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.
Additional Fault Tolerant Technologies Provided by Progent's Experts
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco engineers can help your business to design a sensible, non-stop environment that resolves major issues encompassing a broad range of networking technologies and operations such as:
Workplace Recovery Planning
Progent's business continuity planning consultants can help you design a disaster recovery strategy so you can restore network functionality in the event of an information system catastrophe. Progent can help you to create a comprehensive disaster recovery plan that incorporates scheduled disaster recovery assessments and drills. Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-authorized professionals can also show you how to build an affordable, fault-tolerant network architecture that takes into account reliability issues involving a wide array of infrastructure technologies and processes. For more information, visit Workplace Recovery Consulting.
CRISC-Premier IT Risk Control
The CRISC certification program was established by ISACA in 2010 to verify an IT professional's ability to design, deploy, and maintain IS control mechanisms to mitigate network risk. Progent can provide the services of a CRISC-certified engineer to help your company to create and carry out a business continuity plan based on industry best practices identified by CRISC and crafted to match your company's risk appetite, business objectives, and budgetary guidelines. To find out more, see CRISC-Certified IT risk mitigation experts.
Windows Server 2019 High Availability Failover Clustering
Windows Server 2019 offers significant enhancements in scale, performance, management, security and compliance, app compatibility, Linux co-existence, container technology, and hybrid combinations of on-premises and cloud-hosted assets. Top enhancements of Windows Server 2019 are Windows Admin Center for centralizing the management of hybrid on-premises/cloud deployments, System Insights for taking advantage of advance predictive analytics to control local networks, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection Exploit Guard for host-intrusion defense, container networking using Kubernetes, Cluster Sets for deploying and managing large high-availability scale-out clusters, and Storage Migration Service for streamlining the migration from outdated editions of Windows Server. For more information, visit Windows Server 2019 High Availability Failover Clustering Expertise.
Microsoft Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery
Progent's Windows Server 2016 disaster recovery consultants can assist your organization to design a DR system built around Microsoft's cloud-tested Failover Clustering technologies including Cluster OS Rolling Upgrade for non-disruptive migration to Windows Server 2016, Storage Replica for crash-consistent Recovery Point Objective (RPO), Storage Spaces Direct for high-performance network-attached storage using industry-standard hardware, Virtual Machine Load Balancing for improving the performance and fault-tolerance of Failover Clusters while reducing TCO and operational expenses, and Cloud Witness for fast, economical creation of a failover cluster quorum arbitration point. To learn more, see Windows Server 2016 Disaster Recovery Consulting.
VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) Disaster Recovery Solutions
VMware's Site Recovery Manager is an extension to VMware vCenter that allows you to define, automate and test a consistent workflow for recovering applications and services quickly after an outage. SRM supports centrally managed and automated disaster recovery, application mobility, plus non-disruptive site relocation, failback and site re-protect. SRM also enables transparent testing for disaster recovery, updates and fixes and can generate audit reports to verify full service restoration, validate Service Level Agreements and prove DR compliance. Progent can provide the skills of a VCDX certified VMware Site Recovery Manager consulting expert to help you to plan, deploy, test and maintain a disaster recovery solution based on VMware SRM.
Network Load Balancing
Progent offers fault tolerant load balancing consulting that addresses system load balancing, load balanced applications, LAN/WAN infrastructure routing, and content dispatching technology such as F5 Networks 3DNS. High availability load balancing solutions for which Progent can provide consulting services include Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Network Load Balancing Manager, Citrix Access Suite and Access Gateway, Cisco CSS, Cisco Content Distribution Manager and ACNS, and F5 Networks 3-DNS. To find out more, visit High Availability Load Balancing.
Non-stop Internet Data Centers
Progent's Data Center professionals can help you find zero-downtime data centers that match the particular requirements of your business. Fault tolerant colocation sites are particularly attractive to small and mid-size companies due to of their affordability and simplified logistics compared to pursuing a do-it-yourself strategy. Attempting to create an in-house data center with even a minimum level of fault tolerance is too expensive for the majority of small organizations. Progent is ready to help you reap all the benefits of 24x7 Internet data centers by offering a full array of engineering and maintenance services. To learn more, see Fault Tolerant Colocation Solutions.
