E-Commerce News: Disaster Recovery

Sidekick Data Rises From the Ashes
October 15, 2009

T-Mobile and Microsoft susidiary Danger have restored the data Sidekick customers lost when Danger experienced a massive server failure last week. The company announced the news via an online forum used to keep customers apprised of developments. The companies also provided a few sparse details about the meltdowns.

5 Keys for Full Recovery in the Cloud
September 21, 2009

While cloud computing is a familiar term, its definitions can vary greatly. So when it comes to online backup, the cloud is an important feature that can play a large role in securing and protecting during a disaster, which I like to refer to as "cloud recovery." In order to be worthy of this cloud recovery title, a solution should have the following five features.

Asia's Internet Cables Jostled by Typhoon
August 14, 2009

Seabed movements believed caused by Typhoon Morakat damaged seven undersea cables linking Asian nations, disrupting Internet and telephone services, a Taiwanese telephone company said Friday. Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, which jointly operates four cables in the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, said service has been slow since the typhoon pummeled Taiwan last weekend.

Steps Businesses Can Take Now to Gird for Hurricane Season
August 11, 2009

For professionals in the business continuity field, it is that time of year again: hurricane season. If you haven't started to exercise hurricane planning procedures, it isn't too late. I believe that it was The National Hurricane Center that stated that 2009 would be a moderate or "near-normal" year for hurricanes, and it's not likely the southeastern United States would see anything like Katrina or Ike.

Getting Back to Business After Disaster Strikes
May 15, 2009

Over the years, I have been involved with my share of data center recovery exercises -- everything from power outages to hurricanes to earthquakes to chemical explosions. Each time, no matter how well the business continuity plan is written, there is always something that is learned. Here are a few lessons that stand out from my experience.

Virtualization Can Bulletproof Disaster Recovery Plans
March 04, 2009

When it comes to disasters, companies have two choices: Be prepared, or be prepared to fail. Unfortunately, disasters are not a matter of if. They're a matter of when. Many people think of major disasters that hit the national news, but there are other types of events that can result in a Total Building Loss disaster such as fires, floods, tornadoes and robberies.

Plan for the Worst - A Data Backup Plan Could Save Your Business
February 24, 2009

As a former senior executive of Swiss Reinsurance, the world's largest reinsurer of life-health and property-casualty risks, Donna Childs was well versed in both the need and the practice of disaster data recovery. Her experience proved critical when she returned to the United States to start her own small business -- in the area subsequently designated "Zone 1" of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

IBM Spreads Cloud Cover Across the Globe
February 11, 2009

IBM has rolled out new products and services -- along with a joint network offering with partner Juniper Networks -- that solidifies its foothold in the enterprise cloud computing space. The IBM-Juniper offering is an infrastructure play targeting IBM's private cloud clients.

Mozy for the Mac Goes Pro
October 07, 2008

Apple's Time Machine is great for incremental on-site backups, but what happens if there's a theft, fire, or flood? Mac owners facing such a disaster can wave goodbye to the Time Capsule and prepare to start from scratch -- unless there's a remote backup solution in play, of course.

Cloud Storage, Part 1: The Business Data Warehouse
October 01, 2008

For most businesses, data security is a mission-critical undertaking, and a summer of weather calamities drove home that point. "As the recent hurricanes reminded us, off-premise backup solutions can make the difference between being out of business for good and being on hiatus for a few months," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst with the Enderle Group.

HP Expands App Bodyguard Service
August 05, 2008

HP announced Monday a new round of open source utilities for data center operators. The expanded portfolio increases support for HP Serviceguard for Linux, HP's clustering and disaster tolerance products, to include Novell Suse and Red Hat Xen virtual machines. HP also introduced its HP Strategy Workshop and Migration Assessment Services. These offerings help to deploy and support OpenLDAP, an open source directory.

New Virtualization Tool Plows Field for Big Server Farms
August 04, 2008

Enterprise virtualization provider 3Leaf Systems announced Monday the release of its V-8000 Virtual I/O Server version 2.0. This software release, part of the 3Leaf Virtual Compute Environment, is designed for disaster recovery, streamlined management and enhanced availability for large x86 server deployments.

MozyHome Opens the Door for Online Mac Backups
May 01, 2008

While Apple's Time Machine and Time Capsule present a made-for-Mac backup solution designed and built by the company itself, it lacks one critical feature -- offsite backups. If a home is robbed, flooded or, worse yet, burned, some of a computer's most precious data can be lost with it. While the family budget is important enough, the real gold is family photos and movies that can never be recreated.

Cyber-Attacks and Cyber-Disasters: Are You Prepared?
April 25, 2008

Have you seen the recent television commercial that shows the Pentagon and says, "This building gets attacked 3 million times a day." The sad news is that it's true. Cyber-warfare and cyber-attacks have now become a reality. Ever consider how your business would be impacted if the Internet went away for an hour, a day or an even a longer period of time?

Don't Panic: Accounting for Human Nature in IT Disaster Response
April 18, 2008

Ever heard that story about the mother who lifted the car off of her son? I thought it was an urban legend until I looked it up. But apparently it's true: In 1982, Angela Cavallo saw her son being crushed by a 1964 Impala. Seeing that happen brought Angela to a state of panic so severe that she temporarily gained superhuman strength -- enough strength necessary to lift the car off her son.

Answering Smartphone Users' Calls for Backup
March 18, 2008

As our reliance on smartphones continues to grow, so does the fear of losing all the information they contain -- and for good reason. Fierce competition among handset manufacturers and carriers has resulted in a chaotic, seemingly impenetrable jungle of incompatible makes and models with backup and recovery functionality that often proves complicated to use.