Disaster Recovery Planning &
Business Resumption Planning
Consults

Windrose consultants provide services for organization that need assistance in Disaster Recovery or Business Resumption planning. Our consultants can work with all the organizational units needed to insure efficient scripting and documentation is created to meet your standards and format.

Our senior consultant and owner is subject matter expert in DRP on NonStop servers and the networking that support them. Author of the presentation Disaster Recovery Infrastructure Decision "The 80/20 vs. 100/0 Rule' at ITUG, on September 12th, 2001, the day after 9-11.  Mark Hammett given this same presentation to other local groups and to smaller companies since then.

Key Benefits

•  Analysis of current DRP/BRP process and procedures  -
  Do you have an exposure to loss of data or services to your customers, clients, users if your HP NonStop server(s) or data center is lost. WCS can assist with the initial planning and cost-benefit-analysis of creating a recoverable environment.

•  Analysis of the recovery of the file systems -
  Are all volumes and sub-volumes, including $SYSTEM, being backed up efficiently and regularly to be useful for recovery. Do you have data replication yet for backups in a live, near real-time environment.

•  Determination of regulatory requirements that apply to
  the HP NonStop servers included in the DRP/BRP -
  Do your servers require inclusion for regulatory compliance or is this to follow industry best practices -- Analysis of requirements effect the bottom line in planning and costs associated with planning, testing, and events.

•  Reporting and recommendations -
  Once the analysis is completed; our consultants will report in detail all the findings and gaps discovered. The reports will include recommendations to remediate any and all discoveries.

•  Creating the PLAN -
  Once the analysis is completed and organizational management determines the benefit and liability of recovery or not, WCS will assist you writing the PLAN to your standards -- but executable by anyone who has a basic NonStop knowledge or experience logging on to a server and a basic knowledge of TACL. 

Capabilities

Windrose consultants will work with your organization to find the best alternatives for recovery, whether internal or external solutions are selected. Under your direction WCS will work with vendors gather all pertinent information before scripting begins.  Our senior consultant was certified for DRP/BRP services through Sungard Recovery Services in Chicago, Il, in the late 1980's, and has participates in several test events for banks, insurance companies, brokerage entities, and airfreight forwarding companies, and one real disaster event following the Whittier-Narrows Earthquake, in the Los Angeles area, on October 1, 1987.

HP NonStop Hardware Knowledge - Matching the One-to-One Hardware relationship

Through training and experience in previous engagements, WCS has the where with all to assemble the hardware "Mackey" diagrams to insure match system of origin to system of recovery.  This insures OS images, disk distribution, and network interfaces should be close to the original system.  100% duplication is preferred but costly, so adjustments are sometimes required.

HP NonStop Communications & Networks - WAN and LAN

Knowing the NonStop servers and Guardian 90 operating systems so well, along with all the interfaces available requires subject matter experts in networking and communications. This includes equipment used for all different type communications protocols, BiSync, Expand, TCP/IP, SNAX, AM3270, SWAN and AWAN (for those who still use them), ASYNC modems, CSUs/DSUs for Pt-to-Pt or Multi-pt links, DDS and Analog lease lines and dial access lines.

All require a knowledge of how prepare them with the clients at the far end and to make them work during a disaster event in a new location with little or no time fool around.

Scripting Styles

One area that is sometimes overlooked when writing scripts for DRP/BRP documentation is who the reader or implementer will be.  Most organizations assume it will be the author(s).  In a real event this is unlikely.  NonStop servers are easy enough to work with that anyone with minimal knowledge of TACL or how to even log on to a server can execute a properly written script. That is the goal of WCS's consultants when preparing DRP/BRP documentation -- leaving little to chance or guess work.    

As part of the service Windrose Consulting provides, our consultants will use a simple TACL routines where possible to work in conjunction with the scripts to insure successful recovery of the operating systems, followed by the recovery of the data and application objects, and the eventual restoration of services to users, clients, or customers.

Reporting Methods

During the testing and recovery of a server(s), analysis of any gaps that represents a severe exposure and requires attention immediately will be communicated to the organization immediately. These gap discoveries will be included in the final reviews or post-event briefings, even if they have been remedied. 

Depending on the scope of the test or event the gaps analysis reports will include

•  Details of the gap discovered and methods used the uncovered the issue
•  The actual findings - Actual samples of audit logs taken during test or event
•  Cause and affect relationship of the gap to subsequent steps in the recovery
•  Recommendations to remediate any gaps or other findings that do meet requirements, policies, or best practices, accordingly.

Reports will be prepared using Microsoft Office products and submitted in Adobe PDF format.

Subject Matter Expertise
- Disaster Recovery Planning

Mark Hammett, spoke on the subject of Disaster Recovery in 2001 at the International Tandem Users Group, in Anaheim, California, on September 12, 2001, just 24 hours after the 9-11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93 hijack and crash. With the loss of the WTC, several brokerage houses and securities trading floor and many key personnel were lost. 

Title:     Disaster Recovery -- Infrastructure Decisions "The 80/20 vs. 100/0 Rule"

Topic:    Systems Management of the Business Enterprise

Abstract:

The business of today is faced with the prospect of going out of business in the event of a host site loss. Yet today many businesses fail to plan for disasters and will go out of business. But, for those who want to prevent this, an organization will choose to have a disaster plan or not. The choices to have a plan are influenced by design and cost to implement the recovery solution.

This presentation will look in the options and questions a NonStop systems and management team should consider.  With all the latest product offerings for carriers and equipment providers, network infrastructures for production servers, development/test servers, and recovery servers, are now one in the same if design and implementation is management well... Discussion include:

•  Typical organizational issues when using internal regional sites vs. external BRS service providers - When do you take BRS internal?

•  The '80/20 Rule' or is it really '100/0' - What determines how much DR infrastructure is needed? Is there some connection you think is minor but could put you out of business?

•  Incorporation of infrastructure design/implementation for production and develop hosts, that provide for recovery site connectivity solutions. How do you recover day-to-day services that can apply to DR planning.

•  Current infrastructure technology solutions that facilitate rapid recovery when supporting NonStop servers.

•  How to's for BRS testing cycles and documentation that stays up-to-date and available to recovery teams.

•  An open discussion for attendees to share their methods of BRS/DR documentation update and distribution.

 Biography (as of 2001):

Mark has eighteen (18) years of Compaq NSK (Tandem) experience with a broad range of of industry applications where disaster recovery planning and implementation has been his modus operandi and a core of the his business philosophy. Trained in BRS/DR through Sungard Recovery Services (1987-1990), Mark is experienced with using BRS providers including ComDisco, IBM-BRS, Sungard, and corporate organization's internal DR departments. Recently completed the design and implementation of American Express Brokerage application DR Hotsite recovery of a primary OLTP host into a second American Express site (the first insourcing solution in the American Express organizations history).  

Send mail to wcs@WindroseConsulting.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2009 Windrose Consulting Service, LLC
Last modified: 05/14/09