UC and OSU Form Disaster Recovery Alliance

Approximately a year ago, the University of Cincinnati (UC) and The Ohio State University (OSU) began discussions on joining into a collaborative agreement to provide backup support for one another. We saw the opportunity to develop closer ties with one another as well as reduce the costs associated with providing disaster recovery services. The primary purpose of this alliance was to develop, evaluate, and deploy technologies to support disaster recovery and disaster preparedness for the higher education institutions throughout Ohio. This partnership will establish, at each institution, recovery centers capable of supporting any other institution's information technology infrastructure in the event of a disaster, as well as research and develop technologies to limit the potential loss of data and service time should a disaster occur.

Due to the budgetary challenges facing all higher education, the collaborative submitted a series of grant proposals to both the Board of Regents and the Ohio Department of Development. The subsequent awarding of an OBR grant enabled UC and OSU to begin deploying the infrastructure necessary to exchange data. The initial model is to use tape based backups to transport both the system components and application data to each other's site so that a system could be brought up on the guest machine. In late February, UC was able to successfully bring up a test mainframe system at OSU, validating the process defined up to this point. The next step is to test a full system region, without the application date, to refine the procedure and establish a method for the system to be monitored and controlled remotely. When complete, a full production region will be sent to OSU for installation and testing. At the same time, OSU staff is preparing a version of their system to test here at UC.

This represents the first phase of a long-term, multi-phase plan to provide disaster recovery capabilities. The next step, based on funding availability, is to acquire and install sufficient storage capabilities at each site so tape backups can be updated on a regular basis to further reduce down time in the event of a disaster. The last phase, which cannot occur until the dark fiber network in activated, will allow the sites to mirror existing production data at one anotheršs sites in a continual, real-time process, thereby further reducing unavailability to a matter of hours.

While the mainframe environment was selected for the initial deployment, due to the limited number of configuration options that would need to be addressed, we are also planning to provide similar services for open (server-based) systems in the future. Starting with simply providing environmental space, including power, floor space, and network connections, we will develop the capability to the point where data is being replicated across the dark fiber network in a similar manner to that envisioned for the mainframe environment, thereby providing short recovery times with a minimal loss of data.

There has been enthusiastic support for this alliance from other higher education institutions, as well. A joint presentation by UC and OSU was made at the October 2003 OHECC conference, to a standing room-only crowd, and was followed by an extensive question and answer period. A follow-up presentation has been submitted and approved for the April 2004 OHECC conference at Miami University, where a status update will be presented along with future plans.

Both the University of Toledo and Ohio University will avail themselves of these services when the initial pilot project between UC and OSU is complete. Other institutions have expressed an interest in this service, but are waiting until more information is available with respect to costs and the resources involved in preparing a system for remote operation. To facilitate the planning process, one of the outcomes of the pilot project will be to provide a complete set of documentation detailing the process of setting up a recoverable system.

In addition to providing a more economical disaster recovery plan (DRP) for the two institutions, this project has fostered a closer working relationship between OSU and UC. A joint training session was recently held for the technical support staff of the two schools in support of the DRP project, and the staff is actively researching other potential shared-service initiatives.

For more information, please contact the UCit Help Desk at 6-HELP.

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