Remember when I told you that April is Earth Month at TurnKey Internet? Well, I’m back with some very exciting Earth Month news. Two different pieces of Earth Month news, actually–both green; both awesome.

First of all, we are now part of NYS Gov. Cuomo’s ReCharge New York program. Do you know what this means? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?! This means that TurnKey Internet is now powered by 100% renewable resources! Being awarded this system means a lot to us, and it should mean a lot to you too, because being nice to the Earth should mean a lot to everybody. This hydroelectric power system draws energy directly from Niagara Falls, and extends the portion of our power that we were already drawing from renewable sources to a full 100%.

We were selected for the ReCharge New York installation in recognition of the jobs we are creating in New York State as TurnKey Internet expands. Here’s a fun fact: We have more than doubled our staff in the past two years. Isn’t that crazy? Crazy in the best way possible, of course.

Do you know what else this ReCharge New York system means for us? I told you there were two pieces of Earth Month news, didn’t I? Get ready, I saved the best for last… If you haven’t yet heard, or are impartial to reading titles and/or press releases, our Latham, NY data center now has a zero carbon footprint! This accomplishment is all but unheard of in our industry, so we’re more than a little proud and excited. We feel, and hope you agree, that this accomplishment really sets us apart from the other guys.

If you’re interested in a little more light reading, you can find the press release in our Company News section.

Pssst… Between you and me, we are  running an OUTRAGEOUS sale right now. If you’re interested–and I would recommend being interested–jump on Live Sales Chat. Our Sales Department will tell you what’s up. *cough–HUGE DISCOUNT–cough* …excuse me.

Why move to the cloud? Here is March’s quick cloud tip:

Cloud technology optimizes existing resources…

Suppose your company is facing hard times in managing hardware and software. Let’s say your servers are running extremely low on space, and there is not enough room left for any new data to be stored. To overcome such a situation, cloud services can be employed. In turn, existing servers get a rest from the over-loaded traffic, and the work environment of the company becomes more synchronized.

Moving to the cloud optimizes your resources, but with the help of managed cloud services, businesses are able to focus time and attention on other business-related activities.

Big news, everyone! Starting Monday, February 25th, 2013–also known as next Monday–we will be holding a contest on our social sites!

After the panic that both Hurricane Sandy and Winter Storm Nemo brought about, it has become clear to us that far too many people are uninformed about the importance of being prepared. Back up your data, guys! Prepare for disaster! It’s so, so imperative in running a business successfully, and ensuring its continuity. You wouldn’t drive a car without insurance, would you? Maybe you would, how would I know? But if you do, cut it out.

With that being said, we decided to take action. Introducing: The Disaster Recovery Trivia Challenge!

HOW TO PLAY:

–   Every Monday morning, stop by our Facebook and/or Twitter page(s). There, among the piles of awesomeness, you’ll find a fact about disaster recovery, or businesses’ lack thereof.

–   Read the fact, and decide if you think it’s “True” or “False”.

–   Once you’ve made up your mind, tell us what you think! You can submit your guess on Facebook in the comment section of the fact post, or tweet it to us on Twitter. Luckily, both “True” AND “False” are 140 characters or less—for all you little blue birdies out there. Phew!

Casting your guess (when and IF—that’s a big “if”, see?—you “like” us on Facebook or “follow” us on Twitter…or both, if you just really like hanging out with us) automatically earns you an entry to win— DRUM-ROLL, PLEASE…

Oooooohhh…

Aaaaaaahhh…

 *

Wooooowww…

—A free shirt! As a proud owner of one of these babies and a lover of all items acquired through winning giveaways, I can confidently tell you that you shouldn’t sit this one out.

At the end of every week, also known as Friday, we will not only be revealing the answer, but choosing a winner at random. Did you see I said “every week”? That means that with every new fact that we present, comes another opportunity for you to win. So, if you play and aren’t selected, bet your bottom dollar that the sun will come out next week.

We have 10 disaster recovery facts to talk to you about, so that means there are 10 chances to win. That also means that there will be 10 winners of TurnKey finery when all is said and done. However, we want to have a grand-prize winner, because, well… why not? At the end of this 10-week period, when we’re done making it rain T-shirts on you all, we will draw one grand-prize winner from the pool of weekly winners. That one, final, lucky winner will receive $100! Don’t spend it all in one place! Unless you’re spending it at TurnKey Internet, that is.

