Planning for natural disasters

As we head into hurricane season, this is a good reminder that vulnerable organizations need to protect their IT infrastructure and have an effective disaster recovery strategy.

Mark Noonan, Data Foundry, Austin

As we head into hurricane season, it is crucial for oil and gas companies along the Gulf of Mexico coast and in other vulnerable areas to prepare a disaster recovery plan that will protect their IT infrastructure in the event of an unplanned occurrence.

Data centers are an important component to consider in any disaster recovery plan, as they serve to house core network and infrastructure operations and provide a secondary space for people to run the organization.

Hurricane season in the Atlantic Basin officially runs June 1 through November 30, and weather experts and meteorologists are predicting that 2011 will have significantly more activity than the average for the 1950 through 2000 seasons. (See table on p.37.)

With more hurricane and tropical storm activity predicted for the 2011 season, having a reliable disaster recovery plan in place will help keep your company up and running in the event of a disaster. In recent years, Data Foundry's own Austin data center was a crucial element in supporting several oil and gas companies through emergency situations such as Hurricanes Rita and Ike. For companies looking to avoid costly downtime and keep operations running smoothly, there are a few considerations that should be considered in the data center component of a disaster recovery plan.

Location, location, location

When choosing a data center, it is important to look for a facility in an optimal location. This location should have a low risk of natural disasters, a favorable business climate, reliable and stable power, and a rich technology talent pool.

The oil and gas business can be adversely affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornados, wildfires, and hurricanes. (See Figure 1.) Along the Gulf Coast, they are particularly vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding for six months of the year. When choosing a data center, it is wise to consider selecting a facility located in a stable environment that is unaffected by the disaster that is disrupting their operations. And, since you will rely on the data center staff when a company representative cannot be physically present at the facility, it is also recommended that the city in which your data center is located have a highly educated and diverse workforce.

In times when company personnel must be at the data center, proximity to your primary location is an important factor to take into account. How fast can employees reach the data center back-up site? How accessible is the data center to major roadways and interstates? Oil & Gas companies have 24-hour support, pipeline and operations centers, and the personnel that run and maintain those centers must be able to continue business operations and support even in the event of a disaster. No back-up plan is effective without the people there to manage it, so choose a region with a good transportation infrastructure, including multiple routes to the data center.

Redundancy and reliability

In the event of a disaster, you want to be confident that your backup site can be depended on to provide business continuity. A reliable data center infrastructure eliminates points of failure and employs total redundancy.

An optimal data center for your disaster recovery plan should have independent, reliable, scalable, and resilient utility feeds. Diverse feeds act as added insurance, keeping operations running seamlessly if one source is compromised. When choosing a data center, ensure its infrastructure meets these criteria by evaluating the following:

• Dual feeds for critical utilities - power, cooling and network
• Utility feeds that enter the data center via diverse paths
• Multiple generators for backup power
• Fuel contracts that provide continuous supply during shortages
• Power is fed to the data center by a stable, reliable power grid
• SAS 70 audits that cover security procedures in disaster scenarios

If the data center fails to meet the above recommendations, your IT infrastructure may be exposed to unnecessary risk. A truly redundant data center can also be cost-prohibitive, and many data center operators choose not to make the investment. It is vital to review the data center's system design and the provider's track record on outages, availability, and service level history. Choose a data center only after looking over a one-line diagram of the critical systems and understanding how the data center handles maintenance and procedures for correcting issues.

Network

From a network standpoint, a data center that is carrier-neutral offers many different network options that provide several choices to ensure the ability to connect your headquarters to your backup data center. Having multiple carriers competing for your business not only allows you the flexibility to choose your preferred carrier, it also increases your leverage in contract negotiations.

Your most important asset

Lastly, in the event of a disaster, employees may need to work long hours at the data center to keep critical systems online and ensure company operations continue seamlessly. It is recommended that you look for a data center that provides worksite recovery space exclusively available for your company's use. This should include dedicated desks, offices, private conference rooms, computer workstations, and network access so that operations may continue remotely and independently of your company's home office.

Employees are your company's most important asset, so the amenities available at the data center are important to evaluate when choosing a data center as part of your disaster recovery plan. Since the employees who execute this plan could be away from home for days or weeks, ensuring that they can comfortably take care of themselves and even their families will allow them to do their jobs effectively.

Consider the importance of features near the data center such as well-lit, ample parking and easy access to public transit. Also take into account its proximity to hotels, restaurants, retail centers, and recreational activities. Of equal importance, amenities within the data center should also be considered. Some data centers have showers, break rooms, and/or vending areas which can help keep employees as comfortable, efficient, and productive as possible.

Worth the time and investment

After reviewing location, redundancy and reliability, network and amenities, consider your unique business profile and get input from key stakeholders. This will help dictate what other criteria are essential to use in your data center evaluations. Spending the time to assess these key areas now will protect your company from costly downtime and ensure that operations continue running, not only in the event of a hurricane or flood, but any disaster.

All plans should be carefully assessed and tested so that your organization can withstand a threat of any kind. Since the dynamics of your business and your employee base continually change, it is important to re-evaluate plans annually and have employees do a test run of the disaster recovery plan. Data center providers should encourage worksite recovery customers to visit the data center during these enactments. This will better prepare your business for an actual disaster and expose any vulnerability that may need to be addressed.

A solid data center strategy is an essential piece of your disaster recovery plan and the selection of a facility should not be taken lightly. Choose a data center that provides the most reliable protection for your IT infrastructure. The threat of a disaster affecting your business is inevitable – it isn't a question of if, but a question of when.

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