Preventing Hardware Failures
Hardware failures can occur at any time. Included in this class of failures are environmental failures such as a natural disaster or a fire. Designing a hardware implementation with the fewest single points of failure is the safest way to minimize the risk. During the deployment planning, the implementer should create a physical hardware map that shows all the connection points for the storage, network, and the software logic. Then potential solutions can be planned and a cost versus risk analysis can be performed. There are many different solutions for this area that range from simple tape backups of critical data all the way to disaster-tolerant bunkers.
The following table lists tools and strategies for reducing downtime due to hardware failures. An "X" in a column means you can use the tool to prevent the indicated type of failure. For example, to prevent application, database, and server failures, use clustered configurations.
| Tool or strategy | Application | Database | Network | Server |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clustered configurations | X | X | X | |
| Data backups | X | X | X | |
| Data replication | X | X | X | |
| Dual disk controllers | X | X | ||
| Dual power supplies | X | X | X | X |
| Dual routers | X | |||
| Geographically dispersed data centers | X | X | X | X |
| Mirrored disks | X | X | ||
| Multiple ISPs | X | |||
| Multiple NICs | X | |||
| RAID disk arrays | X | X | ||
| UPSs | X | X | X | X |
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