Up to now, disaster recovery solutions have been so expensive that large corporate businesses have been the only organisations able to afford the redundant platforms, in multiple data centres, that are necessary to offer total protection against disasters.
Smaller businesses, for which proper disaster recovery is just as business- and mission-critical, simply could not, up to now, contemplate duplicating everything let alone the cost of the software to instantly recover from fire, floods and other disasters. In fact, smaller companies usually have fewer financial resources to bridge the gap while their systems are being restored. Now every business, regardless of size, can afford to recover and recover quickly.
Internet Solutions (IS), a leading converged communications service provider, has announced full dual site disaster recovery (DR) solutions for all its hosting customers.
Customers wishing to have a dual site DR solution can now have their hosted solutions deployed on dedicated standby servers in the IS Internet data centres (IDCs) in Johannesburg (Rosebank and Bryanston).
The DR servers will always be connected to the network with the operating system, database and applications loaded. Customers will maintain the operating system, database and application changes, patches and updates on their DR servers and an Attix5 client will be installed on the live/production servers and the DR servers to backup the data. In the event of a disaster only data will be restored using the Attix5 software. IS will make a DNS change to allow the DR servers to appear on the live network. The DR servers will remain live until the primary servers are restored.
"Because we offer this solution in customised bouquets for all sized customers, the economies of scale afforded by hosted and shared solutions are tangible," says IS Hosting Solutions manager, Sean Nourse. "Although smaller organisations are aware of the need to protect their data, they simply can`t afford complete redundancy. A fully outsourced, hosted and managed DR solution such as this brings it within reach of every business. It`s very flexible and customers can mix and match to suit their needs."
Solution highlights:
* Dual Site DR ensures maximum availability: no enterprise can afford to lose its online presence. Whether it`s a Web site or a fully-fledged ordering or trading system, IS DR services ensures rapid recovery of data onto a secondary DR environment.
* Testing of dual site DR platform at regular intervals: DR servers that are hosted in data centres will be tested at predefined intervals to ensure failover will occur in the event of a disaster.
* Customer dual site DR testing: Customers are entitled to one test every six months to ensure the DR service is available in a disaster situation. Clients will be able to request additional testing at an additional cost for engineering time.
* Service information integrated into the IS Customer Zone: a secure customer Web portal provides up-to-date monitoring, and billing data for your server. You can access this information anytime and from any PC.
The entry-level dual site DR service starts at just over R3 000 per month.
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Internet Solutions (IS) has transformed its business model and become a leading converged communications service provider in the country.
The business was founded on the principle of developing a robust infrastructure in order for corporates to conduct e-business. Over the past decade IS has established itself as a leader in this space, attracting over 80% of South Africa`s top businesses as clients.
During its 10-year life span, IS has evolved and grown its service offerings. Today, the company is the leading hosting service provider and security service provider in South Africa, as well as having significant market share in the virtual private network and application service provider space.
Internet Solutions, with an Empowerdex BBB rating, has earned an impressive collection of accolades, including eight First National Bank "Most Admired" awards, two Financial Mail Best Company to Work For awards, a place in the Top Unlisted Company Awards, first place in the ISP category for ComputerWeek Strategist`s Best of Breed IT Awards, 2004, and 8th in the Top ICT Companies, 2005.
The company partners with major players such as Cisco, Microsoft, Oracle, BT and AT&T, and in 2002 was certified as a Cisco Managed Security Service Provider, the first and only company outside of the US to be awarded this accolade.
For more, visit us on www.is.co.za.
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