The loss of two power channels, however, could threaten science experiments and backup equipment.

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They had to be surrounded with backup equipment like diesel generators and hundreds of pumps and valves meant to squelch problems before they turned into disasters.

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The company has operations centers around the country that can monitor and reroute traffic, and its equipment can run on backup batteries and generators for a few days if needed.

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Telecom firms said they spent days preparing for Hurricane Sandy by activating regional coordination centers, testing equipment and positioning fuel for backup power generators.

WSJ: Telecom Firms Skirt Worst Damage

There's no backup talent and no massive equipment.

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Designing and implementing shared IT services involves moving existing and new services to the cloud (both government or commercial hosting) to increase service elasticity, reduce system equipment footprints, free IT organizations from the expensive work of data center storage, maintenance, backup and recovery burdens.

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