LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.–CU*NorthWest, an information technology cooperative CUSO, reported it participated in a successful production disaster recovery test of its high availability replication environment.
The test began when CU*NorthWest moved all production operations from its primary data center to an out of region secondary data center where it maintains a second production environment that replicates data in real time. More than 60 credit unions executing from a single, CUSO-owned operations facility participated directly in the rollover test. All credit unions operated in the backup datacenter for three days, after which the entire network was moved back to the production facilities, CU*Northwest said.
“The test is part of the company’s ongoing disaster recovery and business continuity strategy that includes out of region high availability replication, EFT switch, credit union branch connectivity redundancy and backup operations and technical teams,” the CUSO said.
CU*NorthWest is a partner/owner of its own production center CUSO (Site-Four) in Yankton, South Dakota. Site-Four maintains high availability and redundant systems throughout its partner network cuasterisk.com.
“What we accomplished together with our client credit unions was impressive,” said Greg Smith, CEO of CU*Northwest. “Most tests are simply simulations or very quick recovery exercises outside of the normal service delivery to account holders. Not only did we test the rollover and the integrity of our strategy and engineering, but we ran EVERY client in this environment for three-plus business days—our client-owners were all active testers and participants in the test. The level of confidence in our disaster recovery planning, approach and execution has been validated through this process. We don’t have to wonder whether it will work because we just proved it and that builds confidence.”