So what do you think? Will you play along? At the very least, check in on Fridays for some valuable information that just might end up saving you.

* Recognize this image, anyone? This T-shirt is the answer to this week’s  “Guess that photo” puzzle! For those of you who haven’t heard yet, “Guess that Photo” is another game we play on our social sites! Tune in every week for a new picture, and see if you can guess what it is.

Overheard at TurnKey Internet, straight from the CEO: “Attaining the SSAE 16 Type 2 certification was a significant goal and milestone for us. We pride ourselves on our unparalleled reliability, quality of service, and—most importantly—customer satisfaction. This certification not only proves that we are excelling in those areas, but also assures our new and existing clients that they are receiving the best possible service.”

You heard right, ladies and gentlemen! We are proud to add SSAE 16 Type 2 to the list of certifications that our green data center in Upstate NY has attained. “What’s that,” you ask? SSAE (or The Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements) No. 16 (SSAE 16) Type 2 certification is an internationally recognized compliance certification, that was created by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants in April of last year (2012). It replaced the Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) to better supplement international auditing standard ISAE 3402.

After a thorough examination, conducted by SOC audit specialists The Moore Group CPA, LLC., our facility was deemed compliant with the regulations required to attain SSAE 16 Type 2 certification. This audit investigates several core areas: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. It verifies that TurnKey Internet is of the utmost security, integrity, and reliability. It confirms that we have procedures and safety precautions of the utmost efficiency in place to ensure the security of our facility and our clients’ data within.

Needless to say, we’re pretty excited. We couldn’t wait to share the good news! You can read the full press release here >

“Let’s Make a Deal!” was a terrific run, wouldn’t you agree? We had a ton of fun deal-making and prize-awarding, through the original promotion and then again with its revival. However, like all good things, “Let’s Make a Deal!” must, too, come to an end. If you find yourself in tears, we understand. Take a moment. We’ll wait…

We would like to extend a final, congratulatory shout-out to our winners of “The Deal of a Lifetime” (Jesse C., Steven S., Danny F., Hendra S., and Adam B.), and an enormous “Thank you!” to everyone who entered. This will not be the last TurnKey Internet giveaway of its kind—mark my words!

With that being said, we have something brand new to share with you! Come on; would you really expect anything less from us? At this point, we hope you know as well as we do that we would be bored to tears without some kind of event going on.

Without further ado, we would like to introduce… The Truckload Sale!

An 18-wheeler just arrived at the TurnKey Internet data center, bursting at the seams with a medley of 8 GB, 16 GB, and 32 GB Intel E3 dedicated servers. To celebrate the arrival of this glorious mountain of technology, we are packing in the savings and marking every single one of them 40% off! All you have to do is enter the coupon E3TRUCK at check-out. That’s it! We’re all about making things easier.

E3’s are what’s hot right now, and they are being snatched up left and right. Don’t miss your chance to get in on this discount, because—trust us!—it won’t last long! Check out the Truckload Sale > 

Also… Yes, there is an “also”. Have you noticed there’s almost always an “also”? The E3 sale isn’t the only new thing starting up at TurnKey Internet this week. Since the truck arrived carrying only servers, we realized that we needed to show our other products and services some love as well. Naturally, we decided to offer savings on… well, everything. We just feel like a new year is started best when there’s a deal involved, you know? Especially when it’s a TurnKey deal, because those are our very favorite kinds of deals. So, see for yourself! Whether you’re looking for a reseller package or a virtual private server or anything in between, with this sale (and the coupon code TK2013), we know you’ll be able to kick off 2013 correctly.

So, are you as excited as we are? We hope so! But save some room for more, and keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We may or may not have another contest all cooked up and coming your way in the VERY near future.

Pssttt… I’ll have it be known that by “may or may not” I mean “definitely do without question”, but that’s between you and me…

Howdy Do, TurnKey Lovers?

It’s your favorite technician, back with another delightful treat. Haha, okay, maybe I should tone down the favoritism. I could be your favorite technician, or it could be any of our other wonderful techs. For the sake of this article, let’s just assume that I’m your number 1 guy.

Another year has come and gone, and what a year it was. That’s what I want to speak to you about today. If you don’t mind, let’s do a bit of reflection for a moment. Let’s take a step into the TurnKey time machine to look at this past year. (No, you can’t buy mine. Get your own.)

