1 00:00:00,180 --> 00:00:02,180 In addition to having redundant power, 2 00:00:02,180 --> 00:00:04,060 redundant data, redundant networks 3 00:00:04,060 --> 00:00:05,220 and redundant servers, 4 00:00:05,220 --> 00:00:07,890 we also have to think about a redundant site. 5 00:00:07,890 --> 00:00:09,280 What's a redundant site? 6 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,870 Well, let's consider if your office building was flooded. 7 00:00:11,870 --> 00:00:13,600 You're going to need a new place to work. 8 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:15,310 That's a redundant site. 9 00:00:15,310 --> 00:00:17,480 Now if you're really concerned about downtime, 10 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:18,750 you could have a redundant site 11 00:00:18,750 --> 00:00:21,020 up and ready to go at all times. 12 00:00:21,020 --> 00:00:24,110 Redundant sites are classified as one of three categories. 13 00:00:24,110 --> 00:00:26,210 They're either hot sites, warm sites 14 00:00:26,210 --> 00:00:27,740 or cold sites. 15 00:00:27,740 --> 00:00:29,660 Now, a hot site is a near duplicate 16 00:00:29,660 --> 00:00:31,150 of your original location. 17 00:00:31,150 --> 00:00:32,700 It's going to have it where the organization 18 00:00:32,700 --> 00:00:35,330 can move in and be up and running within minutes. 19 00:00:35,330 --> 00:00:38,220 That means they have servers, phones, desks, 20 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:41,090 lights, power, connectivity, everything. 21 00:00:41,090 --> 00:00:42,600 It's just as if you've picked up 22 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,650 and went to a different building that day. 23 00:00:44,650 --> 00:00:47,610 A warm site instead is going to have some of those capabilities 24 00:00:47,610 --> 00:00:48,690 but not all of them. 25 00:00:48,690 --> 00:00:50,680 It's going to have things like the computers and phones 26 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,190 and servers there, but they may not be configured 27 00:00:53,190 --> 00:00:54,540 or patched or updated. 28 00:00:54,540 --> 00:00:55,850 And so when people show up, 29 00:00:55,850 --> 00:00:57,610 you're going to have to install their user accounts 30 00:00:57,610 --> 00:00:58,910 or set up their configurations 31 00:00:58,910 --> 00:00:59,880 and things like that, 32 00:00:59,880 --> 00:01:01,970 before the users can start working. 33 00:01:01,970 --> 00:01:03,850 Now a cold site is going to have things 34 00:01:03,850 --> 00:01:05,740 like tables and chairs and bathrooms 35 00:01:05,740 --> 00:01:08,350 and maybe some technical setup like basic phones 36 00:01:08,350 --> 00:01:09,940 and data and electric lines. 37 00:01:09,940 --> 00:01:11,380 But, it doesn't have computers, 38 00:01:11,380 --> 00:01:12,550 it doesn't have servers. 39 00:01:12,550 --> 00:01:13,830 And none of it's configured. 40 00:01:13,830 --> 00:01:15,210 And so if you have a cold site, 41 00:01:15,210 --> 00:01:17,950 that might take you a couple days to get back online. 42 00:01:17,950 --> 00:01:19,370 So, which one should you use 43 00:01:19,370 --> 00:01:20,530 and how do you decide? 44 00:01:20,530 --> 00:01:23,550 Well, this is all a cost risk benefits analysis. 45 00:01:23,550 --> 00:01:26,150 Let's take an example of you being a credit card processor. 46 00:01:26,150 --> 00:01:28,940 If you're American Express or Visa or Mastercard, 47 00:01:28,940 --> 00:01:30,840 you need to make sure your servers are up 48 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:34,140 at all times, you can't afford a minute of down time. 49 00:01:34,140 --> 00:01:36,550 I read in one report that these processing companies 50 00:01:36,550 --> 00:01:38,630 make about a million dollars a day in fees. 51 00:01:38,630 --> 00:01:40,980 And so they can't afford any kind of down time, 52 00:01:40,980 --> 00:01:42,810 because it costs them big money. 53 00:01:42,810 --> 00:01:44,730 So if I was a credit card processor, 54 00:01:44,730 --> 00:01:47,060 I would want to make sure that I had a full hot site 55 00:01:47,060 --> 00:01:49,460 and it was redundant, manned and ready to go 56 00:01:49,460 --> 00:01:51,070 at a moment's notice. 57 00:01:51,070 --> 00:01:52,870 Now, if I'm a smaller company, like I am, 58 00:01:52,870 --> 00:01:54,700 Dion Training, we can probably deal 59 00:01:54,700 --> 00:01:56,560 with being down for a couple of hours 60 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:57,910 or maybe even a day or two. 61 00:01:57,910 --> 00:01:59,820 And so for us, we would look at something like a 62 00:01:59,820 --> 00:02:01,280 warm site or a cold site, 63 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:02,900 because that would be more appropriate. 64 00:02:02,900 --> 00:02:05,300 And so when you're trying to choose a site, remember this. 65 00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:07,260 Hot sites give you the most capability, 66 00:02:07,260 --> 00:02:09,230 but they have the largest price tag. 67 00:02:09,230 --> 00:02:11,530 A cold site gives you the least capability, 68 00:02:11,530 --> 00:02:13,200 but it's also the cheapest. 69 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:14,380 And so you're going to have to figure out 70 00:02:14,380 --> 00:02:16,070 based on risk versus reward 71 00:02:16,070 --> 00:02:17,800 which one your company's willing to accept 72 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,832 and which one's appropriate for your situation. 73 00:02:20,832 --> 00:02:23,185 (upbeat music)