IT Security & Disaster Recovery Solutions

IT Security Services & Disaster Recovery Solutions

The September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have changed the IT landscape forever. It has affected the way we conduct our business. Data protection and providing security for the IT infrastructure (computers and networks) has become top priority for everyone. Every organization, large or small, is feeling the sense of urgency to protect their business. In today’s high-tech environment, our businesses depend heavily on our computers. Business data has become the most crucial and valuable asset of any organization. Any downtime of your computer network translates to financial losses. Loss of business data means serious financial damages, and a destroyed computer room spells disaster for any organization.

The positive side of the September 11th attack is that it has made all of us aware of the threats imposed by perils such as fire, flood, earthquake, tornado/storm, lightening, power outage, and theft, bomb attacks by terrorists, viruses, hackers, computer hardware failures, and application software failures. It has uncovered the risks we are taking for our businesses. Not providing protection for our business data and not having a disaster recovery plan for the business is like living in a house without insurance, or driving on the highway without a seatbelt.

MDEC’s Low Cost Custom Solutions

Large corporations, such as IBM and HP, offer disaster recovery solutions, but only for their own hardware. Their services also come with a high price tag. The high cost is due to the fact that there is no one solution that fits all organizations. Every organization uses a unique combination of hardware and software applications, which requires a custom solution. Due to higher overheads and high cost of IT professionals in the US, the custom disaster recovery solutions offered by large corporations are always expensive.

MDEC International utilizes low cost of software engineers & programmers in its R&D facility in India to develop best quality custom solutions for its US customers. We offer custom disaster recovery solutions for:

 Very Small Businesses ?with 20 or less PCs such as accountants, attorneys, physicians and other small businesses

 Small Businesses ?with up to 100 PCs such as schools, libraries, associations

 Midsize Businesses ?/B> with up to 500 PCs such as colleges, Universities, hospitals

 Government ?local, state and federal agencies

Comprehensive Security Products & Services

MDEC offers a comprehensive suite of security products & services to provide a completely secure IT infrastructure for its customers. Our security solutions include Fail-Safe hardware, on-site consulting for Disaster Recovery Planning, Virus & Intrusion Protection, and on-site/off-site real-time data protection and recovery services.

Customer Benefits
 

Disaster Insurance - Every business buys insurance to protect its physical assets (building, furniture, equipment etc.) from natural disasters like floods, fire etc. But there is no insurance/protection for the most crucial asset ?the business data. MDEC provides you this most valuable protection.
 

No data backup headaches & worries - MDEC’s disaster protection service reduces the stress on the network/system administrator, and gives the peace of mind to the business owners and the corporate managers. Unlike tape-backup, MDEC’s replication service continuously backs up your data as it is being entered by users in real-time. In case of a Server failure, the data is saved till the very last minute.
 

No business interruption - MDEC’s Data Replication & Failover services mean no business interruption. In case your Server fails, all of your users are automatically switched over to MDEC’s Data Vault Server in a remote location. The users don’t even notice the change.
 

Investment Protection - Our data protection software works with your existing Servers (Windows and SUN Solaris operating systems) from any vendor, with no capital expenses associated with purchasing the new hardware.
 

High Quality at affordable prices - Unlike most other vendors (IBM, HP, Ameri Vault, Live Vault, Sungard etc.), MDEC offers disaster protection/recovery solutions that are affordable even for a small business with 1 or 2 users. Both the equipment and labor costs of MDEC International are much lower than any other vendor in the market. Yet, we have maintained a track record (12+ years) of providing the best quality products & services to our customers like NASA.

 

MDEC’s Personalized Service - MDEC specializes in providing its services to small and midsize organizations. Our products are designed for smaller organizations, whereas most of the large service providers design their security products for large enterprises. You get personalized service from our engineers and IT technicians, no matter how small is your organization.

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Feature Highlights
 

Microsoft Certified Software - The data replication software used by MDEC is certified by Microsoft Corp. for Windows Server, Advanced Server, and Datacenter Server, the only replication software product to have achieved this level of certification. There are more than 20,000 licenses of the data replication software deployed worldwide.
 

Real-Time Data Replication - The data is replicated incrementally in real-time, as it is being entered by the users at the customer site. This process is far superior to the scheduled backup on a tape drive, or online backup at a remote site.
 

Redundant Data Vault Servers - Customer data is replicated on two Servers in two separate facilities, providing complete redundancy and extra protection.
 

24x7 Monitoring - MDEC technicians continuously monitor (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) each customer’s data replication process to ensure its integrity.
 

Daily Status Reports - A daily status report is sent to each customer by e-mail. This report contains the health-status, the size of the data files, and any related events.
 

Failure Alerts - In case of a failure, where customer’s Server/network connection fails, a message is immediately sent to the customer’s  System Administrator (or any other designated person) to alert him about the failure.
 

Automatic Failover for Uninterrupted Service - In the event of a customer server outage - planned or unplanned ?our data replication software allows MDEC’s Data Vault Server to stand in with the push of a button, or automatically, providing maximum availability to end users.
 

