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In such a dynamic field as IT, it is important to keep up with the current knowledge and techniques employed by others in the industry. The resources listed below reflect some state-of-the-art techniques and knowledge employed by seasoned AIX, Linux, and Solaris administrators in disaster recovery.

• Linux administration is a complex topic, and with new knowledge being produced 24/7, it can be difficult to keep up. NixCraft is an excellent resource full of “tips, hacks, tutorials, and ideas.” Their FAQ section is especially useful when running into a specific problem.
• Sometimes, a backup is not necessary for certain files, and archival is the desired solution. In this case, IBM has an excellent support article on managing archive data on Solaris. It specifically touches on optimizing read/write and storage performance.
• AIX disaster recovery should not be implemented after the fact. This article on AIX disaster recovery at IBM developerWorks provides tips on resolving resource conflicts that typically occur during a disaster recovery.
• Forrester research has compiled a whitepaper (available courtesy of Continuity Insights) on Maximizing Data Center Investments for Disaster Recovery and Business Resiliency. This paper outlines techniques for disaster recovery and how to make the most out of your data centers.
• No matter what your disaster recovery plan, good data center design can help mitigate the need to enact it. Northwestern University has made available a whitepaper by Gartner, Inc. that outlines the best practices to design data center facilities.

If you're interested in Storix's SBAdmin bare-metal recovery technology check us out on online, or call us at (619) 543-0200.

This Is Cool! Linux Command Reference App for iOS!

Even the best system administrators will periodically forget a command or its syntax from time to time. In high-stress situations, such as when facilitating Linux disaster recovery, it is significantly easier to have the necessary command be just out of reach. In these situations, it is critical to remember the syntax of commands to restore your Linux backup.

The Linux Command Reference iPhone app can be extremely helpful whether you are not entirely familiar with Linux as a whole or are operating on tight time constraints. Dan Uff from Connecting People Software Co. presents this app to provide users “access to the most widely used Linux commands to date.”

If you know the terminal, then Storix’s Adaptable System Recovery products can help you restore your bare-metal backups to nearly any hardware configuration. To learn more, visit us on the Web or call us at (619) 543-0200.

We're at Orace OpenWorld today! Check Us Out On the Live Webcast!

Storix will be participating in a live webcast at Oracle OpenWorld this morning at 10:30am PST.  Click here to watch the live Oracle OpenWorld webcast.

if you're wanting to keep up with Orace OpenWorld on Twitter use the hashtag #oow11.

Understanding the Problem with Most System Backups

Companies that rely heavily on their AIX, Linux, or Solaris systems usually have a backup system in place. For some of these companies, downtime can cost thousands of dollars per hour. However, the AIX, Linux, or Solaris disaster recovery solutions these companies implement usually do not minimize downtime. Here are the pros and cons of some of the more common solutions:

Image Backups:

These involve taking a byte-for-byte duplicate of the data on the partition, disk, or RAID and then storing it on external media. Solaris administrators commonly use flasharchive. AIX and UNIX use mksysb, while Linux backups require commercial utilities.

• Pros: Image backups allow restoration of an entire operating system, patches, applications, and data.
• Cons: Image backups require the exact same hardware, which can be a problem if the AIX, Solaris, or Linux disaster recovery plans did not include keeping duplicate hardware. Also, image backups cannot restore individual files

File Backups:

A file backup will only back up individual files and folders deemed important or irreplaceable. Typically, the operating system, patches, and applications are not backed up.

• Pros: This allows for the restoration of individual files and folders, which is potentially faster than an image backup.
• Cons: File backups, in case of total system failure, require reinstallation of operating system, patches, applications, and so forth.

Both of the above work best in certain scenarios, but are by no means a comprehensive solution. This is where flexible bare-metal backup applies. Flexible bare-metal backups rebuild a system from the ground up, including the operating system, patches, applications, and files. This solution is not hardware-dependent, so the backup can be restored to an entirely different system than the original.

The Storix solution for Solaris, Linux, and AIX disaster recovery, SBAdmin, utilizes this last solution. SBAdmin is fully capable of not only bare-metal disaster recovery, but also provisioning and cloning, hardware migration, and storage migration. To learn more, visit us online or call (619) 543-0200.

Understanding the World of UNIX Disaster Recovery

While UNIX disaster recovery is a well-explored topic, not all companies take heed of the importance of a tested, competent plan. For an understanding of the importance of disaster recovery, look to some of this nation’s worst disasters: 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.  During these events, some companies’ planning showed major shortcomings, while other companies succeeded in overcoming the obstacles through well-planned, functional disaster recovery plans.

The attacks on September 11th, 2001 were horrific acts designed not only to destroy human life, but also to do damage to the U.S. economy. American Express Bank’s primary data center was completely destroyed when WTC7 collapsed. Less than 24 hours later, however, their services were running again with no data loss. Within 36 hours, they had cleared their transaction backlog and were fully operational.

When Hurricane Katrina made landfall on August 29th, 2005, New Orleans sustained severe damage and devastation during the storm and in its aftermath. While many companies experienced downtime that lasted weeks, a few well-prepared New Orleans-based companies without redundant data centers elsewhere still managed to return to capacity within six hours.

What differentiated the companies who recovered and those who did not? The companies who recovered did not overlook AIX, Solaris, or Linux disaster recovery plans.  While such large-scale recovery plans are not necessarily appropriate for all businesses, these core lessons can be taken away:

• Rapid deployment plans for replacement hardware is essential. Whether it is always kept on-hand or is readily able to be purchased, Linux, Solaris, and AIX disaster recovery relies on being able to rapidly replace failed hardware.
• Don’t overlook the importance of redundant power sources. Power outages can occur even in areas that are not disaster-prone. Having a backup generator greatly reduces the impact of such events.
• Similarly, a redundant Internet connection is a must.  Even guaranteed 99.99% uptime connections go down. A connection from another provider can mitigate the effects.
• Include bare-metal backups in your plan. No AIX, Linux, or Solaris disaster recovery plan would be complete without a bare-metal backup solution in place. Flexible bare-metal backups are ideal, allowing data to be recovered on to completely different hardware.

UNIX administrators usually rely on mksysb; Linux backups require different tools altogether. SBAdmin, by Storix, creates a flexible bare-metal backup that allows for rapid deployment, minimizing downtime even in the face of overwhelming disaster. Visit us online or call us at (619) 543-0200 to find out more.