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Archive for May, 2019

5 Ways Colocation Can Help Your Business Succeed   no comments

Posted at May 21, 2019 @ 9:00am colocation,Web hosting

Colocation

While outsourcing non-core business functions to cloud-computing enterprises is a growing trend, many firms still prefer to keep a close eye on their most critical business functions and databases. IT professionals are well aware of the vast server farms that rent dedicated servers to website design firms, cloud hosts, and innumerable other commercial and non-commercial organizations, but colocation providers generally have worked quietly in the background. Still, they continue to offer invaluable services to businesses that wish to retain ownership of the servers that host their core business functions and intellectual property while also outsourcing hardware management and its associated concerns to industry professionals.

For many companies, offloading the care and handling of computer servers onto trained IT professionals at a colocation provider carries multiple advantages. Indeed, colocation services have steadily expanded year after year with leading industry experts expecting the global colocation market to exceed $60 billion by 2022. An in-depth examination shows that five major considerations lie behind the decision by CIOs and other corporate officials to rely on colocation services.

 

1. Connectivity

Colocated servers are only as good as the internet connectivity that allows them to cram immense flows of data up and down the line, and colocation providers typically subscribe to multiple high-level broadband providers such as Level 3 Communications to establish superior bandwidth redundancy and to encourage competition that results in cost savings for both the colocation provider and server owners. Quite apart from the sheer efficiency of sharing top-tier bandwidth access across innumerable servers, the climate-controlled environment keeps servers within a consistent temperature range to ensure that sensitive network equipment and server components don’t fail from extended exposure to excessive heat.

 

2. Stability

The impact on productivity from moving corporate offices, encountering a natural disaster or suffering through an extended interruption of electrical power can be disastrous. Even the most efficient company may experience a series of unfortunate events that repeatedly delay its return to full operational status. In the meantime, customers may be yelling about misplaced orders and bungled services, and employees may be left without real work as core business processes fail to function as expected.

More than a few CIOs and other upper-management staffers prefer instead to shield the company’s critical server operations from such potential chaos by entrusting them to an efficient colocation provider with multiple power backups and contingency plans for dealing with everything from earthquakes through cable-chewing squirrels.

 

3. Security

In an age of brazen corporate espionage by overseas agencies, ensuring physical data security can be a challenge. Even in the absence of foreign or domestic interest in valuable intellectual property held by a business, employee honesty and awareness of basic security precautions aren’t always guaranteed. Hard drives and other computer components sometimes have a habit of walking out the door, and allowing direct physical access to servers located inside open offices also increases the risk of malicious hacking attacks by criminal gangs through the agency of malware-laden USB sticks left lying around in company parking lots.

A well-equipped colocation provider likely will lock down its facilities with multiple security measures, including burglar-resistant, alarmed entry and exit doors; coded access procedures that track all physical access to hosted servers; strategically placed surveillance cameras; biometric scanners to prevent unauthorized access by intruders and even individually locked cages for each client’s servers. Spreading the cost of these high-security measures across hundreds or thousands of servers allows the colocation provider to efficiently offer economies of scale otherwise unavailable to the great majority of small to mid-size businesses.

 

4. Scalability

As a business expands or contracts in response to unpredictable economic swings and marketplace developments, its computing needs may similarly fluctuate. Managing human resources typically represents the largest expense for the great majority of firms, and the hiring and firing process is invariably expensive and painful. Instead of suffering through unpredictable demand cycles for in-house staff to manage IT hardware resources, business customers may purchase additional servers from the colocation provider or else instruct a responsible staffer to purchase additional custom equipment to be delivered to the colocation provider for installation.

 

5. Financial Predictability

Maintaining in-house data management facilities typically invites unexpected capital outlays that play havoc with limited quarterly budgets. Many firms prefer the predictability of a fixed monthly outlay that covers the great majority of expenses associated with managing critical IT hardware capability across all corporate functions. Strategic planning and corporate accounting become easier with fewer surprises for the unwary.

 

Only robust discussion among company principals can determine the ultimate wisdom of outsourcing IT hardware management functions to a dedicated third party. However, the cost savings, significantly improved operational stability and peace of mind offered by the colocation option have proven to be compelling value propositions for an expanding number of commercial enterprises, as well as SMBs and other organizations.

 

Why Colocate With TurnKey Internet?

TurnKey Colocation is the ideal solution for companies, service providers, small businesses and IT resellers who want a stable environment in which to completely control their assets.

When utilizing our state of the art colocation facility you are able to control your hardware, software and networking to your needs without worrying about the supporting infrastructure. In doing so, you will immediately recognize tremendous savings while also getting peace of mind that your equipment is hosted in a 100% sustainable, green and SSAE-18 audited, secure facility.

Traditionally, customers would create their own localized infrastructure which is costly and inefficient making colocation with TurnKey Internet the ideal solution. By colocating in our facility you are able to focus on your business and not on office networking, power or server issues that plague localized installations and office infrastructure. We provide redundant networking, power and cooling to ensure your services remain online and accessible at all time.

Our facility is redundantly networked with several TIER-1 peers allowing us to offer several connectivity options allowing our customers to reach theirs as quickly as possible and without worry of network downtime, which is completely SLA protected.

