IT STRATEGY (MRB2113)

BLOGGERS
GROUP MEMBERS:
FARIDAH MOHD AMIN
NORLIN ABDULLAH
NURAFIQAH ZARIR
CHAI YU HUI
SIOW WEE LOW

K
E
Y
P
O
I
N
T
S

1) Redundancy and Availability Math

2) High-Availability Facilities
3) Securing Infrastructure Against
Malicious Threats
4) Risk Management
5) Incident Management and Disaster
Recovery

 The reliability of processing systems

depends on how they are designed and
managed.
The inherent reliability of internetworks
is due to US Department of Defense
research that led to technologies robust
enough to withstand a military attack.
The key to this inherent liability is
redundancy

 Redundancy: The exceptionally large

number of potential paths a message can
take between any two points in a
network.
Redundancy will cause more equipment
to be purchased and it will incurred more
budget.
Some costs of failures are intangible and
difficult to identify.

e.g: Tangible factors;

How costly is a15-minute failure of
the order management system?
Redundant systems are more complex
and difficult to manage than nonredundant systems.
Technologies to assure 24x7 operations
get better all the time.

HIGH-AVAILABILITY FACILITIES
6
K
E
Y
P
O
I
N
T
s

1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

High availability - service implementation that ensures a

prearranged level of operational performance will be met
during a contractual measurement period.
Users want their systems, for example hospitals, production
computers, and the electrical grid to be ready to serve at all
times.
Uninterruptible Electric Power Delivery
Physical Security
Climate Control & Fire Suppression
Network Connectivity
Help Desk & Incident Response Procedures
N+1 and N+N Redundancy

HIGH-AVAILABILITY FACILITIES
1)

Uninterruptible Electric Power Delivery

Redundant power is provided to each piece of
computing equipment housed - e power cables for
each computer.
Power distribution inside the facility is fully redundant
and includes uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) to
maintain power even if power delivery to the facility is
interrupted. UPSs can employ battery less, flywheelbased technologies.
Connections to outside sources of power are
redundantfacilities access 2 utility power grids.

HIGH-AVAILABILITY FACILITIES
2)

Physical Security
Security guards in bulletproof enclaves protect points of
entry and patrol facilities regularly.
Closed-circuit TV monitors critical infrastructure and
provides immediate visibility into any area of the facility
from a security desk.
Access to internal area requires photo ID and presence
on a prearranged list.
Entry is through single-person buffer zone with integrated
metal and explosive detection that can be locked down.

3)

Climate Control and Fire Suppression

Redundant heating, ventilating, and airconditioning equipment that monitors and
maintains suitable temperature conditions.
Mobile cooling units.
Integrated fire suppression systems.

4)

Network Connectivity
- External connections to Internet backbone
providers are redundant, involving at least 2
backbone providers, and enter the building
through separate points.
- A 24X7 network operations center (NOC) is
staffed with network engineers who monitor the
connectivity infrastructure of the facility.
- A redundant NOC on another site is capable of
delivering services of equal quality as those
provided by the primary NOC.
- 24X7 assistance to customers. Automated
problem-tracking systems are integrated with
similar systems at service delivery partner sites.

5)

Help Desk & Incident Response Procedures

6)

N + 1 and N + N Redundancy

N +1 level of redundancy (99.9%) is the least level that must be maintained

for mission-critical components.

N + N redundancy (99.999) - twice as many mission-critical components as

are necessary to run a facility.

Level 1 data centersN + 1 redundancy, are available 99 - 99.9% of the

time.
Level 2 and 3 data centersmore.
Level 4 data centersN + N or better, achieving uptimes of 99.999 99.9999.

High levels of availability are costly.

Increasing the availability of a single web site from 99% to 99.999% costs
millions of dollars.

Management decisions about the design of IT infrastructures involve

tradeoffs between availability and the expense of additional components.

Securing
Infrastructure
Against Malicious
Threats

Security
Policies

Firewalls

Authentication

Encryption

 One method of prioritizing is

expected loss
Managers attitudes toward risk
could be complicated
Difficult to predict intangible costs
Not all risks can be countered with
well-defined management actions

 Managing Incidents before They

Occur:
Sound Infrastructure Design
Disciplined execution of operating
procedures
Careful documentation
Established crisis management
procedures
Rehearsing incident response

Psychological obstacles of human

decision makers:
Emotional responses
Wishful thinking & groupthink
Political maneuvering, diving for cover &
ducking responsibility
Leaping to conclusions and blindness to
evidence that contradicts current beliefs

 Sometimes, manager are reluctant to

admit the seriousness of a problem
because they do not want to take actions
that communicate to others (customers,
the public) that a serious incident has
occurred- Public Relations Inhibition

 Erasing or rebuilding parts of infrastructure

after the incident
If configurations & procedures have been
carefully documented in advance, recovery
can happen swiftly
If records are not exact, a rebuild can result
in lost functionality (problem solved earlier
may reappear)

 To avoid future incidents of the same

type, managers need to understand and
figure out exactly what caused an
incident is sometimes difficult
It is essential to communicate the
seriousness with which a company
protects the information entrusted to it

 The challenges of keeping real-time

infrastructures always operational are
formidable and evolving
Management actions and frameworks
will improve the chances of success if
it applied with discipline and effort
The economic consequences of
ignoring or failing to take effective
action in these areas may be dire
indeed