Wireless disaster recovery: Tools and Best Practices

by C.J. Mathias

September 6, 2005 —

The tragic and almost unbelievable events in the Gulf States brought a flurry of phone calls last week, some from the press and some from clients, but all on how to use wireless to deal with a disaster of epic proportions. Wireless clearly plays a big role in disaster recovery operations, from the mobile two-way radios that have been a staple of wireless for perhaps 60 years now, to emergency-response equipment designed to get mobile services back on the air. The most notable example here is the "Cellular on Wheels" or "COW", a self-contained cellular base station that can be rolled in and set up in a short period of time. With so many base stations presumably damaged, under water, or otherwise out of commission in the South, COWs in that part of the world will quite literally be lifesavers. Suffice it to say that the mobile operators have been working diligently to get back on the air throughout the affected areas, and much service has already been at least partially restored as I write this.

But while some questions had to do with what the cellular and related operators could do, and what other wireless facilities might be affected or of benefit, a lot of questions were about what we as users (and particularly enterprise users) should be doing to minimize the impact if any of us are ever faced with such a calamity. It would be impossible here to present a comprehensive list, of course, and the basics like storing water and having a hand-cranked emergency radio go without saying, but here are a few key points specifically relating to wireless (which is, after all, the topic of this column):

Plan, plan, plan - Any business, of any size, needs a continuity and backup plan. There is absolutely no excuse for not having one. For businesses like mine, which deal primarily in information, all information, everything needs to be backed up, all the time, and stored offsite. This still holds true for all other businesses, of course, but those that need to duplicate data centers or manufacturing lines should already be well aware of the need for this type of contingency planning. A full-scale disaster plan can be quite comprehensive, but even a basic plan containing such items as who is responsible for what and what needs to be done in the event communications are down is critical. Remember, many assume that cellular phones are available no matter what; like all infrastructure, they can fail, and usually at the worst time. Satellite phones may be useful (see Iridium and Globalstar), but just having a pre-arranged meeting place and time for key staff (and a backup for that, by the way) is essential.

Emergency communications - In addition to satellite phones, I've often recommended cheap portable two-way radios for emergency communications within a facility. These fall into two classes, which overlap. The first is the Family Radio Service (FRS), and the second is the General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS). GMRS is really just FRS with a bit more power (and thus more range, but often less battery life) applied. You can get both in one radio, but note that GMRS requires that you complete a license application for legal operation. Both of these services can have several miles of range outdoors, and can also be useful for emergency communications within a facility or campus. Note that both of these services are intended for individuals and not corporations, but using them in emergencies should be fine. For more info, go here. Be sure, and this is very important, to put fresh batteries in each radio at least once a year, even if you don't use the radio at all during that year. And keep spare batteries, lots of them, readily available at all times.

Wireless bridges - If you need to set up a quick link between two points, consider using an unlicensed wireless bridge. These products are often based on WLAN technology, but with antennas and firmware appropriate to a point-to-point and in some cases a point-to-multipoint mission. Wireless bridge products are plentiful and relatively inexpensive - even Cisco makes one. Sometimes, of course, unlicensed bridges are permanently installed and used on a daily basis. But their unlicensed nature makes them ideal for cold standby operations and disaster recovery.

Meshes - You can even go one step further and set up an unlicensed Wi-Fi mesh. Again, these are becoming fixture in metropolitan areas, but could also be used for setting up even fairly large emergency networks. Some examples include Belair Networks, Tropos Networks and Strix. Another interesting possibility involves the use of client meshes which require no traditional infrastructure at all. This is a fascinating area for us techie types, and I'll be exploring this area in more detail in the future. For now, have a look at Packethop for more info. Packethop is in fact focusing on public-safety and government applications at present.

Security - Finally, and I can't stress this enough, make sure your networks, clients, and servers are secure. Since physical security can't be guaranteed in a disaster, make sure all critical data in encrypted on all client and server devices. Yes, I know this is challenging, but I wonder home many PDAs, smartphones, and notebooks are floating about now in the Gulf with critical and unsecured data on them. My rule is that critical data should never appear in the clear except to authorized users. Disaster just reinforces this principle as far as I'm concerned.

One other thought - I think it's a good idea to have more than one cell phone, and to use different carriers for each. Often, even in a major disaster, one carrier will be relatively unscathed, or at least come back online sooner than the others. Yes, I know it's a pain to have multiple numbers and voice-mail services (I have five cellular phones myself), but someday we'll figure out how to unify all of this. Someday.

Significant and not unjustified criticism has also been leveled at the seemingly inadequate response of the various government relief agencies charted with getting basic services and infrastructure back up following hurricane Katrina. I have to admit that, while I appreciate the magnitude of the problem, the lack of immediate response gives me pause as to how effective the government can really be in the event of a major disaster such as what that nation is and will for a long time be faced with in the South. The Department of Homeland Security, set up to unify our response and responsiveness after 9/11 seems to be somewhere between confused and inept, and their failure to respond in a timely fashion no doubt added to the destruction, despair, and even death following the hurricane. It's too early to assess whether the Department's own communications systems in some way hampered their ability to get the job done. But, my message today is don't let a failure in your communications infrastructure lead to further disaster should one, heaven forbid, strike your company.

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