1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,680 In this lesson, we're going to talk about 2 00:00:01,680 --> 00:00:03,690 redundant site considerations. 3 00:00:03,690 --> 00:00:06,660 Now, a redundant site is a backup location or facility 4 00:00:06,660 --> 00:00:08,760 that can take over essential functions and operations 5 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:10,380 in the case that your primary site 6 00:00:10,380 --> 00:00:12,690 experiences a failure or disruption. 7 00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:14,460 When you're creating your business continuity plan 8 00:00:14,460 --> 00:00:16,170 or your disaster recovery plan, 9 00:00:16,170 --> 00:00:17,970 you need to consider what type of continuity 10 00:00:17,970 --> 00:00:20,400 you need to create using these different plans. 11 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:21,780 From a technical perspective, 12 00:00:21,780 --> 00:00:24,600 we're going to break this down into four types of categories 13 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,370 based on your continuity locations. 14 00:00:26,370 --> 00:00:29,040 These are hot sites, warm sites, cold sites, 15 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:30,360 and mobile sites. 16 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:32,250 Now, first up, we have a hot site. 17 00:00:32,250 --> 00:00:33,780 A hot site is defined as a site 18 00:00:33,780 --> 00:00:35,400 that is up and running continuously, 19 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,740 and essentially, at a moment's notice it's ready 20 00:00:37,740 --> 00:00:38,910 so we can switch our operations 21 00:00:38,910 --> 00:00:40,860 from our main site to a backup site 22 00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:43,410 with almost no downtime and no issues. 23 00:00:43,410 --> 00:00:45,930 Now, personally, this is one of my favorite types of setups 24 00:00:45,930 --> 00:00:48,000 because it means you always are up and ready to go 25 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:49,620 and you can keep your business moving forward 26 00:00:49,620 --> 00:00:51,240 even if a disaster strikes. 27 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,547 But our drawback here is that using a hot site 28 00:00:53,547 --> 00:00:54,930 can be very expensive 29 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:56,430 because this type of redundant site 30 00:00:56,430 --> 00:00:59,730 requires one of everything being added to your cost. 31 00:00:59,730 --> 00:01:01,860 For example, to truly have an on-demand 32 00:01:01,860 --> 00:01:04,170 and ready to go hot site, you're going to need to have 33 00:01:04,170 --> 00:01:05,459 two of everything. 34 00:01:05,459 --> 00:01:07,290 If I have a file server in my main office, 35 00:01:07,290 --> 00:01:09,690 I need to have another file server at the hot site. 36 00:01:09,690 --> 00:01:11,820 You're going to need to constantly update the communication 37 00:01:11,820 --> 00:01:13,980 and mirror the data between these two sites as well 38 00:01:13,980 --> 00:01:16,530 so you have an updated copy at all times. 39 00:01:16,530 --> 00:01:17,820 Now, back in the old days, 40 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:20,400 this was actually really difficult and expensive to do. 41 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,530 But the good news is with cloud computing, 42 00:01:22,530 --> 00:01:24,510 this has become much, much easier 43 00:01:24,510 --> 00:01:26,910 because now you can have your servers hosted online 44 00:01:26,910 --> 00:01:28,920 at multiple locations simultaneously 45 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:31,590 using Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, 46 00:01:31,590 --> 00:01:33,750 or the Google Cloud Platform. 47 00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:36,540 Now, while this type of hot site for your servers is great, 48 00:01:36,540 --> 00:01:38,400 it doesn't fully consider everything you need 49 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:39,900 in terms of a hot site. 50 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:41,760 Again, what about your office building, 51 00:01:41,760 --> 00:01:44,040 where your employees are going to be at doing their work? 52 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:45,960 How are you going to have redundancy for that? 53 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:47,700 Well, let's say for example, there's a fire 54 00:01:47,700 --> 00:01:49,620 and your entire headquarters got affected. 