7 Must-Know Disaster Recovery Strategies Jamie Gruener Senior Analyst, Enterprise Infrastructure The Yankee Group

What You Will Learn In This Session.. 1.The Main Goal: Bullet-proofing Disaster Recovery Strategies 2.Remote Replication vs. Mirroring Strategies 3.Disaster Recovery and Virtualization: A New Angle 4.Integrating Mirroring and Replication into Disaster Recovery Strategies 5. Metro SANs: Options for Remote Mirroring And Replication 6.Your Network Options: Questions to Guide You 7.The Outsourcing Alternatives: Things to Consider

The Goal: Bullet-Proofing Disaster Recovery Strategies Youve heard the statistics –~ $5 billion in computing infrastructure lost in 9-11 tragedy –Close to 100 businesses declaring disasters in NYC Youre here for a reason –9-11 was a call to action for all of us –Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Strategies must be done – this is only one leg of a multi-leg strategy Youre entering a new era –It is now about Business Continuance and Risk Management –Preserving data is an imperative

Defining Terms: Remote Mirroring and Data Replication Remote Mirroring generates a mirrored image of data on two or more disks Data Replication scans data periodically for changes and copies new data to the other disk or file system on another system Factors to consider –Value of data (and lost data) being backed up –Costs for network bandwidth and software –Your existing infrastructure –Product features (OS, File System, Disk or Application) Checklist

Measuring Data Protection: Point-in-Time to Synchronous Data Protection Network Bandwidth Consumed Point In Time Asynchronous Synchronous Tip There will be a need for multiple tools to protect data Lost Transactions Line of Tolerance More Less More Semi-Synchronous

Questions to Consider When Looking At Remote Mirroring and Replication –What are you protecting? (applications, transactions, files, disks) –What level of protection do you need? (Well come back to this!) –What are your network requirements? –What is your expected budget for this project? –Is the ROI greater than acquisition costs? –What will best fit your larger business continuity strategy? Best Practice

The Luxury Sedan: Disk-to-Disk Remote Copy Key advantages –Operates at the disk level –Can be (not always) less complex to set up and administer than host-based approaches –Can offer the benefit of capturing all application changes... Key Disadvantages: Costly –Lacks transaction knowledge or what the data represents –Can be wasteful of network bandwidth if not properly set up –If operating in synchronous mode, can degrade application performance

The Rising Alternative: Block-and-File Replication Fundamentals –Makes comparisons and only copies changes (at disk or file level) Key Advantages –Can be less expensive –Can be flexible to replicate all enterprise data regardless of disk system –Copies only the most important files/data –Many-to-one replication architectures available –Limits amount of data transferred, reducing network load and cost Key Disadvantages –Isnt 100% availability of data Warning

Block and File Replication Details You need to Consider File WAN Replication Block WAN Replication Less expensive, host-based (or array-based) file and block replication Specific to storage vendor, OS or file system

Database Replication Typically done by replicating or mirroring log files A number of variations: –Continuous Mirroring: updates DBMS as changes(adds, updates, deletes) occur –Change Data Capture: captures DBMS changes and stores them until a predetermined replication time –Full Copy Refresh: replicates entire DBMS copy to target systems (done to resynchronize DBMS after outage) Trigger-based native DBMS is not usually appropriate for DR because of high system and network overhead

Snapshots: The Hotshots of Backup Establishes a separate identifiable storage entity and run operations against it –Primary purpose: backup, testing, conversion and batch process Is dependent on OS, host and array support… Advantage: it takes up less network bandwidth than mirroring Disadvantage: resynchronization of data is an art –If you do not resynchronize, you must build snapshot mirror totally from scratch

New Kid on the Block: Virtualization and Disaster Recovery Virtualization software offers a new alternative –Data replication (over both IP and Fibre Channel) –Snapshot –High Availability Fail-over –A cost-effective approach to disaster recovery Key Challenges –Recreating the virtualization system can be difficult –Specifying file level information for replication can be difficult –Still a relatively new technology, so test well –Research virtualization players thoroughly Ask hard questions about number of customers doing this How are issues of network performance and security handled? Warning

Prioritizing Data: Integrating Mirroring or Replication to Your Strategy Amount Of Data Recovery Time Delayed Immediate Less More Less Importance Of Data Hot Site Remote Disk Mirroring Data Replication Campus Disk Mirroring Snapshot Electronic Vaulting Tape Onsite Tape-Backup Offsite Tool

