ci connect | Issue 3
Wired + Wireless approach for true Internet resiliency
Events plastered across the media, such as the Buncefield oil depot fire and London terrorist attacks, have forced us all to take a closer look at our disaster recovery (DR) strategy. However, Community Internet has discovered that all too many DR plans have one single point of failure risk – underground connectivity.
Protecting your business
Have you ever considered what would happen to your business if communications with the outside world via email and the Internet were disrupted? What would be the cost of lost orders and lost productivity if you were in the dark for 1 hour, 2 hours, a day, or even a week?
How would you access business critical data? How would your staff continue to work? How would business critical systems continue to operate? These might be the first questions that spring to mind, but they are really just the tip of the iceberg.
For many the impact is immediate, and by the time the connection has been down for two hours the effect could be critical. A recent survey by the DTI revealed that some 70% of businesses that suffer a ‘discontinuity’ in trading will ultimately be forced to cease trading altogether. This startling fact is clearly referring to major catastrophic incidents, which happen only once in a blue moon. And most businesses have some form of contingency plan in place to deal with these disasters – don’t they?
Diverse routing
Many organisations choose to build some diversity into their Wide Area Network by using dual network providers. Unfortunately these all too often run on the same physical routers, firewalls, fibres and exchanges. All of which become a single point of failure risk. One way to overcome this is to use a Wired + Wireless approach which provides true resiliency by giving the option to have connectivity to 2 different access points from 2 different exchanges via 2 different access technologies: one via a traditional fibre connection, the other via a high-speed wireless link.
Balancing the load
Once both lines are active Community Internet’s Wired + Wireless strategy makes use of all the bandwidth available, provides optimum performance and makes the most of your investment. The solution includes automated line balancing and fail-over in the event that either of the connections fail.
Many companies we have worked with have a 'spare' line as backup in case their primary service fails. However, all too often technical problems are found with the backup just when it is most needed. Our approach is to use Wired + Wireless connectivity for everyday communications, with automatic fail-over in the event that either service is disrupted and automatic load balance once both services are available again – you can always be sure both lines are fully working.
Small but equally devastating
OK, so we have handled the huge disaster with our Wired + Wireless solution, no need to worry right? Wrong - the vast majority of downtime is caused by very minor incidents. Simply pulling out the wrong cable or flicking off the wrong switch can have a huge impact on business continuity. Just how can you be prepared?
Optimising your current disaster prevention arrangements is the first step towards ensuring you have a robust system. Community Internet plc has over 10 years experience of providing resilient, considered solutions. We take pride in our ability to translate the requirements of our customers into robust systems that enable them to maintain productivity through any eventuality.
Start to plan for the unthinkable
For further information on our Wired + Wireless service or to arrange for a CI Health Check to analyse your current disaster prevention arrangements call Jacqui Nicholls or Glyn Miles on 01865 856000 or email info@community.net.uk today – tomorrow may be too late.
Read more about RedKite wireless www.redkite.net