Computer Center Lab Offers IT Disaster Recovery Drills

BY LAURA NEWPOFF - BUSINESS FIRST
May 3, 2002

The Ohio Supercomputer Center's Platform Lab has begun staging disaster recovery drills for companies that want to make sure they can operate if their information technology systems are harmed." There's a zillion different ways to have a disaster," said Steve Gruetter, the Platform Lab's business development director. "So businesses can come here and validate that a disaster recovery plan is correct, troubleshoot or find holes in the plan and find a time frame for how long it really takes."

The Supercomputer Center opened the Platform Lab software testing operation this year at the Business Technology Center on Kinnear Road. It comprises eight 300-square-foot pods with T3 connections, data ports and phone ports.

Gruetter said companies pay $2,000-$3,500 to rent the pod for disaster recover drills for a week, although discounts are available for firms planning to test several times a year. Platform Lab's technicians configure the equipment for the drills. "Disaster recovery has been a very hot topic lately," Gruetter said. "Essentially, where all of the companies are at right now is that they have to have a disaster recovery plan. As far as we know, we're the only nonprofit test center in America."

Ron Citterburg, IT manager for Columbus-based Edison Welding Institute, which specializes in projects based on materials joining technologies, said he and a team of workers will test their disaster recovery plan at the Platform Lab the week of April 29. "We have all the information backed up off-site, so if something happened-a fire in the computer room or storm damage-we could go grab the tapes and software and head over the Platform Lab," he said. "We're a member-based organization and do a lot of project work, so it would be essential for us to have our engineers still log their hours for projects, write checks and send out bills. "So we're looking for a facility that we could go to and set up within a matter of hours the basic accounting functions we need to accomplish that," Citterburg said. "And the facility is secure, so we can put all our software on there just like we were operating right here at work."

The Platform Lab is stocked with computer hardware and software from Microsoft, Sun, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle, and Dell. It also includes data storage devices, database software and Web application software to allow businesses to recreate their IT infrastructures. "Companies give us a specification, give us two weeks and we'll go ahead and put the configuration together," Gruetter said. "We are a resource companies can use and say, 'Okay, now that we have a plan, does it work?"

Please contact Steve Gruetter at 614-675-3711 or sgruetter@osu-btc.com for more information about how to include Platform Lab in your Disaster Recovery Planning.