55 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:51,540 You have smoke damage and water damage 56 00:01:51,540 --> 00:01:52,860 all because of that fire, 57 00:01:52,860 --> 00:01:54,420 and now it's going to take you six months 58 00:01:54,420 --> 00:01:56,070 to rebuild your headquarters. 59 00:01:56,070 --> 00:01:58,110 Well, if you have a fully redundant cloud-based model 60 00:01:58,110 --> 00:02:00,030 for your hot site, this means all your data 61 00:02:00,030 --> 00:02:02,310 is up and running instantly and ready to go. 62 00:02:02,310 --> 00:02:05,070 But if you had 500 people working in that office building, 63 00:02:05,070 --> 00:02:08,520 you now need to find a place to put 500 desks, 500 chairs, 64 00:02:08,520 --> 00:02:10,350 500 phones, 500 computers, 65 00:02:10,350 --> 00:02:12,600 and all the stuff that people need to be able to do 66 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,030 their job at work because everything else was destroyed 67 00:02:15,030 --> 00:02:17,310 in that fire at our main headquarters. 68 00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:19,920 This is why a hot site is usually not used by most companies 69 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,330 for their entire business, 70 00:02:21,330 --> 00:02:23,970 but instead they'll use it just for mission critical things 71 00:02:23,970 --> 00:02:25,560 that have to be up 24 hours a day, 72 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:27,480 seven days a week continuously. 73 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,400 And so you may have 500 people working 74 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:30,570 in your main office building, 75 00:02:30,570 --> 00:02:32,820 but maybe only 50 of them are considered essential 76 00:02:32,820 --> 00:02:34,680 and crucial to your business operations 77 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,420 and so you only have a hot site capability 78 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:38,220 for those 50 people and we'll figure out 79 00:02:38,220 --> 00:02:40,350 the other 450 people later. 80 00:02:40,350 --> 00:02:41,760 Now, the second type of site we have 81 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,620 is what's known as a warm site. 82 00:02:43,620 --> 00:02:46,500 Now, a warm site is not fully equipped like a hot site is, 83 00:02:46,500 --> 00:02:48,870 and so remember with a hot site, we have our desks, 84 00:02:48,870 --> 00:02:51,120 we have our chairs, we have our network connectivity, 85 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,197 we have our computers and our phones 86 00:02:52,197 --> 00:02:54,120 and our software and everything we need 87 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:55,740 to be able to walk right in, log in, 88 00:02:55,740 --> 00:02:57,270 and start doing our job. 89 00:02:57,270 --> 00:02:58,260 Now with a warm site, 90 00:02:58,260 --> 00:03:00,330 we're not quite that far down the road. 91 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:02,550 Instead, we're not ready for an immediate switchover, 92 00:03:02,550 --> 00:03:05,100 but we can get things up and running in just a few days 93 00:03:05,100 --> 00:03:07,020 as opposed to a few hours. 94 00:03:07,020 --> 00:03:09,750 Now, a warm site will have all the fundamentals in place. 95 00:03:09,750 --> 00:03:11,610 For example, the building already has power, 96 00:03:11,610 --> 00:03:14,040 it has phone lines, it has network connectivity, 97 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:15,480 we may even have some desks there, 98 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,150 but we may not have phones in computers already installed. 