A Network in the Ether: Wireless Communication Enhances Disaster Recovery

The real beauty of wireless communications is that everybody already has ideas of its best uses. And the ideas are as varied as the people. When PCs were unveiled in 1980, people wondered what we would do with them. Today we wonder what we would do without them. When portable computers were developed we wondered who would carry them. Today, you cannot sit at an airport or wander through a hotel lobby without seeing people hunched over and pecking away. Wireless communication is still in its infancy, yet everybody already has ideas.

Perhaps you want to send a fax from the beach (why I wouldn't know) or check your electronic mail at an airport. Maybe you need to check the status of an order for the client you are visiting. A doctor may need to quickly read a patient's chart - but she is examining a patient who is traveling thousands of miles from home. Whatever your needs, wireless offers some exciting possibilities for expanding your network.

The Good, The Bad and the Vulnerability

Every new technology brings with it advantages and possibilities. With each new possibility there are new risks. Wireless communication is no exception and a great deal of time and energy has already been devoted to discussing the inherent risks of the various wireless channels available to us.

The arena of Disaster Recovery Planning, however, is greatly aided by the advent of wireless communications capabilities. This article will focus on the ways wireless technology can enhance the usefulness of computers to people and organizations while simultaneously improving their Disaster Recovery posture.

New Wireless Solves Old Problems

A recent Datapro survey of 800 IS executives reported that one of the top three problems facing companies trying to move to Client/Server was network connectivity. (The other two were lack of expertise and organizational adjustments.) One of the three frequently cited benefits was the ability to move critical information anywhere for end-user access.

Wireless communications can enhance the benefit while solving (in part) the problem. Network connectivity issues can be resolved by wireless connectivity. As you read this, new wireless LANs are being introduced and costs are dropping. Want to bring data closer to the user? How about bringing it to her hotel room or airport waiting lounge?

We all recognize that wireless can circumvent problems associated with wiring in special environments. Wireless can also, however, overcome the problems associated with special circumstances-even disastrous ones.

Disaster Recovery vs. Disaster Prevention

The "typical" disaster circumstances that occur to us are usually fire, flood, earthquake and other similar events. There are many others that are more common, including power failures, phone outages and equipment failures. Traditional disaster recovery planning copes with all of these possible disasters by developing alternative capabilities for performing work.

These capabilities tend to differ from the standard operating systems. This is reasonable. If a large LAN goes off-line, the natural backup capability is a series of standalone systems and an eventual repair or replacement LAN. It might be more reasonable to develop a backup system that approximates the primary system but on a smaller scale. Perhaps some hot site stands ready to provide a full backup system -- someplace far away from home.

It is even more effective and safe to build our systems so that the primary and backup systems are indistinguishable from each other. This is a laudable goal that is just now becoming possible. When wireless capabilities are blended into the overall corporate communications structure, exciting new disaster prevention capabilities enter the realm of cost-effective solutions.

Survival of the Un-Wired

Wireless gives us a new opportunity to build systems that survive. If our system survived and continued to provide continuous communication in the face of a telephone outage, then we have avoided a disaster. If we can continue to access data to provide customer support, even though the blizzard knocked out standard communications at the technical center, then we have avoided a major disaster.

In mid-1994, a fire in the downtown Los Angeles switching station of PacTel caused a telephone crisis. This is the largest switching station of its kind anywhere in the world. Many businesses in area code 818, who are dependent upon that station, were unable to dial out or receive calls. Customer service didn't serve customers. Electronic mail wasn't delivered. Dial up nets didn't work. Having multiple lines with geographically dispersed trunks did not always help.

The situation was grave -- unless your company was prepared with wireless communications capabilities. Such companies included large and small firms using cellular voice and data networks, satellite communications through VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technology, and other wireless technologies.

Case Study: A Company That Was Ready

One company, located in the San Fernando Valley, was prepared for this disaster. Their wireless capabilities consisted of portable cellular voice phones and cellular modem connections into their LAN. This organization supported a large, dispersed sales staff. The sales people called into this location one of two ways: either they used voice phones or they dialed in from laptops equipped with cellular modems.

In either case, the goal of the sales person was to quickly obtain current pricing and availability data and place orders. The company expected customers to allow their sales people to use customer voice phones when necessary. That is a standard business practice. This company had learned over time, however, that data communications was not as easy to implement. Many times simple outside lines were not available; switching equipment often could not support modem connections. Furthermore, sales people were not expected to focus on the technology; they were to concentrate on the sales.

The solution was to make the dial up methods and connections as independent of the location as possible. Cellular modems were the simplest solution, and they were cost effective because they decreased the time to complete a sale and the number of visits per sale.

During the Business Impact Analysis phase their disaster recovery planning, the company recognized the importance of this communication between the home LAN and the off site sales force. Therefore, they provided two backup communications techniques. The sales support staff normally used standard telephones to field questions and provide data to the sales staff. In the case of a telecommunications disaster, they were provided with cellular phones at their desks. (Each cellular phone was normally kept on an independently powered charger rack, ready for use.) Incoming calls were routed to the cellular lines when the main sales support lines were unavailable.

Their second backup communication was used to support sales people equipped with laptops. Cellular modems on the LAN communications servers provided connectivity in case normal land lines were down. A small number of cellular lines provided sufficient backup capability, though they could not service peak volume.

When the PacTel fire disrupted service, this company continued business as usual. Some of their off site sales people did not even realize that there had been a problem until they read about it in the news media days later.

Grin or Smile

It is clearly better to avoid a disaster than it is to recover from one. Wireless communications can be used to prevent many of the most common disasters that afflict corporations around the world. Phone and power outages are frequent events. They occur in urban and in rural areas, and they are unpredictable.

Ten years ago, the best we could do with a short phone outage was to grin and bear it. Today we can smile.