A disaster recovery data center isn’t always at the front of mind when things are going well, but if you wait until you’re in trouble for a disaster recovery plan then it’s always too late. Because SaaS enterprises like yours move at the speed of your connection, when you have downtime, you are losing business.
These past two years have highlighted why your DR solutions are more important now than ever before. Beyond traditional disasters like cyber security threats and brownouts, natural disasters and the pandemic have proven more than ever that you need to find a disaster recovery data center that will keep business moving even when things get intense.
So, what are things to look for in a disaster recovery data center? Here’s a quick and handy guide on what’s important (and what’s not) when it comes to your DR solutions strategy.
DR data centers need to be reliable: find out their track record
A good disaster recovery data center is built with resiliency in mind from day one, because your SaaS is striving for 99.999% uptime. Picking out the right disaster recovery data center is a huge part of that, so what are you looking for?
A reliable track record is a good place to start. Ask any potential disaster recovery data center provider how long they’ve been around, what challenges they’ve faced, and how they have solved those challenges. If they’ve been in the industry for any length of time, they should be able to point to their own proven track record, demonstrating their understanding of all the potential risks that any DR solution needs to consider.
Where is your disaster recovery data center located?
Many organizations choose to go with a colocation data center as their disaster recovery solution simply because of geography. You don’t want to have your primary data center and your disaster recovery data center in the same area or you risk an outage affecting both locations.
When looking at potential spots for your disaster recovery data center, you’ll want to make sure that it’s in an area free from natural disasters like earthquakes and hurricanes. You will also want to locate your DR data center and your primary data center in disparate regions of the country so that the same disaster doesn’t affect both data centers. Few companies can fully staff a DR data center, so evaluating providers that offer excellent remote hand service is advisable.
DR Technology should be the same as your primary data center
In addition to providing 99.999% uptime, your DR data center should prevent loss of accessibility and functionality even if the entirety of your IT load is shifted to it in an emergency. As such, your disaster recovery data center needs to offer all the same connectivity options and cloud on-ramps as your primary data center.
You should also ask any prospective DR partner about their cooling, storage, and protection against the elements. As climate change affects data centers around the world, we see this becoming an ever larger issue. That’s exactly why we’ve committed so heavily to green tech since our start.
You can’t predict when a disaster is going to strike — but you can be ready for it. Sabey Data Centers committed to helping you launch an effective DR solution for your business. Want to learn more?
Schedule a tour today or contact an expert.
