Most companies with more than one office have some type of IP-based interoffice communications method. Common connectivity solutions include legacy frame relay lines, private T1 circuits, managed VPN, private IP, and unmanaged Internet VPNs. Communications failures for these interoffice links can significantly downgrade business productivity.
Loss of interoffice connectivity means that users in remote offices are cut-off from key central systems and can be left without the ability to perform even the most basic day-to-day functions required to carry out critical business transactions. As a result, customers are disappointed, orders are delayed, and the afflicted business pays for workers to wait for the network to come back online.
The vast majority of small business interoffice communications infrastructures have virtually no fault tolerance. A single downed communications line or a single router failure can bring vital business processes to a halt. All too often, single-point failures can take hours, and occasionally days, to repair. Progent's Cisco-certified CCIE engineers have the knowledge and experience to design and implement sophisticated fault-tolerant architectures for interoffice connectivity. Progent's consultants are expert at fault-tolerant Cisco router configuration based on Interior Gateway Protocols including OSPF, or Open Shortest Path First, and EIGRP, or Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol.
The explosion of low-cost Internet connectivity options provides new opportunities to create affordable, truly fault-tolerant, fully redundant interoffice connections that seamlessly failover in the event of a single-point breakdown. In the past, the high cost of private T1 lines often exceeded reasonable cost/risk assessments for small businesses. But with the diverse selection of low-cost DSL, cable modem, and wireless ISP connections now available, companies can craft cost-effective solutions that offer protection from single points of failure. By utilizing the advanced fault-tolerant features available in Cisco's IOS operating system, critical failures can be made invisible to users. With proper alert mechanisms, in-house IT resources or outside consultants can work efficiently to restore primary communications links without working under the intense pressure associated with crippling outages.
The business case for implementing fault-tolerant interoffice connectivity has never been more compelling. Low-cost DSL links can be configured as a backup to expensive T1 private lines for as little as 1/20th of the monthly operating cost of the primary link. The availability of business-class wireless links makes it possible to create a fault-tolerant communications architecture that completely eliminates the risk of rare but debilitating wired network failures, such as fiber cuts caused by construction work, or traffic accidents that take down utility poles or telephone wiring junction boxes. These solutions are affordably priced and offer acceptable performance in failover situations.
Other High Availability Technologies Offered by Progent's Consultants
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco consulting experts can assist your company to implement a cost-effective, fault-tolerant system that addresses critical problems covering a wide range of networking solutions and processes including:
Disaster Recovery Planning
Progent's disaster recovery consultants can help you design a business continuity strategy that will allow you to resume network functionality in case of an information system catastrophe. Progent can help you to create a comprehensive disaster recovery strategy that includes periodic disaster recovery assessments and drills. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified professionals can also help you create an affordable, high-availability system architecture that addresses reliability issues involving a broad range of infrastructure technologies and procedures. To read more, visit Disaster Recovery Consulting and Support Services.
Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services
ProSight Data Protection Services from Progent provide small and mid-sized organizations an affordable and fully managed solution for secure backup/disaster recovery. For a low monthly price, ProSight DPS automates and monitors your backup activities and enables fast recovery of vital data, applications and VMs that have become unavailable or damaged as a result of hardware breakdowns, software glitches, natural disasters, human error, or malware attacks like ransomware. ProSight Data Protection Services can help you protect, recover and restore files, folders, applications, system images, as well as Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware images/. Critical data can be protected on the cloud, to a local device, or mirrored to both. Progent's cloud backup consultants can deliver world-class support to set up ProSight Data Protection Services to to comply with regulatory requirements like HIPAA, FIRPA, and PCI and, whenever needed, can assist you to restore your business-critical data. Read more about ProSight Data Protection Services Managed Backup.
Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery experts can assist your organization to design a disaster recovery solution based on Microsoft's most advanced Failover Clustering tools including Cluster Operating System Rolling Upgrade for non-intrusive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for crash-consistent Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Storage Spaces Direct for high-performance storage clusters using industry-standard equipment, Virtual Machine Load Balancing for enhancing the performance and fault-tolerance of Failover Clusters while minimizing capital investment and management overhead, and Cloud Witness for fast, economical deployment of a failover cluster quorum arbitration point. To learn more, go to Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery Support.
Windows Server 2012 Failover Clusters
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 introduced enterprise-class fault tolerance and recoverability to Microsoft's clustering solution. Windows Server 2012 R2 adds to this technology and delivers important enhancements offering increased scalability, non-stop storage availability for server applications, streamlined administration, quicker failover, and more flexibility for architecting clusters. For more information, go to Windows Server 2012 R2 Failover Clustering Consulting and Support.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an extension to VMware vCenter that allows you to specify, automate and verify a repeatable process for restoring applications and services quickly after a breakdown. SRM supports centrally managed and automated recovery, application mobility, and non-intrusive site migration, failback and site re-protect. SRM also allows transparent testing for disaster recovery, updates and patches and can produce reports to verify complete service restoration, validate SLAs and demonstrate disaster recovery compliance. Progent can provide the skills of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consultant to help you to plan, configure, test and manage a DR system powered by VMware SRM.
NetApp MetroCluster Disaster Recovery Software
NetApp MetroCluster is a high-availability and disaster recovery platform that uses failover storage clustering along with synchronous replication to provide fast, zero data loss disaster recovery (DR) between datacenters that are up to 300km apart from each other. Progent can provide the skills of a NetApp MetroCluster consultant who can assist you to plan, configure, manage, upgrade, test and troubleshoot a disaster recovery solution built around NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can assist you to select a topology for your MetroCluster deployment that aligns with your technical requirements and budget. Progent can ensure you adhere to leading practices for installing your MetroCluster solution by delivering guidance with tasks like assigning disk pools and shelf IDs, arranging aggregate and plexes layout, provisioning volumes, setting up NetApp Snapshot, installing switches, implementing a tiebreaker, designing a configuration replication network between your storage clusters, and testing your MetroCluster DR solution to show adherence with industry standards and regulatory mandates.
High Availability Load Balancing
Progent provides high availability load balancing consulting that addresses network load balancing, load balanced programs, network backbone routing, and content delivery technology such as Cisco Content Engine. High availability load balancing technologies for which Progent offers consulting expertise include Windows 2003 and 2008 Server Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Metaframe and Presentation Server, Cisco Content Services Switch, Cisco Distributed Director and Cisco CDN Software, and F5 Networks BIG-IP. To find out more, visit Fault Tolerant Load Balancing.
Zero Downtime Internet Data Centers
Progent's Data Center engineers can help you find high availability data centers that match the particular requirements of your company. High availability colocation sites are especially appealing to small and mid-size organizations due to of their low cost and convenience compared to pursuing a do-it-yourself approach. Trying to create an on-site data center that offers even a minimum degree of fault tolerance is too expensive for most small companies. Progent can show you how to reap all the advantages of high-availability colo sites by providing a full array of engineering and support services. To find out more, visit High-Availability Data Centers Solutions.
Fault Tolerant Internet Connections
Progent's Cisco-authorized IT experts can show you how to build an economical, fault tolerant Internet configuration solution that can achieve 24x7 Internet connectivity via a broad range of high availability Internet network technologies including high availability BGP, automatic fail-over, and multiple ISPs. Progent offers Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert consultants to show you how to apply the latest techniques for fault tolerant Internet connections to build a cost-effective, fully redundant Internet interface with automatic failover and other features to deliver fault tolerant Internet access. For more information, visit Fault Tolerant Internet Access Architecture.
