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NETWORK WORLD NEWSLETTER: MIKE KARP on
STORAGE IN THE ENTERPRISE 01/10/02 Today's focus: How critical is your data? Dear Wincenty Kaminski, In this issue: * Classification levels for your data * Links related to storage * Featured reader resource _______________________________________________________________ This newsletter sponsored by BMC PROTECT YOUR DATA ASSETS How prepared are you for a data loss disaster? Find out what your risks are and learn how to implement a cost-efficient recovery strategy to protect your data assets. Don't let that tiny user-error turn into a significant application outage! Download BMC Software's FREE Recovery Solutions white paper now! http://nww1.com/go/3797782a.html _______________________________________________________________ PRODUCT INFO IN ONE CONVENIENT LOCATION! Heard about a new product launch? Curious to find out if the features and benefits of this new product will meet your critical business needs? Network World Fusion's Product Central section includes all the info you need to make informed decision about new products and also includes a product finder function. Check it out at http://nww1.com/go/ad216.html _______________________________________________________________ Today's focus: How critical is your data? By Mike Karp It has been said (by me, in a philosophical moment early in the morning on New Year's Day) that "life is a series of accommodations." Never mind what caused that sentiment: at least in the data center, that is probably a truism. The second worst of these data center accommodations is probably the process forced upon us when we realize that backups are not going to be completed during the prescribed backup window. We then have to make what often is a no-win decision: continue with the backup (thus running beyond the allotted window, and probably degrading performance on production systems) or stop the backup process when the backup window closes (leaving what may be business critical data at risk of being unrecoverable). The worst scenario, however, occurs when we have to decide just how fast a recovery we have to be prepared to do on our data. We talked two weeks ago about understanding the types of data on our systems, the idea being that with that intelligence we could do some intelligent decision making prior to going into the backup. At that point we discussed the usefulness of flagging some file types (MP3, for example) as not worthy of being backed up. Hopefully, by identifying such files we would make a first step toward reducing the sheer volume of backed up data. Many enterprises have a method of classifying data not based on file type, but rather on some other measure. Most useful among these is a metric that looks at data in terms of its criticality to business continuance. This ought to be a measure with a much more useful focus than just knowing about the file extension. Broadly speaking (and with apologies to existential psychologist Abraham Maslow), such a system looks at data on a disk as falling into one of four categories: * Mission-critical information (the equivalent of "air" - you can't live without it). * Business-critical information (think of this as "water" - you can only go without it for a very short period of time). * Non-critical information ("food" - you can go without it, but not for long). * "Unclassified data" (probably mostly junk food, but you don't really know). What goes into these classifications will vary between sites, as will the Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs). In some cases, the RTO for mission-critical data may be as long as several minutes, while in others (particularly those relying on e- commerce) the situation may be seen as life threatening after a few seconds. _______________________________________________________________ To contact Mike Karp: Mike Karp is senior analyst with Enterprise Management Associates (http://www.enterprisemanagement.com) in Boulder, Colo., an analyst and market research firm focusing exclusively on enterprise management. He works out of Portsmouth, N.H., and Westboro, Mass., and can be reached via e-mail at mailto:mkarp@enterprisemanagement.com _______________________________________________________________ Promote your services and generate qualified leads! Register on Buy IT, NW Fusion's Vendor Directory and RFP Center. It's cost-effective and eliminates the headaches of finding new business. List your company today and access millions of dollars in RFPs posted by active buyers. Go to NW Fusion now! http://www.nwfusion.newmediary.com/091201nwwprovnwltr1 _______________________________________________________________ RELATED EDITORIAL LINKS Archive of the Storage newsletter: http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/stor/index.html _______________________________________________________________ FEATURED READER RESOURCE Network World Fusion's Net.Worker site Whether your company is growing larger or scaling back, corporate managers are looking for ways to cut costs while retaining and recruiting star employees. One smart solution - at least on paper - is to let some employees work from home. Network World's Net.Worker Web site bridges the gap between the telework concept and the hardware, software and services needed to make it happen. We bring you news and reviews, sound advice and keen insight into the technologies and solutions you need to manage a remote and mobile workforce. Visit http://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/index.html _______________________________________________________________ May We Send You a Free Print Subscription? You've got the technology snapshot of your choice delivered at your fingertips each day. Now, extend your knowledge by receiving 51 FREE issues to our print publication. Apply today at http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/nl _______________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World e-mail newsletters, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/notprinteditnews.asp To unsubscribe from promotional e-mail go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/ep To change your e-mail address, go to: http://www.nwwsubscribe.com/news/scripts/changeemail.asp Subscription questions? Contact Customer Service by replying to this message. Have editorial comments? Write Jeff Caruso, Newsletter Editor, at: mailto:jcaruso@nww.com For advertising information, write Jamie Kalbach, Director of Online Sales, at: mailto:jkalbach@nww.com Copyright Network World, Inc., 2002 ------------------------ This message was sent to: vkamins@enron.com
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