OK, Now What? Its The Network, Stupid Long-distance Remote Mirroring/Replication requires significant network integration –Mission: Connecting two or more islands of storage –Could be SANs, hot sites, remote disk or tape Myriad of network transport choices boil down to two fundamentals (from the POP out) –Fibre –IP Where to Start: Evaluate Network Requirements –Ask storage vendors for requirements –Map that to service provider bandwidth services

Specific Network Challenges for Remote Mirroring and Replication Enterprise network performance is many times slower than storage performance Things You Could Consider –What tools do the remote mirroring/replication vendor provide for performance on a Metro SAN? Network throttling – adjusting data amounts sent over wire Compression – compressing data to take up less network bandwidth Time-stamping – marking data at time saved or accessed –Latency isnt your friend Measurable time it takes for an I/O transaction to reach destination Distance is a factor – especially when extending data native limit Storage traffic requires high bandwidth, low latency connections not typical of IP Tip

Metro SAN Puzzle Pieces Headquarters Remote Site Primary Disk Storage Remote Disk Storage Remote Tape Library Mirroring/Replication Software Edge of Network Equipment (Director, Router or DWDM) Service Provider Connectivity Services Key Features ATM, T3/E3, OC3+ or Fibre Optic (DWDM)

Metro SAN Network Transport Options Network Protocol PerformanceLength of Distance ESCONFull performance (200-M bits/sec. unidirectional) 8 km for full performance, 50% 20 km FICONBi-directional channel protocol, runs over at G bit/sec. 100 km distance limitation Dark FibreDedicated Fibre (depends on transport) 10 km without long-wave transceivers iSCSI, iFCP, FCIPStill in proof-of-concept stage, but promise of 1 TB per hour over IP Depends on applications, service, connection points – FCIP - primary for Metro SANs DWDM - Gigabit (Optical) Ethernet (Most common) Requires high-speed IP network to connect storage islands, OC3 or < Depends on applications, service, connection points and routers used (DWDM) Key Features

IP Network Options Private Router Backbones –Leased, dedicated lines –Optimized for performance (racing the sun) xSP VPNs –Customer purchases edge routers and ISP provides shared backbone –Leverages Multiprotocol Layer Switching (MPLS) for better Quality of Service Internet... –Not a disaster recovery tactic I would trust

Tips To Consider When Speaking With Your Service Provider Ask your xSP to provide you what their expertise is in storage services –Consider how you could leverage your existing connectivity services to establish a cost-effective service contract for your backup services –Ask for a latency/network performance SLA –Your primary xSP should have partners to assist with storage services if they dont Consider leveraging storage vendor relationships to find service providers that can do integration Do or have done a network analysis to determine requirements for your backup services Determine if outsourcing is an option Checklist

Metro SAN Challenges: Things You Need to Ask about IP Latency and Bandwidth Security Complexity Quality of Service (QoS) Dropped Packets Manageability NOTE: IP storage switch vendors are trying to solve these things – so gauge them based on this Checklist

Does Outsourcing Make Sense? Determine if outsourcing disaster recovery services for Data Mirroring and Replication services –Do I have the skills, personnel and infrastructure? Outsourcing provides a number of advantages –Enables enterprise to focus on core competence –Speeds ITs ability to maintain and return to business operations –Leverages expertise and more plentiful specialized resources –Offers mirrored solutions for immediate recovery –Provides problem resolution expertise that speeds delivery of services related to backup, security and performance monitoring –Delivers professional services to assist in design of a customized business continuity plan Best Practice

Ask for Help From a Professional... This is a complex proposition Storage vendors will assist with best backup technologies Service Providers will offer options for services Integrators with storage and networking practices are best candidates for additional implementation –they are still rare in the world

Evaluate ROI for Disaster Recovery Come up with a ROI calculation for your data protection strategy Guidelines to remember –Calculated over three-year term –The higher the ROI, the more favorable the project –TCO vs. ROI – ROI wins out Key factors to be included in ROI analysis –Costs: downtime, personnel, assets –Reliability: data replication, mirroring, backups –System performance: how is systems and software utilized –Calculate savings: improved performance, revenue, processes Best Practice

Conclusions Dont forget the fundamental goal: Disaster Recovery Consider your options for mirroring/replication and make a metric to measure them by –ROI analysis is one way of measuring options Be cautious of new technologies –New IP storage networking technologies and software offer new options – but you need to be savvy in deployment Theres not one solution – strategize on ways to prioritize your data protection

Questions? Jamie Gruener