WTC Collapse Spotlights Need For Data Backup

The collapse of the World Trade Center this week underscored the importance of businesses backing up critical data more than just once, analysts said Wednesday.

Companies such as financial giant Morgan Stanley that were able to function on Wednesday did so because in addition to having the usual data backups that most companies keep internally, they also created instantaneous copies of their data in a second location miles away.

These additional copies are made through both data backup software and data replication software, analysts and executives said. By doing this, if the original site is destroyed, companies have another one to turn to.

"You either need the data replicated off-site or backed up and stored off-site, or you have to have some data backups nearby, but that's going to be a while to get," says Sanjay Kumar, chief executive of software maker Computer Associates International+Duplicating data, analysts say, is growing more prevalent. Indeed, makers of backup and recovery software booked $2.7 billion in revenues last year, and that figure is expected to grow to $4.7 billion in 2005, according to research firm IDC.

Typically, companies have at least two powerful computers, or servers and store a copy of original files on a second machine in the same location. Employees' computers are linked to those larger computers through a network, or telecom lines.

But when disasters such as the World Trade Center collapse occur, the usual methods of internal back-ups aren't enough, said Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst of Enterprise Storage Group, in Milford, Massachusetts.

Morgan Stanley was able to start running again, Duplessie explained, because it had what he calls a hot site. Prior to the collapse, Morgan transferred data through high-speed telecommunications lines instantaneously from the servers and mainframes that were in the World Trade Center to equally fast computers in Teaneck, New Jersey. Servers and mainframes are very powerful computers that can handle extensive databases.

That set-up is only common for financial companies though. About 250 companies have sites replicating their businesses, Duplessie said.

NOT CHEAP

In part, that's due to cost. For telecom alone, he said, Morgan Stanley's system could cost $100,000 a month. When you factor in other costs such as hardware and software the total figure could be substantially, he said.

The next best thing to this is creating copies on disk drives and tapes daily and then moving them to another location that is maintained by a data storage company, Duplessie said.

Iron Mountain , for instance, is a Boston firm that has 33 customers who were in the World Trade Center, said Kevin Rubin, vice president of marketing at Iron Mountain.

On Wednesday, he said, employees at the company's fireproof data storage center in Moonachie, New Jersey, about 13 miles from New York, were pulling tapes and disc drives out of storage and shuttling them to customers.

"It brings to light the need to have a disaster recovery plan in place. The best plan involves having off-site data that is remote," Rubin said.

In that case, he said, a company can recreate their business operation in as little as a day, by combining data storage with the services of a disaster recovery company that provides computers, equipment and office space.

Bill North, an analyst for storage software at IDC, pointed out that building an office is expensive and time consuming.

Companies, he said, are now thinking, "I need to get new computers, new storage devices. I need to create a new network infrastructure to connect those on. I need to house them somewhere and make sure that there's housing and cooling."

"That in itself is likely to take months for any given company," he said.

Many companies are reluctant to spend the money on something most hope they will never need, just like insurance.

"When we infrastructure vendors go out and preach this stuff people sometimes look at us, and say 'Our computers are reliable,"' Kumar said.

"What you're planning for is a disaster. You're not planning for the computer to break. You're planning for some unspeakable thing like this," he said.

Copyright 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.

Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.

Reuters shall be not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Tweet

   

More Channel Programs