A backup site is always necessary for every organization in order to be able to perform data recovery in case of a disaster. Two or more organizations may agree on operating a joint backup. Distributed systems technology can greatly contribute to this kind of scenario. There are 3 types of backup sites which includes war sites, cold sites and, and hot sites. Effort and costs required for the implementation of each determines the differences between the three types.
A hot site is an exact duplicate of the original site in an organization. It includes near-complete backups the user data as well as full computer systems. A complete mirror of data environment can be achieved by synchronizing the two sites in real time. When the original site is disrupted, the organization can resume to its normal operations from the hot site. Personnel may also need to relocate to the hot site before the original site resumes its operations. This type of backup requires a lot of capital hence being the most expensive.
On the other hand, a cold site doesn’t include copies of backed up information and data from the original, neither does it involve hardware that already exists. Lack of extra hardware makes it require minimal cost hence being the cheapest. It requires a lot of time to recover the information in case of a disaster.
A warm site lies in between cold and hot sites. The sites have hardware connectivity already in position. Unlike in hot sites, hardware is installed on a smaller scale. Backups might be incomplete and also might be a few days or weeks old.
Works Cited
Castagna, R. (2012). Predicting that storage predictions will be forgotten in 2012. 6-60.
NaviSite. (2012). Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Strategy and Vision. 1-3.
TRT. (2004). Types of Disaster Recovery. 1-4.
