Disaster Recovery: Protect Your Business & Prepare Your Digital Prepress Operations

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1 Eastman Kodak Company 343 State Street Rochester, NY USA Revision date: March 2014 White Paper Contact Name Robyn Lundstrom PSSG Specialist, KODAK Unified Workflow Solutions Disaster Recovery: Protect Your Business & Prepare Your Digital Prepress Operations Earthquakes, floods, fire and other natural disasters can severely impact the ability to do business for hours or days at a time. This white paper outlines steps that can be taken to prepare for a largescale disaster. The focus here is on digital prepress operations, however, the basic principles are transferrable to many other facets of operations. Many precautions taken for a digital prepress operation will necessarily overlap with other information technology services that share the same infrastructure. The purpose of this white paper is to: highlight some areas to consider; cover generic steps and methods; and make note of specific Kodak Products that can help mitigate certain risks. This guide is not intended to be the last word in disaster preparedness. Each business is unique with different priorities, downtime tolerance and budget all factors that play a big part in any disaster recovery plan. Business Requirements The first step is to analyze your operation and prioritize the importance of your systems and services. While it would be nice to have everything available all the time, this is nearly impossible without colossal expense. This is the time for a cold, hard look at exactly how much downtime your business can afford vs. how much redundancy you are able to budget for. Examples are provided below, however, priorities will differ for each business. Page 1 of 7

2 Which systems must be available within minutes or hours? Which systems can you function without for up to 24 hours? Which systems can you function without for days or weeks? Examples: Domain controllers, SAN (Storage Area Network) arrays, certain virtual machine hosts, at least one outside telephone line. Examples: Client workstations, internal phone systems, servers, workflow systems. Examples: Proofing devices, some processor lines. Once you have prioritized your requirements, it s time to look at specific business-continuity methods. * It is important to note that at least two people (preferably more) must know the location of your disaster planning documents, and have keys/codes to access them. At least one copy must be stored offsite. In the event of a disaster, after you ve made certain all of the employees are safe and that there is no immediate danger in the building(s), the first thing to do is find the disaster plan and begin working to minimize downtime. That said, don t put yourself or others at risk; if you have any doubts about the safety of structures or environments, have them inspected by an engineer before occupation. Maximize productivity and minimize business risk with KODAK Service & Support The technologies you use each day are much more than equipment. They are the fundamental infrastructure for your business success. A KODAK Software Support License can help you maximize productivity, control costs and minimize business risks. It provides the peace of mind that comes from knowing your workflow system will always have the latest features and the newest technologies and that you ll always have the support of Kodak s technical experts to keep your systems up and running, maximizing your uptime and investment. With nearly 1,500 service professionals in 150 countries, a well-trained remote support staff, and an extensive online knowledgebase, KODAK Service and Support enables printers to stay productive. A Multi-Tiered Approach There are many different scenarios which demand different preparations and responses. Also, planning for a severe disaster will likely pay dividends in the event of a smaller infrastructure breakdown. Here are some examples of preparations that can be made: Page 2 of 7

3 Critical Systems (must be available within minutes or hours) Redundant servers within the same plant. SAN or NAS (Network Attached Storage) data replicated on a continuous or hourly basis. Complete hot functional backup systems at a different building on the campus (at a minimum); preferably in a different city/town or state/province. The further apart geographically, the better, especially in the event of a large scale disaster. Multiple network links between sites or buildings preferably from different ISPs (Internet Service Providers). See the section on Types of Redundancy for further details. Short range radio gear for communication across a large plant/campus. FRS (Family Radio System) / GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) radios might be sufficient for this, or you could have your IT staff obtain licenses for amateur (Ham) radios, which offer a much longer range, and can be used to communicate with volunteer emergency services in the fairly likely event of a telephone outage. Cloud backup storage. This comes with the caveat that in order to access your data on the cloud, you must have a working Internet connection. If you pursue this route, multiple Internet uplinks are highly recommended. The Kodak Hot Standby software option allows a customer to continue using Kodak Prinergy Workflow with minimal downtime by replicating the database on a secondary standby server without losing job data. The Kodak Virtual Operating Environment (KVOE) can be used to allow rapid failover between VMWare hosts and/or server clusters. The Nimble CSx00 series is capable of data replication to a remote array. Important Systems (must be available within 24 hours) Onsite and offsite backups. Rotate on a regular basis. Daily rotations are best, weekly rotations at most. Complete cold backup systems in a different location on the same campus, or ideally in a different city/town. Can be brought up within a few hours. Backups that use a type of media that is able to be restored within 24 hours. For Page 3 of 7

