Disaster Recovery Planning

How many times have you heard the phrase “Help! My hard drive is on fire!”? Hopefully never, as a hard drive actually bursting into flames is an event the very few people on this earth will ever get to experience in their lifetimes. However, hardware failure is somewhat more common, and the resulting loss of data can be disastrous for a business. That is why USCC offers disaster recovery planning. We will help you select the correct hardware and set up the appropriate systems to ensure that all of your data is backed up and secured. Therefore, if something should happen to your current hardware, you will be able to resume work quickly and recover your data with ease.

Verification of data backup system operation and functionality

Aside from the classic “server-has-crashed” Doomsday scenario, the following anecdote is the worst nightmare of every business owner:

Not too long ago, you purchased a fancy-shmancy data backup system – top of the line, very expensive – you set it up, let it run every day, and all is good in the Kingdom of Computer. When Doomsday finally arrives, and the server crashes, you have no fear – your wonderful new backup system has all of your data stored and ready to go… or does it? You check your data backup system for the files, but realize in horror that it never saved any of your data.

Pretty bad, right? It does happen, and the best way to avoid it is by ensuring that your backup system is doing its job. USCC handles the data backup system verification for you, so that you have peace of mind, knowing that your data is safe.

Offsite Data Backup

Your data is important. It’s so important, that its loss could severely damage your productivity, or even your company! When large sums of money are being moved, a company might hire an armored truck, a security crew, and a safe, off-site location to store it. Luckily, USCC offers this service – Backup and Disaster Recovery (BDR) – for your data stored on your server. Here is how BDR works:

• Your server is imaged – this means that an exact copy of all of your data is created, effectively a clone of your server’s information. This image is captured using a secondary server that we lovingly call the BDR server, which sits next to your active server. The image is copied from the BDR server to a hard drive, which is then shipped to a secure location where it is copied over to a redundant data storage array and stored safely.
• Block-level backup is accomplished incrementally every 15 minutes – block level backup consists of 0’s and 1’s rather than individual files, which ensures that every change made to a file or folder is recorded and saved, even if a file is open and being used! The fact that this block-level backup occurs every 15 minutes means near real-time backup for your data.
• Once your server image is stored off-site, the block-level changes are sent offsite for safekeeping so that every last bit of your data can be restored in case of disaster.
• The BDR system allows us to restore any of your file. This includes open files, including SQL Server and Exchange files, which are notoriously difficult to back up and restore.
• If your server is down or disabled, we can use your server’s image to virtualize a temporary server on the BDR server while your hardware is being replaced or repaired. This enables you to maintain productivity during a data disaster.
• USCC can perform a Bare Metal Restore (BMR) using your server’s image. This means that we can take a new, blank server and completely restore all of your data from your original server’s image quickly and efficiently.

With Offsite Data Backup from USCC, you can rest well knowing that your data is safe and sound. It’s like an armored truck transport for your information… armored truck available for an additional fee.