1 00:00:00,180 --> 00:00:01,012 In this lesson, 2 00:00:01,012 --> 00:00:03,690 we're going to talk about redundant site considerations. 3 00:00:03,690 --> 00:00:05,760 Now, a redundant site is a backup location 4 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:08,100 or facility that can take over essential functions 5 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:09,300 and operations in the case 6 00:00:09,300 --> 00:00:12,690 that your primary site 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 --> 00:00:18,300 you need to consider what type of continuity you need 10 00:00:18,300 --> 00:00:20,400 to create using these different plans. 11 00:00:20,400 --> 00:00:21,780 From a technical perspective, 12 00:00:21,780 --> 00:00:23,610 we're going to break this down into four types 13 00:00:23,610 --> 00:00:26,370 of categories based on your continuity locations. 14 00:00:26,370 --> 00:00:28,350 These are hot sites, warm sites, 15 00:00:28,350 --> 00:00:30,390 cold sites, and mobile sites. 16 00:00:30,390 --> 00:00:32,250 Now, first up, we have a hot site. 17 00:00:32,250 --> 00:00:34,170 A hot site is defined as a site that is up 18 00:00:34,170 --> 00:00:35,400 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 --> 00:00:39,810 so we can switch our operations from our main site 21 00:00:39,810 --> 00:00:43,410 to a backup site with almost no downtime and no issues. 22 00:00:43,410 --> 00:00:45,930 Now, personally, this is one of my favorite types of setups 23 00:00:45,930 --> 00:00:48,030 because it means you always are up and ready to go 24 00:00:48,030 --> 00:00:49,620 and you can keep your business moving forward 25 00:00:49,620 --> 00:00:51,240 even if a disaster strikes. 26 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:52,650 But our drawback here 27 00:00:52,650 --> 00:00:54,930 is that using a hot site can be very expensive 28 00:00:54,930 --> 00:00:57,150 because this type of redundant site requires one 29 00:00:57,150 --> 00:00:59,730 of everything being added to your cost. 30 00:00:59,730 --> 00:01:01,860 For example, to truly have an on-demand 31 00:01:01,860 --> 00:01:03,240 and ready to go hot site, 32 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:05,459 you're going to need to have two of everything. 33 00:01:05,459 --> 00:01:07,290 If I have a file server in my main office, 34 00:01:07,290 --> 00:01:09,690 I need to have another file server at the hot site. 35 00:01:09,690 --> 00:01:11,850 You're going to need to constantly update the communication 36 00:01:11,850 --> 00:01:13,980 and mirror the data between these two sites as well, 37 00:01:13,980 --> 00:01:16,530 so you have an updated copy at all times. 38 00:01:16,530 --> 00:01:17,820 Now, back in the old days, 39 00:01:17,820 --> 00:01:20,400 this was actually really difficult and expensive to do, 40 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,560 but the good news is with cloud computing, 41 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:24,510 this has become much, much easier 42 00:01:24,510 --> 00:01:26,910 because now you can have your servers hosted online 43 00:01:26,910 --> 00:01:28,920 at multiple locations simultaneously 44 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:30,540 using Amazon Web Services, 45 00:01:30,540 --> 00:01:33,750 Microsoft Azure, or the Google Cloud platform. 46 00:01:33,750 --> 00:01:36,540 Now, while this type of hot site for your servers is great, 47 00:01:36,540 --> 00:01:38,400 it doesn't fully consider everything you need 48 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:39,900 in terms of a hot site. 49 00:01:39,900 --> 00:01:41,790 Again. What about your office building, 50 00:01:41,790 --> 00:01:44,040 where your employees are going to be at doing their work? 51 00:01:44,040 --> 00:01:45,960 How are you going to have redundancy for that? 52 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:47,040 Well, let's say, for example, 53 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:49,620 there's a fire and your entire headquarters got affected. 54 00:01:49,620 --> 00:01:51,810 You have smoked damage and water damage all 55 00:01:51,810 --> 00:01:54,420 because of that fire, and now it's going to take you six months 56 00:01:54,420 --> 00:01:56,100 to rebuild your headquarters. 