Features - Storage Innovations:

DISASTER RECOVERY WITH A DAILY BENEFIT

The largest power failure in U.S. history has focused attention on disaster recovery capabilities. Complete, uninterrupted business continuity is the goal of any disaster recovery plan. Scan-Direct, based in Dallas, provides clients instant, online access to fully redundant data and image archives located thousands of miles apart which improve customer service, boost productivity, and provide what some believe is the perfect disaster recovery and business continuity plan.

"We have designed dual, online, data/image archives, which provide clients fast, easy and secure access to their information from any internet-enabled computer anywhere at anytime. These archives are located in high-security data centers in Dallas and Los Angeles," explains Tony Beyer, CEO of Scan-Direct. "Our ability to convert data or images from virtually any platform and combine the converted data onto a single secure, online platform makes us unique in the industry. Our solutions eliminate: software fees, maintenance fees, and other user fees charged by software providers.

"Our archives are fully redundant, load balanced and use fail-over technology to ensure, should either archive be impacted by an equipment problem, or natural disaster, requests are immediately routed to the second site. A third copy of all data is stored offsite on tape."

Scan-Direct's primary goal is to provide fast, reliable, online access to data and images stored in the archives. The archives also provide excellent disaster recovery capabilities.

"Our archives are housed in facilities which are SAS70, DoD and HIPAA compliant," state Bryan Bruton Scan-Direct's chief technology officer and founder. "In addition, these facilities provide redundant backup power generators on site, as well as world-class physical and electronic security 24/7."

Scan-Direct's online archives produce daily, ongoing benefits, plus provide excellent disaster recovery at the same time.

"We built the archives to provide, secure, uninterrupted service to the nation's largest corporations and financial institutions," explains Beyer. "They partner with Scan-Direct because our services enable them to better serve their customers every day. The disaster recovery capability they enjoy is a side-benefit of storing the information in our archives."

New regulations such as HIPAA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and changes in SEC regulations require many medical facilities and corporations to archive documents and e-mail on a daily basis. The data must be stored in an unalterable state which can be used in court as evidence. The Scan-Direct online archives contain both data and images, and the information is retrieved as .pdf files which cannot be altered.