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SIOS Data Replication And Disaster Recovery Solution For Data Protection

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SIOS Data Replication And Disaster Recovery Solution For Data Protection

Software Company Serving Educational Institutions Uses SIOS’ Cost-Effective Data Replication And Disaster Recovery Solution For Continuous Data Protection

The much anticipated Windows Server 2008 R2 became available in late October. VISUCATE became one of many small businesses to deploy Microsoft Hyper-V and enjoy its new features such as live migration. The company required a data replication and disaster recovery solution. One that was reasonably priced and delivered first-class protection.

In an effort to complete its set-up, VISUCATE wanted a business continuity platform that met its small business expectations. They took advantage of the high availability features of Windows Server Failover Clustering. However, 5fhbvd VISUCATE needed additional assurances that a loss of critical data or downtime would not compromise its software sales. To address these specific data replication hurdles, VISUCATE turned to SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition.

The Challenge

They required an affordable, uncomplicated and robust data replication and disaster recovery solution to protect its new Hyper-V set-up. To prevent any downtime, the company needed its servers to replicate and maintain their operational capabilities. If one server fails, the other server is configured to take over to sustain operations, maximize uptime and assure user productivity. The joint solution of Microsoft Hyper-V with Windows Server Failover Clustering and SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition addressed those business requirements essential for VISUCATE as well as any organization intent on overcoming this challenge.

VISUCATE Maintains Hyper-V Availability, Business Continuity with SIOS DataKeeper®

VISUCATE deployed Windows Server 2008 R2 on two physical servers with the Hyper-V role enabled. The company uses Windows Server Failover Clustering and SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition to provide replication and failover of the virtual machines. With the Hyper-V deployment, VISUCATE’s five virtual machines were installed across both servers. Three in one server and two on the other server.

By keeping an operational Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machine synchronized between two physical servers, SIOS DataKeeper enables disaster recovery without the recovery and downtimes typically associated with traditional back-up and restore technology. Realtime continuous replication of active Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines ensures that in the event of any downtime impacting VISUCATE set-up, the replicated virtual machine can be automatically brought into service with minimal or no data loss. VISUCATE considered several options for a failover cluster solution. The company dismissed the option of creating a cluster with either a lowcost SAN or NAS/file server. If the SAN in that configuration crashed, the entire set-up would fail.

SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition reduces the cost of deploying clusters by eliminating the need for a SAN. It also increases the availability of virtual machines and applications by eliminating the single point of a failure that the SAN represents in a traditional shared storage cluster.

Benefits

SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition allows companies such as VISUCATE to build “shared-nothing” and geographically dispersed Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V clusters. By eliminating the requirement for shared storage, companies can protect against both planned and unplanned downtime for servers and storage. Also, the use of SIOS DataKeeper with Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V virtual machines allows for non-disruptive disaster recovery testing. By simply accessing the replicated virtual machine in the disaster recovery site, VISUCATE and other companies can segment a virtual network separate from the production network. Also, it would be able to start the replicated virtual machine for disaster recovery testing. An administrator can perform complete data replication and disaster recovery solution testing without impacting the production site.

In addition to support for Hyper-V clusters, SIOS DataKeeper Cluster Edition enables multi-site clusters for all other Microsoft cluster resource types. This includes SQL Server, Exchange, File/Print and DHCP.

To find out more about SIOS products, go here
To read about how SIOS helped VISUCATE achieve data replication and disaster recovery solution, go here

SIOS For U.S. Navy’s High Availability Data Replication Needs

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SIOS For U.S. Navy's High Availability Data Replication Needs

SIOS Provides GTS with High Availability Data Replication and Business Continuity for U.S. Navy Combat Systems

Global Technical Systems (GTS) had to find a technical solution to meet the U.S. Navy’s high availability data replication needs; one that could keep data synchronized among cabinets and would meet the requirements for the Navy’s mission critical needs. They issued a request for proposal (RFP), which consisted of a need to find an enclosure and Common Processing System (CPS) for the Navy to feed various programs of record, such as the ship self-defense system.

The Solution

SIOS Protection Suite was the optimal solution to provide multi-site cluster configurations and enable cascading of multiple node failovers. They was selected by GTS to monitor and protect the Navy’s IBM BladeCenter BCHT and storage infrastructure against planned and unplanned network downtime. With the ability to combine the robustness of a classic, shared storage cluster with efficient, blocklevel data replication to a disaster recovery site, SIOS Protection Suite also enabled automatic replication redirection to deliver comprehensive disaster recovery protection for the Navy’s combat systems.

