Data Center   Disaster Recovery 0 comments on Hurricane Season is Coming…Are You Ready?

Hurricane Season is Coming…Are You Ready?

No one likes to think about hurricane destruction. But it’s a real consideration in the Texas Upper Gulf Coast region. As we say, “Plan now. Be ready later.”

Our disaster recovery center allows you to do just that! FIBERTOWN is more than a data center. We help companies prepare their employees and equipment before disaster strikes.

Hurricane season officially begins June 1st in Texas. Are you prepared?

FIBERTOWN’s Disaster Recovery Center

What does it mean to be a data center and a disaster recovery (DR) center? As a data center, we provide redundant power and cooling for hardware and blended bandwidth with multiple entries into the facility. And we maintain a 100% uptime SLA on it all!

As a DR center, we take things even a step further. FIBERTOWN becomes your hub if your infrastructure is affected by disaster. Below are common questions (with answers!) to highlight some of the ways we serve when a crisis occurs.

People and Work

>> What happens when my remote workers lose power/internet at home? Where do they go?

If you’re a DR center client, your team, whether they’re on-premises or remote employees, have a place to work at our business continuity offices.

>> But do we share space with others on a first come, first served basis?

No, FIBERTOWN dedicates a space for your business, and it’s always ready for your team to work there. In this article about our dedicated work space, we give multiple reasons why your company should consider adding office space to your DR plan. In a nutshell, we’re not a co-working space, and our workspace is backed up just like our data center! Our infrastructure is designed to withstand disaster.

>> What kind of customer service do you provide during times of crisis?

We’re staffed with a knowledgeable team 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. As an example of our service, during Winter Storm Uri, the team from Centennial Arts, a website development firm, reached out in desperation as they’d lost power to their facility. They provide hosting services and wanted to mitigate any downtime for their clients. Within 24 hours of contacting us, our professional staff had them with up and running! Read more here.

>> Also, what about my family?

We maintain a list of nearby hotels and are here to make everything as easy as possible. Plus, there is a Subway on our block that’s backed up by our generator!

>> What if roads are closed due to downed lines and trees?

We chose locations for our data centers in Houston and Bryan-College Station because they can be accessed multiple ways. Route diversity is critical when selecting a data center and DR center.

Backup Power and Connectivity 

>>We already have a backup generator. Why do we need yours?

Here’s the follow-up question we often ask in this situation – When did you last run your backup generator or conduct scheduled maintenance? Because our clients rely on a 100% uptime SLA, our backup generators are not an afterthought. We test ours regularly and perform routine maintenance. Read more here about our other preventative maintenance measures.

 >>What about power, cooling, and connectivity backups?

Remember, our success as a data center is contingent on our ability to have power, cooling, and network connectivity when others don’t. We have backups to our backups! It’s worth repeating – We’re not a co-working space. We’re a data center with a DR center available to clients. Our buildings and the infrastructure within them were designed to withstand disasters.

FIBERTOWN is Ready for Hurricane Season

As you consider worst-case scenarios for your business, also consider a call with us. While we’re an optimistic company (been around for more than 25 years – lots to be happy about!), we believe in preparation.

With hurricane season approaching, we encourage you to ask yourself the questions above, plus the ones here. All are important to consider so your business and team keep moving forward, even when disaster strikes.

If you have more questions or don’t know how to start a DR plan, reach out. We can help! Contact us here.
Data Center   Disaster Recovery   Latest 0 comments on 3 Reasons Why Colocation Services are a Better Choice than On-Premise Data Centers

3 Reasons Why Colocation Services are a Better Choice than On-Premise Data Centers

Perhaps this is a strange start to a data center article. But consider these questions – If you had an aching foot, would you rather see a podiatrist or a general practitioner?

 If your vintage car no longer ran, would you rather a mechanic well versed in 30-year-old engines or a general mechanic?

 If you were running a marathon, would you rather shoes designed for distance running or just any pair in your closet?

 Most of us would choose the first option in each one. We would want the specialist.

And the “specialist” mentality is how we approach this next question – Should a business invest in colocation services OR build and maintain its own on-premise data center?

At FIBERTOWN, we’re experts at colocation. It’s our business. It’s our focus. We do it every day. All day.

