Enterprise Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Consulting
NetApp-certified MetroCluster Integration Consultant
Solutionj Design, Management and Troubleshooting
NetApp MetroCluster Disaster Recovery Solutions
MetroCluster, included with NetApp's ONTAP storage operating system, is high-availability and disaster recovery software that combines array-based clustering with synchronous replication to provide rapid, zero data loss disaster recovery between datacenters separated by up to 185 miles (300km). By synchronously mirroring volumes between storage controllers, MetroCluster allows zero Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and under two-minute Recovery Time Objective (RTO) for mission-critical applications. MetroCluster supports SAN and NAS hosts, is available in 2-, 4- and 8-node configurations, and integrates with NetApp SnapMirror for asynchronous, near-zero data lass protection for datacenters separated by longer distances. Storage costs are kept at a minimum via inline data reduction technologies including deduplication, compression, and compaction.
Progent offers online or onsite access to a NetApp subject matter expert with NCIE, NCDA and NASAP certifications who can provide advanced support to help you design, deploy, manage, optimize, update or troubleshoot a disaster recovery solution based on NetApp MetroCluster technology. Progent also offers support for other NetApp SAN and NAS storage solutions including ONTAP, SnapMirror, SnapVault and Open Systems SnapVault (OSSV), FlexPod private cloud converged infrastructure, Virtual Storage Console, MultiStore, vFiler, OnCommand Unified Manager Core with OnCommand Reporting and OnCommand Insight, plus NetApp's hybrid Flash FAS, all Flash AFF, V-Series and N-Series hardware portfolio. (See NetApp SAN Integration Consulting.)
Key Features of NetApp MetroCluster
MetroCluster provides local high-availability (HA) and rapid, single-command remote disaster recovery (DR) for an organization's storage infrastructure by connecting two clusters, one each at two geographically separated datacenters, in a bi-directional peered storage network where you can quickly switchover either cluster to handle the storage and services of the other cluster in addition its own workloads. By running the Storage Virtual Machines (SVMs) from the offline cluster on the surviving cluster, MetroCluster allows continuous access to data during an outage of a storage cluster or datacenter.
In a four-node configuration, each datacenter has a two-node failover cluster configured as a high-availability (HA) pair with mirrored non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) and multipath storage between the two local nodes. If either node in an HA pair stops working, automatic failover allows the surviving local partner to take over the offline node's operation without incurring downtime. For DR clusters at separate sites, MetroCluster supports active-active and active-passive configurations. In an active-active configuration, both sites serve independent workloads during normal operation. In an active-passive (or active standby) deployment, the cluster at a selected primary site hosts all application workloads in a steady state and switchover only occurs from the protected primary site to the backup site. In this mode, no switchover is required if the secondary site fails but resource utilization is relatively low. You can also configure local HA pairs to operate in active-passive mode.
Switchover between clusters at different datacenters and failover between nodes in a datacenter's cluster can be planned (e.g. for non-intrusive maintenance, testing or upgrades) or unplanned, as in a site disaster. Switchback is the process by which the surviving cluster in one datacenter returns switched-over resources to the original cluster at the other datacenter. Giveback, or failback, is the process by which an offline node in local cluster is returned to a steady operational state.
To provide zero RPO disaster recovery, MetroCluster uses synchronous replication between storage clusters so that any change made at one datacenter is automatically propagated to the other datacenter. The replication process includes storage replication with NetApp SyncMirror, nonvolatile NVRAM replication, and replication of the cluster configuration. For MetroCluster to preserve the identity of the storage access paths during switchover, you must set up an L2 spanned Ethernet network and a single SAN fabric across the two datacenter sites.
MetroCluster requires both datacenters to have the same hardware and disk configurations. A variety of components from multiple vendors are supported. In a four-node deployment, each cluster uses NetApp's standard clustered Data ONTAP cluster interconnects, usually a switchless, back-to-back connection between the two HA nodes. Two Fibre Channel (FC) or FCIP switches at each datacenter connect to the HA nodes via FC initiators and FC-VI interfaces and connect to storage with SAS-to-FC bridges. (Direct-attached configurations do not require FC switches.) This allows all nodes in both clusters to see all the storage. Brocade FC switches supported by MetroCluster allow DR clusters to be up to 185 miles apart. The Clustered Data ONTAP storage OS supports both switchless configurations and a variety of cluster interconnect switches.