57 00:01:56,100 --> 00:01:58,140 Well, if you have a fully redundant cloud-based model 58 00:01:58,140 --> 00:02:00,420 for your hot site, this means all your data is up 59 00:02:00,420 --> 00:02:02,310 and running instantly and ready to go. 60 00:02:02,310 --> 00:02:05,070 But if you had 500 people working in that office building, 61 00:02:05,070 --> 00:02:08,490 you now need to find a place to put 500 desks, 500 chairs, 62 00:02:08,490 --> 00:02:10,380 500 phones, 500 computers, 63 00:02:10,380 --> 00:02:12,209 and all the stuff that people need 64 00:02:12,209 --> 00:02:13,500 to be able to do their job at work 65 00:02:13,500 --> 00:02:15,030 because everything else was destroyed 66 00:02:15,030 --> 00:02:17,310 in that fire at our main headquarters. 67 00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:19,920 This is why a hot site is usually not used by most companies 68 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:21,330 for their entire business, 69 00:02:21,330 --> 00:02:23,970 but instead they'll use it just for mission critical things 70 00:02:23,970 --> 00:02:25,590 that have to be up 24 hours a day, 71 00:02:25,590 --> 00:02:27,480 seven days a week continuously. 72 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,400 And so you may have 500 people working 73 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:30,570 in your main office building, 74 00:02:30,570 --> 00:02:32,850 but maybe only 50 of them are considered essential 75 00:02:32,850 --> 00:02:34,650 and crucial to your business operations. 76 00:02:34,650 --> 00:02:36,420 And so you only have a hot site capability 77 00:02:36,420 --> 00:02:37,710 for those 50 people, 78 00:02:37,710 --> 00:02:40,320 and we'll figure out the other 450 people later. 79 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:41,760 Now, the second type of site we have 80 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,620 is what's known as a warm site. 81 00:02:43,620 --> 00:02:46,530 Now, a warm site is not fully equipped like a hot site is, 82 00:02:46,530 --> 00:02:48,870 and so remember with a hot site, we have our desks, 83 00:02:48,870 --> 00:02:51,120 we have our chairs, we have our network connectivity, 84 00:02:51,120 --> 00:02:52,470 we have our computers and our phones 85 00:02:52,470 --> 00:02:54,261 and our software and everything we need 86 00:02:54,261 --> 00:02:55,740 to be able to walk right in, log in, 87 00:02:55,740 --> 00:02:57,270 and start doing our job. 88 00:02:57,270 --> 00:02:58,260 Now, with a warm site, 89 00:02:58,260 --> 00:03:00,330 we're not quite that far down the road. 90 00:03:00,330 --> 00:03:02,550 Instead, we're not ready for an immediate switchover, 91 00:03:02,550 --> 00:03:03,630 but we can get things up 92 00:03:03,630 --> 00:03:07,020 and running in just a few days as opposed to a few hours. 93 00:03:07,020 --> 00:03:09,750 Now, a warm site will have all the fundamentals in place. 94 00:03:09,750 --> 00:03:11,610 For example, the building already has power, 95 00:03:11,610 --> 00:03:14,040 it has phone lines, it has network connectivity. 96 00:03:14,040 --> 00:03:15,480 We may even have some desks there, 97 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,180 but we may not have phones in computers already installed. 98 00:03:18,180 --> 00:03:20,010 Now, when a disaster happens, 99 00:03:20,010 --> 00:03:22,020 we can then start installing the technology 100 00:03:22,020 --> 00:03:24,630 and getting people up and running within just a few days, 101 00:03:24,630 --> 00:03:26,460 but we're going to have to go out and buy some laptops, 102 00:03:26,460 --> 00:03:27,630 some monitors and some phones 103 00:03:27,630 --> 00:03:29,400 and things like that to be able to do it. 104 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:30,810 Now, when we talked about a hot site, 105 00:03:30,810 --> 00:03:33,150 we talked about the fact that it was instantly available, 106 00:03:33,150 --> 00:03:35,910 but that also comes with a very high price tag. 107 00:03:35,910 --> 00:03:36,930 Now, with a warm site, 108 00:03:36,930 --> 00:03:38,910 we're actually going to be able to save a lot of money here, 109 00:03:38,910 --> 00:03:40,200 and it's going to be a lot cheaper, 110 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:41,910 but we're also giving up some of that response time 111 00:03:41,910 --> 00:03:43,890 because now we have to wait a few days 112 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:45,690 to get everything up and running. 