Fault Tolerant Branch Office Networking
Progent’s multi-site connectivity engineers can help businesses achieve non-stop inter-site connectivity solutions by means of redundant system architectures with automatic failover. Progent’s Cisco-premier CCIE engineers can design and implement high-availability Inter-office networks supported by zero-downtime EIGRP routers or non-stop OSPF deployment of Cisco routers. Progent can demonstrate how multi-path connectivity and transparent fail-over can provide affordable non-stop interoffice connectivity. For details, visit High-Availability Interoffice Connectivity.
Fault Tolerant Internet Connections
Progent's Cisco-certified network consultants can help you create an economical, fault tolerant Internet connection solution that can achieve non-stop Internet connectivity via a wide range of fault tolerant Internet network technologies including fault tolerant BGP, automatic fail-over, and redundant ISPs. Progent can provide CCIE professionals to show you how to utilize the most up-to-date techniques for high availability Internet connectivity to build a cost-effective, completely redundant Internet network with automatic failover and other features to create fault tolerant Internet availability. For more information, go to Fault Tolerant Internet Access Architecture.
Backup and Recovery Technology Consulting
Progent can provide economical remote access to consultants with expertise in a wide array of utilities and technologies that deliver solutions for protecting Windows, Apple Mac, and Linux/UNIX servers and workstations plus laptops and handhelds. Progent can provide help for leading backup products including Acronis, Symantec Backup Exec, BackupAssist Software, HP Data Protector, Double-Take Software, Mozy, Retrospect for Macintosh, Time Machine, vSphere Data Protection, and Solaris FLARs. Progent's consultants can help you to implement, enhance, or troubleshoot data backup solutions for a variety of environments including on-premises, edge to datacenter, cloud-based, or a mix. For details, visit Backup and Restore Technology Consulting.
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (SCDPM) Backup and Recovery Consulting Services
Progent's certified System Center Data Protection Manager engineers can assist your company to create an effective business continuity strategy, design an affordable high-availability network infrastructure, deploy a SCDPM-powered recovery solution, thoroughly validate your DPM system, educate your IT personnel or local consultants how to manage Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager, or provide extensive information technology outsourcing services such as off-site housing of System Center Data Protection Manager machines in Progent's data center. To learn more, visit Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager Consulting Services.
Barracuda Backup Local, Offsite and Cloud Data Backup and Disaster Recovery
Barracuda Backup is an affordable, subscription backup/restore platform for small and mid-size organizations. A Barracuda Backup deployment can incorporate a purpose-built hardware appliance built by Barracuda or a software-based appliance with similar functionality but which utilizes your existing storage infrastructure. Barracuda Backup protects critical business data generated locally, at one or multiple remote locations, or in the cloud. For disaster recovery, you can replicate data to the Barracuda Cloud, to Amazon AWS, or to any site with a physical or virtual Barracuda Backup appliance. Progent is a Barracuda partner and Progent's Barracuda Backup consultants offer a wide range of consulting services to assist your business to plan, integrate, operate and troubleshoot a backup and disaster recovery solution based on Barracuda Backup. For more information, visit Barracuda Backup and disaster recovery consulting and management.
ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro VM Backup Software for Backup and Disaster Recovery
Altaro VM Backup software offers small businesses a reliable and budget-friendly platform for backing up and recovering Hyper-V and VMware-powered VMs. Altaro VM Backup can be used for on-premises, remote, multi-site, and cloud architectures and also supports cost-effective cloud backup to Microsoft Azure storage. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and can provide a wide array of remote or on-premises consulting services to assist you to plan, install, optimize and debug a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution powered by Altaro VM Backup. With ProSight DPS Altaro VM Backup, Progent offers a managed backup/restore service powered by on Altaro VM Backup software. To find out more, go to Altaro VM Backup certified consultants.
ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro O365 Total Backup Services
Microsoft Office 365 provides rudimentary archiving but does not have integrated support for crucial data protection services such as Exchange backups or greater than 30-day point-in-time data recovery for OneDrive for Business or SharePoint. Altaro Office 365 Backup delivers a full-featured platform for programmable backup and rapid restoration of all your company's Office 365 mail, Teams Chats, SharePoint documents, and OneDrive files. Progent is a certified Altaro partner and offers ProSight Data Protection Services (DPS) Office 365 Total Backup to deliver comprehensive managed services for Altaro's Office 365 data protection product. ProSight Data Protection Services Office 365 delivers a budget-friendly backup-as-a-service (BaaS) alternative that defends O365 components against data loss resulting from human or software mistakes, malevolent corruption, and cyber attacks like ransomware. To learn more, visit ProSight Data Protection Services Altaro O365 Backup services.
Managed Cloud Backup: ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO
ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO from Progent offer small and mid-sized organizations an affordable and fully managed solution for reliable backup/disaster recovery. Available at a low monthly rate, ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO automates and monitors your backup activities and allow rapid restoration of vital files, applications and VMs that have become lost or corrupted as a result of hardware failures, software glitches, natural disasters, human mistakes, or malicious attacks such as ransomware. ProSight DPS ECHO can help you back up, recover and restore files, folders, applications, system images, as well as Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware images. Critical data can be backed up on the cloud, to an on-promises storage device, or to both. Progent's BDR specialists can deliver world-class support to configure ProSight Data Protection Services ECHO to to comply with government and industry regulatory standards such as HIPAA, FIRPA, and PCI and, whenever necessary, can help you to recover your business-critical information. Read more about ProSight DPS ECHO managed backup.
ProSight DPS 360 Backup Services
Progent can help your company to create, deploy and troubleshoot a backup plan built around MSP360 technology. MSP360 offers file/folder or image backup/restore for VMs and physical machines, supports all leading public clouds, and allows you to create a data protection solution with a low RTO and a defined Recovery Point Objective. With ProSight Data Protection Services 360 Backup, Progent offers comprehensive monitoring and remote management of your backup environment to prevent data loss caused by user mistakes, system errors, ill-intentioned users, and external attacks such as ransomware. For details, go to ProSight Data Protection Services 360 Backup solutions.
Consulting for Double-Take Software for Data Backup
Double-Take Software offers a selection of tools intended to deliver small businesses a range of cost-effective alternatives for backing up and recovering vital applications such as Exchange Server, SQL, RIM Blackberry, and Microsoft SharePoint. Progent’s disaster recovery planning consultants have extensive backgrounds incorporating Double-Take Software products into small company information systems to achieve a high state of fault tolerance and disaster recovery readiness at a budget-friendly cost. To read more, visit Consulting Services Double-Take Solutions for Backup.
Why Pick Progent for Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity Planning?
Since Progent is a Microsoft Certified Partner and offers specialized application expertise for a wide variety of business applications, Progent can help customers to find efficient information technology solutions that substantially enhance the business value of your IT network. As a Registered Partner for Cisco, Progent offers the support of certified engineers and specialists with expertise in designing, configuring and managing networking solutions built on Cisco technology. The depth and breadth of Progent's technical know-how and Progent's familiarity with the needs of small and midsize companies make Progent the perfect resource for creating and maintaining a cost-effective, high-availability network.
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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Immediate Midsized Office Integration Consultant
Microsoft Certified Partner Mid-size Business Information Technology Outsourcing Company
Progent offers IT support for mid-size businesses who have 100 to 250 network users. The mid-size company or work group has traditionally been an overlooked segment of the market for network support expertise. The cost structures and service access practices of large outside support organizations make them excessively expensive for the ordinary mid-size company or small medium business (SMB), which usually has a modest IT budget with which to maintain an IT system whose complexity and capability are often comparable to the networks of far larger enterprises. Progent's service delivery model, which takes great advantage of remote service, virtual office technology and proactive network monitoring, dramatically lowers the network maintenance costs of a small-medium business while offering the small organization with big-company support from professional, IT experts knowledgeable in a broad range of midsized business technologies. If your medium size company or small business is searching for the quality of network help appropriate by a mid-size office without paying big-company costs, you need Progent.
