Remember those things called compact discs? Yea, you know- Those flimsy round things that came a few years after the cassette tape, and thousands of years after our parents chiseled sound into “vinyl records” with their cavemen friends? OK, maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but when was the last time you bought a physical CD? How about an entire album on iTunes?

We all know that technology is rapidly changing. Not only has the platform of which we listen to music changed, but the way we listen to music has changed.

Long gone are the days where people sit down and enjoy an album song by song. Album sales have plummeted and the power of the single is rising with every “Call Me Maybe.”

“We don’t have any rules. Everyone’s trying to figure it out. That’s why the Internet is like the Wild West. We need to write the new rules for what’s going on right now,” said rapper and business mogul, Shawn Carter (AKA Jay-Z).

Jay-Z is the new sheriff in town and he is taking over the Wild West of the Internet, and creating a new way to sell his album.

In June, during game five of the NBA Finals, Jay-Z not-so-casually dropped the news to millions of viewers that his new album “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” would be released on the 4^th of July to one million Samsung Galaxy customers via an app. Jay-Z is almost single-handedly turning fans of an artist into customers of a product, while still trying to keep the integrity of the album.

He is here to put a death to auto-tune and a resurrection to the “album,” where realistically he will make millions of dollars somewhere in between. The app is packaged nicely with pictures and lyrics- like a CD or album- but also intertwines videos and a way for Samsung to track your age and location (because not doing that is sooo 2008).

“The whole thing I wanted to do was have that fireplace or that radio moment where everyone’s just sitting in front of the thing listening to an album,” Carter goes on. “I want everyone to hear the album at one time.”

While I think most customers who are targeted to buy this album will have too short of an attention span to do so (especially with cellphone in hand), it is a great marketing scheme and an innovative way to start and push music where it may be heading.

Howdie do TurnKey lovers,

How long has it been? Feels like it’s been ages due to so many new and exciting things happening here at Turnkey Internet! Do you remember when I wrote you the post about progress? The main take away from the article was that progress is progress. Big or small, as long as you’re progressing forward, you will eventually reach your goals.

Well, this has been a very progressive few weeks here at Turnkey Internet. So much so, that every time I walk into the data center, I get a bit of a shocked or surprised look. Why you may ask? Well, we’ve begun receiving parts in for Pod 2. I’m sure you’ve heard about it in earlier posts, but this dream is getting closer to becoming a reality. I mean, it wasn’t too long ago that I remember putting up walls in our data center. I helped to program the switches for each core while watching our senior data center engineer wire all of the racks together. It sometimes feels that it was just last week, but then I think back on all of the progress we’ve made since then. Acquiring Kcnet and bringing on new staff. However, none of this even comes close to the feeling I receive when I walk into our data center and see the foundation of Pod 2 beginning to spring to life. It’s a very exciting, stressful and rewarding time around TurnKey right now. So much hard work from so many people is helping to make this dream of being the best damn data center in the Northeast a reality!

I just feel very fortunate and bless to work here at TurnKey Internet. Sure, there are times that I just want to scream at the top of my lungs (which I do) due to working on a bug/program/technical support matter for hours with very little progress, but once you achieve that goal, it’s very rewarding. It’s one of the best feelings in the world. Now to see that on a much larger scale with new parts being delivered for Pod 2 and vine videos being made on Pod 2, is just very satisfying. I can’t wait until all the parts get here and Pod 2 is fully online.

Inching one Pod closer to getting our data center maxed out with Pods full of servers.

Well, I just wanted to share that with you guys. To share the joy and excitement that I have for this wonderful company!

Until next time.

President Obama outlined his new plan to cut carbon pollution on Tuesday, June 25th 2013 during his speech at Georgetown University.  The big news is that President Obama is directing the United States Environmental Protection Agency to impose carbon pollution standards for power companies that will eventually lead to individual businesses as well being in the government’s cross-hairs.

The major point to the U.S. Government’s plan is to focus on efficiency in power generation and efficient power consumption to help minimize carbon

Hydro Electric Datacenter in New York

pollution.  The bottom line is that by reducing carbon pollution the rapidly increasing change in climate (for the worse) across the globe will be eased, slowed or even reversed at some point.

The primary concern of those who oppose any form of limits on carbon pollution (or enforced efficiency’s for energy production and usage) is that cleaner energy and green solutions can be seen as something that will increase costs short term and hurt the economy.  The reality is that the financial success of the future will in part be on controlling total energy costs through efficiency and renewable sources that will have stable cost structures (unlike fossil fuels as they run out will drasticaly increase in costs, as well as the costs associated with cleaning up after utilizing fossil fuels which generate significant carbon pollution).  The President’s plan focuses on the real future goal of minimizing the impact on the environment to reduce climate change through reductions in carbon emissions across the country.