In certain configurations, the Navy has two data centers with two servers that provide local availability. Inside the data centers are two node clusters that are connected to shared storage. Both sets of machines exchange data replication on a continuous basis. GTS liked how SIOS Protection Suite combined shared storage support, cascading failover, real-time continuous data protection, and application level monitoring.

Ensuring High Availability Data Replication All The Time

Since these systems run with a rack of servers that will travel out at sea, GTS needs to ensure there is continuous availability in the event that there is combat. With the SIOS failover advantage, the Navy is protected from hardware issues that may surface. SIOS’s solutions allow business data to appear as is, showing no changes in the secondary server. Its application awareness feature has the ability to comprehend the interdependencies that occur between all system components, which greatly differs from competitors whose features are limited to monitoring the hardware, operating system, and database.

Ease Of Installation

There were no integration issues in terms of implementing this solution into the system baseline. GTS took the baseline and loaded the solution into the system. Next, it ran quality control and operational qualification tests then shipped the units to the Navy. The deployment process from start to finish was roughly a yearlong activity for all software and hardware subsystems that, for SIOS products, was both hassle free and easy.

The SIOS Protection Suite allows the end user to choose or use the capability. This means if the user chooses to not deploy the SIOS Protection Suite, they will not receive the added benefit of having SIOS protection. Services are billed on a monthly basis. For this extra fee, customers can receive the added benefit of having a disaster recovery solution that maintains uninterrupted access to data. SIOS takes over the failover of the solution and ensures a resilient environment by monitoring each server.

Benefits

SIOS Protection Suite enables the Navy to meet its mission critical requirements by helping GTS maintain the availability of data. The Navy must be able to meet their mission at hand with high availability. If the enclosure is not able to fail over, they are not able to meet their mission. This solution concisely affords the Navy to meet their mission requirements.

GTS completed an extensive trade study prior to selecting Lifekeeper. SIOS Protection Suite’s price point and its ease of deployment was a key factor in GTS’s decision to select this solution. In addition, the solution’s unique composition provides GTS with the flexibility and savings that are associated with open source platforms.

The robustness of the SIOS Protection Suite provides enterprise class high availability data replication and failover. Protecting critical data is absolutely an imperative necessity for the Navy. The fact that SIOS was chosen for this project speaks volumes, as it ensures systems are 100 percent secure and reliable.

To find out more about SIOS products, go here
To read about how SIOS helped US Navy achieve high availability data replication, go here

Achieve High Availability Data Replication In Cluster Solution With SIOS

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Achieve high availability data replication in cluster solution with SIOS

High Availability, Data Replication, Cluster Solution Guards Institution’s Linux-based Resources From Downtime

Serving nearly 19,000 students and supporting nearly 170 academic programs, Boise State University is Idaho’s largest university. The university needed a cluster solution offering high availability data replication. The data protection requirements include maintaining continuous availability of their Linux-based network file system and replication of all data and applications located within its Linux Red Hat server environment. To ensure students, faculty and staff have continuous access to Blackboard resources, Boise State IT staff implemented a SIOS #SANLess cluster using SIOS Protection Suite for Linux solution. This cluster uses local attached storage for each server in the cluster. SIOS software keeps this storage synchronized using real time block-level replication. It eliminates the cost, complexity, and single point of failure risk of traditional shared storage clusters.

The Challenge

The school did not want anyone to lose their data, hence the importance of having high availability data replication. The systems must experience very little downtime, if any. In addition, the university wanted technology that was easy to implement and maintain. And at the same time, provide the highest level of protection and availability of data and applications contained inside the Red Hat servers.

Getting A High Availability Data Replication Cluster Solution

The Boise State University IT department implemented a cluster solution using SIOS software. This cluster maintains high availability for their Blackboard and other critical applications and data by monitoring system and application health, preserving client connectivity and providing uninterrupted data access. If SIOS Protection Suite detects a failure in the application, network, or server hardware, it attempts to restart the application. If the restart fails, it automatically moves operations to backup servers and redundant copies of the data in the Linux cluster through a system failover process. The solution also enables continuous operations during planned downtime for maintenance or upgrades. SIOS software creates a fault resilient environment that meets the University’s stringent high availability requirements. SIOS Protection Suite for Linux works on both physical servers and virtual machines.

Benefits

SIOS software not only provides failover and disaster recovery protection, but it also eliminates the risk associated with a single point of failure contained in shared storage SAN cluster configurations. The SIOS failover process enables automatic system and application recovery if a server goes down.

