New Castle Hotels

Setting the standard for server backup and recovery in the hospitality industry

Customer service in the hotel business means keeping track of innumerable details, from the needs and preferences of individual guests to the elaborate plans required for weddings and corporate events. In the hotel business, everything depends on data—and it must be kept safe.

New Castle Hotels owns and operates hotel and resort properties including Marriotts, Hiltons, Sheratons, Holiday Inns, and independent hotels in the United States and Canada. The Shelton, CT-based company has chosen LiveVault® online backup and recovery service to solve a problem that has bedeviled the hotel industry for decades—the need for extremely reliable, affordable data protection.

"The hotel industry is crying out for this type of service. Tape
drives may fail, software drivers become corrupted, tapes jam—
but LiveVault keeps on going."
- Al Zaccario, Director of Hotel Technology for New Castle Hotels

LiveVault’s automated real-time online backup service is ideal for protecting hotel properties, which are intensely dependent on their data and may be hundreds of miles from experienced IT staff. Server data and transactions are backed up automatically over the Internet—no manual intervention is required. The approach is in marked contrast to traditional batch-oriented tape backups that leave data at risk for hours at a time.

Eliminates Risk at Independent Sites
The need for automated data protection is especially critical at independent hotels, which rarely enjoy the support systems of major chains. Rather than an inhouse IT expert, there is likely to be an inexperienced person struggling with tape backups, and no one to call if things go wrong. "It’s a scary proposition for a corporate IT manager," Zaccario adds, "which is why I see LiveVault as a good fit for my needs and the industry as a whole."

Tape backups can and do fail, for a whole litany of electromechanical reasons. There’s also the human factor: server backup and recovery procedures aren’t always followed correctly, and sometimes people even forget to do server backups altogether. Fortunately, New Castle properties are well managed and disciplined, so the odds of a catastrophic data loss are minimal. However, properties have been hit by lightening, floods, and hurricanes, and there’s always the small chance of an unforeseen accident that could jeopardize data from the current day.

As Zaccario points out, "When disasters hit, they usually happen quickly. Now if something happens, I have server data backed up to the second, whereas with tape backup, I’ve lost everything back to the previous night."

Safeguarding Core Server Data
The initial rollout is protecting New Castle Hotels’ critical home office servers. LiveVault safeguards the wide range of corporate information associated with a growing hospitality business, including customer relationship software, financial applications, spreadsheets, and MS Word documents. Data flows into a LiveVault server in a data center, where it is available for immediate recovery over a secure Internet connection.

The next phase will involve deploying LiveVault at all properties equipped to handle the service. Requirements are simple: an always-on Internet connection and a Windows NT or 2000 server. LiveVault will back up the crucial property management system, which handles reservations, check-in, and all other guest transactions, from drinks ordered at the bar to towels rented at the pool. LiveVault will also protect the sales system that manages weddings, conferences, and other events. The details that must be tracked can seem endless: what color napkins, what kind of wine, the flowers that have to be ordered, the band that has to be booked, and so on – all backed up in real time by LiveVault.

"If you lose the data for somebody’s wedding, you’ve ruined someone’s moment and you’ll never get it back again. People remember these events all their lives, and there’s only one shot to get it right. I’m going to do everything in my power to be sure it comes off perfectly."

Server Backup and Recovery That’s Ideal for Distributed Facilities
Zaccario is a one-person IT department, and previous backup headaches often made him wish he could be in two or three locations at once. Now he can, using LiveVault’s web management interface that allows him to manage server data protection at headquarters and multiple hotels from his browser. He can log onto LiveVault’s secure web site from any location – in his office, at home, or on the road – to monitor backups and verify that servers are running normally. If a restore becomes necessary, he can also follow the prompts to immediately restore lost or corrupted files wherever they are needed.

Installed in 10 Minutes
Zaccario installed and configured LiveVault’s server backup and recovery solution in less than ten minutes. He downloaded the software from LiveVault’s web site and followed the wizard instructions to load it on the servers that needed protection. Since the service is web-based, he didn’t have to be in his office – he installed LiveVault from home using Symantec’s pcAnywhere™.

Real-Time Protection with Fast ROI
Zaccario expects ROI for the online backup service within the first year. In financial terms, LiveVault is an attractive proposition when the cost of the service is weighed against the cost of tapes, software upgrades, replacement drives, and service calls. In addition, the server backup and recovery service eliminates the considerable lost time associated with managing tapes. "The numbers are only part of the story," Zaccario points out, "because there’s also the huge advantage of real-time server data protection, and that’s almost priceless."

Protecting the Trust
"It’s an awesome responsibility to be trusted with someone’s wedding, a major corporate event, or simply a reservation for the night," concludes Zaccario. "Business is built on these customer relationships, and that’s why we have to make sure our data is safe. My job is to protect the electronic assets of the company, and LiveVault is the chief tool that allows me to accomplish that task."