Chicago Tribune's Server
Consolidation a Success
1. The order of the characteristics of
infrastructure
Infrastructure
architecture is the hardware; software as well as the telecommunications
equipment that are combined to offer the underlying foundation that supports
the goals of an enterprise. The solid i9nfrstactur architecture as highlighted
in the case includes flexibility, scalability, reliability availability, and
performance. The correct order is as follows.
1) Performance
2) Availability
3) Reliability
4) Flexibility
5) Scalability
2. A disaster recovery cost curve. Where the
Tribune should operate on the curve
A disaster
recovery costs curve shows the cost an organization occurs due to the
unavailability of technology and information as well as the cost incurred when
the organization is recovering from a given disaster over time. That is to say that the cost recovery curve
is used to show how much it will cost a company to recover from a disaster and
the amount it will cost the company in case of unavailability of critical
technology and information. The curve should take into consideration the costs
of losing technology and information in each department as well as the entire
organization. In the first few hours of the disastrous event, the costs may be
low, but as time goes, they begin increasing. In case a disastrous event occurs
and causes failure of the data center, there will be high costs incurred, but
that may also mean faster recovery (3-minute delay in our case) that can, in
turn, lower the costs (Baltzan, 2009). That means Tribune ought to operate on
the left side of the optimal point in the disaster recovery curve.
3. Backups and recovery. Risks to Tribune’s
business due to lack of an adequate backup
A backup is data
copy that is taken from the database and is useful for reconstructing the data.
Recovery, on the other hand, is the ability to get a system back to its normal
functioning after the event of a disaster that causes failure of that
system. If Tribune fails to execute a
backup plan properly and it loses its servers, that can handicap the company’s
operations. For instance, it is shown
that a 5-hour intermittent operation led to $1 million loss of revenue and
expenses (McMeekin, 2004). The lack of an adequate plan can also make the
organization to lose its reputation, court sanctions, compromised legal
position, bankruptcy, and fines.
4. Why a scalable and highly available EA is
critical to Tribune Company’s current operations and future growth
Scalable
enterprise architecture is the one that increases in performance after the
addition or removal of hardware. On the other hand, availability of a system is
the percentage of time that the system normally works and attempting to reduce
any unscheduled outages. High
availability will help Tribune to have agility and flexibility in changing as
per the changes in business needs. High
availability to the company would mean new servers, redundant data centers,
virtualization, among others.
Scalability of their systems would help the company to change
appropriately and meet the demands of the ever-changing competitive industry.
5. Need for information security in Tribune
Company
The company is
one of the top media companies in the US, meaning that it if prone to the
man-made harm of its information system (McMeekin, 2004). A natural disaster is also common, and they
may occur anytime and disrupt the company’s operations. It is, therefore,
crucial to have information security in the company.
6. How the Tribune Company use classified Web
services across its businesses
The company had
to write a Web service code and then use it across the different businesses. In
Web services, one only writes a code once and reuses it as many times as they
may want.
Planning for Disaster Recovery
It is crucial
for Beltz to develop a disaster recovery plan due to its location in an area
that experiences hurricanes. A disaster recovery plan provides the strategies
that are essential to restoring the hardware, data, and applications in time so
as to meet the company’s business objectives (Snedaker & Rima 2014). The
vulnerability of the company to hurricanes and other natural disaster means
that it is operating in an unsafe environment. The loss of its data and
information and assets through the disasters can threaten the survival of the
company. The disaster recovery will help the company to recover quickly from
disasters with minimal loss of operations.
Disaster
Recovery Scenario
The scenario
specifically addressed in this disaster recovery plan is the loss of access to
information, the computer center and the data processing capabilities resulting
from the hurricanes and natural disasters.
The disaster recovery plan will only entail the recovery of the critical
information systems. In the event of a hurricane or other natural disaster, key
personnel will have to take immediate action of alerting the disaster recovery
center (Factor, 2002).
Recovery
Strategy
The strategy for
recovery addressed here is the relocation of the critical information systems
to the alternate site. The recovery services will have recoverability at the DR
services provider location of the hot site.
It will be the responsibility of the DR services provider to ensure that
the information system configurations and the network related requirements are
correct and technically feasible all the time.
The Recovery Phases
Phase
1
In the event of the declared disaster, the
operations will have to be moved to the DR backup site as well as the emergency
operations center. That activity should
commence with the DRP activation. The period that will be allowed for the
organization as well as the turnover of the backup site is only 24 hours. The
recovery operations will be under the guidance of the disaster recovery
manager.
Phase
2
The second phase will entail the recovery of
critical business functions, the critical network connectivity and recovery of
the critical applications. The goal, in
this case, is to recover critical systems so that the company’s clients can
continue business. Before the restoration of the critical business functions,
the secondary site should be thoroughly tested so as to ensure that it is safe
and that all the facilities like technology are working properly (Factor,
2002). The testing of technology and
other facilities will be led by the technical officer.
Phase
3
The third phase will involve the returning
of data processing operations to the primary facilities after it has been
ensured that the primary site is safe from the disaster. The disaster recovery manager should ensure
that the disaster recovery team performs their tasks as required so as to have
a successful recovery within the recovery time objective.
Phase
4
The fourth phase will entail highlighting the
lessons learned from the disaster and the recovery activities so as to make the
necessary changes to the plan. The lessons learned will help to refine the DRP
and make sure that in the future in case such a disaster occurs; the recovery
will be much easier (Snedaker & Rima 2014).
References
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