Records backed up in case of emergency

WOODBINE -- Cape May County’s regional Records Recovery Center (RRC) was constructed to enhance the County’s ability to quickly recover from any disaster involving local government records maintained in electronic format.
Located on a high point of ground in Woodbine more than 20 miles from the seat of county government, the center performs automatic backup of vital electronic records and will provide a hot site for reestablishment of government operations in the wake of a disaster. The center maintains data backups from over 30 county servers; is scheduled to pilot electronic backup for three municipalities in upcoming months; stores electronic media for county offices and municipalities not yet able to back up their data electronically; and performs data recovery exercises at regular intervals to prepare for and improve data recovery operations.
The Records Recovery Center was constructed through leveraging county funds with the Public Archives and Records Management Infrastructure Support (PARIS) grant offered by the N.J. Division of Archives and Records Management. These funds were used to construct the building, complete data transmission infrastructure, provide training for data technicians, and purchase hardware, software, and equipment for the center. Continued State and County funds will be used to further implement connectivity and backup services for additional municipalities over the next several years.
The Records Recovery Center has been offered as a model for local governments and received the 2007 PARIS Award for Excellence in Disaster Preparedness. As stated in the PARIS Grant Annual Report “Considering the county’s exposure to the Atlantic Ocean and it’s vulnerability to storms and flooding, Cape May is at the leading edge of disaster preparedness in the State of New Jersey.”