The President stated “A low-carbon clean energy economy can be an engine of growth for generations to come” and I personally agree with this. In fact it’s in part what TurnKey Internet has focused on closely for the last several years through our green technology investments and massive investments in clean renewable energy sources such as our on-site solar power plant.  Over the last several years TurnKey Internet has invested millions of dollars on our new data center located in Latham, New York – and just last month was named an ENERGY STAR® certified data center by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), ranking TurnKey’s datacenter among the best of the best for energy efficiency through design, and green technologies utilized. At the time of the announcement, TurnKey’s data center was one of just two certified facilities in New York, and one of 38 in the country to carry the presitigous ENERGY STAR® certified data center designation.

TurnKey’s philosophy has always been to minimize our impact on the environment. In April during the week long Earth Day 2013 awareness celebration we announced that our Latham, New York datacenter achieved a zero carbon foot print, by utilizing 100% renewable power resources (our on-site solar power generation plant, and activation of the New York Governor’s Recharge New York Hydro-Electric feed to our facility).  Our multi-million dollar investment in efficient green datacenter technology  and clean renewable energy may seem high in cost – but the reality is that over time the actual cost of energy is lower in our facility compared to similar facilities, and we maintain a positive impact by not creating any carbon pollution with our zero carbon foot print.  The point: it is possible to be economically positive and green at the same time.

In the next few years government will begin forcing power companies, and businesses which consume the largest amounts of power (like data centers which as an industry will be worse polluters than the airline industry by 2020!) to become more efficient and utilize green resources.  This will be to help reduce the impact our country makes on the worldwide climate change problem that has only been getting worse the last decade.  TurnKey Internet is years ahead of the game, not because we knew the government would eventually catch up to the times and force these changes – but because it’s the right way to do business.

– Adam Wills, CEO

– TurnKey Internet, Inc

If you’ve been hanging around the TurnKey data center for the past week, you’d be sure to hear a lot of “It’s here! It’s here! It’s here!” Why? Because TurnKey Internet has been receiving shipments of brand new servers and most importantly, the pieces to build Pod 2!

WAAAAY faster than expected, our data center will expand by over 20% and within the next 30 days we expect Pod 2 to be up and running. We’re using the same high-tech, green, environmentally conscious technology but on a larger scale. Trust us when we say- This is still just the beginning!

Not following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram yet? Well we got you covered (but you should still go do that!). Check out some photos below and get caught up.

Emily next to the truck!

Getting ready to bring ’em in.

Getting some help from the nice delivery guys!

Just a preview…

Racks on racks on racks!

At approximately 12:53PM on June 18, 2013, a cardinal was captured on security film trying to break into TurnKey Internet’s highly secure, green data center in New York’s Tech Valley Region.

Neighbors called in after tweets (audible, non-Twitter) were heard at the Latham data center. Luckily, TurnKey Internet’s facility contains a state-of-the-art security system that safeguards their SSAE-16 Type 2 certified building.

“The bird just swooped in, tried to knock over all the security cameras so he could sneak inside! Then realized how secure the buildin’ was,” local resident Emily Wegener said of the incident. “He flew away and disappeared in some bush-tower-tree-thing and I never done seen that creature again!”

The bird stands about three inches in height, is red in color and has a white belly. The culprit was last seen fleeing the scene to a nearby maple tree. If you have seen this bird, have any additional information, or have any suggestions for when birds attack, please contact your local authorities or email birdpatrol@turnkeyinternet.net.

Why move to the cloud? Here is June’s cloud tip.

Let us do the work…

When we say that by putting everything on the cloud can reduce your worry of keeping a track of hardware and software devices, we probably want to make your existing physical world into a virtual one. With managed cloud services you don’t have to bother about what’s going on in your in-house IT premises. Let your cloud manager do the burdensome work and help you get rid of all the expensive hardware and software that cost you almost an arm or a leg.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TurnKey Internet, Inc. releases “High-Speed Stock Trader Desktop” line of virtual desktops

LATHAM, NEW YORK (June 13, 2013) – Sustainable IT solutions provider TurnKey Internet, Inc. announced today that they are launching a new line of ready-to-go virtual desktops. These virtual desktops are outfitted with industry-leading electronic trading platforms for the purpose of providing the fastest and most simplistic financial market trading experience possible. The new “TurnKey High-Speed Stock Trader Desktop” features high-speed fiber connections and performance capabilities, making it the model framework for instant access to New York’s Wall Street.

