WHAT IS A RESILIENT NETWORK?
Resilience offers protection against network downtime by eliminating single points of failure through the use of duplicate network components (circuits and routers), in conjunction with special redundancy protocols.

100% fault tolerance is only theoretically possible and, for the most part, ‘five 9’ (99.999%) availability is considered more than adequate for the vast majority of enterprises. ‘Five 9’ availability equates to about 5½ minutes of allowable downtime each year.

WHY DO I NEED A RESILIENT NETWORK?
The degree to which an enterprise needs resilience built into its network is directly proportionate to the importance of network applications to its core business processes. Naturally this will vary from industry to industry but, in general, the more an organisation values its email, internet access, intranets, extranets, corporate websites, office resources, business databases and enterprise resource management systems, the more resilience it will require. A business that makes only occasional use of a

networked printer and accesses email a couple of times a day, for example, is unlikely to require the same level of protection as an on-line retailer or a bank.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT RESILIENT NETWORKS?
High availability networks can be costly to deploy and maintain, so it is important for an organisation to identify the optimum level of resilience for its requirements. This is done by balancing the potential cost of network downtime against the cost of any proposed expenditure on resiliency measures.  Such costs are not always easy to estimate, but the matrix below gives a simplified overview, as a rough guide.

WHAT RESILIENT NETWORK OPTIONS DOES PROGRESSIVE NETWORKS OFFER?
Progressive Networks offers a full suite of network resiliency measures to help your organisation stay up and running. All of these can be delivered with or without pre-configured cisco routers:

• ISDN - The standard backup option for primary ADSL services.
• ADSL Broadband - The standard backup option for primary SDSL and leased line services.
• SDSL Broadband - The symmetrical backup option for leased line services.
• Dual Leased Line - The premium resilient solution.
• Wireless LAN - A cost-effective and flexible alternative for LAN resilience.

Progressive Networks also offers the following consultancy services:

• Network Audit - A "Resilience Survey" forms part of our standard network audit.
• Network Management - 24/7/365 network monitoring and management are essential to any high availability strategy.
• Network Design & Implementation - Resilience should be "designed into" networks, rather than simply overlaid.

Call our team on 0800 169 41 31, request a call back or email info@progressive-networks.net for more information.