Availability Guide for Problem Management

Planning for Disasters
Availability Guide for Problem Management–125509
8-2
Computer Center Location and Facilities
This subsection provides tips on reviewing the following:
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The computer center location and facilities
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Security
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Preventive maintenance and system-monitoring procedures
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Network and system configurations
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Data recovery and integrity
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Data archiving procedures
Computer Center Location and Facilities
Review Section 3, “The Operations and Support Areas,” of the Introduction to Nonstop
Operations Management to ensure that your computer center and systems are protected.
If you follow the guidelines in Section 3, you can avoid many disasters such as flooding,
fires, and illegal access—or at least minimize the damage that such adversities would
cause.
Security
Security can help you protect all areas of the data processing center, including the
operations and support staff, the data processing center, equipment, material and
supplies, software applications, and data. Review Section 9, “Security Management,” of
the Introduction to Nonstop Operations Management for guidelines on developing a
security policy and security procedures.
Controlling access to all areas of the operation, including the software, can also help you
protect your operations. For example, you can limit access to the computer room by
locating frequently used devices, such as printers, away from the room, and by not
posting signs that indicate the location of the computer facilities.
Preventive Maintenance and System Monitoring
Business-threatening disasters can occur when regular preventive maintenance and
system monitoring are not performed. Review Section 3, “The Operations and Support
Areas,” to ensure that maintenance guidelines are followed, and Section 5, “Production
Management,” of the Introduction to Nonstop Operations Management to ensure that
system monitoring tasks are performed.
System and Network Configuration
The Tandem system and network architectures help you avoid disasters related to
hardware failures. All systems have a primary and backup processor, dual-ported
controllers, dual-ported disks, and the option of having mirrored disks. Usually, disks
that contain critical data are mirrored (for example, the operating system data is usually
located on a mirrored disk volume called $SYSTEM). If one disk of the volume fails,
the information is not lost—the mirror volume is still operational and programs continue
to write data to it without interruption. When the failed disk is restored, all data is copied
back onto it from the mirror volume while transaction processing continues, and the
mirrored operation resumes in full.