How Progent Can Help You with MetroCluster and Other NetApp Storage Solutions
Progent's team of seasoned IT consultants can help you plan, deploy, manage, upgrade, test and troubleshoot a disaster recovery solution built around NetApp MetroCluster. Progent can help you design a two-node, four-node or eight-node topology for your MetroCluster environment that aligns with your functional requirements and IT budget. Progent can make sure you follow best practices for installing your MetroCluster environment by providing help with tasks such as assigning disk pools and shelf IDs, arranging aggregate and plexes layout, provisioning NetApp FlexVol volumes, configuring NetApp Snapshot, provisioning Cisco and Brocade switches, implementing a tiebreaker, and setting up a TCP/IP configuration replication network between your peered clusters. Progent can also help you streamline the management of your MetroCluster ecosystem and non-disruptively test your disaster recovery solution to prove compliance with industry standards and government regulations. In addition, Progent offers FlexPod integration consulting to help you incorporate MetroCluster into a resilient private cloud infrastructure that consolidates servers, network fabric and storage assets for hosting critical applications.
Progent can provide as-needed expertise to guide you through occasional technical roadblocks and also offers comprehensive project management outsourcing or co-sourcing. Progent offers remote and on-premises consulting services and gives you easy access to the breadth and depth of knowledge of more than 100 veteran subject matter experts. In addition to offering the support of a NetApp-certified network architect, Progent can provide the services of a Cisco-certified CCIE network infrastructure consultant, a VMware VCDX-certified virtual networking expert, a Microsoft-certified Exchange specialist, a Citrix-certified XenDesktop consultant, and other IT consulting experts.
Other Fault Tolerant Solutions Supported by Progent's Experts
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco consulting experts can help your business to design a cost-effective, zero-downtime system that resolves key issues encompassing a broad array of infrastructure solutions and operations including:
Disaster Recovery Planning
Progent's disaster recovery consultants can show you how to create a workplace recovery plan that will allow you to resume IT operations in the event of an information system catastrophe. Progent can assist you to define a complete disaster recovery strategy that incorporates periodic disaster recovery evaluations and drills. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified professionals can also show you how to build an affordable, non-stop system solution that addresses availability issues covering a broad array of network technologies and processes. For more information, visit Disaster Recovery Consulting and Support Services.
Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services
ProSight Data Protection Services offer small and medium-sized organizations a low cost and fully managed service for reliable backup/disaster recovery. For a fixed monthly cost, ProSight Data Protection Services automates and monitors your backup processes and enables fast restoration of vital data, apps and virtual machines that have become unavailable or corrupted as a result of component failures, software bugs, disasters, human error, or malicious attacks like ransomware. ProSight DPS can help you protect, retrieve and restore files, folders, applications, system images, as well as Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware virtual machine images. Important data can be backed up on the cloud, to an on-promises storage device, or to both. Progent's cloud backup consultants can deliver world-class support to set up ProSight DPS to to comply with government and industry regulatory requirements like HIPAA, FIRPA, PCI and Safe Harbor and, when needed, can help you to restore your critical information. Read more about ProSight DPS Managed Cloud Backup.
Microsoft Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery/business continuity experts can help you to design a disaster recovery solution built around Microsoft's most advanced Failover Clustering tools such as Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade for non-intrusive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for zero-data-loss Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Storage Spaces Direct for high-performance network-attached storage using industry-standard equipment, Virtual Machine Load Balancing for improving the performance and fault-tolerance of Failover Clusters while reducing capital investment and management overhead, and Cloud Witness for easy, affordable creation of a stretch cluster quorum arbitration point. For details, visit Microsoft Server 2016 Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Expertise.
