Seven Alerts for Colocation

Colocation data centers provide tenants with high availability, secure infrastructure hosting. They do this by leveraging investments in redundant power, environmental, networking, and security systems. Continuous monitoring of key parameters is critical to assure data centers function properly. Alerts are generated in real-time whenever a threshold is exceeded. Though there are many conditions that can be tracked, here are 7 of the most important parameters to be monitored.

Power

Power is the most important thing to monitor in a data center. Power is so vital that most facilities have several layers of redundancy to automatically back up the utility power that comes from the electric company. When primary power is interrupted, Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems take over. Generators back up the UPS systems for longer term power until utility power is restored. Though power backup is automatic from utility power to UPS to generator, alerts are issued to data center personnel when a problem is first detected so they can determine the cause of the power outage.

Heat

Temperature ranges are monitored in the data center to make sure air conditioning systems are functioning properly. Elevated temperatures can damage IT systems and interrupt operations. Alerts are issued in real-time whenever a temperature threshold is exceeded in the data center.

Humidity

Relative humidity is also measured and reported whenever a reading is outside of an established range. Too much or too little humidity can affect performance of servers and other information technology systems.

Network

Colocation data centers provide a variety of internet bandwidth services. Since connectivity is essential, automatic failover to a redundant backup service is frequently employed. Network performance parameters such as packet loss counts, and total loss of internet service are monitored and reported.

Colocation clients have the option of procuring their own internet connectivity or they may procure these services from the data center. Clients who get internet services through the colocation data center benefit from automatic failover to a backup internet service provider circuit. Some colocation providers also monitor each client’s internet service availability. An alert may be issued if service is unavailable for a specified period of time (i.e., typically 2 minutes). Clients may be contacted to let them know there may be a problem with their firewall or some other problem that is impacting internet access.

Fire

Fire suppression systems are installed at locations throughout the data center. These systems report alerts to the data center engineers and to the building supervisors in the event that a fire suppression system is deployed.

Water

Monitors are placed in the raised floor areas in the data center to detect water and other fluids.

Data Center Access

People with authorized security cards may enter the facility at any time. However, all entry to the data center is logged and the activities of people in the data center are video recorded 24/7/365. Doors to the data center will issue an alarm whenever they are opened by someone without proper credentials or whenever doors are left open for more than a few seconds. When data center access alerts are issued, staff can review video images to determine if activity in the data center requires their attention.

Colocation data centers such as CAPS rely on proactive monitoring to assure that availability, performance and security is maintained at the standards required by our clients. Much like the wild rabbits of Connecticut whose very survival depends on keeping alert, our sensors work continuously to make sure all systems are functioning properly.

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Data Backup in Connecticut – Just Right

Reliable offsite data backup and restoral is essential to respond quickly to potential disruptions. Whether online data is compromised by Ransomware or something else, the ability to recover a current clean copy is the key to minimizing costly business interruptions.

Backup as a Service (BaaS) is popular for organizations looking to ensure they can recover critical data quickly. Service providers employ software-based tools to automatically copy production data at predefined intervals. Data is often encrypted as copies are sent to one or more remote storage sites. Tests are performed to verify that a backup copy has been successfully completed. Then, if needed, the backup can be restored to resume normal operations.

There are many options for offsite data backup services in Connecticut. When evaluating different services, we recommend checking to see if the following three criteria are met.

  1. Data backup services should be full featured, easy to use, and cost-effective
  2. The service provider should have sufficient IT infrastructure to meet the client’s requirements
  3. Technical support should be available to address specific challenges

Powerful Backup Software Works Well and is Affordable

CAPS has been delivering offsite data backup services for years using several different tools. For the past few years, we have been using Veeam’s Availability Suite software. Our engineers are impressed with the software’s versatility and with its ease of use. With Veeam we can configure a backup solution tailored to our client’s unique requirements. The software handles most environments and includes the ability to restore data on a granular level, i.e. for an individual Virtual Machine or file. Training is straight forward so clients get up to speed quickly. Also, the Veeam solution is cost-effective.

Multiple Data Centers for Backup with Optimal Physical Separation

The IT infrastructure available from suppliers of BaaS in Connecticut varies from one provider to the next. Some have a single data center. Those with multiple data centers can architect a variety of offsite backup alternatives with primary and secondary backup sites.

In cases where a service provider has multiple data centers, the physical separation between data centers is important to consider. For example, one Connecticut provider has two data centers located about ten miles apart. This is a concern because a disaster that affects one data center will probably affect the other.

Another Connecticut service provider has a secondary data center more than 1,000 miles away. This great distance increases both network and travel costs. Greater distance between data centers also increases the time it can take to create remote backups.

CAPS believes the physical separation of its three data centers across the metropolitan New York region is ideal. The CAPS data center in Shelton, CT is about 67 miles from our data center in New York and about 120 miles from our data center in New Jersey.

Knowledgeable Support Willing to Address Unique Needs

Larger data backup service providers usually do not provide much individualized support to clients. Smaller service providers may not have the resources to tailor customized backup solutions. A mid-sized BaaS provider, such as CAPS, can deliver individualized data backup and recovery services.

There are many different providers of offsite data backup services in Connecticut. With a little research you should be able to find the one that is just right for your organization.

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