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Backup site

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A backup site also called a recovery site or alternate site is a location where an organization can continue operations after a disaster, such as fire, flood, terrorist threat, or other disruptive event. Back up sites are an important part of the organization's disaster recovery plan and overall business continuity planning of an organization.[1]

A backup, or alternate, site can be another data center owned by the same organization or one provided by a disaster recovery company. In some cases, one organization will have an agreement with a second organization to operate a joint backup site. In addition, an organization may have a reciprocal agreement with another organization to set up a site at each of their data centers.

These sites differ in how prepared they are and how quickly they can take over operations. Sites are generally classified based on how prepared they are and the speed with which they can be brought into operation: "cold" (facility is prepared), "warm" (equipment is in place), "hot" (operational data is loaded) –- with increasing cost to implement and maintain with increasing "temperature".

Classification

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Cold site

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A cold site is operational space with basic facilities like raised floors, air conditioning, power and communication lines etc. Following an incident, equipment is brought in and set up to resume operations. It does not include backed-up copies of data and information from the original location of the organization, nor does it include hardware already set up. The lack of provisioned hardware contributes to the minimal start-up costs of the cold site, but requires additional time following the disaster to have the operation running at a capacity similar to that prior to the disaster. In some cases, a cold site may have equipment available, but it is not operational.

Because cold sites have no pre-installed technology or data, they take the longest to set up after a disaster. However, they are also the least expensive option to maintain, making them popular among smaller businesses or organizations that can tolerate longer downtime.

Some cold sites may have older or spare equipment available, but it is not usually operational until needed. It minimizes ongoing costs, it greatly increases recovery time and the effort needed to resume normal business operations.

Warm site

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A warm site represents a compromise between a cold site and a hot site. These facilities usually have some hardware, software, and connectivity already in place. The systems may not be running in real time, but the basic setup exists. Data backups may be stored on-site or remotely, although they might be several days old.

In the event of a disaster, the organization can deliver more recent backup data or restore systems through network connections, allowing operations to resume much faster than in a cold site. Warm sites are often chosen by companies that require moderate recovery times and cannot afford to be offline for long but still want to control costs.

Also, recovery at a warm site can usually be achieved within hours or a day, depending on the situation. This balance between cost and performance makes warm sites a popular option for medium sized businesses.

Hot site

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A hot site is the most advanced and expensive type of backup site. It is a near duplicate of the original site of the organization, including full computer systems as well as complete backups of user data. Real-time synchronization between the two sites may be used to completely mirror the data environment of the original site using wide-area network links and specialized software. Following a disruption to the original site, the hot site exists so that the organization can relocate, with minimal losses to normal operations in the shortest recovery time. Ideally, a hot site will be up and running within a matter of hours. Personnel may need to be moved to the hot site, but it is possible that the hot site may be operational from a data-processing perspective before staff has relocated. The capacity of the hot site may or may not match the capacity of the original site depending on the organization's requirements. This type of backup site is the most expensive to operate. Hot sites are popular with organizations that operate real-time processes such as financial institutions, government agencies, and eCommerce providers.

The most important feature offered from a hot site is that the production environment(s) is running concurrently with the main datacenter. This synchronizing allows for minimal impact and downtime to business operations. In the event of a significant outage, the hot site can take the place of the affected site immediately. However, this level of redundancy comes with a high cost, and businesses will need to weigh the cost-benefit-analysis (CBA) of hot site utilization. Maintaining duplicate hardware, software, and continuous synchronization requires investment and ongoing maintenance.

These days, if the backup site is down and misses the "proactive" approach, it may not be considered a hot site depending on the level of maturity of the organization regarding the ISO 22301 approach (international standard for Business Continuity Management). As a result, hot sites are typically reserved for critical systems where downtime cannot be tolerated.

Alternate sites

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Generally, an Alternate Site refers to a site where people and the equipment that they need to work is relocated for a period of time until the normal production environment, whether reconstituted or replaced, is available. These sites help a business keep running, even if only at a limited capacity.