99 00:03:18,150 --> 00:03:20,010 Now, when a disaster happens, 100 00:03:20,010 --> 00:03:22,050 we can then start installing the technology 101 00:03:22,050 --> 00:03:24,600 and getting people up and running within just a few days, 102 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:26,460 but we're going to have to go out and buy some laptops, 103 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:28,260 some monitors and some phones and things like that 104 00:03:28,260 --> 00:03:29,400 to be able to do it. 105 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:30,810 Now, when we talked about a hot site, 106 00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:33,120 we talked about the fact that it was instantly available, 107 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,910 but that also comes with a very high price tag. 108 00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:37,530 Now, with a warm site, we're actually going to be able 109 00:03:37,530 --> 00:03:38,910 to save a lot of money here 110 00:03:38,910 --> 00:03:40,200 and it's going to be a lot cheaper, 111 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:41,910 but we're also giving up some of that response time 112 00:03:41,910 --> 00:03:43,850 because now we have to wait a few days 113 00:03:43,850 --> 00:03:45,660 to get everything up and running. 114 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:47,010 And so again, this is one of those things 115 00:03:47,010 --> 00:03:48,660 that we sometimes do as a hybrid model 116 00:03:48,660 --> 00:03:50,940 where a portion of the organization will get a hot site 117 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:52,890 such as those 50 people out of the 500 118 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:55,320 that were super critically important to run the business, 119 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,930 and then the other 450 people would be able to go into 120 00:03:57,930 --> 00:04:00,210 a warm site later on or into our last one 121 00:04:00,210 --> 00:04:02,490 we're going to talk about which is a cold site. 122 00:04:02,490 --> 00:04:04,200 Now, this again brings us to our third option 123 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:05,700 which is a cold site. 124 00:04:05,700 --> 00:04:08,040 Now, this is going to add some more time to our recovery, 125 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:09,840 but it is also cheaper than using either 126 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:11,640 a hot site or a warm site. 127 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:14,160 Now, a cold site is going to contain even fewer facilities 128 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:15,600 than a warm site does. 129 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:18,209 For example, one organization I worked with in the past 130 00:04:18,209 --> 00:04:20,550 had a cold site that essentially was just an empty building 131 00:04:20,550 --> 00:04:21,630 they had a lease on. 132 00:04:21,630 --> 00:04:23,160 They paid a monthly rent for this building 133 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,720 and nobody worked there. 134 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,570 The cold site had a few basic facilities like bathrooms 135 00:04:27,570 --> 00:04:29,520 and tables and chairs, but there was no network 136 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,260 or connectivity at that place. 137 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:33,450 There were no phone lines and there was no computers. 138 00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:35,280 Essentially, it was an empty shell, 139 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:36,930 and in the event of a serious disaster 140 00:04:36,930 --> 00:04:39,150 at their headquarters, they could turn this cold site 141 00:04:39,150 --> 00:04:42,210 into a new headquarters in about one to two months. 142 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:44,370 Now, fourth, we have a mobile site. 143 00:04:44,370 --> 00:04:46,110 Now, a mobile site can be a hot site, 144 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:47,430 a warm site, or a cold site, 145 00:04:47,430 --> 00:04:49,680 it just depends on how you want to configure it. 146 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:51,570 Now, basically up to this point, I was discussing 147 00:04:51,570 --> 00:04:53,520 how you can get from one building to another 148 00:04:53,520 --> 00:04:56,190 by using a hot site, a warm site, or a cold site. 149 00:04:56,190 --> 00:04:57,480 But with a mobile site, 150 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,430 we don't even need buildings anymore. 151 00:04:59,430 --> 00:05:01,890 Instead, we're using independent portable units 152 00:05:01,890 --> 00:05:03,330 to provide our recovery. 