Your network is facing unexpected outages. How do you ensure critical operations stay up and running?

I will say that you have a Plan B when your network is Isolated or down. Plan B is that you have backup system by another provider(Cloud). Further when you do upgrade test that. I known your Financial people are not happy with plan B cost a lot of money in the begin. They cannot tell how lot of money saves when your Network is down or attacked. See last Friday. Technical are lot of solutions to keep your network up and running.

Uma boa prática de utilizo é mapear os processos críticos e sempre implantar redundancia para eles, sempre relacionado a infraestrutura necessária para manter o sistema de pé, e garantir que a redundancia esteja ativa quando precisar ser acionada. Um bom plano de continuidade do negócio também irá auxiliar para garantir que o checklist de retomada dos servi?os seja cumprido.

Key fundamental of finding the root cause of an issue is to fully understand your infrastructure and the service it provides in bottom to top way, and what is the effect of each piece in it, then you can cross check this understanding with the reported issues behaviour then you can have a starting point for troubleshooting to find the root cause.

Fast and accurate diagnosis is essential during network outages. Begin by assessing the scope of the issue—determine if it's localized or affecting a broader area. Employ monitoring tools to pinpoint the specific problem area, whether it involves a server, a malfunctioning switch, or software failure. Communicate effectively with your team to gather pertinent information and ascertain if recent changes could be linked to the outage. Act methodically yet swiftly to identify the root cause and initiate steps toward resolution. Time efficiency is critical, so maintaining a structured approach will facilitate prompt restoration of network functionality.

Redundancy in every sense of the word in every facet, Power and uptime of critical infrastructure servers, Same goes for network infrastructure. Have multiple layers of Cyber safeguards as well as a rock solid recovery plan if something uneventful should happen

Strong redundancy needs careful planning. Backup systems should be completely separate from potential problems. Shared Risks, like being too close or relying on the same resources, can weaken redundancy. Disaster recovery sites should be far apart, and network connections should come from different providers. This helps prevent service interruptions even in major crises.

Redundancy is indispensable in network administration, providing a safety net against potential failures. It's crucial to establish backup systems for critical components such as servers, power supplies, and network paths. Implement robust failover mechanisms that automatically activate redundant systems when primary components fail. Regular testing of backups and failover processes is essential to ensure they function seamlessly during real-world outages, minimizing operational disruptions. By maintaining reliable redundancy plans, you can enhance network resilience and ensure continuity of operations even in the face of unexpected challenges.

To ensure critical operations stay up during network outages, implement a redundancy plan with backup systems, duplicate critical infrastructure, use multiple internet service providers, and maintain regular backups of data. Regularly test the redundancy systems to ensure they work as expected.

One day, my customer's main data center experienced a catastrophic failure due to a natural disaster. The facility was flooded, rendering the servers and network equipment unusable. This incident threatened to halt operations, potentially causing data loss and severe disruptions for their clients. Thankfully, the customer had developed a comprehensive redundancy plan as part of their business continuity strategy. Data Replication: Critical data was continuously replicated to an offsite backup facility located in a geographically different area, ensuring no single point of failure. Employee Preparedness: Regular training sessions were conducted to ensure that employees knew how to respond to different types of disruptions.

Redundancy and Disaster recovery plans, before an event, are critical. If you don't have a plan in place, make the time to put one together.

During network outages, prioritizing traffic is crucial to ensure essential services remain operational. Implementing clear Quality of Service (QoS) policies is essential, focusing on prioritizing critical applications over non-essential ones. This may involve rerouting traffic or allocating bandwidth accordingly. By understanding the critical operations vital to your business, you can make informed decisions that sustain key functions during periods of disruption. Establishing effective QoS measures ensures that your network resources are optimized to maintain productivity and minimize the impact of outages on your organization.

Once at work, we faced a significant network interruption. I learned that prioritizing traffic is crucial to keeping essential services running. We implemented Quality of Service (QoS) policies to ensure critical applications had priority. This involved redirecting traffic and limiting the bandwidth of non-essential services. Understanding which operations were vital allowed us to make informed decisions, maintaining the most important functions during the crisis.

To ensure critical operations stay up during network outages, prioritize traffic by using Quality of Service (QoS) settings to allocate bandwidth to essential applications, limit non-essential traffic, and ensure critical services have the highest priority in the network.

3. Prioritize Traffic Traffic Prioritization: During an outage, it's essential to prioritize traffic to maintain critical services. Implement Quality of Service (QoS) policies to ensure that essential applications and services receive the necessary bandwidth. Traffic Shaping: Use traffic shaping techniques to control the flow of data and prevent network congestion. This ensures that priority services remain operational even when the network is under strain.

Uma abordagem integrada para garantir que os servi?os e aplica??es mais importantes mantenham-se disponíveis, mesmo durante interrup??es na rede. Identifique o essencial, optimize o acesso, gerencie a sobrecarga. Mapeie os activos vitais, priorize o tráfego crítico via QoS, e crie mecanismos de prote??o para momentos de excesso de demanda

Clear and transparent communication is critical during a network outage. It's essential to keep users informed with timely updates regarding the situation and estimated resolution times. This proactive approach helps to manage expectations, alleviate frustration, and reduce the volume of inquiries that could overwhelm your support team. Utilize multiple communication channels such as email, SMS, or an internal messaging platform to ensure that your messages reach all affected parties effectively. By maintaining open lines of communication, you can foster trust and demonstrate your commitment to resolving the issue swiftly and efficiently.