2012 has been one hell of a year, and I will give you the TurnKey Top Plays. Think of it like SportsCenter’s Top Plays, but with TurnKey. All of you sport fans should appreciate the top plays. I mean, why else do you watch SportsCenter at 3 in the morning? Okay, okay, I digress. Jeremy, stay on topic. Ah, yes, our Top Plays of the past year…

Let’s begin the countdown at number 5:

5. Welcomed new staff into the TurnKey family

Yes, this makes the Top Plays. We’ve added a few new members to our TurnKey family. I’m sure you’re already familiar with one, Emily Wegener. She’s the lovely lady who edits all of these posts; making us writers/technicians look better at this blogging thing than we are. Another new member of our TurnKey family—even though he doesn’t always stay because of something called “college”—Is Jared Rutnik. Jared helps Emily keep our TurnKey name out there in this delightful world of the Internet. Last but not least, we welcomed another technician, Chris Day.

4. Launched new products across our product lines

While we did launch several new products this year, I would say one of the most fun—yet frustrating—products has to be CloudFlare and Attracta. These services are now included with every sign up for one of our reseller or SEO accounts. It helps our customers not only attain higher page rankings, but it also gives redundancy with CloudFlare, should you need it.

3. Complete overhaul of our Reseller system

Okay, you might be saying, “Why is this in the top 3?” Well, have you ever used ZamFoo? It can be a pain, if you’ve never had the pleasure. While yes, it did provide additional functionality to our resellers, it became very clear that an in-house or custom-built reseller platform would be the way to go. Our new reseller system is a lot easier for end users to navigate, and also provides additional functionality that isn’t included in ZamFoo. For example, changing a site’s IP via ZamFoo can be a confusing process for a reseller. He or she would have to upgrade the account, assign the IP, and then downgrade the account. Our new reseller platform streamlines that process so you can just use the IP manager to change IP’s.

2. Survived Hurricane Sandy

Now, you may be wondering why this made the list, as our data center is in Upstate New York and not down by the coast. Well, many local businesses in our area had severe wind and rain impact. There was flooding all around, and some of our clients were deeply affected by the storm. Providing top-notch support across the board in billing, customer service, and technical support helped to keep some customers’ minds at ease about their hosting. While this might seem trivial, it made a tremendous difference to many of our clients. We were contacted numerous times, to confirm that our data center would survive the storm. Special accommodations were made for users who needed assistance with their billing or support during this difficult time. I’m proud to say that the TurnKey family pulled together and that we all did our best to help by any means we could, even if it was just letting customers pay their bill later so that they could focus on other things.

1. Moved into our new datacenter.

This is easily number one for me. Moving into a new data center while building it can make things a bit hectic. Users’ servers go off-line to be moved, and servers get transported from the old data center to the new one. If you had been here to witness the sheer amount of work that went into the project, you would have been amazed. Well, I know I was. The way the staff pulled together to migrate servers while dealing with the support issues being raised was nothing short of phenomenal. Sure, there were bumps along the way, but we all pitched in, as a team should, and got the job done. It made me proud to be a member of this TurnKey family.

Well there you go, TurnKey lovers. While it may not be a Top 10 list like SportsCenter, it doesn’t diminish the importance of each point.

Until next time…

At TurnKey Internet, there is only one thing we like to do more than make new friends, and that one thing is tell everyone about it. That being said, we are so excited to announce that docSTAR, a document management software company and subsidiary of Astria Solutions Group, LLC., is moving into our Latham, NY data center!

docSTAR is located in Schenectady, NY, so we’re basically neighbors. This is one of the most noteworthy aspects of docSTAR’s move into the TurnKey  cloud. There has been quite a stir around here in regards to teaming-up with a fellow Capital Region small business, and we welcome them wholeheartedly to our facility. We like to think of it as a little ray of sunshine on the heels of Hurricane Sandy!

Greg Laird, docSTAR’s VP of Product Development commented, “The cloud powers our software and our business. Our growth required a bigger, faster, stronger cloud in order to continue to provide the highest level of service. The TurnKey data center exceeds all of our requirements, so our customers can continue to grow.”

We’re more than happy to help! To read the full press release, you can check it out here.

