Bedsdirect
A secure server is a secure business
Disaster struck two firms based in Saltney when the power supply to their server was lost, shutting it down - and effectively, the businesses, too.
The server supported two multi-million pound companies: Furniture Wholesale Group and Timberband, which is further divided up into Beds Direct and Mattress 24. FWG supplies big retailers like John Lewis, the Timberband companies sell beds and mattresses online.
Tim Norman, operations director for the firms, said: "It was a nightmare. When you consider we sell something approaching 600 beds and mattresses a week through Timberband, you can see how even a day of lost orders and admin can cause headaches.
"Well, we learnt our lesson and got straight on the phone to Samarind to ask them to come up with a more effective disaster recovery solution for the future."
Carly McKay, Samarind's network sales consultant, explained: "We developed a solution which means that in the event of the main file server going down, the critical data is backed up to two separate devices at two separate locations.
"Software installed on the main file server backs up a complete image of the server to a secondary server and a network attached storage device - like an external hard drive - both at separate locations to the main server. Virtualisation software - VM Ware - allows us to return the company's critical data in under an hour."
"It seems to be a cutting edge solution," said Tim. "Samarind spent a lot of time on it, testing and trialling, and waiting for the right software to come along - they were determined to get it right for us.
"The remote backdrop server takes a snapshot of the main server every half hour, which means that whatever happens, we can never be more than half an hour behind on our admin. Even a fire in the offices won't affect this procedure, because, of course, this secondary server is based in a separate building.
"No business can afford to be without its computer system, especially one that enjoys such high volume sales as we do. We feel a lot more secure now!"
Carly added: "We would encourage all companies to consider disaster recovery as a key part of their business processes. A server failure can cost thousands of pounds in lost sales, enquiries and man hours. We are currently offering a free half-day consultancy package which includes checking server security, so now is a good time to get in touch."