Data | FIBERTOWN BLOG

Recent Tornadoes are a Reminder for Disaster Preparedness

Was your business ready? Was your data protected? Did service continue as usual? On March 21, 2022, tornadoes and high winds wreaked havoc on towns around Austin, Texas.

These swirling winds produced the now-viral video of a teenager driving a red Chevrolet truck spinning on its side and then, milliseconds later, righting the vehicle. After several terrifying moments, the lucky teenager was able to drive away as the tornado crossed the highway and continued its destructive path.

Protecting human life is the most important goal on days like March 21. But, protecting your business’s data and critical IT infrastructure in a wind-resistant data center keeps you off the road so you don’t become the person in the truck.

At FIBERTOWN, we specialize in disaster preparedness for businesses and plan ahead to give you peace of mind.

FIBERTOWN Withstands High Winds

Our two data centers – Bryan, Texas, and Houston, Texas – are made of steel-reinforced concrete and can withstand winds over 100 MPH. They are located away from the Texas coast to lessen the possibility of hurricane damage and outside “tornado alley” but near multiple highways to allow greater accessibility during an event.

Ready with a Power Supply

At FIBERTOWN, we give customers backup generators onsite and an uninterrupted power supply. Our backup generators are encased and protected from the elements. Plus, we offer secure connections for roll-up generators.

Our data centers have fuel onsite to run at max load for 24 hours and are a FEMA-rated fuel supplier, meaning we will get fuel before others to keep the power on. With these features, businesses are able to continue serving their customers, even when tornadoes or other disasters cause power outages to surrounding areas.

Servers Stay Cool During Disasters

One of the main jobs of a data center like ours is to protect computer servers. Because of all the data they hold, their protection is critical! We have N+1 or greater cooling redundancy in our facilities and house servers in a hot/cold aisle design. Our chillers are also connected to our generators, so they keep cooling your gear through an emergency event.

Capacity for UPS

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is an essential element to data protection for your business. If utility power is cut, you need power while the generator starts. By using a dedicated battery to protect hardware from power outages and spikes, you can prevent downtime and data loss. This is always important, but disasters like tornadoes place even more significance on a UPS. Fibertown’s UPS is constantly monitored and maintained with monthly load tests and a preventative maintenance schedule that exceeds OEM specs.

Why FIBERTOWN?

As a FIBERTOWN client, you have access to data centers, disaster recovery services, and dedicated business continuity office spaces. FIBERTOWN offers a “calm” before, during, and after the storm.

Our concurrent and redundant data centers ensure 100% uptime for cooling, power, and security. This means you can continue to communicate with customers and employees while business moves forward.

In Texas, tornadoes are a reality. Preparedness is key. Partner with FIBERTOWN; we’re experts in disaster preparedness.

Do you have dedicated disaster recovery office space?

A critical component of any business continuity plan is a convenient, reliable and secure contingency work site.

In the event of a disaster, relocating people and operations is crucial to getting a business back up and running as soon as possible.

Does that sound like you?

The last thing you want is to be caught in a bad weather disaster and not have a plan in place.

Here are a few top benefits to look for when searching for disaster recovery office space.

A secure site

Are you located in an area prone to hurricanes, tornados or other severe weather?

Look for a hurricane- and tornado-proof facility that is secure and reliable.

How many generators provide emergency power?

Are there strong data connections — which are needed in an emergency situation?

Disaster recovery office space must take into account what their surrounding area will look like when severe weather hits. Will you be able to access the facility if there’s heavy debris, ice, or snowstorms?

Room to grow

How many square feet of space is available to you?

Can you scale the space as your business grows?

Looking to the future is important for physical space. It’s not just about what you need now, but what your growth projections are for the next 5-10 years.

Reliable partner

Can you buy space that is dedicated to you and use it when it’s needed?

Does the partner offer blended internet options for your team?

What does the redundant power and generator maintenance schedule look like?

Can the space support your backup needs and remote workers?

A reliable partner looks out for your best interests. They should be offering you ideas and making the space fit you, not the other way around.

Options for work-from-home or remote workers

Disaster recovery office space isn’t just for corporate offices.

When working from home, if your power or internet goes out, you can’t do any work at all.

A disaster recovery office space allows those who work from home a backup in case they lose services.

This can be used not just for emergencies, but for power failures, construction that knocks out internet lines in the area, or any other event.

FIBERTOWN work area recovery offerings

Different businesses have different Work Area Recovery (WAR) needs.

FIBERTOWN disaster recovery customers have access to comfortable workspaces including desks and tables with voice and data capabilities, conference and meeting rooms, 24×7 security and secure access via card readers or biometrics.