Windows Server 2012 Failover Clusters
Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 introduced world-class availability and recoverability to Microsoft's clustering platform. Windows Server 2012 R2 adds to this foundation and provides important new and enhanced features that offer more extensibility, non-stop storage uptime for server applications, easier administration, faster automatic failover, and more options for architecting failover clusters. To learn more, see Windows Server 2012 Clustering Consulting Services.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager (SRM) is an extension to VMware vCenter that allows you to orchestrate, automate and verify a repeatable process for restoring services rapidly following an outage. SRM provides centrally controlled and automated recovery, application mobility, plus non-disruptive site migration, failback and site re-protect. Site Recovery Manager also supports non-intrusive testing for disaster recovery, updates and fixes and can produce audit reports to confirm complete service restoration, validate Service Level Agreements and prove disaster recovery compliance. Progent offers the skills of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consultant to help you to design, deploy, test and maintain a DR solution powered by VMware Site Recovery Manager.
Fault Tolerant Load Balancing
Progent offers high availability load balancing consulting covering system load balancing, load balanced applications, LAN/WAN backbone routing, and content dispatching products such as F5 Networks 3DNS. Non-stop load balancing solutions for which Progent offers consulting services include Microsoft Windows 2003 and 2008 Server Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Access Suite and Presentation Server, Cisco Content Services Switch, Cisco Distributed Director and LocalDirector 400 series, and F5 Networks 3-DNS. To read more, go to Fault Tolerant Load Balancing.
High-Availability Data Centers
Progent's Data Center engineers can help you find fault-tolerant data centers that match the specific needs of your company. Fault tolerant Internet Data Centers are especially attractive to small and mid-size businesses due to of their low cost and simplified logistics compared to pursuing a do-it-yourself approach. Trying to build an on-site data center that offers even a basic degree of fault tolerance is financially prohibitive for the majority of small companies. Progent can help you get all the benefits of non-stop Internet data centers by providing a complete range of engineering and maintenance services. For more information, go to High-Availability Internet Data Centers Solutions.
Failsafe Inter-office Connectivity
Progent’s inter-site network infrastructure professionals can help companies achieve non-stop inter-site connectivity by means of redundant system architectures with transparent failover. Progent’s Cisco-premier CCIE network engineers can plan and implement fault-tolerant Inter-office connections supported by zero-downtime EIGRP routers or non-stop OSPF deployment of Cisco routers. Progent can show you how multi-path connectivity and automatic fail-over offers economical non-stop interoffice connectivity. To read more, visit 24x7 Inter-office Networking.
Non-stop Internet Access
Progent's Cisco-authorized network consultants can help you create an affordable, fault tolerant Internet configuration solution that can achieve non-stop Internet access through a broad array of high availability Internet network technologies including fault tolerant BGP, automatic fail-over, and multiple ISPs. Progent offers Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert engineers to help you utilize the latest technology for fault tolerant Internet connectivity to implement an affordable, completely redundant Internet network with automatic failover and other features to create zero-downtime Internet availability. For more information, go to Non-stop Internet Connectivity Solutions.
Backup and Restore Solutions Consulting Experts
Progent offers affordable online support from engineers with expertise in a broad array of products and technologies that deliver solutions for backing up Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux physical and virtual servers and workstations plus laptops and smartphones. Progent can provide help for all major backup products including Acronis, Backup Exec, BackupAssist, CrashPlan PRO, Double-Take Software, MozyPro, Retrospect for Macintosh, Apple Time Machine, VMware Data Recovery, and FLARs. Progent's consultants can help you to implement, enhance, or troubleshoot backup/restore solutions for a range of environments including on-premises, remote, cloud, or hybrid. To read more, see Backup and Restore Solutions Consulting and Support Services.
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Data Recovery Consulting Experts
Progent's certified System Center Data Protection Manager engineers can help you to create an effective workplace recovery plan, design an affordable fault-tolerante network infrastructure, deploy a SCDPM-based recovery system, thoroughly validate your DPM system, train your IT staff or local service providers how to manage System Center Data Protection Manager, or provide complete IT outsourcing services including remote housing of Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager servers in Progent's secure data center facility. To learn more, visit System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Consulting Services.
Barracuda Backup On-premises and Cloud Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is a low-cost, subscription backup and disaster recovery service for small and mid-size businesses. A Barracuda Backup solution can include a purpose-built hardware appliance manufactured by Barracuda or a software-based appliance with comparable features but which uses your own storage hardware. Barracuda Backup safeguards critical business data generated locally, at one or more remote sites, or in the cloud. For disaster preparedness, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon Web Services (AWS), or to any site with a physical or virtual Barracuda Backup appliance. Progent is a certified Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consultants offer a wide range of consulting services to assist your business to plan, configure, operate and troubleshoot a BDR solution based on Barracuda technology. For more information, see Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consulting.
