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Business continuity planning

I regularly read Network Magazine and am delighted by the wide range of topics that are covered in each issue. I enjoyed reading the cover story on Business Continuity in the August 2002 issue of your magazine.

Do you have the number of the Indian companies, especially the call centres, that have deployed Business Continuity Planning (BCP) and Disaster Recovery (DR) measures?

If you know about any survey that has covered this topic, could you tell me the number of companies that plan to set up BCP/DR facilities this year?

I need this information because I have to make a business presentation in the next few days.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Regards,
Mohsin Abbas

Dear Mohsin Abbas

We conduct a survey among CIOs/CTOs/IT Heads of Indian enterprises every year and present the results as a series of articles. The survey called Infrastructure Strategies 2005 collected the information from about 400 respondents in large and medium companies this year.

We have published the findings of the survey in the June 2005 issue of Network Magazine. You can find the article on Business Continuity at www.networkmagazineindia.com/200506/cover story10.shtml. We hope it will answer your queries.

All the best for your presentation.

New to IP SAN

I am a regular reader of Network Magazine. I especially liked the April 2005 cover story on using IP-based storage. It is interesting to see that IP is now being used in SAN, and that its use will grow.

I am new to the concept of IP SAN and have a doubt, which I hope you will address.

SAN is meant for high-speed data backups when it uses Fibre Channel as a protocol. But how will the combination of IP and Ethernet support high-speed data backups with Cat 6 cables since backup over the LAN affects the speed of the network?

Regards
Ashok Nalla
DVT Engineer
eInfochips, Pune

Dear Ashok Nalla

You are right about SAN being used for high-speed data transfer requirements, and generally not for taking data backups.

If you look at a bank, telecom or any organisation where servers need to have high-speed access to data (for example, a core banking application or telecom billing), you will find the information built served out of the SAN.

Backup is usually from the SAN to the tape or any other backup medium, and LAN is not involved during the transfer. Hence, the performance of the LAN is unaffected for the business.

That said, we have to clarify the fact (as you rightly observed) that a 1 Gbps FC SAN is always higher on performance levels than a 1 Gbps IP SAN. Although the Ethernet technology is labelled ‘Gigabit,’ the actual performance will be much lesser than 1 Gbps speed, and that of a 1 Gbps FC SAN.

The SAN concept evolved as the need to set up a separate higher-speed network apart from the general LAN for the storage purposes. The 1 Gbps Ethernet technology is used only for the dedicated storage purposes on the IP SAN and not for general LAN traffic.

Because of this, the speeds available on the IP SAN are sufficient for use in small and medium businesses as well as the enterprise application areas that do not necessarily need the faster and more expensive 1 Gbps FC SAN.

Remember that the key words of an IP SAN use are less expensive in nature and easier in manageability, as most system administrators are familiar with Ethernet technology.

Hope this was helpful. Please write back if you require further clarifications.

You can send us feedback by e-mail, or write directly to any of us here in the editorial department.

The Editor
Network Magazine
Business Publications Division
Indian Express Newspapers (Mumbai) Ltd.
1st Floor, Express Towers, Nariman Point
Mumbai 400021
You’ll find our writers’ e-mail addresses at the end of their respective articles. We look forward to hearing from you.