And because of this laser focus, we’re effective. Unlike a company that’s pulled in lots of directions while building, staffing, and maintaining its own data center.

Below are 3 reasons why you should choose FIBERTOWN’s colocation services.

Reason 1 – Infrastructure is Ready to Go

Ease is the first reason you should invest in colocation services. On average, it takes 6 months to build an on-premise, or “on-prem,” data center. To build requires a specialized architect or engineer because of the redundancy needed for power, cooling, and connectivity. Any single point of failure can cause all of the other redundancies to be ineffective.

And of course, the cost of building, in general, has increased. But for materials and systems specific to a data center, these costs have been rising for the last 3-5 years. It is now 10 times the cost per square foot to build a data center compared to a standard office building. So, a low estimate comes to about $1,000 per square foot to build a data center.

We share these numbers to demonstrate the ease – the lack of hassle – you get when choosing colocation services over building an on-premise data center for your company. Even if time (or money) wasn’t an issue, what about the building know-how.

For example, redundant power (or multiple sources of power) requires different substations, plus generators, switchgear, and battery backup. These must be considered in the planning phase as they are very difficult to correct retroactively.

Redundant cooling doesn’t just happen either. Not only do you need enough chillers to cool your gear, but what if one breaks down and needs repair? Will you have an extra one ready to keep your gear cool while the other is being fixed? It gets VERY hot, VERY fast if the cooling fails.

And like power and cooling, redundant connectivity requires specialized engineering from the onset. A few questions to consider: Do you have more than one Internet Service Provider (ISP) coming into your building? Are those ISPs entering your building at different areas? Do they travel diverse paths directly outside of your building?

All of the specifics about power, cooling, and connectivity are already done at FIBERTOWN’s two data centers. The infrastructure is ready to go, and that makes it easy for you.

Reason 2 – Cost Efficiency

Utilizing the ready-to-go, state-of-the-art infrastructures at our colocation centers in Houston, Texas and Bryan, Texas is cost-effective for your company. (With the numbers we shared above – average time to build, cost per square foot, etc. – we’ve already hinted at this second reason.)

Contrary to an on-premise data center, a colocation center houses the servers and computer hardware of multiple businesses. This shared location also leads to shared expenses. Or, as we like to point out, cost efficiency for your company.

Multiple businesses share the cost to maintain redundancies within the facility (i.e., generators, cooling systems, and connectivity providers). THIS SHARING is what makes co-location work. Because without it, your company builds the center and then hires the people needed to maintain it.

For example, you need a team to run the generators every week, plus conduct load tests monthly. Parts will need to be fixed. Someone will need to plan for replacing equipment, as every piece has a shelf life. Within 5-10 years, most equipment will need to be repaired or replaced. The people and the parts cost money.

Oh, we also should mention insurance on the building, fire systems, utilities cost, and much more.

The good news, though – colocation services already factor in all of these costs and provide the needed services. The even better news – the costs are shared across all of the companies housed at a colocation center. And the best news, yet – a team of experts work at each FIBERTOWN facility. So, you’re not hiring your own data center team and determining health benefits, salaries, and vacation plans (so that someone is always working, which is imperative for a data center).

Simply put, building, maintaining, and staffing a data center is costly. Sharing a facility already equipped with experts and equipment is a cost-effective option for your company.

Reason 3 – Disaster WILL Strike, Not If 

Disaster recovery is an important reason for investing in colocation services. At FIBERTOWN’s facilities in Houston and Bryan, Texas, we have backup generators onsite, plus an uninterrupted power supply (UPS). We have N+1 or greater cooling redundancy and house servers in a hot-cold aisle layout. And that’s just for starters!

Our facilities are strategically located away from tornado alley and the Gulf Coast to prevent as much storm damage as possible. BUT, we’re near major highways for easy access and located outside of the flood plain.

Our two buildings were constructed to withstand strong winds, and our equipment is tied to the roof to keep it from lifting off the building in 100+ MPH winds. If antennas, cables, rods, and lights fly off, they can easily penetrate other equipment, leaving a large path of damage.

There’s also temperatures to consider.