“Over the past year, we realized that our location in regard to major trading markets is attractive to prospective clients in the Financial Markets and Stock Trading Industry,” said Executive Vice President, Tim Kirsch. “Active traders recognize that the difference of a few milliseconds can also mean the difference of tens of thousands of dollars. While we already have fiber links to both major markets with ultra-high-speed connectivity, it was simply a matter of putting together a product selection that would fit the needs of all active traders—big and small.”

TurnKey Internet’s High-Speed Stock Trader Desktop cloud-based platform gives clients the ability to manage stocks and monitor trends in financial markets at faster speeds than a traditional desktop PC. Financial information is sent straight through the cloud at ultra-fast speeds, with the highest level of security from TurnKey Internet’s SSAE-16 certified green data center. In fractions of a second, clients can make decisions that connect directly to the stock exchanges in New York, Chicago, and the rest of the world, using industry-leading analysis software and electronic trading platforms such as TradeStation, NinjaTrader, MetaTrader, and MultiCharts.

About Turnkey Internet

Founded in 1999, TurnKey Internet, Inc. is a full-service green data center and leading provider of sustainable web hosting and IT solutions. From its SSAE 16 Type 2 certified facility in Latham, NY—New York’s Tech Valley Region—TurnKey offers web hosting, communication services, web-based IT systems, software as a service (SaaS), enterprise colocation services, and computing as a service to clients in more than 150 countries. For more information, please call (518) 618-0999 or visit www.turnkeyinternet.net/media.

Howdy do, TurnKey Lovers?

How long has it been? It feels like it has been a few years. I was actually supposed to write to you guys and ladies last week, but I wasn’t feeling inspired. I didn’t want to just write any ol’ thing for you, and have it not be the top-notch blogging that you’ve come to expect from me. Was that last one a little too much? Sorry, I’m still working out the blogging jitters.

So, as I already mentioned, I was having a bit of a hard time coming up with something to write about for you. Co-workers have made suggestions, with FTP being one of them, but sadly, none of this got me riled up to chat with ya for a bit. Well, the other night as I was about to fall asleep, the idea hit me: the environment and Parkour. You may be saying to yourself, “Huh? How does that have anything to do with TurnKey Internet?” Well my friends, I will explain it to you.

You see, about two and a half years ago, I started this EPIC journey called Parkour. Now, you may not be familiar with the word Parkour, as some refer to it as “freerunning”, “tricking”, or even just “jumping around”. I like to refer to it as a path to improving ones belief in one’s self through playful activities outside or in a gym. For a more straight-forward definition, Parkour is getting from point A to point B in the most efficient way possible. It can be learned by anyone and everyone, and you only need a pair of sneakers to start. Right now it sounds like I’m writing an article purely advocating Parkour, but stay with me. It will all tie in.

Around the same time I started Parkour, I started working at TurnKey Internet. When I think back, if it wasn’t for Parkour, I probably wouldn’t have even started at TurnKey Internet or progressed so far. Stop, Jeremy, you’re getting off-topic. Ah yes, when I first started Parkour and began working at TurnKey Internet, things were very different. I could barely do a pull-up outside and could barely understand all the inner nuances that make up a IT solutions provider. Well, just like with my training, things kept improving. Soon enough, I could do 8 pull-ups straight and could provision a server from start to finish with no outside assistance.

The team–TurnKey Internet–was still colocating with Time Warner when I came on board, but now we have our very own data center that we built from scratch. We progressed forward, gaining bits of knowledge along the way. We progressed so far that, as of recently, we are no longer using gas to help power the data center. We’re now 100% running off renewable resources. That’s a hugeeee accomplishment for a data center in this day and age. Not only are we helping to reduce our carbon footprint, but we’re also incorporating new technologies.

For someone who loves to play outside, I’m all for working somewhere that helps to ensure that we have a great place to live, work, and play in the future.

This is quite a fascinating time, to say the least. On top of everything else, we’re now ENERGY STAR certified. I can’t say I can name any other public data centers off the top of my head that can make that claim. Sure, they might exist, but as of right now, I personally only know of TurnKey. You see, I started this article mentioning my love for Parkour and how has been attached to my progress at TurnKey. The best thing that I have learned from Parkour, which helps me every day at TurnKey is that progress is progress. Whether it’s a small step today or a large step, progress is progress.

