Disaster Recovery Tip #24

Everyone on the same page.

Often the most overlooked part of a disaster response is the restoration of your most important and least predictable asset: your people. Getting in touch with your employees is absolutely crucial, and during a disaster you need to account for the likelihood of all types communications interruptions: cell service, email, exchange servers, etc.

The first step is gathering the information. This includes home phone, cell phones for both voice and text messaging (SMS will often work when calls will not), home email address, and at least one emergency contact person.

The second step is storing this vital information in a manner that is secure, yet accessible. Online planning sites like MyAgility allow you to store employee contact information and other vital data from anywhere that has an internet connection.

Disaster Recovery Tip #11

Hold the line.

Small disruptions can cripple a business. And communications are typically the most severely impacted. Evaluate your ability to restore network communications prior to an interruption. Consider solutions that redirect phone lines and provide automated answering services in the event your network becomes compromised. Setting up remote links (VPNs to a data center) and phone solutions (automated attendants or custom call flows) in advance can save you valuable time and resources during a recovery. Industry jargon calls this “pre-engineering.” We call it smart continuity planning.

The Interface Message Processor

This is Dr. Leonard Kleinrock pinching the nipples of the Interface Message Processor, a ruggerized Honeywell DDP-516 Minicomputer. This box is responsible for what you are reading now, which either makes her my mom or the internet's mom or both.

The Interface Message Processor was The Original Router. Two of these machines connected in October 29 1969: One was at the laboratory of Dr. Kleinrock—who established the mathematical theory of packet networks, which made the internet possible—at the University of California-Los Angeles. The other was in the laboratory of Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute. Engelbart, who later became famous as the creator of the mouse, was working on online collaboration and human interfaces for Darpa during that time.

That day, the first internet backbone—then known as ARPANET—was born with the exchange of the first data packets. Before, only a few meaningless bits were exchanged. Two months later, a four-node backbone was completed. Today, forty years later, there are 1,668,870,408 users.

Oh, and right now, 5% of the packets are getting lost in North America. [Wikipedia via Daily Mail]

Read More HERE.