While Hurricane Sandy has been downgraded to a severe storm that still is impacting parts of the Northeast U.S. with wind, rain, and flooding, the initial, direct storm impact on our regional datacenter in New York has passed without any impact to service or performance.

Our facility remained running–fully on utility power–at all times, with no disruptions to service. All fiber optic network connections, including our dark fiber build, remain at 100% operational status, and all backup network and power systems also remain at 100% operational status. All Internet carrier connection points report full operational status, with no outages reported in the last 24 hours. At this time we have completed our Emergency Preparedness Stage II Plan, which has been in effect since Sunday – returning to normal operational status as of 12:01 PM EST today, October 30th, 2012.

We are happy to report that all employees and their families are safe and sound, and have either reported for duty or checked in to confirm their status. Many clients who have contacted us from within the impacted regions also report they are safe – which we are very grateful to hear.

Some severe flooding in parts of New York continue at this time. For instance, you may see on the news that the stock exchange has been closed for a 2nd day. Major power outages and other effects of Hurricane Sandy are impacting millions of people,but our New York datacenter facility remains over 2,000 feet above sea level and far removed from the impacted flood zone. We do not anticipate any issues related to the flooding in these regions of New York, but will continue to monitor the situation.

Thank you all for the well wishes that were sent to TurnKey Internet and our staff in the last 24 hours. Our thoughts and best wishes are with those who remain in the regions experiencing the after effects of Hurricane Sandy, and we hope for a speedy recovery for all who have been impacted.

EDIT: View our live Hurricane Sandy camera to watch as the storm reaches New York at http://sandycam.turnkeyinternet.net/

Hurricane Sandy is currently hitting the Northeast U.S. with hurricane-force winds and monsoon rains. It is expected to hit New York and Upstate New York today (Monday, October 29th, 2012).  The NY Stock Exchange has shut down, as have many businesses and schools throughout the North East.  At TurnKey Internet, we have already activated our Emergency Preparedness Stage II Plan as of Sunday October 28th – and we have already completed extensive on-site generator stress tests. We topped off our diesel tanks so we can run independent of utility power for several days, and have increased staff intervals to staggered shifts to ensure that on-site engineering staff and customer service coverage remains uninterrupted both during and after the storm.  We have additional staff on hand in case you wish to call in for a status update (518-618-0999), or you can view live status updates on our Twitter feed. There will be links to photos as the hurricane passes through the region, today and tomorrow, Tuesday, October 30th.

TurnKey Internet’s new, multi-million dollar data-center located in the heart of New York’s Tech Valley Region already has multiple redundant systems in place to remain online in the event of power loss, fiber network outage, or natural disaster.  The facility is a former government building, built with concrete walls that are over a foot thick, on a self contained secure lot, over 2,000 feet above sea level.  There is no risk for flooding, and the facility is built to withstand hurricane-level winds, as well as tornado-level winds. Rest assured our role is to ensure uninterrupted and continuous 100% operation for all cloud services we provide to our clients, and the activation of our Preparedness Stage II Plan ensures exactly that.  For businesses and clients with data located at their offices, homes, etc. – we strongly urge you to copy and back-up your data to a secure data-center such as TurnKey’s immediately, so you will have access to your data in the event your business loses local power due to Hurricane Sandy.  TurnKey Internet’s facility and cloud services will remain at full operation status, with additional staff on standby to assist you.

Our best wishes go out for the safety and health of our clients, staff, friends, and family.

Come visit TurnKey Internet at the smALBANY 2012 Business Expo in Albany, New York this Tuesday July 17th, 2012  – we are located at booth #208 and will be showing off some of the amazing new green technology behind our Latham, New York Datacenter which drives our Cloud Services.  Stop by and say hello!  The keynote speaker is from Google, and the show looks to be a great one for businesses!

We have a new treat for this trade show : our all new gumball machine turned M&M dispencer that will be setup at our booth, so stop in and grab a snack.  If you don’t have time to stop in at the show, and still want a quick snack – shoot on over to our facebook page and reply to the message on there and we will be happy to mail you your own M&M snack with some more information about our Green Datacenter and Cloud Hosted Services!

The show is free – and located at CNSE’s Albany NanoTech complex, at 255 Fuller Rd in Albany NY – for more information and free registration head on over to smAlbany.org.  We hope to see you there!