4. Communicate Clearly Internal Communication: Establish clear communication channels within your team. Use collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams to keep everyone updated on the status of the outage and the steps being taken to resolve it. External Communication: Inform stakeholders and customers about the outage and expected resolution time. Transparency helps maintain trust and reduces frustration.

Mantenha a calma, priorize canais alternativos, forne?a atualiza??es claras. Solicite feedback, seja transparente sobre os desafios, e mantenha o diálogo. Conex?o confiável, informa??o precisa, empatia constante.

Creating templates for communication is the easiest way to quickly get the word out. Using your internal messaging and internal formatted email with a known subject line will help ensure users this is from your department and company. Keeping things consistent with the same email is important as well. Using a status page with automated emails is the easiest way to communicate these days. Then, push the RSS feed to Slack or Teams.

Once at work, I faced a network outage that could have caused significant disruption. I found that clear communication was essential to manage the situation. Keeping users informed with regular updates and resolution forecasts not only reduced frustration but also prevented our support team from being overwhelmed with inquiries. We used email, whatsapp and our internal platform to ensure everyone received the necessary information.

Establishing well-documented recovery procedures is crucial for minimizing downtime and swiftly returning to normal operations during network outages. Document detailed, step-by-step actions for various outage scenarios and ensure your team is thoroughly familiar with them. Include contact details for key personnel and external vendors who may play a role in the recovery process. Conduct regular drills to simulate outage situations and practice executing these procedures under pressure. By preparing in advance and maintaining clear guidelines, you can streamline the recovery process, mitigate the impact of disruptions, and ensure a rapid return to business continuity.

Shared responsibility for documents is needed. Regularly reviewing and updating documentation is crucial. So many times, things change without documenting, and no one knows what to do. It's important to create projects with documenting sub-tasks so these steps aren't forgotten.

In my experience, once at work, we faced a major disruption, and our detailed recovery procedure was crucial in restoring services quickly. I noticed that regular practice of these drills made everyone act in a coordinated and effective manner, minimizing the impact on our business.

5. Recovery Procedures Documented Procedures: Have documented recovery procedures in place. This includes step-by-step guides for different types of outages, ensuring that the response is swift and standardized. Regular Drills: Conduct regular drills and simulations to ensure the team is prepared to handle real-life outages efficiently.

Uma abordagem estruturada permite uma recupera??o organizada e eficiente, minimizando o impacto da interrup??o e preparando a organiza??o para lidar melhor com futuras ocorrências. Avalie a extens?o do dano, Priorize a restaura??o dos servi?os críticos, Siga o plano de recupera??o estabelecido, Monitore o progresso da restaura??o, Comunique com transparência aos interessados, Preserve evidências e logs da interrup??o, Analise e aprenda com a experiência.

Proactive monitoring is indispensable for preventing future network outages. Implementing a robust monitoring system is key to identifying potential issues before they escalate. Monitor network performance metrics closely and leverage predictive analytics to detect patterns that may indicate impending problems. By staying vigilant and proactive, you can intervene early, address issues swiftly, and uphold the reliability and integrity of your network operations. This proactive approach not only minimizes the risk of disruptions but also enhances overall network stability and performance.

6. Proactive Monitoring Continuous Monitoring: Implement continuous monitoring solutions to detect anomalies before they lead to outages. Tools like Nagios, Zabbix, and Splunk can provide early warnings and allow for preemptive action. Automated Alerts: Set up automated alerts to notify the team of potential issues. This enables quick action and minimizes downtime.

keeping in mind good monitoring is not the same as free/cheap monitoring. Or poorly deployed monitoring. Make sure to not cheap out and get the monitoring that fits your needs.

A Network critical Element Awareness Propaganda needs to take place routinely to highlight the possible network risks mitigation activity and recovery procedures and escalation criteria to maintain the whole team at the needed level of awareness The organisation needs to pay high attention to network operations sustainability and contenuaty in order to maintain the basic level satisfaction of it's customers

7. Here’s What Else to Consider Vendor Support: Maintain strong relationships with your vendors. Ensure that you have support agreements in place that provide quick assistance during emergencies. Security Measures: Outages can sometimes be caused by security breaches. Ensure robust security measures, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits. Training and Development: Continuously train your team on the latest technologies and best practices. A well-trained team is better equipped to handle unexpected challenges. Post-Outage Analysis: After resolving the outage, conduct analysis to understand the root cause and prevent future occurrences. Document the findings and update your procedures accordingly.

always call the vendor after 1-2 hours if you have not done so already. always. they can have undocumented fixes and patches that you cannot find anywhere else. MS and Cisco both do this.

Prep work for your issues is what can make the diffrence between a big outage and a small outage. Oh that device that went down and broke everything wasn't in the network diagram: keep those up to date, or better yet automate them. I don't know what neighborships it should have: Automate pulling that data If you can run a couple DB queries and find out everything about what each device looks like normally finding the thing that changed is much easier.