Altaro VM Backup Software for Backup and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup software provides small and mid-size organizations a reliable and budget-friendly solution for backing up and restoring Hyper-V and VMware-powered virtual machines (VMs). Altaro VM Backup can be deployed in local, offsite, multi-site, and cloud environments and also supports cost-effective backup to Azure storage. Top capabilities include state-of-the-art Augmented Inline Deduplication to reduce backup storage needs, Continuous Data Protection (CDP) with backup spacing as little as five minutes for reducing your Recovery Point Objective, advanced encryption, item-level recovery capability for specific files and emails, support for Windows Server Cluster Shared Volumes (CSV) and for VMware vCenter for managing larger deployments, and support for Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to back up online VMs without downtime. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and can provide a broad array of consulting services to help you to plan, install, optimize and troubleshoot a backup/restore system based on Altaro VM Backup software. To find out more, see Altaro VM Backup Consulting Services.
Consulting Services Double-Take Solutions for Data Backup
Double-Take publishes a family of tools intended to deliver small and midsize companies a variety of cost-effective solutions for replicating and recovering business-critical applications including Exchange, Microsoft SQL Server, Blackberry, and Microsoft Office SharePoint. Progent’s disaster recovery planning consultants have extensive backgrounds incorporating Double-Take Software technology into small company information systems to achieve a high level of fault tolerance and disaster recovery capability at a budget-friendly price. For details, go to Consulting for Double-Take Solutions for Backup.
CRISC-Premier IT Risk Control
The CRISC program was established by ISACA in 2010 to verify an IT professional's skills to design, implement, and support IS control mechanisms to reduce risk. Progent can provide the services of a CRISC-certified consultant to help you to create and carry out a workplace continuity strategy based on industry best practices promoted by CRISC and geared to align with your company's risk appetite, business goals, and budgetary guidelines. To read more, see CRISC-Premier IT risk management experts.
Contact Progent for NetApp SAN Storage Solutions
If you are looking for expertise to help you design, deploy or troubleshoot a SAN storage solution based on NetApp technology, call Progent at
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SCOM 2012 Cloud Monitoring Specialists
Open Now Remote Technical Support SCOM Resource Pools
Progent's Microsoft-certified consulting experts have over a decade of experience designing, implementing, enhancing and repairing System Center Operations Manager environments and offer organizations of any size expert online or on-premises consulting services for SCOM 2012. Progent can assist you to design a topology for SCOM 2012 servers that delivers the performance and resilience needed to watch over your IT resources effectively, whether your datacenters are onsite, in the cloud, or a mixed environment. Progent's SCOM consultants can also help you to import and customize System Center 2012 Operations Manager management packs according to industry best practices for monitoring network fabric and Microsoft and 3rd-party apps and services. In addition, Progent can deliver fast remote or on-premises technical support to assist you to remediate critical issues uncovered by SCOM 2012.
ProSight Server and Desktop RMM Online Support
Endpoint Monitoring and Reporting Computer Engineer
ProSight LAN Watch is Progent’s server and endpoint monitoring service that incorporates advanced remote monitoring and management techniques to keep your IT system operating at peak levels by checking the state of critical assets that power your network environment. When ProSight LAN Watch uncovers an issue, an alert is transmitted automatically to your specified IT management personnel and your assigned Progent consultant so any looming issues can be addressed before they have a chance to impact your business.
Network Installation Microsoft
Microsoft Office System installation and Administration
Progent’s IT outsourcing packages provide affordable computer consulting for small businesses. Whether it involves designing network architecture, setting up an in-house Help Desk or using an outside one, deploying an updated e-mail platform, monitoring your system, or creating a web-based eCommerce solution, outsourcing your IT engineering services can contain expenses and eliminate uncertainties, allowing IT support budgets to increase in a more moderate and manageable manner than is feasible by assembling a large, all-purpose in-house IT staff. Progent’s Outsourcing White Paper and datasheets tell you how Progent can help you build a secure and robust network architecture for your vital business software powered by Windows including Office XP, Office 2003, and Microsoft Office 2000.