4 example, tape is relatively inexpensive, but may take a very long time to restore after a major event. The Kodak Virtual Operating Environment (KVOE) can be used to allow rapid failover between VMWare hosts and/or server clusters. The Nimble CSx00 series is capable of data replication to a remote array. Non-Critical Systems (can be unavailable for multiple days or even weeks) Offsite backups using an inexpensive but reliable method. Vendor agreements in place with specific disaster policies. Planning for Specific Types of Disasters Even with the above preparation, there are still specific actions that can be taken to lessen the impact of specific types of disasters. Many of these precautions require planning in advance, but several (most notably offsite backups) can be implemented with only a small infrastructure change. Fire Halotron or similar suppression system. This is to avoid destroying the very things that the extinguishers are meant to save. For example, water in a server room is an obvious concern, but many powder suppression systems/extinguishers are corrosive and will damage or destroy equipment. Separate cooling air supply/return for critical equipment to minimize smoke damage. Store onsite backups in a thick (2 inches or more on all sides) wooden storage container. Wood will eventually burn through, but the temperature inside will remain fairly low until it that happens. Magnetic storage devices inside the storage container will survive until the container is consumed. In contrast, a metal container will survive a fire intact, and is great for paper storage, but will very quickly destroy any magnetic media inside due to extremely high internal temperatures. Page 4 of 7

5 Flood Backup generators on a platform/rise outside, or possibly on the second or third floor of an appropriate structure (parkade, etc). Nothing in the basement that can t handle being underwater. Earthquake Server racks secured top and bottom. Backup generators in a location that is accessible and unlikely to collapse (not the basement unless your plant is on high ground; see Flood above). No taut wiring at any cable junction that can be torn out under movement. Proper cable conduit and raceways used throughout the building. Human-caused events All the disaster preparation in the world won t necessarily prevent the cleaning staff from unplugging something important on a long weekend. But there are steps that can be taken to reduce this possibility such as ensuring: All critical systems should be securely locked, with more than one person who has keys/codes to access them and at least one of those individuals a short drive from the site at all times. Redundant power and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) units on critical and important systems. Redundant network uplinks from different ISPs on different ends of the building, to protect against backhoe-induced downtime. The Nimble CSx00 series is capable of data replication to a remote array, and keeping more than one set of backups. The Prinergy Workflow configuration backup runs nightly and backs up all production workflow servers and any connected Kodak InSite Prepress Portal systems to a specified network file share. Ideally, this file share should be on a server in a different physical location. But I Only Have One Building Even if you have a single plant or building, many of these steps can be used to mitigate downtime in the event of a disaster. For example, offsite backups and redundant power systems will still go a long way to reducing or eliminating downtime. Page 5 of 7

6 Offsite storage for critical documents (including your disaster plan!) is crucial for a single building site. All the backups in the world won t help if they are incinerated in the filing room. It is also critical that at least two people (preferably more) know where the offsite location is and have the keys/codes to access it. Types of Redundancy Power UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) on all critical or important systems. Backup generators (automatic or manual) with an absolute minimum of 2 days worth of fuel onsite, preferably more. Use a fuel type that can be stored long-term (i.e. diesel lasts much longer than gasoline), and a type that will actually be available in the event of a large-scale disaster (for example, natural gas lines will likely not function after an earthquake). Server Hosting Virtualizing physical machines can play an important role in mitigating downtime. All of the major virtualization vendors offer redundancy solutions that range from manual migration of virtual machines to real-time fault-tolerant servers. The Kodak Virtual Operating Environment can be configured to provide very rapid failover between hosts, clusters, or sites. Your server closet/room should not be situated in the basement if you are in a location that might be subject to flooding. However, even if your location is at the top of a mountain, plumbing occasionally fails. Network Multiple uplinks from different ISPs. A router that will load balance and automatically failover between uplinks is a very useful thing. Many of these routers also support USB cellular modems that, while not very fast, will likely still function after land lines are cut. Multiple links between buildings, and multiple links within a building running closetto-closet. Storage Many SAN arrays have built-in or optional data mirroring services. This requires a redundant unit, but allows for very secure storage. If you go this route, it is best to put the second array in another building or, at the very least, the opposite end of Page 6 of 7

7 the same building. It should not be situated in the basement (see Flood above). The Nimble CSx00 is capable of offsite replication to another Nimble array. Data Backups Offsite backups are a must. Even rotating a hard disk to the safe in your house is a good idea. (Note that if you do offsite rotation and work for an industry that is high-security such as banking or healthcare, you need to carefully check any data retention and privacy regulations for your state/province/country). Solutions include the Prinergy Workflow configuration backup, and the Nimble CSx00 array s backup and replication features. Conclusion Disaster planning is a matter of degree, and a balancing act between downtime tolerance, budget, and likelihood of specific occurrences. With careful planning, you can achieve the best balance between uptime and cost for you and your business. About Kodak Eastman Kodak Company is driving innovation and change for customers in commercial, packaging and functional printing, and enterprise services markets with one of the broadest portfolios of technologies, products, and services in the graphic communications and commercial printing markets. Solutions from Kodak offer exceptional quality, streamlined production, and scalability to grow with our customers businesses, and only Kodak provides digital and conventional solutions within a unified workflow. We are a worldwide team that performs with excellence, works with customers to help them succeed, and brings innovative solutions to market. For more information, visit graphics.kodak.com. Kodak, Kodak, InSite and Prinergy are trademarks of Kodak. Page 7 of 7