153 00:05:03,330 --> 00:05:06,300 Most often, this will take the form of trailers or tents 154 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:07,740 that are going to be delivered to your location 155 00:05:07,740 --> 00:05:09,570 and connected to your power and internet, 156 00:05:09,570 --> 00:05:12,210 and that way you can get up and running pretty quickly. 157 00:05:12,210 --> 00:05:14,520 For example, I used to work with the US military, 158 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,250 and they have something known as the DJC2. 159 00:05:17,250 --> 00:05:20,070 Now, the DJC2 is the Deployable Joint Command 160 00:05:20,070 --> 00:05:21,390 and Control system. 161 00:05:21,390 --> 00:05:22,680 This thing is actually an integrated 162 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:24,900 command and control headquarters that can be delivered 163 00:05:24,900 --> 00:05:27,630 anywhere in the world within about 72 hours. 164 00:05:27,630 --> 00:05:28,890 Now, once it gets on the ground, 165 00:05:28,890 --> 00:05:30,390 it takes them another 24 hours 166 00:05:30,390 --> 00:05:32,520 to start providing some functionality and services, 167 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:33,960 and then takes up to seven days 168 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:35,700 to provide full functionality and services 169 00:05:35,700 --> 00:05:37,290 for all of their users. 170 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:39,870 Now with the DJC2, it's actually made up of a series 171 00:05:39,870 --> 00:05:41,940 of tents and they have generators for power. 172 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:43,410 They bring portable air conditioning units 173 00:05:43,410 --> 00:05:44,670 to keep the servers cold. 174 00:05:44,670 --> 00:05:47,460 They bring in tables and chairs and phones and networks 175 00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:49,980 and laptops, and all the things you need to support 176 00:05:49,980 --> 00:05:53,340 up to 200 people inside of this large tent structure. 177 00:05:53,340 --> 00:05:56,310 For example, back in 2010, there was a major earthquake 178 00:05:56,310 --> 00:05:58,230 that hit the island nation of Haiti. 179 00:05:58,230 --> 00:06:01,500 Back then, the US military deployed one of these DJC2s there 180 00:06:01,500 --> 00:06:03,000 to act as a mobile command center 181 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,250 and run all the recovery operations. 182 00:06:05,250 --> 00:06:07,410 Now, the great thing about this type of mobile recovery site 183 00:06:07,410 --> 00:06:08,970 is that they are fully contained. 184 00:06:08,970 --> 00:06:10,290 They come with everything you need, 185 00:06:10,290 --> 00:06:11,910 including power, connectivity, 186 00:06:11,910 --> 00:06:14,640 and the technicians needed to run the entire thing. 187 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:17,040 So you may be wondering, which of these types of sites 188 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:18,133 should I use in my organization, 189 00:06:18,133 --> 00:06:21,510 a hot site, a warm site, a cold site, or a mobile site? 190 00:06:21,510 --> 00:06:24,030 Well, this is why senior managers need to be involved 191 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:26,400 in your business continuity plan creation process, 192 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,170 because sometimes you're going to choose one of these, 193 00:06:28,170 --> 00:06:29,940 or you might choose multiple of these, 194 00:06:29,940 --> 00:06:31,860 breaking them out for different business functions, 195 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:33,780 different scenarios or different timelines 196 00:06:33,780 --> 00:06:35,370 or different groups of users. 197 00:06:35,370 --> 00:06:37,050 Now, for example, in my company, 198 00:06:37,050 --> 00:06:39,390 we actually use a full hot site for our servers 199 00:06:39,390 --> 00:06:42,030 to ensure they are always up and operational at all times, 200 00:06:42,030 --> 00:06:44,610 but we don't use a full hot site for our employees. 201 00:06:44,610 --> 00:06:47,280 Instead, we have a small office and we allow and encourage 202 00:06:47,280 --> 00:06:48,960 telework in our organization. 