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Houston, We have a... Solution? Preparation is key to disaster recovery

Data Recovery News

Extensive training and experience with complex systems is necessary to become an IT manager responsible for data backup and recovery, a complicated job demanding a great deal of focus, attention to detail and ability to handle the unexpected. With the growing complexity of today's storage environment, an IT manager has numerous options for backup infrastructure and storage solutions - and seemingly just as many potential causes of data loss to guard against. From power outages to viruses, rolling disasters to faulty hardware, there are countless factors to consider when building a company's backup system. One might jokingly say it takes a rocket scientist to navigate the options -in reality such a statement may not be too far off. Although an IT manager has a highly complex job, can it really be compared to the job of an astronaut?

Training for the Job

NASA astronauts must complete a mind-boggling amount of training before participating in a single mission. According NASA's "selection and training" Web page, candidates must attend numerous classes in basic science and technology: mathematics, geology, meteorology, guidance and navigation, oceanography, orbital dynamics, astronomy, physics and materials processing.

Following classroom work astronauts begin learning the operations of each Orbiter subsystem, training in complex Shuttle Mission Simulators (SMS) to learn shuttle vehicle operations and systems tasks associated with the major flight phases. Crewmembers spend as many as eight hours a day in simulators rehearsing every part of their mission - in fact over their careers they spend much more time in simulators than in space.

IT professionals likewise spend hundreds of hours to attain their degrees and learn how to establish and manage their networks. Although still not quite an "apples to apples" comparison, the similarity becomes more apparent moving beyond training to job preparation. While IT pros are not readying themselves for a space mission, like astronauts they must prepare for the unexpected.

Learning how to prepare

Documentation of astronaut training continually stresses the problem-solving regimen to prepare astronauts for all possible emergencies. SMS instructors play "devil's advocate" roles, devising systems failures or other scenarios to which astronaut crews and flight teams must react. In fact, there are about 6,800 malfunction simulations instructors can access. Regarding their simulator training as valuable preparation for actual flights, trainees generally prefer to experience as many scenarios as possible.

Such a high level of preparation ultimately pays off. Although actual missions will have far fewer contingencies than rehearsed, astronauts regularly note their training accurately duplicated the space experience and prepared them well for the difficulties encountered. This is key to understanding why missions are successful and why the job of being an astronaut is usually seen as extremely difficult: because astronauts have seen and experienced it all, they are always prepared. This type of thinking also helps to prepare them for new problems or predicaments not yet experienced.

What does this have to do with IT pros and how they backup their systems? The best IT people are trained to think exactly the same way as astronauts. With the complexities of today's systems, it is not enough to simply establish a backup plan and hope it works when a crisis hits. Responsible managers should constantly test their systems to ensure their backups' integrity won't be called into question when needed in an emergency. They should put their backup system under intense scrutiny - testing not only against "common" problems like corrupt data, hardware malfunctions and software failure - but also emergency situations that reveal just how prepared their company is for a data disaster.

Realistically it's almost impossible to prepare for every type of data loss problem- systems are too complex with too much data to protect. Even if IT managers prepare like astronauts and test their systems against every known problem, there are still catastrophes that can crash a system and leave the network administrator lost and helpless - things no one has seen yet, lurking in the shadows, ready to destroy data and put businesses at risk.

Thinking ahead = Being protected

With the complexity of today's data backup and storage environment, how can one prepare for the unforeseen? The simple solution is to establish a relationship with a data recovery company - one with a proven track record of handling difficult situations and providing great results - since it's become a question of when, not if, data loss will occur. Especially in today's business environment where company's' systems are often interconnected and some factors of the backup scenario are out of the administrator's control. While a system can handle some problems, many will be beyond its means. Even with annual storage and backup improvements, data recovery is growing in importance. As data (graphics, voice, video, email, faxes, documents, etc.) increasingly digitizes, a company cannot simply clean the slate (reinitialize volumes) or turn back the clock (restore from last backup) when faced with a difficult situation. Rather than depending on chance and wasting precious time in an emergency, calling a trusted data recovery company ensures the problem is addressed with the best technology and recovery solutions available.

Despite the similarities, clearly there are obvious training and preparation differences between NASA and a company's IT staff. Because it would be prohibitively expensive for companies to train their IT staffs like NASA astronauts, most do not explore such an option. NASA, conversely, does not have the option to dispatch a recovery team to outer space for every emergency - they must train their operators for every conceivable situation. Having such a choice as a result of their preparation is an advantage of companies doing business down here on earth. If catastrophe strikes and servers go down, they can dispatch a data recovery team to their server room or work with data recovery engineers for a remote recovery. Relying on a data recovery company when the need arises is a much more cost-effective solution to the problem.

It's a data recovery company's responsibility to think up the most unlikely causes of data loss and be prepared with answers when they actually occur to ensure a company is protected. After all angles have been reviewed and the best possible backup plan has been established, the data recovery company must protect against unexpected problems as a means to prepare for the worst. Data recovery engineers are routinely called into situations where seemingly every possible solution has been attempted. It's their job to discover a way out of the problem, no matter what happened leading up to the data loss. Just like trained astronauts, data loss engineers have seen and experienced it all, preparing them to deal with the unexpected and provide a happy ending for a company in crisis.

When creating a backup system to protect a company's data, be sure to train like an astronaut and test the system against every problem imaginable... and take it a step further by working with a data recovery company for those unanticipated problems.