From Sept. 11 to Hurricane Katrina, businesses have wrangled with the nuts and bolts of recovering from catastrophes. Data replication software, which copies corporate information to an offsite location, is one of the key components of any disaster recovery plan.

The market for tools that help companies replicate mission-critical applications and records is consolidating, with players like EMC, Network Appliance and Symantec having gobbled up smaller competitors. And while many customers have found success with these vendors, some say the industry consolidation has led to problems with product development and customer support.

Lead Story: Job No. 1—Don't Lose the Data
Read how technology managers built their data replication plans out of true—and tragic—experiences. A New York insurance company CIO built a data replication system after his firm's headquarters was damaged on 9/11, and the director of technology for a New Orleans law firm helped the business rebound after Katrina struck.

Vendor Profiles

Veritas: Big Things in Store?

ALSO:

Voice of Experience: Weathering the Storm
Charlie Pelton, CIO of mortgage lender Market Street Mortgage based on Florida's Gulf Coast, had to move quickly to replace his data replication software–before one of the worst hurricane seasons in decades.

QUESTION: What's the most critical part of a disaster-recovery plan? Write to us at baseline@ziffdavis.com.

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