Professional Email Policy Management
Email Virus Signature Consultants
Progent's ProSight Email Guard solution uses the services and infrastructure of top information security companies to deliver web-based management and world-class security for all your email traffic. The hybrid architecture of Progent's Email Guard integrates cloud-based filtering with an on-premises gateway appliance to provide complete protection against spam, viruses, Dos Attacks, DHAs, and other email-based threats. The cloud filter acts as a preliminary barricade and keeps most threats from reaching your security perimeter. This reduces your exposure to external threats and saves system bandwidth and storage. ProSight Email Guard's onsite gateway appliance adds a further layer of inspection for inbound email. For outbound email, the onsite gateway provides anti-virus and anti-spam filtering, DLP, and email encryption. The local gateway can also assist Exchange Server to monitor and protect internal email that stays inside your security perimeter.
Microsoft Consultant SQL Server 2012 Migration
PowerPivot for SharePoint Outsourcing
Progent can provide the expertise of Microsoft-certified engineers and experienced software programmers, database administrators, project management experts, Cisco-certified network architects, disaster recovery planning specialists, and certified security consultants to assist your business to assess the likely advantages of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 for your organization, install test systems at your datacenter or at Progent's lab, design and carry out a smooth transition to SQL Server 2012 from earlier releases of SQL Server or from legacy RDBMS platforms, and configure an efficient and safe network infrastructure that helps you realize the full strategic benefit of Microsoft SQL Server 2012.
Microsoft ISA Server 2006 Professionals
ISA 2006 Technology Consulting Services
ISA 2006 is a comprehensive gateway that offers a fully integrated application layer firewall, virtual private network (VPN), proxy, and Web caching platform for safeguarding the Internet-facing networks of any organization against a wide variety of attacks. Progent's Microsoft Internet Security and Acceleration Server 2006 support professionals can show you how to design, rationalize, test, install, configure and manage the Standard or Enterprise edition of ISA Server on your network.
SQL Server 2017 Always On Network Consulting
Specialist SQL Server 2017 Always Encrypted
Progent's certified SQL Server 2017 consultants can help your organization to plan and carry out a smooth upgrade from your existing SQL Server databases and applications to SQL Server 2017.
Meraki 802.11ax Access Point Support and Help
Support and Setup Meraki MR34 Access Point
Progent's Cisco-certified Wi-Fi networking experts offer online and onsite consulting and support services to assist your organization to design, configure, manage, optimize, and debug wireless networks that utilize Cisco's Meraki access points. Progent's consultants can also help your organization to design and implement hybrid networks that combine local and cloud-based services and that deliver easy access, advanced security and compliance, streamlined management, and dependable operation for all your mobile and desktop endpoints.
24-Hour Project Design Specialists
Project Design Tuning Services
For advanced project management support, Progent offers access to senior information technology experts with decades of background in IT management, application development, and process design for organizations ranging from Big 4 firms to dot-com startups to state government agencies. These proven IT managers can provide project management skills to help enterprise clients adhere to leading practices to ensure that strategic projects are completed on schedule and within budget.
ISA Server Computer Consultant
Emergency Microsoft Proxy Server Technical Consultant
Progent's certified ISA Server consulting experts have extensive experience with Internet Security and Acceleration Server developing ISA Server-based security installations for IT networks with many sites, remote users, and mission-critical web applications. Progent's ISA Firewall experts can help your small business in designing and implementing an installation of ISA 2000 Server or ISA 2004 Server that meets your information security needs without adversely restricting your IT system accessibility. Progent's consultants can help you migrate from Microsoft Proxy Server from Microsoft ISA 2000 to ISA 2004 Enterprise Edition Server, ISA 2004 Standard Edition Server, or other later editions of ISA Server.
Microsoft SQL 2008 Server Computer Consultants
Microsoft SQL 2008 Configuration
Progent's Microsoft-Certified SQL Server consultants offer a range of support services to assist small companies to design, deploy, administer, and repair SQL Server 2008 solutions in order to realize the optimum business advantage from this state-of-the-art RDBM technology. In addition, Progent offers help with system architecture, enterprise-wide protection, and custom software development to increase the strategic advantage of your information investment.
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