RE: Pricing for hot backup sites -- MIDRANGE-L

Guys, thanks for your responses and opinions.  This client has actually
asked us if possibly we can provide the hot back up site on a box we
have that has extra capacity.  We are trying to figure out how to price
it, and my client knows his management is going to ask him what similar
services from someone like Sunguard might cost.  I haven't a clue if
this is a $100/month problem or a $1000/month problem.

You guys have brought up the challenges of syncing the 2 boxes with
tape.  Last time I looked at replication software (Mimix, etc.), it was
very expensive.  Any way to roll your own?  Is there a reasonably priced
sync software solution out there?

Thanks for the responses.
cjg

Carl J. Galgano
EDI Consulting Services, Inc.
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> Carl:
>A client asked me today what it would cost for a hot backup site for
>disaster recovery purposes. He is trying to get some ballpark numbers
>for budgeting purposes. Anyone out there have any idea about what it
>costs to have>
>
>1.  An agreement to have space available to load onto?
>2.  Keep a backup system loaded and synced up via tape periodically?

It sounds like your client is talking about third party solutions, but I
could be wrong.  Option 2 is, I think, better managed in-house.

This a bit more to option 1, but the prices are to a large degree based
on the size of the machine.  You're really contracting for availability
of a specific machine, not space on a machine.  (Though LPAR might make
that more feasible for DR providers going forward).  There's also the
amount of time contracted for test periods, services to have your system
reloaded for you, etc.  And there's lots of room for negotiation.  Your
client should call Sungard or one of their DR service competitors (even
IBM) for a quote.  If you let me know their machine type and DASD I
could take a stab at it.

Because we have a few existing DC sites around the country we've looked
into option 2 as a do-it-yourself project.  Then it's more a matter of
purchasing and maintaining a second machine.  You should already know
what the first one costs to own and operate.  If you think about it, if
a third party kept a hot machine loaded for you it would have to be
dedicated.  It would cost them what it costs you.  I don't know whether
anyone even offers such a service.

-Jim