When I first started, TurnKey was co-locating and now we have our very own, very GREEN data center. Needless to say, I’m quite proud of that progress and it is no small feat.

Until next time, TurnKey lovers

More big news, more exciting news, more green news!

We are thrilled to announce that our green data center in Latham, NY has been named an ENERGY STAR® certified data center by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This is no small feat, everyone. Since the day we opened our doors at this facility, we have been undergoing an energy efficiency audit. That’s 12 long months’ worth of reviews, inspections, assessments, etc.—I’m sure you get the idea. Finally, the process has reached its end, and we are officially an ENERGY STAR® certified data center!

There are several requirements for an ENERGY STAR® certification. A commercial facility must use an average of 35% less energy than traditional facilities, and release 35% less CO2 into the atmosphere. Not to toot our own horn, but—OK, to toot our own horn really loud and aggressively—with our zero carbon footprint, we’ve actually surpassed the EPA requirements to become an ENERGY STAR® certified data center… and pretty significantly, at that.

Another reason we are so excited about this accomplishment is that we are one of only two ENERGY STAR® certified data centers in the entirety of New York State! New York is ENORMOUS. There are loads of data centers in New York. We are also one of less than 50 in the entire US! 39 data centers are ENERGY STAR® certified, to be exact. That averages less than 1 ENERGY STAR® certified data center per state. This sets the bar pretty high… if we do say so ourselves (and we do).

Here’s what Adam, the man on top, had to say:

“We are delighted to have completed the ENERGY STAR® certification process. Through the ultra-efficient design of our data center and our use of green renewable energy, TurnKey has catapulted past the industry standard. We are one of only two data centers in the entire state of New York that has received this exclusive certification from the EPA. Since data centers are expected to be larger polluters than the airline industry by 2020, I can confidently say that TurnKey Internet is among the best of the best for energy efficiency in the data center space.”

This year has been packed full of exciting news like this, and it’s not even June yet! From our SSAE 16 Type 2 certification in February, to our ReCharge New York installation last month, across everything in between, our fingers are crossed in hopes that the trend continues!

Read the full press release on our company news page!

 TurnKey Internet’s New York data center is on what we like to call a carbon diet. When we constructed the facility, minimizing our impact on the environment by using clean, renewable energy and ultra-efficient design was the initial goal.  Last week, we announced that our New York data center is now at the “zero carbon footprint” status–powered by 100% renewable resources with our on-site solar system and the NYS Government’s Recharge New York hydroelectric power feed.

So what does carbon footprint mean, and what exactly is so important about a zero carbon foot print?

A carbon footprint is the measure given to the amount of green house gases produced by burning fossil fuels, measured in units of carbon dioxide. Traditional data centers and cloud services companies consume massive amounts of electricity that is produced by fossil fuels–in the U.S., that is primarily done with coal. Those green house gas emissions given off by converting coal to electricity are what cause global warming and negative global climate change. Therefore,  every device that consumes electricity (such as a computer server in your office, or a web hosting server on the Internet) is contributing to the problem.

Data centers in the U.S. and across the globe house thousands of computer servers in a central location and consume enormous amounts of electricity. Data centers consume even more electricity to keep those computer servers cool, due to the massive quantity of heat they (the computer servers) produce. The best and most recently constructed data centers utilize efficient cooling and energy distribution designs to minimize the amount of electricity they must consume. However, if they consume their electricity from coal or other fossil fuels, then the data center is still an immense source of pollution. Data centers are expected to pollute more than the airline industry by 2020, according to this 2008 article in The New York Times.

Some companies such as Yahoo and Apple have been building data centers with ultra-efficient designs, and powering their facilities with clean, renewable energy.  Many companies, data centers, and cloud service providers are seeing colossal increases in energy costs. Making the massive investments for data centers that utilize clean, renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal is finally becoming a reality.

So why should this matter to you?  Let’s say you have a computer server in your office, and finally make the transition to the cloud. You place that server–or rent a new, highly-efficient one–in a data center. You can now choose a facility that is using renewable energy, so that your computer server will no longer be powered by fossil fuels, and thus, will no longer generate CO2, which damages the environment. It’s hard to imagine that the computer server in your office is hurting the environment as it stands today, isn’t it? Moving it to the cloud is not only a wise choice for reliability, security, and redundancy, but also for the environment.

The next time you select a cloud services provider or data center to work with, make sure the data center is on a carbon diet. Your waistline may not be impacted by this diet, but the rest of the world certainly will!