113 00:03:45,690 --> 00:03:47,010 And so again, this is one of those things 114 00:03:47,010 --> 00:03:49,230 that we sometimes do as a hybrid model where a portion 115 00:03:49,230 --> 00:03:50,940 of the organization will get a hot site, 116 00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:52,890 such as those 50 people out of the 500 117 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:55,320 that we're super critically important to run the business, 118 00:03:55,320 --> 00:03:57,480 and then the other 450 people will be able 119 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,010 to go into a warm site later on 120 00:03:59,010 --> 00:04:01,020 or into our last one we're going to talk about, 121 00:04:01,020 --> 00:04:02,490 which is a cold site. 122 00:04:02,490 --> 00:04:04,230 Now, this again brings us to our third option, 123 00:04:04,230 --> 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 --> 00:04:17,550 For example, one organization I worked 130 00:04:17,550 --> 00:04:19,140 with in the past had a cold site 131 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:20,820 that essentially was just an empty building they had 132 00:04:20,820 --> 00:04:21,653 a lease on. 133 00:04:21,653 --> 00:04:23,160 They paid a monthly rent for this building 134 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:24,720 and nobody worked there. 135 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,540 The cold site had a few basic facilities like bathrooms 136 00:04:27,540 --> 00:04:29,520 and tables and chairs, but there was no network 137 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,260 or connectivity at that place. 138 00:04:31,260 --> 00:04:33,450 There were no phone lines and there was no computers. 139 00:04:33,450 --> 00:04:35,280 Essentially, it was an empty shell, 140 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:36,930 and in the event of a serious disaster 141 00:04:36,930 --> 00:04:37,980 at their headquarters, 142 00:04:37,980 --> 00:04:40,200 they could turn this cold site into a new headquarters 143 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:42,210 in about one to two months. 144 00:04:42,210 --> 00:04:44,370 Now, fourth, we have a mobile site. 145 00:04:44,370 --> 00:04:46,110 Now, a mobile site can be a hot site, 146 00:04:46,110 --> 00:04:47,460 a warm site, or a cold site. 147 00:04:47,460 --> 00:04:49,710 It just depends on how you want to configure it. 148 00:04:49,710 --> 00:04:50,910 Now basically up to this point, 149 00:04:50,910 --> 00:04:52,050 I was discussing how you can get 150 00:04:52,050 --> 00:04:54,600 from one building to another by using a hot site, 151 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:56,190 a warm site, or a cold site. 152 00:04:56,190 --> 00:04:57,480 But with a mobile site, 153 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,430 we don't even need buildings anymore. 154 00:04:59,430 --> 00:05:01,140 Instead, we're using independent, 155 00:05:01,140 --> 00:05:03,330 portable units to provide our recovery. 156 00:05:03,330 --> 00:05:06,300 Most often, this will take the form of trailers or tents 157 00:05:06,300 --> 00:05:07,770 that are going to be delivered to your location 158 00:05:07,770 --> 00:05:09,600 and connected to your power and internet, 159 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,210 and that way you can get up and running pretty quickly. 160 00:05:12,210 --> 00:05:14,520 For example, I used to work with the US military, 161 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:17,250 and they have something known as the DJC2. 162 00:05:17,250 --> 00:05:18,450 Now, the DJC2 163 00:05:18,450 --> 00:05:21,360 is the Deployable Joint Command and Control System. 