Backup and Recovery Solutions Consulting Services
Progent offers economical remote access to consultants skilled in a broad range of utilities and technologies that provide solutions for backing up Microsoft Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux/UNIX physical and virtual servers and workstations as well as laptops and smartphones. Progent can provide help for all major data protection platforms including Acronis Backup and Recovery, Backup Exec, BackupAssist Software, CrashPlan, Double-Take Backup, Mozy, Retrospect for Macintosh, Apple Time Machine, VMware Data Recovery, and Oracle Solaris FLARs. Progent's consultants can help you to install, enhance, or troubleshoot backup/restore solutions for a variety of environments including on-premises, remote, cloud-based, or a mix. For details, see Backup and Recovery Technology Consulting.
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager Data Recovery Consulting Services
Progent's certified System Center Data Protection Manager consultants can help your company to create a practical disaster recovery strategy, design a cost-effective fault-tolerante IT infrastructure, deploy a System Center Data Protection Manager-powered recovery system, thoroughly test your system, educate your IT personnel or local consultants how to maintain SCDPM, or provide complete IT outsourcing services including remote hosting of System Center Data Protection Manager machines in Progent's secure data center. To find out more, go to Microsoft SCDPM Consulting Services.
Barracuda Backup Local, Offsite and Cloud Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is a low-cost, subscription-based backup and disaster recovery platform for small and medium-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup deployment can include a purpose-built hardware storage device built by Barracuda or a software-based appliance with similar functionality but which uses your existing storage infrastructure. Barracuda Backup safeguards vital company data generated locally, at one or multiple remote locations, or in the cloud. For disaster protection, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon AWS, or to any site with a Barracuda appliance. Progent is a Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consulting experts can provide a wide array of consulting services to assist your business to design, configure, operate and troubleshoot a backup and disaster recovery solution built on Barracuda Backup. For more information, go to Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consultants.
Altaro VM Backup Software for Data Protection and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup software provides small and mid-size businesses a dependable and affordable solution for backing up and restoring Hyper-V and VMware-powered virtual machines. Altaro VM Backup can be used for on-premises, remote, multi-site, and cloud-hosted environments and also enables cost-effective backup to Microsoft Azure storage. Top features include state-of-the-art inline deduplication to cut backup storage requirements, Continuous Data Protection (CDP) with backup spacing as little as five minutes for minimizing your exposure to data loss, military-grade encryption, item-level restore options for specific files and emails, extensive support for Windows CSV and VMware vCenter for managing large-scale environments, and the ability to leverage Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to back up online virtual machines without downtime. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and can provide a broad range of services to assist you to plan, deploy, optimize and troubleshoot a backup and disaster recovery system based on Altaro VM Backup software. For details, see Altaro VM Backup Consulting.
Consulting Services Double-Take Software for Data Backup and Recovery
Double-Take Software offers a family of products intended to provide small businesses a variety of cost-effective solutions for replicating and recovering vital workloads including Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL, Blackberry, and Microsoft SharePoint. Progent’s disaster recovery planning consultants have extensive backgrounds integrating Double-Take technology into small company IT systems to create an advanced level of fault tolerance and disaster recovery capability at a budget-friendly price. To read more, go to Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Data Backup.
CRISC-Premier IT Risk Control
The CRISC certification program was initiated by ISACA to verify a consultant's skills to design, implement, and maintain information system controls to mitigate risk. Progent can provide the expertise of a CRISC-certified consultant to help you to develop and carry out a business continuity or disaster recovery strategy based on leading practices promoted by CRISC and crafted to align with your company's risk appetite, business goals, and budgetary guidelines. For more information, go to CRISC-Premier IT risk management specialists.
Why Choose Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning?
Because Progent is a Microsoft Partner and provides specialized application expertise for a wide range of small business software programs, Progent is able to help clients to find complete IT solutions that optimize the business value of your information system. As a Registered Partner with Cisco, Progent offers the services of certified engineers and specialists with expertise in designing, implementing and managing infrastructure environments based on Cisco technology. The breadth of Progent's IT know-how and Progent's familiarity with the requirements of small and midsize companies make Progent the perfect resource for creating and maintaining a cost-effective, high-availability information system.
How to Access Progent's Experts for High Availability Computing Services
To ask Progent about technical help for fault tolerant networking, phone