We know it’s hot right now (over 100 degrees in Texas in July!). And our chillers are keeping things cool. But, will your on-premise data center run without fail during the cold, like in Winter Storm Uri? Will your generator be ready when the utility power shuts off for extended periods of time? Will your generator fuel line freeze up because you weren’t prepared for temperatures that cold for so long? Will you run out of fuel because you don’t have priority or because roads are iced over? How large is your fuel tank? Will it hold the load for 24 hours or longer?

All of these questions must be considered.

But also note, people often use “major disasters” as a reason for using data centers. BUT, what if a hard drive fails in the middle of the night? That’s a simple fix. Without a designated night team, though, no one notices for some time. That’s where our 24x7x365 on-site staff comes in for the win.

Will you have someone available 24x7x365? Rather than hiring someone to be there when this occurs, use FIBERTOWN’s on-site staff. (And simple hard drive swaps are completely free. Even at 3AM.)

It’s not a question of if a disaster will strike; it’s when. So, be prepared. Our colocation centers are ready for you.

At FIBERTOWN, We Specialize in Data Centers

Data centers are what we do. We don’t buy and sell stocks or fix broken bones. We make sure your computer hardware stays up…so your business continues to run. We’ve been doing this for 25 years, and we’ll keep doing it for another 25 (and hopefully more!).  

At FIBERTOWN, we’re staffed with experts. Our two facilities are fitted with the latest equipment and security to keep your servers and hardware safe and running. This is our specialty.

Reach out if you want to talk with us about colocation services. We’d love to speak with you. Use this form to start the conversation.

Data Center   Latest 0 comments on 100% Uptime SLA at FIBERTOWN

100% Uptime SLA at FIBERTOWN

FIBERTOWN is different from other colocation and data centers. For one, we’ve been under the same management for 25 years, and that is a rarity in our business. But, even bigger than that milestone is our dedication to customer service.

We offer 100% uptime SLA at FIBERTOWN, which makes us a rare bird in our field. Read below to see how this detail sets us apart from most competitors.

FIBERTOWN’s SLA

 A service level agreement (SLA) outlines the types (or levels) of service to be provided by the vendor, which is FIBERTOWN in this case. It also defines the repercussions for failing to provide the agreed upon service to the customer.

For FIBERTOWN, our SLA offers 100% uptime for power, cooling, and connectivity. Notice, we work towards 100% uptime for all three critical components. Without power, your business is not online. And without cooling, hardware overheats, rendering it useless, even with power and connectivity. And promising 100% uptime for connectivity means nothing if there’s no power for your systems.

Hence…our 100% uptime SLA for power and cooling and connectivity.

What’s Common for Data Centers

 For many data centers, you see “five-nines” or 99.999% uptime in their SLAs. That’s about five minutes of unplanned downtime per year. On the surface, five minutes do not sound like a large amount. However, Gartner found in a 2014 study that downtime costs a business, on average, more than $5,500 per minute. (The cost per minute has most likely increased.) And this amount doesn’t account for the headaches and frustrations (i.e., reboots, additional communication, etc.) that accompany unexpected downtime.

Furthermore, unplanned is a keyword in the above paragraph. Utilizing a colocation and data center like ours is specifically for protection and help during emergencies and unplanned events. Why go with someone who expects to have downtime?

Therefore, our goal is always 100% uptime. We believe that’s our purpose.

How FIBERTOWN’s SLA is Different

FIBERTOWN prides itself in having 100% uptime. For power. For cooling. And for connectivity. All three are business-critical. Therefore, we work to provide you all three components 100% of the time!

To offer this high level of service, we also answer customer service requests in 15 minutes. Plus, we help with server reboots for no additional cost so you don’t go down. (We don’t charge for simple tasks that take our staff under 15 minutes to do.)

It’s small details like these that make a big difference when unexpected situations occur in your business. You can read more about our dedicated customer service in this article about our response during Winter Storm Uri.

FIBERTOWN is Here to Help

If you’re looking for a data center, reach out. We’d love to talk more about our data centers in Bryan-College Station, Texas and in Houston, Texas. We’ll explain the ins and outs of our SLA, plus give you a tour.

The conversation starts here. We hope to talk soon!
Data Center   Latest 0 comments on 5 Key Factors for a Quality Maintenance Program

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.