During the month of July 2022, CU*Answers will embark on a significant project to replace the server and data storage hardware that comprise the CU*BASE® core processing platform with minimal interruption of service utilizing a robust and mature high-availability strategy. To keep pace with continuously evolving technology and performance increases, CU*Answers upgrades the host core environments at both the primary and secondary data centers every three years. The process is simplified by a high availability program that allows teams to introduce new hardware, replicate data to synchronize systems, and test configurations and applications prior to promoting the new servers to the production role.
“This is the fourth generation of core hardware,” states Jim Lawrence, VP of Operations and Business Continuity at CU*Answers, “where teams have been able to successfully rollover from the old to the new, during a planned maintenance period with minimal downtime. With live production HA rollovers scheduled every six months, the process has become routine and a part of the normal operations calendar, allowing for the implementation and execution of an active corporate strategic technology plan designed to meet the demand of a growing network of credit unions. ”
CU*Answers maintains a comprehensive Business Continuity Program to provided adequate opportunity for planned system and network maintenance as well as prepare for unplanned incidents that threaten to disrupt core processing services. Regular HA rollover and recovery exercises are conducted with gap analysis reports made available for client credit unions to review.
