Tips for the everyday admin -- #18

Evan Marcus

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He may not be Casey Kasem or David Letterman, but those two entertainers can hardly help you manage your networks. Our countdown, brought to you by SearchStorage high availability expert Evan Marcus, includes some common sense tips for the everyday storage admin to follow.

Here is tip #18.

#18: Remove SPOF (Single point of failure)

Secure the critical link in operational chain

1. Obvious ones

  • Disks, systems (hosts), network devices

    2. Less obvious SPOFs but just as deadly

  • Applications: yours and others on desktop
  • Backups: tape sets, off-site storage
  • Environment, electricity
  • Building and inter-facility ways
  • Upstream ISP links

    Looking for more great Evan Marcus information?

    Check out the Evan Marcus availability tips section of SearchStorage.

    Also, visit our bookstore for Evan's book: Blueprints for high availability: Designing resilient distributed systems.

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    This material is copyright 1997-2002 by Evan Marcus and Hal L. Stern. It may not be used in whole or part for commercial purposes without the express permission of both authors.


    This was first published in July 2002

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