Tony Froelich | FIBERTOWN BLOG

These 5 Physical Security Measures Help Keep Your Data Safe

Security.

In the IT world, you’ll hear that word almost daily.

But it’s more than just firewalls and cybersecurity.

Guarding your physical equipment inside the data center is also vital.

At FIBERTOWN, we take care of your physical security so you can focus on your network and growing your company.

Best in class security measures

While it might seem like the most important part of security is to lock down your digital access, the physical side is just as important.

Is your data center protecting you?

Unauthorized access to your servers or equipment can trigger massive problems for companies.

Make sure that your physical security is just as top-of-the-line as your cybersecurity.

Here’s a list of the top 5 ways we keep our clients’ equipment safe inside our data centers in Houston and Bryan, Texas.

Security guards.

Our facilities start with a guard-controlled entrance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can count on our security team to follow scheduled protocols for our buildings. Our 24/7 on-site NOC and security teams perform multiple walkthroughs of the interior and exterior of our properties every single day.

Difficult physical access points.

When we designed the buildings, we took security up a notch. Architectural man traps were designed between the exterior of our buildings and the interior. We also have a single entry/exit with secure alarmed emergency exits.

Badged entry.

Not only do we require badged entry with multi-factor authentication, but it’s required for each access area.

First, to get into the interior of the building, second, to go up the elevator, and third, to get into the data center suite. We do not allow any unauthorized entry.

Locked cabinets and cages.

Our cabinets require locks, and our cages have a keyed entrance; some even require access with a key, badge, and a biometric lock. If you’re interested in the second-tier security access for your gear, ask our team about how to upgrade.

24/7 monitored video surveillance.

We always monitor our facilities with 24/7 video and a digital archive. Access reports are also maintained and can be sent to clients to ensure only authorized members will get in.

While we generally don’t have locked cabinets or cages in our disaster recovery office space, all of the other security measures apply.

Physical security is important at FIBERTOWN.

It’s just another way we offer our customers peace of mind; so you can focus on what you do best — running your company.

For more specifics about how we keep your equipment safe, download our data center information sheet.

5 Key Factors for a Quality Maintenance Program

In order to prepare for future events, you must be forward-thinking.

Data centers in particular should be consistently looking for ways to stay ahead of the game.

For example, best practices ensure that teams do not wait for equipment or systems to fail before being replaced.

Proper maintenance is an important factor to prevent failures that will inevitably lead to downtime for customers.

FIBERTOWN is ready for the future.

We follow these 5 maintenance factors in order to keep our equipment and systems in peak operating condition.

#1: A network of qualified OEM certified service providers

Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) are the equipment brands that are highly recognizable.

Most data centers use equipment from several OEMs. Usually, this is a result of cost, an OEM switch or simple staff preference.

At FIBERTOWN, we rely on qualified OEM-certified staff that can respond immediately to our service requests. Whatever OEM team we call, we require the best technicians who can help us keep our high standards.

OEM-certified providers can also ship spare parts from warehouses when equipment needs to be replaced.

Maintaining these relationships within our network of providers is critical to our data centers’ upkeep.

#2: A preventive maintenance schedule that exceeds OEM specs

At FIBERTOWN, we don’t wait for something to fail before we replace it.

Our maintenance schedule exceeds what our OEMs specify, and that’s because we do what keeps our customers happy.

Our 100% uptime service-level agreement is our ultimate promise.

While monitoring current products, we not only check for failures or issues, but for efficiency and ensuring those products still make the best fiscal sense.

#3: An in-house team dedicated to customer success

At FIBERTOWN, each client is like family to us. We don’t scoop up new clients with sweeping promises and then leave them high and dry.

In tandem with our regularly scheduled preventative maintenance, our in-house team seeks out things that are not right or not in their place and take immediate action to fix issues — long before they become a redundancy reducing or impacting event.

“In everything we do, we ask ourselves, ‘Is this best to support the success of our customers?’” confirms Joe Langston, Vice President of Operations.

We have staff on-site 24/7/365 in order to identify and respond to issues immediately.

#4: Redundant monitoring systems

In addition to FIBERTOWN’s on-site staff and escalation teams, we use redundant apparatus to provide continual monitoring of critical equipment and systems.

The reality is, even with dedicated on-site staff, we can’t be everywhere at once.

The solution is to offer redundant monitoring systems for peace of mind.

It’s just another way we ensure our infrastructure is maintained to our high standard.

#5: Excellent record-keeping practices

Not only do we schedule preventative maintenance exceeding OEM specs, but any faults, issues or discoveries are documented to reduce future risks.

We want to make sure we know what equipment is operating at peak performance, what is doing okay and what is phasing to its end of life.

No surprises is the best policy.

Into the future

FIBERTOWN has recently upgraded its wireless access points in both data center sites in order to give faster speeds and better service from all areas.

We’ve also upgraded systems for our blended internet service to help find the best route to your desired site.

If you’re interested in learning more about what our FIBERTOWN service team does for you, contact our industry experts today.

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Business Preparedness for 2022

Now that we’re into October, most businesses are in the middle of strategic planning for 2022.

