3.1 Determining Design Criteria

The design goal for your business continuity cluster is to ensure that your critical data and services can continue in the event of a disaster. Design the infrastructure based on your business needs.

Determine your design criteria by asking and answering the following questions:

  • What are the key services that drive your business?

  • Where are your major business sites, and how many are there?

  • What services are essential for business continuance?

  • What is the cost of down time for the essential services?

  • Based on their mission-critical nature and cost of down time, what services are the highest priority for business continuance?

  • Where are the highest-priority services currently located?

  • Where should the highest-priority services be located for business continuance?

  • What data must be replicated to support the highest-priority services?

  • How much data is involved, and how important is it?