Customized Software Application Failover - In order to provide complete failover capability for all software applications being used at the customer site, customization for every application is required. MDEC programmers in our R&D center in India are capable of customizing any application at an affordable price.

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On-site consulting & Disaster Recovery Planning

The first step for any organization towards providing protection from natural and man-made threats is to have a Disaster Recovery Plan in place. MDEC’s experienced IT consultants visit customer sites to evaluate their business processes, and IT infrastructure including computer hardware, networking equipment, and software applications. They have in-depth discussions with customer’s management and key employees to analyze their security needs. Based on customer’s business needs and budget, our consultants prepare a report. This report includes recommendations to fill the security gaps; hardware/software needed to provide protection against disasters; and a disaster recovery plan following a catastrophic event. The plan is structured to provide minimum downtime for the business in a cost effective way.

Fail-safe Hardware

In order to provide protection for the business data, it is crucial that the hardware components that store and process the business information must be reliable. MDEC offers the hardware products that are designed to provide the highest level of security for your business data.

 Dual Redundant Power Supplies - even in entry-level Servers

 RAID Data Storage (Redundant hard drives to protect data against failures)

 Secure Servers - with built-in RAID

 Network Attacked Storage (NAS)

 Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) ?with battery backup

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On-Site Virus & Intrusion Protection Services

MDEC offers the virus protection software from the leading vendors such as Symantec corp. MDEC’s on-site services include installation and maintenance of the anti-virus software, virus removal and data recovery services. MDEC also offers the Firewall software to protect against unauthorized intrusions:

 Firewall built into Router Gateways ?a low cost solution for small businesses

 Server installed firewall - by vendors such as Check Point Software Technologies for mid-size organizations

On-Site Disaster Protection Solutions

The traditional disaster recovery solution implemented in most of the businesses today comprises of backing-up the critical business data on a tape drive, mostly schedules at night, and then storing the tapes in a remote facility. This system has many drawbacks:

 If the Server fails at the end of the day before the scheduled tape backup, the whole day’s data is lost.

 In case of a failure, computer users are unable to do their work till the data is restored from the tape onto a new Server, which means a downtime of up to several days.

In today’s technology driven business world, the financial losses caused by a Server failure to an organization are too high to tolerate. Businesses need a disaster recovery solution without loss of any data or any downtime. At the same time, such solution must be cost effective to implement. MDEC offers state-of-the-art solutions that are cost effective and meet the budgets of small to mid-size organizations.

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On-site Data Replication Solution

In this configuration, each on-site Server has its own independent data storage, which is not shared with other local Servers. All the applications are replicated on the Primary Server & the Secondary Server. The data is continuously backed up from the Primary Server to the Secondary Server. In case the Primary Server fails, the applications are started (failed-over) on the Secondary Server by the data replication software customized by MDEC, and all the users are also migrated transparently.

This configuration offers the entry level disaster protection service, and is recommended for small organizations performing time-critical business functions, where the downtime results in serious losses. This is a low cost solution, since it works on customer’s existing hardware.

On-site Cluster Solution

MDEC offers Always ON Servers along with clustering software from Microsoft Corp. to provide on-site data protection. A cluster consists of at least two Servers (max. 32 Servers) with identical hardware, operating system and application programs. The data is stored  on the shared storage common to both the Servers. In case the Primary Server fails, the clustering software automatically moves all users to the Secondary Server, and the application programs start on the Secondary Server where the Primary Server had left. This solution provides continuous availability of data and application programs without any downtime or loss of data.

The Cluster Server configuration is needed by the organizations with heavy work load, where the load is shared by Servers within the cluster. This configuration is recommended for organizations performing time-critical business functions, where the downtime results in serious losses, such as hospitals, banks, and e-commerce companies.

The on-site only solutions without the off-site data replication, however, don’t provide a complete protection against disasters. Since both the Servers are physically located within the same building, the building itself becomes a single-point failure.

Off-Site Disaster Protection Solutions

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MDEC offers a variety of off-site disaster protection/recovery solutions that are customized to meet the unique needs of every business organization.

Shared Data Vault & Monitoring Service


MDEC provides remote data storage facilities to replicate (back-up) customers?data. The data is replicated in real-time (as it is entered by the users at customer sites) through a secure Intranet connection. This is accomplished by installing the industry-proven data replication software (with 20,000+ licenses worldwide) on the customer’s Server. This is a fully managed solution where MDEC technicians monitor customers?data replication process, verify its integrity and generate a daily Data Status Report for each customer.

This is an entry-level service for small businesses with up to 25 users. Customers share the data backup space on a Data Vault Server in an MDEC facility. If a customer’s Server fails, or need to be shutdown for planned maintenance, all the users are automatically migrated to the Data Vault Server in a remote location. This assures no business interruption for the customer. After the customer Server is restored, all the users are moved back from MDEC’s Data Vault Server.

