source backup software offer DR?

  Explore the benefits of using an open source backup software platform, with a focus on Amanda, a popular product in the field.  Continue Reading

• What are some network recovery best practices?

  Learn what can disrupt service for WANs and LANs, and identify key criteria for network recovery following a disaster.  Continue Reading

• Should my risk assessment plan include severe weather events?

  Your organization's risk assessment plan should account for the increase in severe weather events and the damage they can cause.  Continue Reading

• How do I make a case for a business disaster recovery plan?

  Developing a business disaster recovery plan requires buy-in from management as well as the building landlord.  Continue Reading

• What are some Gmail DR considerations?

  While Gmail DR is provided for users, certain precautions are recommended to ensure email safety and security.  Continue Reading

• How expensive are cloud disaster recovery tests and why are they needed?

  Cloud disaster recovery testing and its costs vary depending upon the type of provider you use. Every provider has its own policies, pricing structure and services.  Continue Reading

• Do DRaaS providers offer SLAs for running applications in the cloud?

  Application performance is a legitimate concern for DRaaS. However, there are a number of things you should consider to guarantee that performance is adequate.  Continue Reading

• Why are data backups and disaster recovery converging?

  Backup and disaster recovery have primarily been treated separately. Learn how server virtualization has allowed these two technologies to converge.  Continue Reading

• Can DRaaS providers serve production VMs in a regional disaster?

  In a regional disaster, there may be serious contention for cloud DR compute resources. Learn how to ensure consistent application performance.  Continue Reading

• How do you fail back to a production VM from a secondary VM in the cloud?

  Among the factors to consider when failing back to an on-site production VM is virtual machine IP address modification.  Continue Reading

• How do I choose the right cloud services provider for DRaaS?

  Which is better for DRaaS -- an IaaS host like Amazon or a smaller managed service provider that offers more assistance with operations?  Continue Reading

• When should you choose a premium disaster recovery as a service provider?

  Expert Brien Posey explains when it makes sense to go with a premium disaster recovery as a service provider, like Google or Amazon.  Continue Reading

• What is Unitrends ReliableDR and what is it used for?

  Unitrends ReliableDR is a feature of the company's Certified Recovery Suite. Find out how firms can use it for virtual machine DR.  Continue Reading

• How do I choose a data center generator?

  Expert Brien Posey reveals the most important factors to consider when evaluating a data center generator for disaster preparedness.  Continue Reading

• How do you choose the best uninterruptible power supply?

  Here are the factors to consider when choosing uninterruptible power supplies to ensure systems remain online in the event of a power outage.  Continue Reading

• When does hypervisor-based replication make the most sense?

  Brien Posey examines when hypervisor replication is a better choice than software- or array-based replication.  Continue Reading

• How do you choose between file- and block-level replication?

  Block- and file-level replication each offer important benefits, but for different applications. Learn the use cases of each in this Expert Answer.  Continue Reading

• How does three-way bidirectional transactional replication work?

  Bidirectional replication of SQL servers is a business continuity tool for users with multiple remote sites and a central data center.  Continue Reading

• How should I approach a cloud-based DR implementation?

  When evaluating cloud disaster recovery, you will need to think about what your environment looks like now and what it will look like in the next few years.  Continue Reading

• What are some roadblocks to cloud-based DR deployment?

  Cloud-based disaster recovery sounds almost too good to be true. What are some challenges to look out for?  Continue Reading

• Does DR in the cloud require a dedicated communication line?

  Learn some of the bandwidth challenges associated with backing up data to the cloud.  Continue Reading

• How do you fail back after failing over to cloud DR services?

  If you fail over to cloud DR services and you recover, how do you fail back?  Continue Reading

• Is it preferable to use a specialized cloud DR service?

  Is it preferable to use a specialized cloud DR service, a typical cloud backup service or something like Amazon?  Continue Reading

• How do you conduct a cloud disaster recovery test?

  How do you test a DR plan if you're using a cloud-based disaster recovery service? How do you know it's going to work for you?  Continue Reading

• What tools do cloud disaster recovery services use to manage data?

  What kinds of tools do providers of cloud disaster recovery services use to keep track of what data is where?  Continue Reading

• What are the top five ways to train personnel in disaster response?

  What are the five best ways to ensure personnel are trained in disaster response and ready to respond to a disaster event?  Continue Reading

• How frequently should you conduct failover testing?

  Marc Staimer of Dragon Slayer Consulting says failover testing should be part of data protection, disaster recovery and business continuity processes.  Continue Reading

• What you need to know before deploying VMware SRM

  What are the top five things you need to know before deploying VMware SRM (Site Recovery Manager)?  Continue Reading

• What are some common VMware High Availability configuration errors?

  What are the most common mistakes people make when configuring VMware High Availability?  Continue Reading

• What are the five most important things to know about VMware failover?

  Marc Staimer of Dragon Slayer Consulting discusses the top five things you should consider before deploying VMware failover in your data center.  Continue Reading

• How to compare in-house DR costs to cloud disaster recovery services

  Paul Kirvan discusses how to evaluate the costs of performing disaster recovery in-house vs. using cloud disaster recovery services.  Continue Reading

• Why the change management process is important for DR

  Paul Kirvan discusses the importance of the change management process for disaster recovery in this Expert Answer.  Continue Reading

• Conducting a tabletop exercise for disaster recovery testing

  Paul Kirvan discusses whether a tabletop exercise is sufficient for disaster recovery testing and issues that tabletop exercises should address.  Continue Reading

• Call center disaster recovery planning best practices

  Independent disaster recovery expert Paul Kirvan offers some best practices for call center disaster recovery planning in this Expert Answer.  Continue Reading

• Fire suppression system inspection and testing best practices

  Independent disaster recovery consultant Paul Kirvan discusses fire sprinkler system inspection and testing best practices in this Expert Answer.  Continue Reading

• The importance of risk analysis issues prioritization

  Paul Kirvan discusses the five most important issues to consider when conducting a risk analysis in this Expert Response.  Continue Reading