After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in late August 2005, the Ocean State Higher Education, Economic Development and Administrative Network (OSHEAN) began to consider seriously the establishment of a disaster recovery site removed from Rhode Island.
Tulane University in New Orleans, for instance, was without computer service for several days until backup equipment eventually was set up in Houston, recalled George Loftus, executive director of OSHEAN, a consortium of 26 universities, hospitals and other nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island and Massachusetts that delivers and maintains a secure communications infrastructure for its members.
By late 2005, the Northeast Research and Education Network (NEREN), OSHEAN’s sister entity that covers Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York, was installing a fiber network running through Providence, Hartford, Conn., and Boston, Springfield and Worcester in Massachusetts, with connections to Syracuse, N.Y.
Loftus noted that NEREN controls the fiber under a long-term lease. “We essentially bought our own fiber,” Loftus said. “It was cheap and available and, with demand increasing, we’ve been able to avoid increasing rates. And we can do whatever we want with it.”
After Katrina alerted OSHEAN and NEREN members to the ramifications of a full-scale disaster, “it made sense to take full advantage” of NEREN’s fiber ring connecting computer networks in the Northeast, Loftus said. So, plans moved ahead quickly for establishment of a disaster recovery site in Springfield, Mass., which opened 18 months ago.
The disaster recovery site allows OSHEAN members – which include all institutions of higher education in Rhode Island – to install backup computer equipment in Springfield, far enough away from Rhode Island to be safe if a hurricane or other disaster hits. For those OSHEAN members who would feel safer storing data even further away, Loftus said connections can be arranged to Syracuse in upstate New York.
“It’s a trade-off,” Loftus said. “You want the disaster recovery site to be close enough so you can send a technician there who could come back to Rhode Island in a day,” but far away enough to be safe in the event of an emergency.
The Springfield site is a leased facility, and to maintain its security, Loftus would not reveal exactly where it is. Web servers, e-mail servers and additional computers, for instance, can be installed at the Springfield location. “A university with a computer system on campus could put a second one in Springfield,” Loftus explained. “You can even buy software that can automatically switch over for you.”
In addition to NEREN buying its own fiber, OSHEAN has invested in the expensive racks that hold computer equipment, racks that can be leased for as much as $2,000 per month, Loftus said. So, OSHEAN is able to lease portions of a rack. “A school, a university, does not have to rent an entire rack,” he said. “Some of our members need only a quarter of a rack.”
Security is tight at the Springfield site, which Loftus described as a “telecommunications building.” To gain access, you need a photo ID, a password, an ID card and a key,” Loftus said, and Web cameras operate 24/7.
The Springfield site also can offer OSHEAN members the option of storing important data there. “We’re just starting to explore using Springfield for archives,” Loftus said. He noted that Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, an OSHEAN member, currently is “experimenting” with storing files in Springfield.
As for the cost of setting up the recovery site, Loftus said procurement of the fiber network is in the multi-million-dollar range. The Springfield location costs almost $250,000 a year to maintain, mostly in power and cooling costs. OSHEAN and NEREN are based in North Kingstown.
Use of the Springfield disaster recovery center, like all of OSHEAN’s services, is available only to members, who are strictly nonprofits and comprise: Berkelee College of Music in Boston, Brown University, Bryant University, Care New England, Community College of Rhode Island, Johnson & Wales University, Lifespan, Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, New England Institute of Technology, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island Division of Information Technology, Rhode Island Judiciary System, Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island secretary of state’s office, RINET, Roger Williams Medical Center, Roger Williams University, St. Joseph Health Services, Salve Regina University, Simmons College in Boston, South County Hospital, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, University of Rhode Island and Wheaton College in Norton, Mass. •
