Your Hedge Fund Disaster Recovery Infrastructure Checklist

An effective disaster recovery strategy cannot be acheived by checking a box. As you evaluate DR service providers, it is critical to ensure they have taken a variety of possible disaster scenarios into account and are utilizing best-of-breed infrastructure to power DR operations. Below is a quick DR infrastructure checklist to help you along in your planning (or click here to read our complete Essential Tech Guide for Hedge Funds).

Network

• Ensure your DR provider has redundant network equipment

• Consider using multiple network providers; Some colocation facilities have over 30 network providers for maximum redundancy

Power

• There should be multiple sources, ideally sourced from different power grids

• Are there backup power generators?

• Is there onsite fuel to run those generators? You’ll want onsite fuel that can last a few weeks.

Air Conditioning

• Servers and other systems generate a significant amount of heat, making backup cooling systems a key component of a disaster recovery facility

Security

• For data and telecommunications, your disaster recovery partner should deploy an uncompromisingly high level of security through technologies such as:
  --Virtual private networks (VPNs)
  --Virtual local area networks (LANs)
  --Firewalls and more

• Physical security is also important. Ensure the provider has 24-hour manned security at the DR facility as well as cameras and digital monitoring

Redundant Systems

• Whether it uses servers, routers or T1 lines, your remote or hot site provider should have N+1 availability, a system configuration in which multiple components have at least one independent backup component to ensure system functionality continues in the event of a failure

Storage

• The best deployments use Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) methodologies to “stripe” data across systems for performance and data mirroring for improved protections and availability. Striping means that all available hard drives are combined into a single, large virtual file system, with the blocks of the file system arrayed so that they are spread evenly across all the drives

Application Software 

• Ideally, your remote-site provider can accommodate multiple strategies, including redundancy, clustering, load balancing and warm standby (in which the application is loaded, but not running)

We understand that a lot goes into implementing and maintaining an effective disaster recovery system, so we've created this handy IT Guide for Hedge Funds.

Editor's Note: This article has been updated and was originally published in May 2010.