Network Monitoring, Back-Up and Contingency Plans

Cape.Com is frequently asked about our backup and recovery policies in the event of equipment failures. These are important issues that directly bear on the availability of your web site to the general Internet. Your access to the Internet, via dialup or from a direct broadband connection, is also impacted. These are important issues, to which we have devoted considerable time and resources.

Backup Procedures

Nightly backups of all internal systems and servers are made to multiple redundant machines. In the event of a failure, your website can be quickly restored to an alternate server and brought back on-line. No systems are run at more than half capacity so that they are available to absorb the increased load as a result of the failure of a peer. These backups take place in the early morning hours. If a web server were to self- destruct, say at mid-afternoon, then your site would be reconstructed with data that was backed up a half-day earlier. Please keep this in mind when designing your website. If your site is collecting information from visitors, and this information can not be lost, then mechanisms must be built to duplicate this information on other machines as it is collected. One approach is to save the data locally in a log file and send it via email to another location. Many other solutions are also available.

Other Critical Systems

Cape.Com locally stocks spares of all other critical systems such as routers, hubs, and Ethernet switches. These spares are pre-configured so that they can be quickly deployed if its peer should fail.

Backup Power Systems

Cape.Com has deployed two technologies to make sure that clean AC electrical power is always available. All of our systems are powered by battery backed Un-interruptable Power Supplies (UPS). These devices can provide continuous system power in the event of a power loss which lasts less than about thirty minutes.

To deal with power outages of longer duration, Cape.Com has installed a natural gas powered electrical generator. This generator is configured with an automatic cut-over switch. In the event of a power loss of more than a minute, the generator will automatically start, and backup electrical AC power is delivered to all of the UPS's.

These systems are critical for 24 hour/365 day continuous operation. The last thing your customers from California want to hear is that they can't get to your website because of a transformer failure at Canal Electric.

Network Monitoring

Maintaining a consistent level of quality service at an ISP is a demanding job requiring diligent attention to detail. In order to assure a high degree of uptime, automatic and continuous network monitoring is a necessity. On a periodic basis, about once every ten minutes, every critical service and system is tested. This includes all web, mail, name, and terminal servers. If a failure occurs, Cape.Com system operators are notified immediately via email and beeper. The testing systems are, as well, redundant machines and test each other.

Along with system operation, system load is also automatically monitored. Statistics on system load, disk usage and bandwidth consumption on all critical systems are maintained. Well before these resources reach capacity, automatic notification is sent to Cape.Com system operators.

Contingency Plan

It is important to know that although we have backup systems in place, multiple T3 access into the Internet, and, T3, multiple T1 and DSL connectivity within the Cape.Com network, we cannot be held responsible for system failures beyond our control. These failures include telephone company problems, either locally at your residence or business, or on a larger scale at telephone company central facilities.

If your connection to the Internet is mission-critical and your business relies heavily on uptime, it is important to develop a connectivity contingency plan of your own. No connection is flawless or foolproof -- unfortunately that is the nature of the Internet. Customers utilizing Cape.Com leased-line services, such as 56K Frame Relay and T1 circuits should consider Cape.Com DSL or ISDN as a backup. Those using Cape.Com DSL services should consider a backup Cape.Com ISDN line or plain old analog dialup. And, customers utilizing Cape.Com analog dialup services should consider arranging for a redundant dial-up account with an ISP outside of the New England area.