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Let’s Talk Data SANity Now

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DQI Bureau
New Update

“Take nothing for granted.



Do regular checks and test recovery of your data”

BY PK Gupta

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Internet gushers have boosted the storage industry like no other, in pouring

terabytes of information everyday. Information is business, as they say. Storage

is gradually becoming the competitive priority, emerging as the absolute center

of IT infrastructure and servers are becoming peripherals. However, this

increasing demand for information also brings along with it new challenges for

the IT managers. They not only have to manage storage, but have an additional

task of worrying about protecting it.

Storage management



As data growth gets out of control, there is a compelling case for storage

and its management. For instance, today if it takes one year to use 1 TB data in

a company, considering the present rate of growth, within the next two to three

years, the same capacity might last only two hours. Companies around the world

are going for digitization of data to enable better management. BBC news, for

instance, is converting all its data collected in the last 35 years, from

non-digital storage devices to digital devices. Research findings show that in

1998 there was 8,000 PB (Peta Byte) non-digital data and 1 PB digital data. But

with streaming video and increasing implementation of e-biz applications, it is

expected that by 2003 this data will increase to12,000 PB in non-digital form

and 12,000 PB of digital data.

The rising complexity and heterogeneity of network environments has added to

the woes of the IT manager. You are no longer working in a fixed 9:00 AM to 5:00

PM schedule. You are expected to provide 24x7 days of operations and uptime.

This again escalates your operating costs and reduces efficiency. As a result

even in a best-managed place, storage utilization is only 30-50%. The task of an

IT manager is no longer restricted only to buying and managing a few desktops

with all the hardware and software procured from one vendor. He has to look for

cost-effective solutions to suit the business requirements of his company. This

not only means dealing with multiple vendors, but providing a 24x7 support to

keep the systems up and running. You might need to have people working in shifts

to manage your operations. And besides the basic tech training, the IT staff has

to be equipped to handle storage management functions such as backup/recovery,

SAN management, information high availability etc.

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Don’t wait for disaster



The terrorist attacks on WTC and the events that followed have demonstrated

a lesson that enterprises need to learn. Even the most secure and strong

businesses are vulnerable. This has created an urgent need to have contingency

plans in place. Lessons can be learnt from the WTC disaster. Avoid systems with

single points of failure and favor distributed networks. Avoid big city

concentrations where collateral damage can be significant. Regularly test all

back-up sites completely and take nothing for granted. Do regular checks and

test recovery of data. Develop safe and secure documentation systems and

recovery procedures, but don’t forget passwords. Identify which systems are

business-critical and protect them first. Consider working with professional

disaster recovery consultants, if you don’t have expertise in-house.

The steps involved in disaster planning include decision making, designing,

implementation, documentation, testing, updating and testing at regular

intervals. In the end, I would say, data forms the lifeline of your

organization. Don’t wait for a disaster to wake you up to this reality.

Develop your disaster recovery and business continuance plans in a balanced way…

NOW!

The author is director of engineering, Legato Systems India

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