Tag: disaster recovery

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CASE HISTORY: DISASTER RECOVERY FOR CHEFLINE.IT

Post author By 8quip
Post date 4 October 2019

CASE HISTORY: DISASTER RECOVERY FOR CHEFLINE.IT

Customized Disaster Recovery on 2 data centers and re-design of Cloud infrastructure for high-volumes of users at the same time.

This case history is dedicated to Dynamica srl, agency which takes care of e-commerce websites, and to the Disaster Recovery solution realized by our team for its customer. Chefline.it is specialised in the online provision of foodservice equipment with extremely competitive prices. The company works with business partner and vendors of the highest-level. The firm provides food equipments to restaurants, bars, hotels, pizzerias, ice cream parlors and in general for the small and medium-sized companies in the field of food distribution in Italy and Europe, with products that meet the diverse needs of each business.

The business needs of our client
Chefline.it needed a Disaster Recovery solution to protect corporate data and ensure the continuity of service.
The challenge
Dynamica srl came to us because it was looking for a technological partner for its customer Chefline, able to offer the maximum uptime of service through the solution provided.
The solution
Criticalcase has managed to provide a solution which complied the demands of Chefline, by offering a customized Disaster Recovery service based on 2 data centers that ensures continuity of service and SLA next to 100%.

Criticalcase has completed the analysis of the customer’s business needs and a preliminary consulting to design the best solution of Disaster recovery for Chefline.it, with the aim to protect corporate data and keep the website online, even in case of downtimes. As first step, the agency Dynamica carried out the migration of the e-commerce site Chefline.it on our infrastructure. Then, because of the strong growth of the business and the purchase of advertising slots for high-volume campaigns, the client developed the need to modify the infrastructure to adjust it to new traffic volumes. Our team made a re-design of the architecture to ensure the continuity of service even with many users at the same time. In addition, our experts provided a customized consulting to Chefline developers for the optimization of e-commerce site’s code in order to get the best web performance.

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Tags cloud computing, disaster recovery

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3 DATA BREACH HORROR STORIES

Post author By 8quip
Post date 9 May 2019

3 DATA BREACH HORROR STORIES

Surely you’ve heard about Data Breach and you already have an idea about its impact on business. Of course, stories you’ve heard make noise because talk about big corporations and scary numbers. For instance, it is estimated that a data breach cost more than $3 millions to a company.

But we need to be very clear about one thing: 43% of businesses shut down after a significant corporate data loss, both big or small-medium sized company.

Today we want tell you some stories about what means suffering a data loss for a business and how it can happen.

1. Toy Story 2 – (Almost) disaster

Talking about horror stories on relevant data loss, the epic fail of Pixar with “Toy Story 2” is on the top of our list. During the production, a line of code somehow deletes almost 90% of the movie. All Toy Story’s backups were recorded on tapes. But unfortunately, the Pixar didn’t test the system as they should and they notice that backups were broken only when they tried to restore data. Something went wrong with the tapes and all files were lost. The deadline for the release was extremely close and the Company just have a months old version of the file tree.

But the Pixar got lucky. One Company’s employee was working from home and have saved some movie’s copies on his personal computer a few weeks before. This way, the Pixar can restore all data and the movie was saved. Just one human error could cost the Pixar its reputation and an entire movie that eventually went on to gross nearly $500M and an Oscar nomination.

2. The Government is no exception

Stories about data loss are not necessarily outdated. Just a few years ago (2014, to be exact), when Cloud Computing and Disaster Recovery systems were already popular, the State Department of USA showed to the world how bad things could get without a Disaster Recovery plan.

A software patch update crashed the State Department’s Passports and Visa system, affecting over 200.000 travellers worldwide. When the system was down it was impossible to check any passport or Visa. The State Department have made the data backups but the system itself was not protected against that kind of incidents.

3. A short story of failure: Ma.gnolia

Remember when I said that 43% of companies go under after a significant data loss? Well, Ma.gonlia is one of them. Even if you may be don’t remember it, Ma.gnolia was a bookmark sharing website which works pretty good until 2009. Users could bookmark a website for a later view, both publicly and privately, without any need of local save. That means that users can access to their websites from any device. The company suffered a huge data loss which compromise the entire bookmarking system and user accounts. Althought the several expensive attempts to recover all data and save the business, the situation was really bad and Ma.gnolia had to shut down.

Better to be safe than sorry!