164 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:22,980 This thing is actually an integrated command 165 00:05:22,980 --> 00:05:24,210 and control headquarters 166 00:05:24,210 --> 00:05:25,740 that can be delivered anywhere in the world 167 00:05:25,740 --> 00:05:27,630 within about 72 hours. 168 00:05:27,630 --> 00:05:28,920 Now, once it gets on the ground, 169 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,390 it takes 'em another 24 hours 170 00:05:30,390 --> 00:05:32,520 to start providing some functionality and services, 171 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:33,960 and then takes up to seven days 172 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:35,250 to provide full functionality 173 00:05:35,250 --> 00:05:37,290 and services for all of their users. 174 00:05:37,290 --> 00:05:38,700 Now, with the DJC2, 175 00:05:38,700 --> 00:05:40,350 it's actually made up of a series of tents, 176 00:05:40,350 --> 00:05:41,940 and they have generators for power. 177 00:05:41,940 --> 00:05:43,410 They bring portable air conditioning units 178 00:05:43,410 --> 00:05:44,670 to keep the servers cold. 179 00:05:44,670 --> 00:05:47,460 They bring in tables and chairs and phones and networks 180 00:05:47,460 --> 00:05:50,070 and laptops, and all the things you need to support up 181 00:05:50,070 --> 00:05:53,340 to 200 people inside of this large tent structure. 182 00:05:53,340 --> 00:05:56,310 For example, back in 2010, there was a major earthquake 183 00:05:56,310 --> 00:05:58,230 that hit the island nation of Haiti. 184 00:05:58,230 --> 00:06:00,120 Back then, the US military deployed one 185 00:06:00,120 --> 00:06:03,000 of these DJC2 there to act as a mobile command center 186 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,250 and run all the recovery operations. 187 00:06:05,250 --> 00:06:06,420 Now, the great thing about this type 188 00:06:06,420 --> 00:06:08,970 of mobile recovery site is that they're fully contained. 189 00:06:08,970 --> 00:06:10,290 They come with everything you need, 190 00:06:10,290 --> 00:06:11,910 including power, connectivity, 191 00:06:11,910 --> 00:06:14,670 and the technicians needed to run the entire thing. 192 00:06:14,670 --> 00:06:15,930 So you may be wondering, 193 00:06:15,930 --> 00:06:17,430 which of these types of sites should I use 194 00:06:17,430 --> 00:06:20,340 in my organization, a hot site, a warm site, a cold site, 195 00:06:20,340 --> 00:06:21,510 or a mobile site? 196 00:06:21,510 --> 00:06:24,030 Well, this is why senior managers need to be involved 197 00:06:24,030 --> 00:06:26,400 in your business continuity plan creation process, 198 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:28,170 because sometimes you're going to choose one of these, 199 00:06:28,170 --> 00:06:29,910 or you might choose multiple of these, 200 00:06:29,910 --> 00:06:31,860 breaking them out for different business functions, 201 00:06:31,860 --> 00:06:33,780 different scenarios, or different timelines, 202 00:06:33,780 --> 00:06:35,370 or different groups of users. 203 00:06:35,370 --> 00:06:37,050 Now, for example, in my company, 204 00:06:37,050 --> 00:06:39,390 we actually use a full hot site for our servers 205 00:06:39,390 --> 00:06:42,030 to ensure they're always up and operational at all times, 206 00:06:42,030 --> 00:06:44,610 but we don't use a full hot site for our employees. 207 00:06:44,610 --> 00:06:46,770 Instead, we have an office and we allow 208 00:06:46,770 --> 00:06:49,050 and encourage telework in our organization. 209 00:06:49,050 --> 00:06:50,130 So for the most part, 210 00:06:50,130 --> 00:06:51,480 most of my team members are working 211 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:52,710 from their own home offices 212 00:06:52,710 --> 00:06:54,180 and not from our office building. 