March 2006 — Networking
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When Disaster Strikes
Will your network pull through? Switching to wireless broadband is essential to a quick recovery.
THE DESTRUCTION WROUGHT by Hurricane Katrina only weeks before
Hurricane Rita was set to strike put the Nederland Independent School District
on heightened alert. A southeast Texas district that supports about 5,000 students
across eight campuses, Nederland lay directly in Rita’s projected path.
With the storm forecasted to make landfall somewhere near the district’s
immediate area, Nederland’s technology staff—the caretaker of 14
Internetconnected labs serving 1,800 computers—began to prepare for the
inevitable.
As Rita bore down, the district did everything it could to safeguard its technology infrastructure, from creating backups of all critical data—physically taking servers off-line—to loading servers into a vehicle and driving them to a more secure location. Network equipment was powered down to protect key assets and minimize any damage that might be caused by the impending storm.
On Sept. 24, Rita struck, and over the next several days caused 54 deaths and more than $6 billion in physical damage, leaving more than 1.1 million people without power. The Nederland district took its share of the blow, incurring more than $10 million of damage to its structures and roofs. No campus was left untouched. Two weeks later, power was returned to the area, and the Nederland technology team began the process of restoring its information services.
A Speedy Recovery
What happened next is nothing short of amazing, as well as instructive. Within two days, all of Nederland’s servers were back online and the network was fully operational. All of the network equipment was functioning, with the exception of one radio that was fixed on-site the next day so that the district’s connectivity could be fully restored.
Neighboring school districts didn’t fare as well. Downed utility poles scattered across the region kept many districts from quickly restoring their network apparatus. The delays left teachers and district staff without critical services, such as e-mail and Web sites with updated district information. The delays also contributed to postponements in the resumption of classes, forcing districts to make up the lost class time by extending the school year and adjusting their scheduled holiday breaks.
What had Nederland done to reestablish network connectivity so promptly while other districts grappled with delays? What made all the difference was the district’s decision to move to a wireless broadband network well before Rita came calling. The districts that struggled to get their networks up again depended on local Internet providers and traditional telecommunications providers.
