Wireless operators cannot prevent the worst from happening and consumers and small business owners should be prepared before and after the storm hits. Here are 10 tips that should help you be prepared for the worst during a disaster.
http://www.deadzones.com/2010/09/how-to-plan-for-hurricane.html
As the hurricane and two tropical storms slide across the Atlantic ocean towards the U.S., I can’t help but think about the impact virtualization can have on disaster planning and recovery. If we consider each of the layers of virtualization technology (see Sorting out the different layers of virtualization for more info on my model of virtualization.)
- Virtual access - this technology, with the proper planning for backup sites and workload management software, could mean that critical applications would still be available if a datacenter is either down or not accessible due to the effects of the storm. This point, by the way, has been one of Citrix’s and Microsoft’s sales pitches for quite some time.
- Application virtualization - this technology could make it possible for staff to still access important data and applications even if their original access device is lost or destroyed. Needed tools would simply be re provisioned once the staff member is able to reconnect to the organization’s servers. Suppliers such as Citrix, Microsoft, Symantec, AppZero and Spoon would wave their flag and say they’ve got this one covered.
- Processing virtualization - encapsulating clients/desktops and servers makes them much more agile and mobile than the same software if it lived on a physical system. Workload management software combined with both orchestration software and virtual machine movement software could be utilized to move workloads out of harms way. Citrix, Microsoft, Novell and VMware have been pointing out this feature of their overall environment for quite some time.
- Storage virtualization - using technology to separate storage from physical systems means that it can be in several places at once. A failure of one imagine won’t stop needed applications. EMC, HP, Hitachi, NetApp and a number of others have been playing this card to sell their hardware and software for decades.
- Network virtualization - using technology to present an image of the network that is needed for workload to work properly even though the real network topology is quite different, like all of the other virtualization layers, could mean that a complex workload could be “picked up” from a location facing a potential disaster and dropped down in some nice, safe place. Cisco, Juniper and even Vyatta have quite a bit to say on the subject.