The customers have the option (at additional cost) to replicate and store their data at two separate MDEC facilities in real time to provide extra protection.


Dedicated DataVault & Monitoring Service


MDEC provides a dedicated Server for each customer in its secure data storage facility. All customer’s software applications and databases are replicated on our dedicated DataVault Server. In case of the customer Server failure, all the users are automatically migrated to the DataVault Server in a remote location. This assures  no  downtime for the customer employees. A dedicated Server is recommended for customers with heavy workload, typically having more than 25 users.

The customers have the option (at additional cost) to replicate and store their data at two separate MDEC facilities in real time to provide extra protection.
 

Co-host DataVault & Monitoring Service


The customer provides its own dedicated Server to be hosted at MDEC’s secure data storage facility. MDEC technicians monitor the data backup process and generate daily reports for the customer.

The customers have the option (at additional cost) to provide two dedicated Servers to be hosted at two separate MDEC facilities to provide extra protection.
 

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Fail-Safe Disaster Protection Solutions

MDEC offers the ultimate fail-safe solutions that combine the benefits of both the On-site & Off-site solutions to provide continuous availability of the data as well as software applications to the customer employees.

Double Data Replication Solution

In this configuration, each on-site Server has its own independent data storage, which is not shared with other local Servers. All the applications are replicated on the on-site Primary Server, the Secondary Server and the off-site Data Vault Server. The data is continuously backed up from the Primary Server to the Secondary Server as well as to the remote DataVault Server. In case the Primary Server fails, the applications are started (failed-over) on the Secondary Server by the data replication software customized by MDEC, and all the users are also migrated transparently. The data replication software continues to backup the data on the off-site DataVault Server. In this case, the Data Vault Server becomes the Secondary Server. However, if the on-site Secondary Server fails before the Primary Server is restored, all users are migrated to the Data Vault Server. The applications are started (failed-over) on the Data Vault Server. This solution provides the ultimate disaster protection and recovery with almost no downtime.

This configuration is recommended for organizations performing time-critical business functions, where the downtime results in serious losses, such as hospitals, banks, and e-commerce companies.

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Cluster Data Replication Solution
 

In this configuration, the on-site Servers (with shared data storage) and the off-site dedicated Server at MDEC’s remote facility form a cluster through a Virtual Private Network (VPN). All the applications are replicated on the on-site Primary Server, the Secondary Server and the off-site DataVault Server. The data is continuously backed up from the shared on-site storage to the DataVault storage. In case the Primary Server fails, the applications are started (failed-over) on the Secondary Server, and all the users are also migrated (transparently) by the clustering software. The data replication software continues to backup the data on the off-site Data Vault Server. In this case, the Data Vault Server becomes the Secondary Server. However, if the on-site Secondary Server fails before the Primary Server is restored, all users are migrated to the Data Vault Server. The applications are started (failed-over) on the DataVault Server by the software customized by MDEC. This solution provides the ultimate disaster protection and recovery with almost no downtime.

 The Cluster Server configuration is needed by the organizations with heavy work load, where the load is shared by Servers within the cluster. This configuration is recommended for organizations performing time-critical business functions, where the downtime results in serious losses, such as hospitals, banks, and e-commerce companies.

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Comparison to Competition
(Disaster Recovery Solutions)

Before you select an IT security vendor to protect your valuable business data, you would like to compare the products & services offered by the leading vendors in the market. This comparison is an essential part of your decision making process. Searching & locating the vendors, obtaining & studying their literature, talking to vendors?salesmen, understanding the intricate details of the security technology, comparing the benefits, features & prices of each vendor could be a very time consuming and complex task. In most cases, this process alone is responsible for the delay in your final selection of the vendor suitable for your specific needs.

To assist you in your decision making process, the marketing professionals at MDEC International have already done the comparison for you. Before designing our products, we do a thorough market research, and offer the services that are superior compared to other leading vendors, but affordable for small to midsize organizations.

Leading Disaster Recovery Vendors

Amerivault Corporation (www.amerivault.com) - offers Online data backup and electronic vaulting services. Their service is a scheduled data backup service. They don’t offer real-time continuous data replication service. The data backup needs to be performed and monitored by the customer’s employees. The service is a step higher than the tape backup service, but does not measure upto MDEC’s services.

LiveVault  and HP (www.livevault.com and www.hp.com) - offer online data backup services, HP being the service provider and the Live Vault corporation offers the technology. They do offer continuous real-time data backup service, but do not offer off-site Failover capabilities similar to MDEC International. Moreover, MDEC’s prices (for consulting, backup services, and custom programming) are 50% lower than the HP’s prices.

Sungard and Iron Mountain (www.sungard.com and www.ironmountain.com) - are two of the industry’s oldest and well known brand names. These companies offer comprehensive data protection and recovery services, but designed primarily for large enterprises. MDEC offers similar services designed for small to midsize organizations, at a fraction of the cost.

 

 


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