All colocation customers have 24/7 hour access to their equipment and also receive network reboots per-port or per-strip at no additional charge. Whether you purchase a single U, multiple racks or an entire cold containment POD, we include rebootable PDU’s or PDU ports with EVERY colocation purchase.

At TurnKey Internet we are available 24/7 to assist you with all your needs. For more information regarding colocation as well as a FREE consultation, visit: https://turnkeyinternet.net/offers/new-york-colocation

 

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Written by David Maurer on May 21st, 2019

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Reviewing Your Company’s Backup and Recovery Plan   no comments

Posted at May 14, 2019 @ 9:00am backup,disaster recovery

Backup and Recovery Plan

Is your company prepared for a catastrophe that could result in the loss of your data? You’ve most likely taken out insurance to protect yourself against natural disasters, robberies and similar catastrophic events. Your data should be no different. The only difference is that this type of insurance involves backing up your data and IT infrastructure, so that your business remains online and operational, even during one of those catastrophic situations mentioned above or something like a hardware failure or a disastrous infection. Here are some key things to focus on when reviewing your company’s existing plan or during the development of a new one:

 

What to Back Up

Determining what needs to be backed up should be addressed before you look at how you back it up. Do you want to back up everything that is located on computers at the office? What about data located on laptops or cellphones that are taken to and from home? Is your email or website backed up? Do you want them to be? Do you possess physical forms and documents that you want scanned into electronic form and then backed up in that form so that you are set if something such as a fire or flood destroys the hard copies?

You can back up everything, otherwise known as a full backup. This obviously requires the most storage space as well as the most time. However, it helps ensure that you will be completely back up and running in a timely manner if some disaster causes your primary data source to no longer be accessible.

However, this is not always necessary. In that case, consider an incremental or partial backup. An incremental backup involves the backing up of only files that had been created or changed since the last time your data had been backed up. This tends to be much quicker, but you do need to then ensure that you have access to several incremental backups in order to fully restore your data. It can also be difficult to organize your files or to find a specific one if you are downloading several incremental backups after disaster struck.

A partial backup means that you are only backing up part of your data, presumably the most valuable portion. However, the difference between a partial backup and a complete backup is usually minimal, meaning that, with a few exceptions, you might as well just back up everything.

Focus initially on the most important data, whatever would cause the most damage were the information to become inaccessible. These files should also be backed up more often. Of course, it does take time and money to back up your information, but it is well worth it when you consider the repercussions of losing access to it for a considerable time period or forever.

 

Local / Onsite Backups

Local or onsite backups involve copying and storing your data on a server or drive that is located on the same premises as your primary data source. The most significant benefit of this plan is that you can always have your secondary data right there. If something happens to your primary computer system, it’s normally easy to start utilizing the backup sources, and you don’t need to have an internet connection to do so. The cost of utilizing this type of data backup is usually relatively low, and the process of backing up your data with this method is normally pretty simple.

However, several significant disadvantages exist as well. A natural disaster such as a flood or hurricane that destroys your office or original data source will often take out your backup data too if it’s being kept onsite. And if somebody breaks in and steals your primary data, doing the same to your secondary data too can be done on the same trip.

 

Cloud Backup

Those taking advantage of cloud backup options will have their data sent to a remote data center on a regular basis. Probably the most significant benefit of going this route is that multiple copies of your data will can be made to stored on multiple servers located in a variety of places. That way if something disastrous happened to one place or server where your backup data was stored, you could simply access an alternate. Your data is safe at these locations as it is encrypted before being stored, and you have instantly scalable storage capacity. Another benefit is being able to automate the process so that you are not dependent on somebody remembering to back up the data.

An indirect benefit of utilizing a cloud backup method is that those who are authorized to do so can easily access the data, whether they are located across town or even on the other side of the world. This is a great benefit for organizations with multiple locations or remote staff. It’s also generally more cost effective than backing up your data onsite, due to not needing to purchase your own backup equipment.  However, make sure that you research and trust the data center provider you are using to back up your data remotely.

 

Cloud Replication

Cloud Replication allows for the restoration of data to a virtualized server. Utilizing an off-site data center’s cloud infrastructure, data can be made available instantly, then accessed remotely from anywhere in the world over multiple, redundant, high speed networks. This removes the bottleneck of local internet service providers bandwidth availability, and saves potentially hours of business critical time by bypassing the need to wait for your onsite systems to restore and be back in working order.

Should a disaster occur in which your infrastructure is no longer available or accessible to be restored, the need to purchase new hardware can be completely eliminated. Utilizing a Cloud Replication solution can have your business back online in minutes, not days. Employees can continue their work from home, remotely accessing images of their old workstations running live in the cloud, ensuring your business does not skip a beat.

 

Whether it be an office fire, hardware failure, employee error, or malware infection, IT disasters are inevitable. That’s why it is critical that you have a plan in place. Don’t gamble with your company’s data, call TurnKey Internet at 518-618-0999 and receive a free consultation of your company’s Disaster Recovery Plan. Learn more at www.TurnKeyInternet.net/myplan

 

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Written by David Maurer on May 14th, 2019

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