Organizations can set up their own alternate sites or make agreements with another company to share space in case of emergencies. This arrangement can save money, but it requires good planning to make sure both sides can actually support each other when the time comes.

Choosing

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Choosing the type of backup site to be used is decided by an organizations based on a cost vs. benefit analysis. Hot sites are traditionally more expensive than cold sites, since much of the equipment the company needs must be purchased and thus people are needed to maintain it, making the operational costs higher. However, if the same organization loses a substantial amount of revenue for each day they are inactive, then it may be worth the cost. Another advantage of a hot site is that it can be used for operations prior to a disaster happening. This load balanced production processing method can be cost effective, and will provide the users with the security of minimal downtime during an event that affects one of the data centers.

The advantages of a cold site are simple — cost. It requires fewer resources to operate a cold site because no equipment has been brought prior to the disaster. Some organizations may store older versions of the hardware in the center. This may be appropriate in a server farm environment, where old hardware could be used in many cases. The downside with a cold site is the potential cost that must be incurred in order to make the cold site effective. The costs of purchasing equipment on very short notice may be higher and the disaster may make the equipment difficult to obtain.

Commercial sites

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When contracting services from a commercial provider of backup site capability, organizations should review the contract and paying attention to the contractual usage provision and invocation procedures, active support, and service-level agreements (SLAs). Providers may sign up more than one organization for a given site or facility, often depending on various service levels. This is a reasonable proposition because it is unlikely that all organizations subscribed to the service are likely to need it at the same time. It also allows the provider to offer the service at an affordable cost. However, in a large-scale incident that affects a wide area, it is likely that these facilities will become over-subscribed due to multiple customers claiming the same backup site. To gain priority in service over other customers, an organization can request a Priority Service from the provider, which often includes a higher monthly fee. This commercial site can also be used as a company's secondary production site with a full scale mirroring environment for their primary data center. Again, a higher fee will be required; but the cost could be justified by the security and resiliency of the site, which would give that organization the ability to provide its users with uninterrupted access to their data and applications.

The role of backups in business continuity

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Backups are important for making sure that a business can continue operating even during unexpected events. By regularly copying critical data and storing it securely, organizations can quickly recover from system failures, cyberattacks, or natural disasters. Using different types of backups, such as full, incremental, and differential, it helps balance storage efficiency with the ability to restore data quickly. Incorporating backups into a comprehensive disaster recovery and business continuity plan ensures that operations resume smoothly, protecting both revenue and reputation. Regular testing and updating of backups further strengthen this safety net, keeping the organization prepared for any situation.

Maintenance

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Organizations should test their backup sites regularly to make sure everything works as expected. This includes checking that equipment is ready, data can be restored, and staff know what to do. Regular testing helps find problems early and ensures the organization can recover quickly during a real disaster.

Maintenance involves more than just testing. Organizations need to keep software, hardware, and backup data up to date. For example, computers and servers at the backup site should have the latest updates installed, and backup copies of data should be refreshed frequently. This ensures that, when the site is needed, it has the most recent information and can operate without technical issues.

Testing can involve simple drills, such as moving some operations to the backup site for a few hours, or full-scale simulations where the main site is temporarily shut down. During these exercises, organizations can check things like network connectivity, power systems, and communication channels. They can also confirm that staff understand their roles and can access necessary resources. Regular maintenance and testing together help reduce surprises, prevent equipment failures, and allow recovery to happen as smoothly as possible.

The importance of planning ahead

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Backup sites help protect against disaster, but they are not free. Organizations need to balance cost and risk when choosing a site. Hot sites cost the most but provide the fastest recovery, while cold sites are cheaper but slower. Warm sites fall in between. By planning ahead and understanding their own risk levels, companies can make better decisions about which type of site is right for them. In some cases, investing in a slightly more expensive site may save far more in lost revenue and downtime if a disaster happens.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Baraniuk, Chris (23 March 2020). "How firms move to secret offices amid Covid-19". BBC.

General references

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