RE: Pricing for hot backup sites

> Carl:
>A client asked me today what it would cost for a hot backup
>site for disaster recovery purposes.
>He is trying to get some ballpark numbers for budgeting purposes.
>Anyone out there have any idea about what it costs to have>
>
>1.  An agreement to have space available to load onto?
>2.  Keep a backup system loaded and synced up via tape periodically?

It sounds like your client is talking about third party solutions, but I
could be wrong.  Option 2 is, I think, better managed in-house.

This a bit more to option 1, but the prices are to a large degree based on
the size of the machine.  You're really contracting for availability of a
specific machine, not space on a machine.  (Though LPAR might make that more
feasible for DR providers going forward).  There's also the amount of time
contracted for test periods, services to have your system reloaded for you,
etc.  And there's lots of room for negotiation.  Your client should call
Sungard or one of their DR service competitors (even IBM) for a quote.  If
you let me know their machine type and DASD I could take a stab at it.

Because we have a few existing DC sites around the country we've looked into
option 2 as a do-it-yourself project.  Then it's more a matter of purchasing
and maintaining a second machine.  You should already know what the first
one costs to own and operate.  If you think about it, if a third party kept
a hot machine loaded for you it would have to be dedicated.  It would cost
them what it costs you.  I don't know whether anyone even offers such a
service.

-Jim

James P. Damato
Manager - Technical Administration
Dollar General Corporation
<mailto:jdamato@dollargeneral.com>