213 00:06:54,180 --> 00:06:56,070 Since we've designed all of our technology 214 00:06:56,070 --> 00:06:58,590 to be able to support a fully remote workforce like this, 215 00:06:58,590 --> 00:06:59,423 it means that if one 216 00:06:59,423 --> 00:07:01,500 of their home offices loses power or internet, 217 00:07:01,500 --> 00:07:03,600 we could simply put them into a local hotel room, 218 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:05,820 and as long as they have internet and power in that hotel, 219 00:07:05,820 --> 00:07:06,810 they'll be able to reconnect 220 00:07:06,810 --> 00:07:08,790 and get back to work right away. 221 00:07:08,790 --> 00:07:09,930 Now, in addition to all of that, 222 00:07:09,930 --> 00:07:12,030 we also plan for potential power outages 223 00:07:12,030 --> 00:07:14,280 and internet outages at our offices, 224 00:07:14,280 --> 00:07:15,990 because we have primary power being delivered 225 00:07:15,990 --> 00:07:18,240 by solar panels, then we have backup power 226 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:19,830 for the times the sun isn't out. 227 00:07:19,830 --> 00:07:21,480 Now, if we run out of battery power, 228 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:23,700 we actually can go into our backup generators, 229 00:07:23,700 --> 00:07:26,100 and we also have a connection back to the local power grid, 230 00:07:26,100 --> 00:07:28,860 and we can also pull power from there too if we need to. 231 00:07:28,860 --> 00:07:30,120 So for internet connectivity, 232 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,880 we do the same kind of thing as well by having redundancies. 233 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,520 In fact, we have three different connections to our offices. 234 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:37,140 The first one is a microwave link 235 00:07:37,140 --> 00:07:39,450 that gives us high speed uploads and downloads. 236 00:07:39,450 --> 00:07:41,430 If that fails, we have a redundant connection 237 00:07:41,430 --> 00:07:42,780 from a local cable company 238 00:07:42,780 --> 00:07:45,780 that provides high speed downloads but slower uploads. 239 00:07:45,780 --> 00:07:47,250 Now, both of those options fail, 240 00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:48,510 we have a third connection, 241 00:07:48,510 --> 00:07:50,460 and this is actually a cellular modem backup 242 00:07:50,460 --> 00:07:52,710 that provides about 20 megabits per second of service 243 00:07:52,710 --> 00:07:54,360 for uploads and downloads. 244 00:07:54,360 --> 00:07:55,890 By layering our internet connectivity 245 00:07:55,890 --> 00:07:57,720 as part of our business continuity planning, 246 00:07:57,720 --> 00:07:59,970 we know that our expected response in downtime 247 00:07:59,970 --> 00:08:02,040 would be for a primary internet connection failure, 248 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,900 for example, and then we know we can shift 249 00:08:03,900 --> 00:08:05,850 to a secondary one in just a few seconds 250 00:08:05,850 --> 00:08:08,910 or a third one in a few seconds after that if needed. 251 00:08:08,910 --> 00:08:09,870 Now, up to this point, 252 00:08:09,870 --> 00:08:12,000 we've talked about four main types of sites. 253 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:14,130 We've talked about hot sites, warm sites, 254 00:08:14,130 --> 00:08:15,900 cold sites, and mobile sites. 255 00:08:15,900 --> 00:08:18,870 But recently we also have to introduce a fifth type of site, 256 00:08:18,870 --> 00:08:20,850 which is known as a virtual site. 257 00:08:20,850 --> 00:08:22,740 Now, a virtual site represents a modern 258 00:08:22,740 --> 00:08:23,910 and highly flexible approach 259 00:08:23,910 --> 00:08:25,890 to implementing redundant site strategies 260 00:08:25,890 --> 00:08:28,170 by offering various alternatives for hot sites, 261 00:08:28,170 --> 00:08:31,890 warm sites, and cold sites within a cloud-based environment. 262 00:08:31,890 --> 00:08:33,780 In a cloud-based redundant site setup, 263 00:08:33,780 --> 00:08:35,640 organizations can leverage the scalability 264 00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:37,950 and availability of cloud computing platforms 265 00:08:37,950 --> 00:08:40,080 to ensure their continuity of operations. 