203 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:50,970 So for the most part, most of my team members 204 00:06:50,970 --> 00:06:52,620 are working from their own home offices 205 00:06:52,620 --> 00:06:54,120 and not from our office building. 206 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:56,250 Since we've designed all of our technology to be able 207 00:06:56,250 --> 00:06:58,500 to support a fully remote workforce like this, 208 00:06:58,500 --> 00:07:00,720 it means that if one of their home offices loses power 209 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:03,510 or internet, we can simply put them into a local hotel room, 210 00:07:03,510 --> 00:07:05,730 and as long as they have internet and power in that hotel, 211 00:07:05,730 --> 00:07:06,720 they'll be able to reconnect 212 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:08,700 and get back to work right away. 213 00:07:08,700 --> 00:07:09,840 Now, in addition to all of that, 214 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:11,940 we also plan for potential power outages 215 00:07:11,940 --> 00:07:14,190 and internet outages at our offices 216 00:07:14,190 --> 00:07:15,900 because we have primary power being delivered 217 00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:18,660 by solar panels, then we have backup power for the times 218 00:07:18,660 --> 00:07:19,740 the sun isn't out. 219 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:21,390 Now, if we run out of battery power, 220 00:07:21,390 --> 00:07:23,580 we actually can go into our backup generators, 221 00:07:23,580 --> 00:07:26,010 and we also have a connection back to the local power grid, 222 00:07:26,010 --> 00:07:28,770 and we can also pull power from there too if we need to. 223 00:07:28,770 --> 00:07:31,020 So for internet connectivity we do the same kind of thing 224 00:07:31,020 --> 00:07:32,820 as well by having redundancies. 225 00:07:32,820 --> 00:07:35,460 In fact, we have three different connections to our offices. 226 00:07:35,460 --> 00:07:37,530 The first one is a microwave link that gives us 227 00:07:37,530 --> 00:07:39,360 high speed uploads and downloads. 228 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:41,340 If that fails, we have a redundant connection 229 00:07:41,340 --> 00:07:43,140 from a local cable company that provides 230 00:07:43,140 --> 00:07:45,690 high speed downloads but slower uploads. 231 00:07:45,690 --> 00:07:47,160 Now, if both of those options fail, 232 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:48,420 we have a third connection, 233 00:07:48,420 --> 00:07:50,370 and this is actually a cellular modem backup 234 00:07:50,370 --> 00:07:52,650 that provides about 20 megabits per second of service 235 00:07:52,650 --> 00:07:54,270 for uploads and downloads. 236 00:07:54,270 --> 00:07:56,070 By layering our internet connectivity as part 237 00:07:56,070 --> 00:07:57,630 of our business continuity planning, 238 00:07:57,630 --> 00:07:59,880 we know that our expected response and downtime 239 00:07:59,880 --> 00:08:01,950 would be for a primary internet connection failure, 240 00:08:01,950 --> 00:08:03,810 for example, and then we know we can shift 241 00:08:03,810 --> 00:08:05,790 to a secondary one in just a few seconds 242 00:08:05,790 --> 00:08:08,820 or a third one in a few seconds after that if needed. 243 00:08:08,820 --> 00:08:10,410 Now, up to this point, we've talked about 244 00:08:10,410 --> 00:08:11,910 four main types of sites. 245 00:08:11,910 --> 00:08:14,040 We've talked about hot sites, warm sites, 246 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:15,810 cold sites, and mobile sites. 247 00:08:15,810 --> 00:08:17,550 But recently, we also have to introduce 248 00:08:17,550 --> 00:08:20,760 a fifth type of site which is known as a virtual site. 249 00:08:20,760 --> 00:08:22,680 Now, a virtual site represents a modern 250 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:24,390 and highly flexible approach to implementing 251 00:08:24,390 --> 00:08:27,240 redundant site strategies by offering various alternatives 252 00:08:27,240 --> 00:08:29,640 for hot sites, warm sites, and cold sites 253 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,800 within a cloud-based environment. 