Evaluating company and employee performance.

Checking the actual numbers versus projections.

Allocating resources.

Prioritizing next year’s objectives.

But as we look ahead to the winter season, make sure that your IT goals and emergency preparedness are both a consideration in your company’s planning.

IT strategy aligning with business goals

While the next year will undoubtedly bring its own set of challenges, one thing that shouldn’t be a surprise is how your IT plans align with business goals.

Where are the areas that your competition is ahead of you?

Can you catch up with help from your IT group? Considerations must be made for IT spend and how its long-term payoffs ultimately marry with business objectives.

Clear direction helps everyone involved to see the big picture. Those small steps toward the end goal seem incremental, but are crucial to success.

Technology plays an important role in being effective and lean within the business.

Every aspect of a proper IT strategy should support the goals of your business.

As you look to next year, FIBERTOWN can help. If you’d like to see how we can help you hit your IT goals with a strategy session, give us a call.

Reflecting back on last winter

If your base of operations is in Texas, you are well aware of Winter Storm Uri from February of 2021.

The storm and resulting freeze and local disasters were devastating. Uri was unique because it blanketed the entire state of Texas for several days.

And as we all know, Texas is not prepared for that level of winter weather.

Some estimates put the damage at up to $200 billion. That includes property damage, disrupted oil and gas production, stopped food processing facilities and manufacturing plants as well as agricultural losses.

During Uri, FIBERTOWN was able to maintain its 100% uptime service-level agreement for all customers. No services were lost or affected. In fact, not only did we keep everyone up and running, we added a new client who couldn’t afford to be down during the freeze.

The supply chain has been so disrupted, we are still feeling the effects even today.

Planning for a business disruption and implementing disaster recovery procedures is critical for any company, especially for organizations along the Gulf Coast.

While Uri power outages were extensive, Texas is normally hit with some severe weather during the winter months that the state is not equipped for (be it 1-2 days or a full week like we had with Uri).

Without any remediation to the power grid, it leaves us just as vulnerable if not more so than we were last winter.

Be prepared for the unexpected

Now we’re looking ahead to 2022, and getting ready for a new year.

As a result of last winter’s storms, has your company changed how you look at emergency plans?

Instead of deciding that Uri was a fluke and that it won’t happen again, responsible businesses will look to learn from the storm.

What action items have you added to your plans for 2022?

Disaster recovery should figure prominently into your list.

At FIBERTOWN, we help companies address two key factors: maintaining the availability of critical technical systems at our colocation facilities, and work area recovery office space.

Our office spaces are adjacent to each data center location with backup power, blended internet solutions and connection to the customer colocation space available to ensure our customers always stay connected.

We always want to help our clients be ahead of any severe weather or natural disaster, no matter what comes our way.

For more information about disaster recovery planning for your business, contact a FIBERTOWN expert today.

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Fix Texas Latency Issues with Geography (not Technology)

Today’s consumers are flooded with advertising from big tech companies offering faster, more reliable networks.

Can you picture those ads and billboards even now?

Add into that the increased use of streaming media services and gaming — and no one wants to wait for videos or games to lag.

Another topic to think about: Retail giants like Amazon (and subsequent competitors) guarantee 2-day or even same-day shipping. While shipping times worldwide have been affected by the pandemic, a large percentage of buying has been moved to the online space.

How do you think that affects the brain psychology of buyers?

While we often associate those promises with phone and tablet data and lag times, the overarching demand does creep into the business environment.

We now have a general public that has an “I want it now” attitude.

And that mindset does transfer to the business world.

All things considered, the expectations for minimal network latency are at an all-time high.

Limited technology solutions for network latency

Latency, or delays in the delivery of data communication over a network, have an effect on the quality of application performance as well as the customer experience.

Network engineers use a variety of technical solutions to try and improve application performance.

Improving the data transfer capabilities of servers or routers, including compression and streamlining application roundtrip responses can help.

But, technical improvements can’t make up for proximity.

Long-haul networks use hundreds of miles of fiber between metro areas. While data along fiber paths moves at the speed of light, it is highly subjected to other components that can slow it down along the network.

The most practical fix is to move the data and application geographically closer to the customer or endpoints for a business.

Close proximity to the end-user is the best solution for network latency.

Using geography to move data to the edge

In order to achieve fast response, low latency and high bandwidth, you must get closer to the edge points.

Edge computing relocates key data processing functions from the center of a network to the edge, closer to where data is gathered and delivered to end-users.

Finding a data center that uses edge computing to keep your data close to the end-user will be critical to business success.

In Texas, metro areas like Austin, Houston and Dallas that utilize local data centers will see significantly better performance.

Use a network that gets deployed on the edge to provide faster access to common or popular data. It will bypass the speed of transport network issues by getting popular content to the edge, where customers are.

FIBERTOWN is ready to help you get your data as close as possible to your endpoints, whatever your industry: tech, healthcare, financial, higher education or retail.

If you need a 100% uptime guarantee and want the best way to connect to other locations, contact the experts at FIBERTOWN to help you set up your ideal network.