266 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,720 A virtual hot site in this context would involve 267 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:45,180 a fully replicated and instantly accessible environment 268 00:08:45,180 --> 00:08:46,860 in the cloud that's ready to take over 269 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:49,320 in the event of a failure at your primary site, 270 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:51,210 a virtual warm site may entail 271 00:08:51,210 --> 00:08:53,460 having partially replicated resources and data 272 00:08:53,460 --> 00:08:54,660 that could be quickly scaled up 273 00:08:54,660 --> 00:08:56,550 to full functionality if needed, 274 00:08:56,550 --> 00:08:59,280 and a virtual cold site could involve storing critical data 275 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:00,840 and configurations in the cloud, 276 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,900 but activating resources only in response to a disaster 277 00:09:03,900 --> 00:09:06,570 in order to minimize your ongoing operational costs. 278 00:09:06,570 --> 00:09:09,000 The use of these virtual sites in the cloud does offer us 279 00:09:09,000 --> 00:09:11,850 with the advantage of rapid scalability, cost effectiveness, 280 00:09:11,850 --> 00:09:13,110 and easy maintenance. 281 00:09:13,110 --> 00:09:15,090 And all of this makes them an attractive options 282 00:09:15,090 --> 00:09:16,500 for organizations that are aiming 283 00:09:16,500 --> 00:09:19,050 to enhance their disaster recovery capabilities. 284 00:09:19,050 --> 00:09:20,640 Now, the final thing we need to discuss 285 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,140 as a redundant site consideration 286 00:09:22,140 --> 00:09:24,090 is the use of platform diversity. 287 00:09:24,090 --> 00:09:26,700 Platform diversity is a critical aspect of designing 288 00:09:26,700 --> 00:09:29,640 and implementing effective virtual redundant sites. 289 00:09:29,640 --> 00:09:31,860 By diversifying the type of operating systems, 290 00:09:31,860 --> 00:09:34,110 networking equipment, and cloud platform providers 291 00:09:34,110 --> 00:09:35,700 that are going to be used for redundancy, 292 00:09:35,700 --> 00:09:38,310 your organization can mitigate the risk of a single point 293 00:09:38,310 --> 00:09:40,950 of failure in their disaster recovery strategy. 294 00:09:40,950 --> 00:09:42,150 For example, if you wanted 295 00:09:42,150 --> 00:09:44,190 to have cloud provider platform diversity, 296 00:09:44,190 --> 00:09:45,840 this can involve spreading our resources 297 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:47,790 across multiple cloud service providers, 298 00:09:47,790 --> 00:09:50,670 or across different regions within the same provider 299 00:09:50,670 --> 00:09:52,830 to ensure that a failure or outage in one platform 300 00:09:52,830 --> 00:09:54,750 or area of the world doesn't compromise 301 00:09:54,750 --> 00:09:56,520 the entire redundant site. 302 00:09:56,520 --> 00:09:58,470 This approach does enhance the resilience 303 00:09:58,470 --> 00:10:00,450 and reduces the likelihood of downtime 304 00:10:00,450 --> 00:10:02,430 due to a cloud specific issue. 305 00:10:02,430 --> 00:10:05,400 Moreover, platform diversity also allows your organization 306 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,860 to leverage its unique features, pricing structures, 307 00:10:07,860 --> 00:10:10,260 and geographic reach of your different cloud providers 308 00:10:10,260 --> 00:10:12,840 in order to optimize your disaster recovery strategy 309 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:14,910 to meet your specific business needs. 310 00:10:14,910 --> 00:10:17,670 Using cloud platform diversity is a strategic move 311 00:10:17,670 --> 00:10:19,320 that helps to ensure greater reliability 312 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:20,820 and adaptability in the face 313 00:10:20,820 --> 00:10:23,550 of unexpected disruptions while making the implementation 314 00:10:23,550 --> 00:10:27,210 of virtual redundant sites even more robust and resilient. 315 00:10:27,210 --> 00:10:29,730 Now, another type of platform diversity is going to involve 316 00:10:29,730 --> 00:10:31,050 using different operating systems 317 00:10:31,050 --> 00:10:34,050 or types of network infrastructure at your redundant sites 318 00:10:34,050 --> 00:10:36,000 than you would at your primary site. 319 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:38,130 For example, if your primary site uses 320 00:10:38,130 --> 00:10:39,450 a Cisco based network, 321 00:10:39,450 --> 00:10:41,820 your redundant site might choose to use a different router 322 00:10:41,820 --> 00:10:42,900 and switch provider. 