Enterprise Microwave Backup - Implementing Disaster Recovery Connectivity // Ad-hoc Networking
Enterprise Microwave Backup - Implementing Disaster Recovery Connectivity // Ad-hoc Networking
Ad-hoc Networking
Problem description
In case of a natural disaster and/or special or ad-hoc events out of urban environment, microwaves are definitely the best choice to assure data transmission quickly. Earthquakes, floods, land-slides and other natural disasters or even war conditions require disaster recovery centers for uninterrupted business continuity on separate backup locations, where important data are to be stored and refreshed periodically. Microwaves are suitable to connect the main and back up centers, since fibers
can be (and usually are) damaged or cut off.
The same goes for ad-hoc networking after natural disasters when support is needed in the field. Banks, insurance companies, public utilities, health, civil defense, support services should all be ready to establish full or partial functionality in an ad-hoc manner. This is where microwaves are indispensable.
As an example, in the last large San Francisco earthquake in 1989, insurance houses speeded up the process of damage evaluation by sending many inexperienced agents with video cameras and microwave connectivity to the field, while insurance experts evaluated the damage from the central office by using the incoming video streams and directing the agents about the field.
Proposed solution
Sets, ready for quick installation, are commonly used for mobile operators. Usually they are installed in a vehicle with a folding antenna mast. By rotating the antenna and adjusting the angle, an ad-hoc microwave connection can be established in a timeframe of an hour. The site can be interconnected to a surviving backbone or directly to another site that needs connecting.
Using a microwave point-to-point links and Wi-Fi access points, it is possible to establish interconnected hot spots to provide Ethernet computer or video camera connectivity in affected areas.
Having at least two spare units ready, an institution can set up an ad-hoc microwave link in a matter of hours. In emergency situation, there is no need to panic and search for communication provider whose network happened to survive the disaster. In non-urban areas it is hard to get a suitable connectivity by definition and private connection solutions are the only quick option.
Optical fibers from different providers are commonly laid along the same paths (railways, highways, power lines). In case of an earthquake, all the fibers will be cut, regardless of the owner. Therefore it is reasonable for institutions to rely on microwave backup for their disaster-recovery / business continuity centers.