Backup Sites
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A backup site is a location where a business can easily relocate following a disaster, such as fire, flood, or terrorist threat. This is an integral part of the disaster recovery plan of a business.
A backup site can be another location operated by the business, or contracted via a company that specializes in disaster recovery services. In some cases, a business will have an agreement with a second business to operate a joint disaster recovery facility.
There are three types of backup sites, including cold sites, warm sites, and hot sites. The differences between the types are determined by the costs and effort required to implement each.
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[edit] Cold Sites
A cold site is the most inexpensive type of backup site for a business to operate. It does not include backed up copies of data and information from the original location of the business, nor does it include hardware already set up. The lack of hardware contributes to the minimal startup costs of the cold site, but requires additional time following the disaster to have the operation running at a capacity close to that prior to the disaster.
[edit] Warm Sites
A warm site is a location where the business can relocate to after the disaster that is already stocked with computer hardware similar to that of the original site, but does not contain backed up copies of data and information.
[edit] Hot Sites
A hot site is a duplicate of the original site of the business, with full computer systems as well as near-complete backups of user data. Following a disaster, the hot site exists so that the business can relocate with minimal losses to normal operations. Ideally, a hot site will be up and running within a matter of hours. This type of backup site is the most expensive to operate. Hot sites are popular with stock exchanges and other financial institutions who may need to evacuate due to potential bomb threats and must resume normal operations as soon as possible.