323 00:10:42,900 --> 00:10:44,070 But, "Why?" you might ask. 324 00:10:44,070 --> 00:10:45,960 Doesn't that just complicate things? 325 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,390 Well, if you're using the same equipment in both sites, 326 00:10:48,390 --> 00:10:49,950 you're going to have an easier time supporting it 327 00:10:49,950 --> 00:10:52,500 and running the network because they're identical in nature, 328 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:54,330 which is great because all your technicians 329 00:10:54,330 --> 00:10:55,830 already have that skillset. 330 00:10:55,830 --> 00:10:57,870 But if a major vulnerability existed 331 00:10:57,870 --> 00:10:59,700 that attacked all Cisco based networks, 332 00:10:59,700 --> 00:11:02,280 it could also attack your hot site's network, too, 333 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:04,920 and now you don't have your redundant site available, 334 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,440 but if you're using a different platform on your hot site, 335 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:08,910 it's going to remain immune to this type 336 00:11:08,910 --> 00:11:10,680 of vulnerability and attack. 337 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,330 Again, this is something that you 338 00:11:12,330 --> 00:11:14,820 and your senior decision makers are going to weigh the risks 339 00:11:14,820 --> 00:11:17,100 and the rewards to determine what makes the most sense 340 00:11:17,100 --> 00:11:18,300 for your organization. 341 00:11:18,300 --> 00:11:19,920 Should you have platform diversity 342 00:11:19,920 --> 00:11:22,590 and the more complex configurations and support it requires, 343 00:11:22,590 --> 00:11:24,750 or should you just use the same operating systems 344 00:11:24,750 --> 00:11:26,910 and equipment across all of your redundant sites 345 00:11:26,910 --> 00:11:28,500 because it makes it easier to support 346 00:11:28,500 --> 00:11:30,330 and gives you lower maintenance costs? 347 00:11:30,330 --> 00:11:32,280 Either of these can be the right answer depending 348 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:34,170 on your specific situation. 349 00:11:34,170 --> 00:11:36,480 So remember, when it comes to determining which type 350 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,130 of redundant site you should use, 351 00:11:38,130 --> 00:11:40,440 you should not only just consider your tech stack, 352 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:41,640 but you also need to think about 353 00:11:41,640 --> 00:11:42,687 where you're going to put your people 354 00:11:42,687 --> 00:11:44,130 and where they're going to be able to work, 355 00:11:44,130 --> 00:11:46,260 as well as how you're going to support them for the long term 356 00:11:46,260 --> 00:11:48,240 as you attempt to continue your operations 357 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:49,770 and serve your customers. 358 00:11:49,770 --> 00:11:51,720 Continuity of operations refers to the ability 359 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:53,940 of an organization to maintain essential functions 360 00:11:53,940 --> 00:11:56,160 and services in the event of a disruption. 361 00:11:56,160 --> 00:11:57,510 A hot site is going to be one 362 00:11:57,510 --> 00:11:59,880 that includes a fully equipped backup facility 363 00:11:59,880 --> 00:12:02,340 where a warm site will have partially equipped backups, 364 00:12:02,340 --> 00:12:04,560 and a cold site will be locations without equipment 365 00:12:04,560 --> 00:12:05,970 that is readily available. 366 00:12:05,970 --> 00:12:07,620 And finally, remember that it's important 367 00:12:07,620 --> 00:12:10,080 that you also consider to use geographic dispersion 368 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,840 to help spread out your resources across different locations 369 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,383 so you can create higher levels of redundancy, too.