Longer your systems are down, more you pay your employees to sit down and wait. In addition, you will bring in less revenue because of the downtime. Data loss can hit any business in any moment, so it’s good to be well-prepared. If you really care about your business and you want to defend it from data loss with the proper Backup & Disaster Recovery measures, we can help you!

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Tags business, business continuity, cloud backup, disaster recovery

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WHY YOU CAN’T HELP BUT MAKE A GOOD PLAN OF DISASTER RECOVERY

Post author By 8quip
Post date 6 November 2018

WHY YOU CAN’T HELP BUT MAKE A GOOD PLAN OF DISASTER RECOVERY

Starting point? A correct risk analysis.

For companies that, like us, base their business on the internet connection availability, having a good plan of Disaster Recovery is crucial, not to say indispensable. A customized Disaster Recovery project has the aim to ensure the business continuity even in the presence of negative events which could generate significant downtimes and more or less serious damages to the company and to its customers. The first step to define a good Disaster Recovery plan is to make a correct risk analysis, which is able to identify all the vulnerabilities in the corporate system and to establish their value. The analysis includes a risk evaluation connected to an event and the definition of the seriousness of the consequences of such event.

Once the risks have been identified, the Disaster Recovery plan will establish a series of specific procedures aiming to prevent emerging issues and, if the accident can’t be avoided, to react rapidly during the crisis. In particular, security measures of a Disaster Recovery plan are grouped in 4 categories:

measures of protection: have the purpose of decrease the likelihood of the event happening
measures of mitigation: are to minimize the seriousness of the event once it has occurred
activities of recovery: all the activities necessary to restart systems and processes after the accident
emergency plan: planning of processes to be activated during the emergency, if the situation calls for it

What kind of risks a company which works with internet can be exposed to, whose primary activity always depends on the service availability? Let’s see some practical examples.

Risk: broken phone service, the switchboard can not be reached and the customers can not contact the technical support, nor administration or business departments.
Countermeasure: select a telephone operator which can transfer the calls to another line, for instance a mobile one

Risk: broken internet line with consequent impossible connections outward
Countermeasure: installation of a firewall to manage two different data lines with two different providers (and technologies), which are not active on the same network

Risk: data center blackout with consequent downtime
Countermeasure: implementation of resource monitoring systems in the data center

Is it possible to build a zero-risk system?

The answer is no, is not possible to create a system free from any possible failure, but with a good plan of Disaster Recovery you can minimize the possibility of accidents and rapidly restore critical data and processes with an excellent security-cost ratio. Indeed, only one day of downtime can cost to a firm much more than implement a proper Disaster Recovery plan. Just think about the British Airline case: a power outage caused 170 million euros worth of damage to the airline company.

Still without a plan of Disaster Recovery for your business? Find out our custom DR solutions and reserve now a free consulting with our specialists!

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Tags disaster recovery

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DISASTER RECOVERY VS BUSINESS CONTINUITY: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Post author By 8quip
Post date 4 April 2018

DISASTER RECOVERY VS BUSINESS CONTINUITY: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Are Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity two terms referring to the same service?

In the last post we talked a lot about Disaster Recovery solutions, but probably some of you still has a doubt: what is the difference between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity? The Disaster Recovery concept is often associated to Business Continuity. What is the link between the two terms? Do they refer to the same service? The answer is no, they are different solutions, but interconnected. Now we’ll see in details the differences between the two solutions.

Disaster Recovery is a service indicating all the technical measures useful to manage a possible disaster which could hit the business information system and which could be generated from different causes: natural disasters as floods or earthquakes, human errors, thefts or hacking. The Disaster Recovery plan firstly lays down what are the critical processes for the company, naming which of them must be better protected and monitored. It defines the RTO and RPO parameters (recovery times and affordable level of data loss) according to the needs of each company and it plans the actions to take for the complete and fast restore of systems, data and applications in the case of accidents.

Business Continuity, instead, relates to a global solution which includes all the procedures and processes that have the purpose of assuring the business operation continuity and avoid the interruption of activities, either they are caused by IT downtimes or other events, as for instance legal accidents or failures due to the lack of the staff. In particular, a Business Continuity plan identifies the procedures to be followed:

-at the strategic level, by finding the processes for a timely and effective management of possible critical events in the future that could threaten the company’s survival
-at the tactical level, how to coordinate actions and referents involved in these activities with the aim of ensuring the operational continuity
-at the operative level, by specifying all the passages to be followed in the case of emergency

The purpose of Business Continuity strategy is to minimize the interruption of activities and its consequent damages, as well as assure the effectiveness of recovery procedures. Each plan of business Continuity is different and high-customized according to the kind of business and its particular requirements.

