Database downtime can be a nightmare for businesses and organizations that rely on data to run their operations. Not only can downtime lead to lost revenue and productivity, but it can also damage the company’s reputation. About 40 percent of disruptions lead to minor or major brand reputation damage, according to Trilio.
To minimize database downtime, you need two things. First, you need to know what’s causing downtime in your business or organization, and second, you need to follow a few proactive tips. Let’s explore.
What Causes Database Downtime?
With our cloud-driven world, more organizations are running their applications on the cloud to take advantage of scalability and flexibility. But it’s also possible for downtime to occur, which means that your data won’t be accessible for that period of time. Organizations that have experienced a significant outage in the last three years agree they have experienced negative effects on their reputation, revenue and compliance adherence.
Here are some of the main reasons why your cloud database might experience downtime:
- Human error
- Networking issues
- Cyberattacks and ransomware
Some of the most affected industries include banking and finance, government, media and communications, manufacturing and healthcare.
How to Prevent Database Downtime
Let’s cover some tips on how to keep your database up and running smoothly.
Regular maintenance and monitoring
One of the most important steps in preventing database downtime is to perform regular maintenance and monitoring. This includes tasks such as updating software and patches, optimizing database performance and monitoring system resources. By doing this, you can stay on top of potential issues that could lead to downtime.
Use database load balancing
Database load balancing is a reverse proxy located between an application and its database servers. It is used to improve the performance of web applications by distributing database workloads across multiple resources. This prevents overloading any one server, plus improves performance and keeps databases running smoothly.
Implement disaster recovery plans
Disasters can strike at any time, as you may have already learned the hard way. This is why it’s essential to have a disaster recovery plan in place to minimize downtime in case of an unexpected event. This plan should include regular database backups, a failover plan and procedures for recovery and restoration. Having a disaster recovery plan allows you to minimize the impact of a disaster, should one strike.
Regularly test your database
Another critical step in preventing database downtime is to regularly test your database. Here are some of the most common types of testing that our clients and customers employ:
- Performance testing
- Load testing
- Failover testing
- Disaster recovery testing
Invest in high quality hardware
Lastly, be sure to invest in a quality database and reliable hardware. This can help prevent hardware failures that cause downtime. Also, having redundant hardware can provide you with a backup in case one of your servers fails, ensuring that your database stays up and running the way you expect it to.
Schedule a Consultation with Arkware
Preventing database downtime is an important part of running a successful business. But your performance can only be as strong as the database itself. To learn more about the database programming, developing and support services from Arkware, schedule a consultation today. We’ll make sure that you have the right ingredients for an optimized database with minimal downtime.