254 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:33,690 In a cloud-based redundant site setup, 255 00:08:33,690 --> 00:08:35,580 organizations can leverage the scalability 256 00:08:35,580 --> 00:08:37,860 and availability of cloud computing platforms 257 00:08:37,860 --> 00:08:39,990 to ensure their continuity of operations. 258 00:08:39,990 --> 00:08:42,630 A virtual hot site in this context would involve 259 00:08:42,630 --> 00:08:45,090 a fully replicated and instantly accessible environment 260 00:08:45,090 --> 00:08:47,310 in the cloud that's ready to take over in the event 261 00:08:47,310 --> 00:08:49,260 of a failure at your primary site. 262 00:08:49,260 --> 00:08:52,260 A virtual warm site may entail having partially replicated 263 00:08:52,260 --> 00:08:54,570 resources and data that could be quickly scaled up 264 00:08:54,570 --> 00:08:56,460 to full functionality if needed, 265 00:08:56,460 --> 00:08:59,190 and a virtual cold site could involve storing critical data 266 00:08:59,190 --> 00:09:00,750 and configurations in the cloud, 267 00:09:00,750 --> 00:09:02,970 but activating resources only in response 268 00:09:02,970 --> 00:09:05,160 to a disaster in order to minimize your ongoing 269 00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:06,480 operational costs. 270 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:08,910 The use of these virtual sites in the cloud does offer us 271 00:09:08,910 --> 00:09:11,760 with the advantage of rapid scalability, cost effectiveness, 272 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:12,990 and easy maintenance. 273 00:09:12,990 --> 00:09:15,030 And all of this makes them attractive options 274 00:09:15,030 --> 00:09:16,860 for organizations that are aiming to enhance 275 00:09:16,860 --> 00:09:18,960 their disaster recovery capabilities. 276 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:20,550 Now, the final thing we need to discuss 277 00:09:20,550 --> 00:09:22,050 as a redundant site consideration 278 00:09:22,050 --> 00:09:24,000 is the use of platform diversity. 279 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:26,640 Platform diversity is a critical aspect of designing 280 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,550 and implementing effective virtual redundant sites. 281 00:09:29,550 --> 00:09:31,740 By diversifying the type of operating systems, 282 00:09:31,740 --> 00:09:34,020 networking equipment and cloud platform providers 283 00:09:34,020 --> 00:09:35,640 that are going to be used for redundancy, 284 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:37,530 your organization can mitigate the risk 285 00:09:37,530 --> 00:09:38,700 of a single point of failure 286 00:09:38,700 --> 00:09:40,830 in their disaster recovery strategy. 287 00:09:40,830 --> 00:09:42,930 For example, if you wanted to have cloud provider 288 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:45,030 platform diversity, this could involve spreading 289 00:09:45,030 --> 00:09:47,730 our resources across multiple cloud service providers 290 00:09:47,730 --> 00:09:50,580 or across different regions within the same provider 291 00:09:50,580 --> 00:09:52,710 to ensure that a failure or outage in one platform 292 00:09:52,710 --> 00:09:54,660 or area of the world doesn't compromise 293 00:09:54,660 --> 00:09:56,430 the entire redundant site. 294 00:09:56,430 --> 00:09:58,380 This approach does enhance the resilience 295 00:09:58,380 --> 00:10:00,360 and reduces the likelihood of downtime 296 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,340 due to a cloud specific issue. 297 00:10:02,340 --> 00:10:05,310 Moreover, platform diversity also allows your organization 298 00:10:05,310 --> 00:10:07,770 to leverage its unique features, pricing structures, 299 00:10:07,770 --> 00:10:10,170 and geographic reach of your different cloud providers 300 00:10:10,170 --> 00:10:12,750 in order to optimize your disaster recovery strategy 301 00:10:12,750 --> 00:10:14,850 to meet your specific business needs. 302 00:10:14,850 --> 00:10:17,550 Using cloud platform diversity is a strategic move 303 00:10:17,550 --> 00:10:19,260 that helps to ensure greater reliability 304 00:10:19,260 --> 00:10:22,200 and adaptability in the face of unexpected disruptions 305 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:24,840 while making the implementation of virtual redundant sites 306 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:27,120 even more robust and resilient. 