Urgent Live Online Microsoft Access Education
Microsoft Desktop Apps Instruction Server Consultant
Progent offers live remote instruction for popular client apps and operating systems such as Microsoft Office Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Project plus Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Crystal Reports, and Microsoft Windows 10 and 8.1. Online instruction provides the advantages of traditional physical classroom seminars, such as instant communication between clients and teachers, but avoids the costs of travel and the hassle of trying to synchronize the schedules of multiple students. Offered to individuals or classes of all sizes, Progent's live online training permits the instructor to conduct the seminar from an online office while the clients can be spread throughout a campus or all over the country. Virtual instruction utilizes proven teaching aids like virtual white boards, electronic hand-raising, and shared applications. Sessions can be short and targeted to specialized topics or extended in time and wider in scope.
Exchange Migration Services
After Hours Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Migration Consulting Services
Progent's Microsoft and Cisco-certified network engineers can assist you to determine the value of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 for your company and can help your IT staff to design and carry out an efficient upgrade to Exchange Server 2010 from Exchange 2003 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 that will offer fast return on investment by improving your workers' efficiency, lowering the cost of equipment and service, simplifying administration, and integrating your key communications platforms.
SharePoint 2013 Excel Services Online Technical Support
After Hours Support and Help SharePoint Business Connectivity Services
Progent has been delivering SharePoint support since the first SharePoint product was released more than a decade ago, and Progent has the scope of technical know-how to assist businesses of any size to design and implement a SharePoint Server 2013 installation and develop SharePoint 2013 applications that add significant business value to your information network. Progent's Microsoft-certified consultants can assist you to evaluate the business advantages of migrating to SharePoint 2013 or SharePoint Online from legacy versions of SharePoint or from another collaboration solution; determine if an on-premises, online or hybrid deployment is most sensible for your company; and select the most appropriate version of SharePoint 2013 for your applications. Progent offers full project management support or can assist in specific tasks related to your SharePoint 2013 deployment.
Information Transfer IT Consultant
Knowledge Transfer Network Consultant
Progent practices information transfer from Progent's support experts to clients. By educating clients to deal with problems that are within their comfort zone, Progent is able to focus on providing high-value services where Progent faces few competitors. Small companies who utilize trusted independent consultants or who employ internal support personnel benefit when Progent transfers information about new technology and proven methodologies to make their IT environments more reliable, secure, and efficient.
Network Security Professional
Security Specialists
Progent offers consulting for security testing packages such as LANguard from GFI for performing a set of automatic network testing scans to identify potential security gaps. Progent has broad knowledge of network analysis tools and can help you to understand testing reports and respond appropriately. Progent can show you how to build security into your business processes, configure auditing applications, plan and deploy a protected network architecture, and recommend policies to maximize the safety of your IT system. Progent's security professionals are ready to show you how to set up a firewall, design secure remote access to email and business applications, and integrate virtual private network. Progent's qualified security experts can also validate the security of web-based software and can conduct comprehensive security tests of company-wide security to validate your company's compliance with important international security standards such as FISMA, PCI, and ISO 17799.
SQL Server Capacity Planning Outsourced Programming
Development Group SQL 2008 Reporting Services
Progent's certified SQL Server programmers and DBAs offer remote expertise to help businesses of any size to build, manage, and maintain applications powered by the Microsoft SQL Server RDBMS and Microsoft's .NET architecture. Progent's SQL Server consultants offer support for any element of application development in solutions that can include small business or departmental databases to VLDB applications and enterprise-class data warehousing.
OS X Security Onsite Technical Support
24x7 Apple Mac Firewalls Firewall Audit
Progent's CISM-certified security consultants can show you how to secure your Apple Mac environment through expert services such as running security tests, recovery from virus and denial of service penetrations, configuring firewalls, implementing secure off-site and mobile access, deploying automated programs for defense against viruses, spam, and directory harvest attacks, and creating a company-wide security strategy adapted for the particular objectives of your business information system.
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