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PRIMER: How are Disaster Recovery and Backups Different?

April 16th, 2013
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

So, you are working through your go-forward IT strategy and need to make sure that you have things covered should something go wrong. Pretty quickly, you notice that the terms “Backup” and “Disaster Recovery” are quite often being used interchangeably. But, the truth is, they are different. Related, yes, but different.

Backup

Backup really can be defined very simply. Backup is just a copy of your files on another disk (or tape, cloud, etc.). In fact, if you copied each and every file to a DVD (and we are not sure why you would do that), that would be a backup. Having a full backup that is up-to-date means that when you lose a few files or a whole drive or more, you can take the time it takes to copy those files back once your systems are ready to rock. But, it can be a time-consuming disruption. You will likely need to setup a new server(s), re-install the OS, and reinstall all the applications, etc. There are two ways to backup your systems:

  • Onsite Backup: This is when you backup locally to some kind of physical storage option. These solutions are capable of imaging servers and storing data locally so you can recover from incidents.
  • Offsite Backup: This is when you backup your data to an entirely different location. This, of course, helps protects you in the case of an entire geographic location being affected by a disruption. Also, often organizations need offsite backup to be in line with compliances such as those rules defined by Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, FISMA, NASD and NYSE, etc.

Disaster Recovery

So, what is Disaster Recovery? Disaster recovery is beyond backup. The big benefit of disaster recovery is that rather than taking what may be days or months to recover for an unplanned outage, Disaster Recovery will greatly shorten that time.

With Disaster Recovery, a complete image of your disk drives and servers are mirrored. This is sometimes referred to as a “bare-metal” backup, meaning the backup isn’t just the files, but the OS and everything. For example, with AISN’s Disaster Recovery service, we replicate the “bare-metal” backup image to another geographic site so in the event of a disaster in one geographic location, it can be restored from an entirely different geographic location. This gives you added protection and the image(s) allows you to restore systems more quickly – there is no need to reinstall an OS and copying files. The amount of time it takes to actually continue operations after a disaster also depends on whether you choose “Hot Site” or “Cold Site.” So what is the difference?

  • “Hot Site”: Environments are available at a moments notice. So, in the case of an outage, all data processing can quickly be moved to the “Hot Site” and operations continue.
  • “Cold Site”: Critical applications are available at a secondary location. This is similar but is supplied as basic office space, but with “Cold Site” the customer provides and installs all the equipment needed to continue operations. It is less expensive but will take longer for full operations to continue.

So, that’s really all there is to it from a high level. You really need to understand what your goals and objectives are. Do you need systems available in minutes, hours or would days be just fine? Is backup just fine, or do you need Disaster Recovery? And what level of Disaster Recovery do you need? There are lots to consider, but remember, we are always here to help you think through your IT plans.

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What is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)?

March 16th, 2013
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

 

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

If you don’t want to own the equipment that supports your operations, and want increased flexibility, especially when it comes to expanding or downsizing, you may want to consider Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)** from a provider such as AISN. In contrast to having to purchase all the equipment for your infrastructure such as storage, hardware, servers and networking components, you can pay on per-use basis and avoid the headache and capital costs.

The difference between IaaS and PaaS (Platform as a Service) is often confusing so let me clarify. In an IaaS model, the underlying infrastructure is provided which includes network, storage, compute resources and virtualization technology. This means you are responsible for the additional operational tasks. With PaaS, the underlying infrastructure is provided, but also the application development platform. This includes automation to deploy, test and integrate applications. Your vendor also handles operational tasks such as configuration and updating your environment.

IaaS has been experiencing huge growth and, in fact, according to Gartner’s latest report on public cloud adoption***, the biggest part of cloud growth is coming from IaaS. This interest in IaaS, according to Gartner, is driven by enterprise and government growth in IT, and the new and more cost efficient options that IaaS public clouds are offering these days.

** Sometimes called Hardware and a Service (HaaS)
*** Forecast Overview: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide, 2011-2016, 4Q12 Update Published: 8 February 2013

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Welcome, Ron Cornelison, to the AIS Network Advisory Board

December 11th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

Respected Tech Executive and Recent Chairman/CEO of AMCAD Joins AIS Network Advisory Board

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

We are pleased to announce the addition of Ronald Cornelison to the AIS Network Advisory Board, who brings 35 years of entrepreneurial and government contracting experience to AISN.  Cornelison’s expertise in government contracting has led to building multiple companies in the defense, technology and financial services sectors. During Cornelison’s tenure at AMCAD, the company received the Fast 50 and Fast 500 awards from Deloitte, earning the title as one of the fastest growing technology firms in Virginia and North America, respectively.  AMCAD was also a Smart 100 Best-Run Company for 2012, continuing the growth pattern Cornelison started.