100% up-time for business-critical systems

FIBERTOWN offers fully redundant, secure and reliable data centers to keep your business-critical systems available 100% of the time. As a colocation provider, the range of disaster recovery solutions is nearly unlimited.

You can use FIBERTOWN as your primary & secondary sites, only secondary sites, hot or tape back-up, and for Highly Available (HA) fail-over.

We can help you configure your systems in the way that is most efficient and appropriate for your disaster recovery needs.

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4 Key Facility Areas to Prepare for Winter Weather

As January winds down, cold spells continue to march across the country.

It begs the question: Are you prepared for the late arrival of winter?

Winter weather has now arrived in full force around the Gulf Coast and Southeastern US, and some are having flashbacks to Winter Storm Uri and the subsequent freezes.

Is your facility prepared for any winter weather that comes your way?

Here are our top four concerns to be prepared for as winter rolls on.

Be prepared for whatever winter brings

While there’s no guarantees with weather — it’s best to be prepared for anything. If you haven’t already, check on these important areas of concern.

The potential for severe weather as cold fronts move through. Are you prepared for severe weather to impact your power supply? What emergency plans does your facility have in place today? Make sure you’ve removed debris and secured any stored material in preparation for high winds.
Back-up generator maintenance. Are your battery and charging systems ready for a 30-degree temperature swing overnight? Do you have block heaters operational to keep engines ready to start during cold weather? Are your coolant systems at appropriate mixture/levels to survive a hard freeze?
Cooling and HVAC systems. Are your chillers and chilled water systems insulated and freeze protected? Make sure your humidifiers are operational and prepared to add humidity. The goal here is to prevent static electricity from low relative humidity as cold, dry air dominates. What about your rooftop systems and drain/plumbing; are they freeze protected?
Uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Are your UPS well maintained and ready to support a critical load? For example; during an unplanned utility outage or generator issue?

Plan for the worst

We get it — investing money in “precautions” and planning for the “what-ifs” sounds like a lot of dollar signs on the chance of a possibility.

But, trust us, you do not want to be on the other end, wishing that you had been prepared.

Did you know the average cost of downtime can be up to $11,600 per minute? That can really add up quickly.

In winter weather, temperatures can go from 80 degrees to 30 degrees in less than 12 hours.

At FIBERTOWN, you can be sure that we are always prepared for the worst. Our customers depend on it.

Do you have a backup plan?

Putting your emergency plans down on paper ensures that everything goes smoothly when you need to activate it. And make sure everyone has access to the plans — in an offline environment.

Year-long diligence with preventative maintenance will help prevent failures when unplanned outages occur.

For you and your employees – prevent a bad day from getting worse! If your company is working from home, what is the plan if the internet goes out?

FIBERTOWN is prepared with disaster recovery office space should you need it. Contact us today to chat about specs and your needs. We’re here to help!

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How Does Your Data Center Stack Up?

Choosing a colocation provider is all about reducing risk.

Clients want to reduce the risk of a power failure, data loss or interruption in service.

When customers are looking at a facility to consider for colocation, it’s important to do a deep dive.

Redundancy in power, cooling, and networking is vital, but what about the facility’s operations?

Do you know the future goals and plans of your colocation provider?

FIBERTOWN’s company direction and goals

Here at FIBERTOWN, we have been a stable and reliable Texas-based data center operating since 1997. We’ve been here for 25 years, and we plan on being here for another 25.

We’re proud of being Texas-owned and operated, and we love helping other Texans achieve their business goals.

You can depend on FIBERTOWN to be a financially stable business partner with a large network of experience from our partners.

Our goal at Fibertown is to make the extraordinary the ordinary. That’s why we give a human response to every request within 15 minutes. We strive to aid in our customer’s success in all we do.

Can you say the same about your provider?

Risk aversion: Using a colocation/data center

In 2021, where you store your technology matters.

Redundancy in power, cooling, and networking is key.

For FIBERTOWN, our power redundancy is 2N or greater, and our cooling redundancy is N+1 or greater.

With our networking, we use multiple carriers to create our blended bandwidth. If one carrier goes down, the others will continue to transport. For a visual example, think of sending a certified letter to someone and the FedEx delivery truck breaks down. With blended internet, UPS is right there to take the package to the final destination rather than losing the package forever.

We strive to have no single point of failure. If one part of the chain breaks down, another is there to pick up the slack and maintain our 100% uptime.

We offer our clients a 100% uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA). Other competitors offer 99.999% (or the five nines), but we go above and beyond that to offer 100%.

All of these reasons illustrate why our colocation and data center customers love their experience at FIBERTOWN. Make a more informed decision. Download our FREE checklist to begin comparing your data center criteria.