Email Continuity in an Always On World
Email continuity isn’t something a lot of people think about, but when the Gmail server went down not long ago, millions of pounds were lost in productivity. All of a sudden email continuity and email archiving were the hottest topic for a while.
Ensuring that email records are always available isn’t something the average email user needs to think about. However, email archiving something every business or organization needs to ensure email continuity. It’s essential that their email archiving is a centralized, secure and 100% reliable process. Email archiving is about more than email storage for the sake of keeping records and proving compliance with various standards at a later date. No business can afford an email outage, not even a short one.
We live in an ‘always-on’ world where access to email is taken for granted. Much like breathing, access to email is now seen as something that is always there. We expect to be able to access our emails from our Blackberry devices, iPhones, laptops, computers, an internet cafe half way around the world and anywhere at all we might find ourselves. Email continuity isn’t a word in our vocabulary but it is exactly what we expect.
Email systems are more complex than people realise. In fact, little thought is given to what might happen as you press send. When an email goes from a device, it is usually navigating a pathway direct to the server using a number to access the server. Use of a name causes a minor delay and one no one likely notices as the email route needs to be checked in the DNS. The DNS is the system that has a registry of all information about every domain and subdomain. Each domain (and some subdomains) also have unique email information associated with them and this is where email continuity systems are first hit.
The DNS lookup part of the process happens and most mail exchanges have one address for delivery. The larger systems have 2 or 3 addresses. This is to ensure that if one server goes down the others can take over and accept the email in place of the main address. Because the backup system is an exact clone of the main system the chances are the user will not even notice. Having a backup system ensures email continuity for all customers.
In this world where we expect email 24/7 and it is so essential to businesses mirror servers are a more common solution. Mirror systems take over when the main system is being repaired or maintained. The move from the main server to the mirror server is seamless. However, this form of email continuity is quite expensive a less expensive option is to fall back onto a separate email archive system. The archive system could sit on the same rack, but that is risky. A better option is to put it on another physical server or in the cloud.
Ensuring that your email is never down is essential to not letting customers down. All IT departments have email continuity as one of their main objectives.
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