I would say that at a minimum you would want to be on separate power substations. Your power company should be able to provide this service, although they might charge extra for it. Most large IT organizations feel it's worth it.
However, because of the interconnectivity in the U.S. and Canadian power grids, as well as those in other countries, there is always the possibility of a power outage you can't prepare for. I'm sure many will remember the massive power outage in 2003 where a 3,500 MW surge went through the power grid(s) in the northeast taking out power to an estimated 45 million people in eight states and 10 million people in Ontario, Canada. This included large cities such as New York, Baltimore, Buffalo, and Toronto. When this occurred Europe gloated that it had a much better system and they would never have a similar blackout. Six weeks after this there was a blackout that affected just as many people in all of Italy and parts of Switzerland. A power outage occurred in Southern Brazil in 1999 and affected approximately 90 million people. One in 2005 in Java-Bali affected 100 million people. With massive outages like this both your main site and your DR site would probably be affected unless they are on opposite sides of the world, or the DR site is on the moon. -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:ibm-m...@bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Jeffrey Deaver Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 7:59 AM To: IBM-MAIN@bama.ua.edu Subject: Re: Geographic separation of primary and backup/DR sites >Also remember if DR is fairly close to base make sure they are on >separate power grids or at least have generators. That is such a nebulous term, "power grid". Anyone have more definite references for what that should mean? Does it just mean separate power substations? That the ultimate feed comes from completely different generating plants? Of different types? (Nuke vs Coal?) And how exactly do you find out information like that? And can't the power down the last mile be coming from one place today and other tomorrow depending on how the power company manages it? While I'm sure this is not comprehensive, this Blackout Tracker website gives some interesting insight into power outages... http://powerquality.eaton.com/blackouttracker/default.asp Jeffrey Deaver, Engineer Systems Engineering jeffrey.dea...@securian.com 651-665-4231(v) IS - "Creating competitive advantage with technology. Providing service that excels." OSS - " Where Innovation Happens" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html ***************************************************************************** If you wish to communicate securely with Commerce Bank and its affiliates, you must log into your account under Online Services at http://www.commercebank.com or use the Commerce Bank Secure Email Message Center at https://securemail.commercebank.com NOTICE: This electronic mail message and any attached files are confidential. The information is exclusively for the use of the individual or entity intended as the recipient. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, printing, reviewing, retention, disclosure, distribution or forwarding of the message or any attached file is not authorized and is strictly prohibited. If you have received this electronic mail message in error, please advise the sender by reply electronic mail immediately and permanently delete the original transmission, any attachments and any copies of this message from your computer system. ***************************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to lists...@bama.ua.edu with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
