Technical terms like Maximum Tolerable Period of Disruption (MTPOD), Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) are often used, but what do they really mean? In practical terms, Recovery Time Objective (RTO) is the duration until a business can return to normal after the failure of a server or key computer site, and Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is the place in the transaction flow where the business resumes.

For business owners we would urge decision makers to consider the following three questions seriously:

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – How long can your business afford to be down?
• Recovery Point Objective (RPO) – How often do you backup? How much data can you business afford to lose in the event of a disaster?
• Level of Service (LOS) – What are the business’ critical servers and essential units that cannot be disrupted?

Implementing a disaster recovery plan includes documenting the process to bring a server or group of servers back online in the event of failure. An overlooked step in the process often flows from the assumption that an IT expert is always readily available. Due to the typical unpredictability of a disaster, in-house IT staff (if you have any atl all) may take time to find and start action. Ancar B can help develop a disaster recovery plan and, through an IT Support contract, support the recovery process so that systems and processes are restored as efficiently as possible.

How long can you afford to be down?

Ancar B consultants can help you in reviewing your disaster recovery and business continuity plan and define a realistic picture of expectations. We can provide clarity on what may be costly backup alternatives to cover aspects of daily operations that may not be critical and help you focus on the level of protection necessary to cover the RTO, RPO and LSO. In summary, defining the aspects of your company’s business that must stay operational.

For advice on business continuity and disaster recovery, please do not hesitate to call Ancar B on 0845 077 8883.

In June we secured the business of a small local tool and plant hire business of over 30 years standing, who required a centralized server solution to allow them to store documents safely, send email and backup data securely. We deployed a Small Business Server 2008 solution that they feel has enhanced business productivity, data management and customer service.

Conversely, in July we secured the business of a large international door fittings business with an HQ in Germany and UK offices in Gillingham, Birmingham, Swansea and Glasgow. Each of these offices were connected via a Cisco based VPN and connected to Germany using their Citrix thin client solution. In addition, we secured the IT Support for this company (some 80 Users in the UK) to make sure that lines of communication, which are critical to their business, remain in service at all times.

In August, we upgraded an award winning painting and decorating business, who had expanded five fold and outgrown the Small Business Server 2003 solution we had sold them back in 2006. The company now has numerous staff who work remotely, for which a more powerful server running Small Business Server 2008 and incorporating Blackberry Enterprise Server provided the ideal solution.

Finally, we have recently secured the business of two companies requiring a virtual platform to run 1) Sage 50, Sage ACT and Office 2010 and 2) Sage 200 respectively. In both instances, the companies recognised the significant cost savings to be made by essentially ‘renting’ resources from our virtual platform in order to run their line of business software. This negated the need for them to purchase new hardware to run their new accounting software – kept capital expenditure down – and allows them to allocate the monthly cost to run their software into their operational expenditure, which they can easily budget for.

We look forward to reporting more account wins in the very near future…

All the best

Richard

1. Log onto the Small Business Server as Domain Admin
2. First make a backup fo this file:
   • “C:\program files\windows small business server\bin\webapp\remote\tsweb.aspx”
3. Open Notepad as Administrator (right-click, run as administrator)
4. Select file => open and open the following file:
   • “C:\program files\windows small business server\bin\webapp\remote\tsweb.aspx”
5. Once opened search for this line:
   • MsRdpClient.AdvancedSettings2.RedirectDrives = FALSE
6. You now need to modify this line so it says:
   • MsRdpClient.AdvancedSettings2.RedirectDrives = TRUE
7. Now Save the notepad and close
8. Finally log back into the Remote Web Workplace from any PC and the drive option will be available to be ticked!!

]]> http://www.ancarb.co.uk/blog/2010/06/03/how-to-allow-local-drive-mapping-when-using-sbs-2008-rww/feed/ 0