307 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,640 Now, another type of platform diversity is going to involve 308 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:30,960 using different operating systems 309 00:10:30,960 --> 00:10:33,990 or types of network infrastructure at your redundant sites 310 00:10:33,990 --> 00:10:35,910 than you would at your primary site. 311 00:10:35,910 --> 00:10:38,040 For example, if your primary site uses 312 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:40,830 a Cisco based network, your redundant site might choose 313 00:10:40,830 --> 00:10:42,810 to use a different router and switch provider. 314 00:10:42,810 --> 00:10:45,870 But why you might ask, doesn't that just complicate things? 315 00:10:45,870 --> 00:10:48,300 Well, if you're using the same equipment in both sites, 316 00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:49,860 you're going to have an easier time supporting it 317 00:10:49,860 --> 00:10:51,840 and running the network because they are identical 318 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:54,240 in nature, which is great because all your technicians 319 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:55,740 already have that skillset. 320 00:10:55,740 --> 00:10:57,750 But if a major vulnerability existed 321 00:10:57,750 --> 00:10:59,610 that attacked all Cisco-based networks, 322 00:10:59,610 --> 00:11:02,190 it could also attack your hot sites network too 323 00:11:02,190 --> 00:11:04,830 and now you don't have your redundant site available. 324 00:11:04,830 --> 00:11:07,350 But if you're using a different platform on your hot site, 325 00:11:07,350 --> 00:11:09,510 it's going to remain immune to this type of vulnerability 326 00:11:09,510 --> 00:11:10,590 and attack. 327 00:11:10,590 --> 00:11:12,780 Again, this is something that you and your senior 328 00:11:12,780 --> 00:11:15,630 decision makers are going to weigh the risks and the rewards 329 00:11:15,630 --> 00:11:17,010 to determine what makes the most sense 330 00:11:17,010 --> 00:11:18,210 for your organization. 331 00:11:18,210 --> 00:11:19,830 Should you have platform diversity 332 00:11:19,830 --> 00:11:22,470 and the more complex configurations and support it requires, 333 00:11:22,470 --> 00:11:24,660 or should you just use the same operating systems 334 00:11:24,660 --> 00:11:26,790 and equipment across all of your redundant sites 335 00:11:26,790 --> 00:11:28,380 because it makes it easier to support 336 00:11:28,380 --> 00:11:30,240 and gives you lower maintenance costs? 337 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:31,860 Either of these can be the right answer 338 00:11:31,860 --> 00:11:34,080 depending on your specific situation. 339 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:35,970 So remember, when it comes to determining 340 00:11:35,970 --> 00:11:38,070 which type of redundant site you should use, 341 00:11:38,070 --> 00:11:40,350 you should not only just consider your tech stack, 342 00:11:40,350 --> 00:11:41,580 but you also need to think about 343 00:11:41,580 --> 00:11:42,810 where you are going to put your people 344 00:11:42,810 --> 00:11:44,040 and where they're going to be able to work, 345 00:11:44,040 --> 00:11:46,170 as well as how you're going to support them for the long term 346 00:11:46,170 --> 00:11:48,180 as you attempt to continue your operations 347 00:11:48,180 --> 00:11:49,680 and serve your customers. 348 00:11:49,680 --> 00:11:51,600 Continuity of operations refers to the ability 349 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,850 of an organization to maintain essential functions 350 00:11:53,850 --> 00:11:56,070 and services in the event of a disruption. 351 00:11:56,070 --> 00:11:57,840 A hot site is going to be one that includes 352 00:11:57,840 --> 00:11:59,790 a fully equipped backup facility, 353 00:11:59,790 --> 00:12:02,250 where a warm site will have partially equipped backups, 354 00:12:02,250 --> 00:12:04,470 and a cold site will be locations without equipment 355 00:12:04,470 --> 00:12:05,880 that is readily available. 356 00:12:05,880 --> 00:12:07,530 And finally, remember that it's important 357 00:12:07,530 --> 00:12:10,020 that you also consider to use geographic dispersion 358 00:12:10,020 --> 00:12:12,750 to help spread out your resources across different locations 359 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:15,250 so you can create higher levels of redundancy too.