What is the difference between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity?

Disaster Recovery solution is linked to technical measures which have the aim of rapidly recover the IT field activities and it is a part of the wider Business Continuity strategy. Indeed, Business Continuity has to assure the firm’s global survival in the case of disasters and it includes not only the protection of IT system but the safeguard of all the business essential functions continuity. The Business Continuity strategy counts all the possible events which could threaten the company’s life and it is useful even with minor interruptions of activities. In addition, it is able to provide an overall strategic vision to increase the resilience of business and the competitiveness on the market.

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Tags business, business continuity, disaster recovery

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8 BENEFITS OF DISASTER RECOVERY FOR BUSINESS

Post author By 8quip
Post date 23 March 2018

8 VANTAGGI DEL DISASTER RECOVERY PER IL BUSINESS

Why use a Disaster Recovery solution?

Since last week we have been talking about Disaster Recovery, an essential solution to protect data and business information systems from possible disaster, as natural events, human errors, hacking, thefts or other incidents. We have shortly defined the Disaster Recovery service and we have seen how it works and what are the parameters to be defined to make the solution as effective as possible.

Today we will talk about the concrete benefits of Disaster Recovery for companies. We have seen that a DR has the main aim of protecting business data and systems, but how? What benefits can the implementation of a DR solution assure? We have identified 8 benefits of Disaster Recovery for companies:

1. Drastic reduction of restore times and lower RTO & RPO
Thanks to Disaster Recovery solution you have the warranty of restore systems, services and applications in short times and get significantly lower RTO and RPO. According to the parameters defined from DR plan, you could drastically reduce restore times on the basis of your needs, which would be completely impossible without using a Disaster Recovery solution.

2. Limit the losses due to revenue reduction or other costs
By reducing restore times of business information systems, you can limit the losses not only in terms of revenues, but even related to, for example, costs for possible damage caused by downtime and management or technical assistance expenditure.

3. Minimize the interruption of Critical Processes and safeguard business operations
Each company has critical processes that must be always active and are vital for the business continuity. Through a Disaster REcovery solution these kinds of processes will be preserved and possible interructions minimized, by allowing a short resume to operations.

4. Avoid to compromise the business reputation
As shortly said in the last posts, downtimes caused by unexpected incidents seriously threaten the firms’ reputation. A short recovery avoid to compromise the business strength as well as to cause irreversible damage to the corporate image.

5. Define symplified processes of action to face unexpected situations and predict a controlled resume to operations
Thanks to a detailed plan of Disaster Recovery, any action of intervention in case of emergency will be planned previously, by allowing a short restoration, controlled in all its stages.

6. Granular management
The DR solution enables to manage replications in a granular way (wich means restoration of data at file level or even smaller units), with tha aim of assuring a complete recovery of data and services.

7. No impact on performance
Replication of business infrastructure on one or more Disaster Recovery sites ensure no impact on performance. Indeed, thanks to the activation of Disaster Recovery, systems are constantly online.

8. Control and custmization of your own Disaster Recovery
Tha last benefit we talk about is the chance to customize and monitor your own Disaster Recovery. With the personalization of DR solutions, you can choose the replication frequency and establish the best recovery times for your business. In addition, you can control constantly your Disaster Recovery site.

Do you want to know more about our Disaster Recovery solutions? Reserve a free consulting with our experts!

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Tags business continuity, disaster recovery

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DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT ARE RPO AND RTO

Post author By 8quip
Post date 19 March 2018

DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT ARE RPO AND RTO

In the last post we introduced the topic of Disaster Recovery, an essential solution to protect companies from unpredictable incidents, as natural disaster, human errors, thefts, hacker attacks. Today we will see better how a Disaster Recovery solution works and what are RPO and RTO, two important parameters to assure the service’s efficiency and the system recovery.

First of all, how does a Disaster Recovery solution work?

Companies, especially online firms (but not only them!), safeguard a precious treasure: data. Once you lose all the information, if you don’t have the chance to recover them, you could take high risks and close the doors of your business very soon.

