Did you know that in the unwelcome case of a catastrophic failure in the ITS server room, either natural or man-made, that many of our most critical services are duplicated off-site?
The increasing importance of information technology in the life of the College, combined with an expectation of around-the-clock availability mandates the importance of protecting our data and information technology infrastructure in the event of a disruptive event. Franklin & Marshall has partnered with an outsourced disaster recovery provider in the Reading area that provides a stand-by site where we maintain redundant systems. At this site we have replicated email, the Franklin & Marshall web site, eDisk, myDiplomat, and other critical services that support the everyday business of the College.
Other measures we have taken to protect the College include:
- Local and off-campus backup of systems and data
- Use of uninterruptible power supplies and backup generators to keep systems going in the event of a power failure, these devices also “condition” power to minimize the effect of power surges on delicate electronic equipment
- Installation of fire prevention systems, alarms, fire extinguishers
- Use of anti-virus software, highly secure passwords and other security procedures.
Of course, in a perfect world, none of this would be necessary, but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?