To find out more about SIOS products, go here
To read about how SIOS helped Boise State University achieve high availability data replication in their cluster solution, go here

Disaster Recovery, Data Replication For Cabot Square Capital

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Disaster Recovery Data Replication For Cabot Square Capital

Cabot Square Capital Ensures Business Continuity, Disaster Recovery, Data Replication with SteelEye’s LifeKeeper for Exchange

Leading provider of investment capital Cabot Square Capital implemented SteelEye Technology’s LifeKeeper for Exchange to provide disaster recovery, data replication. They wanted to protect its all-important Exchange server from damaging downtime.

The Problem

The company relies on Microsoft Exchange for its messaging and communication needs. Its IT administrators face the tasks of ensuring corporate resilience for critical applications and servers. It has to ensure business continuity, disaster recovery, data replication protection as well.

Enhancing Business Continuity

Cabot Square Capital were introduced to Open Minds, a distributor of LifeKeeper from SteelEye Technology. They were shown how SteelEye’s LifeKeeper for Exchange solution provided the disaster recovery, data replication protection needed.

Jay Derrett, Associate Director of IT of Cabot Square Capital, said: “As part of Cabot Square Capital’s ongoing reinforcement of its business procedures and infrastructure, our business continuity has been further enhanced in light of the heightened security threat to the UK. Our own strict criteria for full data replication and availability of IT have been addressed via the successful implementation of SteelEye’s LifeKeeper by Open Minds.”

LifeKeeper has plenty of advantages. It is proven to protect servers and applications. It uses the existing local area network and a ‘Hot Backup’ server, rather than requiring an expensive wide area connection to another site. This enabled Cabot Square Capital to put LifeKeeper through full testing before going to the expense of equipping a disaster recovery site and installing connectivity between the two. SteelEye’s LifeKeeper was able to consistently provide recovery in less than 5 minutes.

Implementation

Once testing was complete and the concept proven, Cabot Square Capital’s IT managers procured a suitable remote site and the necessary wide area connectivity.

Derrett commented: “Despite the complex technical nature of the infrastructure, this project was completed on time, on budget and on specification. We continually test and monitor the LifeKeeper solution. Till now, we have yet to find fault in it. This gives Cabot Square Capital a high degree of confidence in our business continuity plan.”

LifeKeeper for Exchange now gives the company the ability to mirror Exchange data between the Mayfair site and its new disaster recovery site located in London’s Docklands. Among the other features that impressed Cabot Square Capital is the capability to pause and restart the mirror, creating a backup window. This way, system maintenance and backups could be performed.

Reliable, Simple And Cost-Effective Solution To Meet Disaster Recovery Requirements

At Cabot Square, the whole business depends on a functioning email system. Downtime of the Exchange servers reduces productivity and costs money.

Derrett expanded: “We see protection of our Exchange servers with LifeKeeper as playing a key part in the development of resilience within the company’s infrastructure.”

“The level of service and general helpfulness of Open Minds and SteelEye influenced our decision. The assistance we received from SteelEye to resolve issues was beyond the normal call of duty.”

“Overall, LifeKeeper has fostered a sense of reliability that has enabled staff to be more at ease with the email systems.”

Shobana Patel, of Open Minds, said LifeKeeper is a reliable, simple and cost-effective solution to the disaster recovery requirements of today’s organisations. SteelEye went the extra mile to make sure the customer was happy.

John Banfield, EMEA Director, SteelEye Technology, Inc., said: “In today’s business environments, there is little room for errors. That includes losing communications with colleagues, markets, partners, suppliers or customers. When so much of that communication is done by email, it makes enormous sense to protect the email system. With LifeKeeper for Exchange, we enable companies to do exactly that in a cost-effective way.”

For more information about business continuity, disaster recovery, data replication, go here.

Minimize Downtime Using High Availability Clustering And Data Replication For Sap

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Why implement high-availability cluster configuration?

What does it cost your business when your SAP system is down due to a hardware failure, an administrator mistake or for maintenance activities?  The impact can range from thousands of dollars lost in sales per minute to significant drops in employee productivity and customer satisfaction.  Through the implementation of a high-availability cluster configuration, downtime from both planned and unplanned outages can be virtually eliminated.

SteelEye and SAP AG have worked closely together to ensure that the availability needs which corporate users have for critical business infrastructure running on Linux and Windows platforms are achieved through the deployment of monitoring and switchover solutions for SAP Application Server (AS) and both JAVA and ABAP Web Application Server (WAS) environments.

Please join Steel Eye EVP of Product Management, Bob Williamson as he explains how you can minimize your downtime using SAP High Availability with SteelEye.

Reproduced with permission from https://clusteringformeremortals.com/2010/06/30/minimize-downtime-using-high-availability-clustering-and-data-replication-for-sap/