As well as data loss, the interruption of operations could cause huge money losses and could destabilize the business in the eyes of its customers. Imagine an e-commerce website: what will happen if the site was not online for a length of time? Users will immediately abandon the shop and, unless they are very loyal clients, they will rarely come back to complete any purchase. Therefore, in addition to the impact on the revenues, there are long-term negative consequences.

To avoid these problems you can implement a Disaster Recovery solution, customized according to the needs of your business and that includes specific RPO and RTO, concepts we’re going to talk about in a few lines.

Implementing a Disaster Recovery means performing a replication of business systems and data on another site, in short copying the informative system on another physical or virtual machine, that will intervene in case of a possible disaster, ensuring the continuity of operating activities and the recovery of data, systems and applications.

One of the basic personalization of Disaster Recovery is the definition of precise RPO and RTO. As mentioned above, they are two essential parameters for the DR effectiveness and the incompleteness of these parameters could extend the disaster impact. Once you define these metrics, you can choose the better solution of Disaster Recovery for your business.

RPO (Recovery Point Objective): how much data can I afford to lose?
RPO is the metric indicating the time which passes between the last replication and the happening of the disaster. Obviously, is linked to the replication frequency of systems, more frequent means fewer data lost.
RTO (Recovery Time Objective): how much is the time requested to go back online?
Instead, the concept of RTO refers to the time which passes between the disaster and the complete recovery of systems. For instance, if I cannot afford even a minute of downtime, my RTO will be zero.

According to the value attributed to these parameters it will be chosen a particular Disaster Recovery solution so as to respect the timing and objectives defined in the action plan.

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Tags disaster recovery

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DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT IS IT AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT

Post author By 8quip
Post date 14 March 2018

DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT IS IT AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT

Have you ever heard about Disaster Recovery?

Let’s start from a simple definition. “Disaster Recovery (DR) involves a set of policies, tools and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster. Disaster recovery focuses on the IT or technology systems supporting critical business functions.”

Did you know that every year 1 on 5 companies it is afflicted by a disaster?

Disaster means different kinds of events, from natural ones as heart quakes, fires or floods, to hacker attacks or physical attacks (for instance, thefts), to downtimes of IT systems to a wide range of failures caused by human errors. In particular, human error is the leading cause of disaster for firms, reaching an impact of 23%.

And did you know that after a disaster 60% of companies fails within 6 months? According to insights, the interruption of business operations and the loss of corporate data implies huge losses of money, as well as a negative business reputation. In the worst cases, it can drastically compromise the future of a company, forcing more than half of the firms to close their doors after a failure.

To protect the future of your business there is an efficient solution: a Disaster Recovery plan. It is a plan that defines the possible levels of disasters and identifies systems and applications vulnerabilities, by finding which are more or less essential to safe a business life. The DR plan determines a number of security measures and plans the actions to be taken in case of emergency. It includes preventive measures, namely controls that have the aim of preventing a specific event, investigative measures, likely to detect undesired events and corrective measures, that is to say controls to correct or effectively restore systems after a disruption.

The Disaster Recovery is an important solution to protect companies from casual accidents and it can be customized according to the needs of each business. In the next post we will see how a DR works, what are its particular benefits and what kind of solutions are available on the market, so stay tuned!

Do you want to know more about Disaster Recovery? Reserve a free consulting with our specialists!

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Tags business, disaster recovery

CASE HISTORY: DISASTER RECOVERY FOR CHEFLINE.IT

Customized Disaster Recovery on 2 data centers and re-design of Cloud infrastructure for high-volumes of users at the same time.

Contact us

3 DATA BREACH HORROR STORIES

1. Toy Story 2 – (Almost) disaster

2. The Government is no exception

3. A short story of failure: Ma.gnolia

Better to be safe than sorry!

Contact us

WHY YOU CAN’T HELP BUT MAKE A GOOD PLAN OF DISASTER RECOVERY

Starting point? A correct risk analysis.

Is it possible to build a zero-risk system?

Contact us

DISASTER RECOVERY VS BUSINESS CONTINUITY: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?

Are Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity two terms referring to the same service?

What is the difference between Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity?

Contact us

8 VANTAGGI DEL DISASTER RECOVERY PER IL BUSINESS

Why use a Disaster Recovery solution?

Contact us

DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT ARE RPO AND RTO

First of all, how does a Disaster Recovery solution work?

Contact us

DISASTER RECOVERY: WHAT IS IT AND WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT

Have you ever heard about Disaster Recovery?

Did you know that every year 1 on 5 companies it is afflicted by a disaster?

Contact us

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