Book details of 'Disaster Proofing Information Systems : A Complete Methodology for Eliminating Single Points of Failure'

Title	Disaster Proofing Information Systems : A Complete Methodology for Eliminating Single Points of Failure
Author(s)	Robert W. Buchanan
ISBN	007140922X
Language	English
Published	November 2002
Publisher	McGraw-Hill Professional

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The Virtual Bookcase Reviews of 'Disaster Proofing Information Systems : A Complete Methodology for Eliminating Single Points of Failure':

Reviewer Rob Slade wrote:
Buchanan proposes that we avoid disaster by building systems that have redundancies and are resistant to failure. In theory, this is an excellent idea. But he also implies that you can do this without any extra work or expense. Beware of people who tell you they can spin gold out of straw. Part one outlines the SHARED (somehow derived from "systems providing high availability through end-to-end resource distribution") methodology. Chapter one is a promotional piece for SHARED, featuring scattered examples, a disjointed structure, and verbiage that appears to be a rationale for the use of the system, but only if you don't examine it closely. This scattered and random approach is extended in chapter two, where the discussion of risk management confuses the qualitative and quantitative methods, and suggests that an alternative means of communications is a phone tree--if the phones are out. A lot of activity is suggested, most of it in the form of taking inventories, but the explanations of *how* to decide what goes on the various forms is very poor. The standard parts of a disaster recovery plan, such as hot sites, cold sites, and (in a rather idiosyncratic use of the term "co-location") multiple processing bureaus, are listed in chapter three. Chapter four pulls data out of thin air to fill in the forms for an "example" study. Part two talks about implementing SHARED. Chapter five discusses access devices, which seems to mean replacing your desktop computers with handhelds. Products for implementing the different types of redundancy with different platforms are listed in chapter six, although it is notable that clustering is described in the very limited Microsoft manner, rather than the broader and original sense. Chapter seven suggests that you write your applications properly. (How to do this is left as an exercise for the reader.) Database (referred to here as "data store") replication and backup is touched on in chapter eight. Various redundant topologies are suggested in chapter nine, but Buchanan makes several mistakes (suggesting, for example, one that avoids excessive communications--but would ensure a failure of communications in the event of the system failure that it is supposed to address). Chapter ten makes vague mentions of different market and operation types. Chapter eleven refers to generic testing activities. This book is hard to read, hard to understand, and provides very little useful information that is not addressed much more lucidly elsewhere (such as in Toigo's "Disaster Recovery Planning" [cf. BKDIRPL.RVW]). copyright Robert M. Slade, 2004
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Book description:

Nobody wants to shell out a lot of money for something they'll use once or, with any luck, never. But that's where most corporations find themselves today. Network managers see disaster recovery as outside their jurisdiction, and therefore as a competitor for system resources. External incentives to deploy disaster recovery from customers and partners may be pressing, but internal incentives are working against them. This book provides a methodology responsive to those problems. With careful planning, it can actually improve system performance instead of encumbering it. Even if your organization isn't budgeted for disaster recovery planning, you can implement this methodology now, at minimum cost, and reap immediate returns. For companies already invested in system protection software, Buchanan shows network managers how to get started on impact and risk assessment, protection planning, policymaking, and more.