One of the challenges in using a data center is downtime. It’s inevitable that at some point outages will occur, and they could result from a variety of causes that need to be investigated and explored both during the outage and as you assess things afterward.
There are time-proven techniques, though, to prevent too much downtime. Even as the causes change over time, there can be ways that you can get the most uptime out of your data center. Here’s a look at what you can do right now to help with this all-too-common scenario.
What causes downtime to occur
First, let’s go into the modern causes of downtime. Did you know there’s a group that’s actually called the Uptime Institute? They study and analyze outages and report on them every year.
In this latest report, they’ve noted that power failures are still the most common cause of an outage, at 43%. The next three on the outage list are at close to 14%: software malfunctions, network issues and cooling concerns.
It’s also clear that outages are still an issue for many businesses. The survey shows that 80% experienced an outage in the past three years, with 20% of those saying the outages they experienced were serious or severe.
How to increase your uptime
The Data Center Knowledge news website recently pointed out three ways that companies can bring focus to downtime issues and also ensure that uptime is at a maximum. Here’s what they are advocating:
Effective design and provisioning
Network design is vital to get right as close to “the first time” as you can. Understanding the insights you receive and how the operations are taking place in the data center can lead to spotting risks or events that could cause downtime down the line.
Avoid misconfigurations
Small errors add up, and that’s especially true for data centers that might accidentally have vulnerabilities because the solutions they use weren’t configured right at installation. Make sure you have solid support for what you are suing, and that it’s scalable and nimble.
Embrace predictive data
With machine learning and advanced algorithms, it’s now easier for teams to predict when downtime may occur – and possibly stop it in its tracks. With the data you receive growing practically daily, it’s best to use these sophisticated tools in your plan to lessen downtime’s effects.
Having a great recovery plan
A big part of limiting downtime’s effect is to also have a solid recovery, backup and archival plan. At AVASO, we understand the challenges and can help you set up the platforms that will meet the rapidly changing pace you are working under.
Our end-to-end protection solutions are scalable and optimized for today’s virtual environment. They include edge and virtualization backup, replication and disaster recovery tools, and de-duplication, among other techniques.
Find out what we can offer you for your data center’s best health. Go to our website to get all the details.