While Cornelison will be advising us on all areas of business including operations, strategy and product/services, his expertise in government contracting will round out AISN’s team of technology leaders and help guide strategy as our government cloud computing business continues to grow.

You can read more in our press release and in Cornelison’s full bio.

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Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s Governor, Calls for 4% Reduction in Agency Budget

December 6th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

AIS Network is a proud provider to the Commonwealth of Virginia and its agencies and so we are always concerned where our customers are concerned.  We know the pressure many of the Virginia agencies are under to provide top-of-the-line IT services so recently when Bob McDonnell, Virginia’s governor, called for a 4% reduction in agency budgets, we knew our eGov customers would be looking to us to collaborate on ideas.

Luckily, there are strategies in IT that definitely allow you to cut costs without cutting service.   The place where most organizations have recently found savings is by moving to the Cloud and a Software as a Service (SaaS) model.  According the KPGM, the Cloud/SaaS market has been growing for this very reason – cost savings.  SaaS pricing is helping organizations do more IT with less money.

With this model, you really are focusing your IT budget on resources, as opposed to hardware or software.  The benefit is that you can purchase the exact resources you need (processing, storage, memory) and upgrade them quickly as required.  This eliminates planning around hardware including the expensive hardware replacement cycle.

An additional benefit of Cloud and the SaaS model is that the ability to apply temporary IT resources becomes very easy and is no longer nearly as costly.  This can be beneficial if you have a temporary project, such as a website around a promotion or project, or in the case of software development where developers really appreciate the flexibility of quickly deploying virtual machines as needed.

Because in the cloud, the cloud provider does all your support, maintenance, and performs any emergency support, man-hours are reduced and the need for around-the-clock staff is reduced.  This is especially relevant in the case of mission-critical applications where the servers need to be working around the clock.

So, if you want to save money while still delivering top-level service, consider the  Cloud and SaaS.  And, as always, we are here to answer any questions.

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Understanding Cloud Deployment Models

November 27th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

Public Cloud, Private Cloud or Hybrid Cloud?  Which one is for me?

First of all, let’s define the Cloud.  A Cloud is a consolidation of hosted computer services (storage, computing power) and is delivered as a service.

Cloud services are often fully managed by the provider and are usually sold based on usage (for example, per hour or even by the minute). One of the main benefits of the Cloud is that it is elastic, allowing organizations to use as much resources as they need.  They can easily add or reduce those services without the need to deploy equipment.  This can be really useful in situations where companies have a project (for example, a development project or marketing promotion that requires a special new temporary website) or their business has a lot of associated seasonality (i.e., they need more computing resources for the Christmas season).  In that case, a company can call a company such as AISN and simply request another “virtual machine” or more storage.

Many of our customers like the cloud model also since they don’t have to put out upfront capital for equipment and software, but instead can pay a set amount each month.  It’s more predictable and it is captured as an operational expense, which can be beneficial.

As for the deployment models, here are the main types of Cloud:

  • Public Cloud is a cloud that is available to all customers and these customers share the resources of the cloud.  Examples of public clouds are Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure  and Google Cloud.
  • Private Cloud allocates resources to be used solely by your organization from a shared infrastructure.  Your data is stored in dedicated, segregated silos.  With Private Cloud, adding more storage or CPU is easy and often instantly available.
  • Dedicated Private Cloud is a cloud infrastructure built solely for your organization’s use – with all services and hardware dedicated to your organization.  Some organizations prefer dedicated private cloud for additional security but the down side is that there are reduced economies of scale. That being said, adding and reducing computing resources is much easier to do as with any cloud.
  • Community Cloud shares infrastructure between several organizations from a specific community with common concerns (security, compliance, jurisdiction, etc.).  This allows the community to customize the cloud based on these concerns and spread the cost – making it generally more cost effective than a private cloud, but less so than a public cloud.
  • Hybrid Cloud is a combination of more than one cloud type.  For example, you can combine a private cloud with a public cloud.  This will give you benefits of more than one deployment model.  Often an organization will deploy hybrid clouds to provide the flexibility of in-house applications with the fault tolerance and scalability of cloud-based services.

 

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Federal Government is Pushing Cloud to the Agencies in its “Cloud First” Policy

November 15th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

Just two years ago, the Office of Management and Budget implemented a “Cloud First” policy. In an effort to reduce costs and increase efficiency, they provided a set of cloud-based requirements requiring agencies to use and encouraged cloud-based solutions wherever there is a secure, reliable and cost effective cloud solution.  Since then, several agencies have already transitioned including Agriculture, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security and the Treasury Department.

The solutions they have deployed in the cloud are services such as storage, email, procurement, production infrastructure at DHS, IT power management, correspondence tracking and invoicing.  Others have been identified as possible opportunities for cloud implementations and the agencies continue to pursue the Cloud.

