Test, plan, and prepare before disaster strikes (page 1 of 2)

Datacenters, which are the lifeblood of any business, are responsible for managing and protecting more data than ever, and the effort to provide continuous access to this data and keeping applications running is one of the top challenges of IT managers.

The threat of disasters, whether man-made or natural, adds to that challenge, making disaster recovery planning (DRP) a critical need for every aspect of the IT infrastructure.

However, one large oversight that most companies have in common is the lack of testing of disaster recovery plans.

Why? Because testing disaster recovery plans is not easy. IT managers responsible for protecting data cite the lack of time and hardware resources as reasons for not running DRP tests. They also fear that testing will have a negative impact on the production environment itself - in effect, creating an IT disaster in the effort to avoid one. As a result, testing is often left out of the process or kept to a minimum.

To make matters worse, disaster recovery plans are not static. As weekly upgrades are made to the datacenter with modifications to the infrastructure, upgrades to the software, alterations to the storage to name a few, the thought of testing a disaster recovery strategy each and every time changes are made is cumbersome and unrealistic to most administrators, but that is exactly must be done in order to be fully prepared for any event.

But testing can have extreme advantages. Companies who include DRP testing get a better picture of the plan's effectiveness and have the ability to make changes to the plan before disaster strikes.

Knowing these challenges exist and the extreme advantages to mitigate the testing woes, VERITAS Cluster Server 4.0 and VERITAS Volume Replicator 4.0 software are fortified with new features that allow you to test, plan, and validate DR scenarios in production without disruption.

The VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator, the VERITAS Disaster Recovery Fire Drill and the VERITAS Volume Replicator Advisor, are all complimentary features that are key components of an integrated solution for high availability and disaster recovery.

Two of the three features - the VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator and the VERITAS Volume Replicator Advisor - are easy-to-use software tools that are now available for free download on VERITAS Architect Network. By downloading these tools you can experience the ease of use in planning ahead before disaster strikes.

VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator
VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator (see Figure 1) is a new stand-alone tool included with the release of VERITAS Cluster Server 4.0 and 4.1. VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator, which can be installed and managed on any laptop or desktop, allows cluster administrators to simulate application failover scenarios for planned and predictable recovery, based on application priority and server capacity. The simulator works exactly like the award-winning VERITAS Cluster Server, allowing you to test out what configurations would be right for your scenario.


Figure 1. VERITAS Cluster Server Simulator

By using Cluster Server Simulator, administrators can ensure critical applications are running on the most optimal servers in the cluster configuration in the event of a local or site fault.

Additionally, as multiple versions and complex application dependencies become more prevalent in a datacenter configuration, the Cluster Server Simulator can help ensure all pre-defined application dependencies are maintained in the event of a fault.