Sir Robert McAlpine

Sir Robert McAlpine is a leading UK building and civil engineering company.  A family-owned company founded in 1869, its dynamism, pioneering aproach to construction and commitment to service have always kept it at the forefront of the industry.

Preparing for disaster

After the Hatfield refinery disaster left it unable to access its offices and systems, Sir Robert McAlpine embarked on a project to provide it with a more robust disaster recovery strategy.

However, depsite establishing a second site, there was one server that Sir Robert McAlpine was having difficulty replicating.  Crucially, it was the server that allowed all its users to log on.

The first step was to analyse the problem and why it was difficult to replicate the server.  Quadnet's experienced consultants established that it was a combination of high usage and a large volume of storage, as the machine was also a file server.

Hardware vs software

Quadnet proposed a hardware solution in the form of a Storage Area Nertwork.  However, Sir Robert McAlpine wanted a software solution.

To meet its wishes, Quadnet replaced the old server hardware, installed DoubleTake (the replication software chosen), tested the solution and handed it over.

Sir Robert McAlpine now has a disaster recovery site with all key servers replicated and tested for failure

The replication of the 'log-in' server allows all users to access the new environment

Sir Robert McAlpine can now undertake mock disaster recovery tests