I think this speaks to how far the Cloud computing has come in a short time in terms of technology and acceptance.  The government is not known as a risk taker when it comes to IT and additionally has high standards for security.  We find this very interesting so stay tuned for updates on the “Cloud First” Policy.

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Cloud Events: Where Can I Find Them?

November 8th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

If you are looking for events at which to network and learn more about the Cloud and related topics, whether you are a newbie or an expert, there is an excellent source to find (and broadcast) those events.  Check out Cloud Events (sponsored by @TheCloudNetwork), who hosts a calendar for the industry.   They gather events from the community through email here.

You can find their calendar here.

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The Datacenter Tiers – What Are They?

October 20th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

We’ve heard from some of our clients recently that there is some confusion about what the hosting tiers are and why they matter.  Well, we’d love to shed some light.

So, why are there tiers at all? The tiers help people understand the capabilities of a datacenter by describing the availability of data from the hardware at the datacenter. The Tiers are the requirements for “each level” of data center infrastructure. Overall, the higher the tier, the greater the availability.

Tier One

  • Basic site infrastructure with expected availability of 99.671%
  • Single non-redundant distribution path with non-redundant capacity components
  • Planned work and outages will require most or all of the site to be shut down

Tier Two

  • Meets or exceeds all Tier 1 requirements
  • Redundant site infrastructure capacity and single, non-redundant distribution path with expected availability of 99.741%

Tier Three

  • Meets or exceeds all Tier 1 and Tier 2 requirements
  • Concurrently maintainable site infrastructure with expected availability of 99.982%
  • Multiple independent distribution paths, but only one path required
  • Equipment is dual-powered & fully compatible with the topology of site’s architecture

Tier Four

  • Meets or exceeds all Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 requirements
  • Fault-tolerant site infrastructure with electrical power storage and distribution facilities with expected availability of 99.995%
  • Fault-tolerant with multiple, independent, physically isolated systems that provide redundant capacity components and multiple, independent, diverse, active distribution paths simultaneously serving the computer equipment.  Independently powered Cooling and power provided after infrastructure failure.

I hope that answers some of  your questions.  Feel free to comment with questions.

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AISN Attends COVITS 2012

September 24th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network Vice President, Strategic Development

This year was AIS Network’s first chance to attend COVITS and that is just what we did.  COVITS, the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Innovative Technology Symposium,  is a chance for decision makers from state and local government, business, and education to discuss solutions for Virginia’s technology needs.   The one comment I heard over and over was the quality of the keynotes and how relevant the topics in the panels were to the problems that were being solved.

For AIS Network specifically, it was such a great opportunity to meet with so many people in our extended community.  We met with many state and local people who were focused on a variety of issues.  We also saw a lot of interest around the Cloud (especially Private Cloud) and Bring Your Own Device.

We definitely plan to attend next year.

 

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IPv6? What is it? And Should I Care?

April 29th, 2012
Posted by: Donna Hemmert

By Donna Hemmert
AIS Network VP of Strategy

We, the citizens of the Internet, have a problem. Not unlike in 1947 when we were running out of phone numbers and added area codes to expand the raw number of phone numbers available, we have actually run out of IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. We have already exhausted 4.3 billion IP addresses from the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) pool that are part of the first major deployment of IP addresses, Internet Protocol Version 4, IPv4.

The good news is that we saw it coming, and planning and work has been underway for over a decade. In fact, the new standard, IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6), was developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force and published in an Internet Standard document in December 1998. This new protocol will allow the Internet to continue growing. This has become increasingly important with all the new devices that are here and coming to the Internet including mobile phones and tablets.

IPv6 uses 128-bit addressing, creating a huge number of IP addresses. In comparison, IPv4, which is 32-bit, has 4.3 billion IP addresses. How many IP addresses do we get with IPv6? The actual number is typically described as 2 to the 128th power (or 340 trillion trillion), which is sometimes described as virtually unlimited – that’s a big number!!!

So, are you ready? For consumers and small offices, there isn’t a large issue since consumer routers are often equipped with the ability to convert from IPv4 and IPv6, although for best connectivity IPv6 should be native. For businesses and others, you need to be sure you are ready. There are many great resources on the Internet to help you navigate to assure that your equipment is all IPv6 ready, and in fact, you may already have such equipment. But, there is a huge installed base of networking equipment that is not capable of communicating via the IPv6 protocol.

And if you are wondering if there is a deadline for all this (remember Y2K?) – there isn’t. Companies can start to upgrade their networks where needed now and continue over time. This can be done with equipment that handles both IPv4 and IPv6 (NAT translation and dual-stack capable equipment).

The bottom line: To be on the right side of this equation, start looking to the future now and create a plan for a methodical network upgrade that deals with IPv6 while gaining efficiency with the latest generation networking gear.

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