hurricane season | FIBERTOWN BLOG

5 Top Reasons to Use On-Site Service from Data Centers

At FIBERTOWN, we offer our colocation clients an on-site service we call our “hands and eyes” support.

Clients often utilize this service during natural disasters, like Hurricane Harvey and Winter Storm Uri, but we also offered significant support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are the top 5 reasons our customers continue to ask for on-site service from our 24/7 tech staff.

Reason #1: Better use of time and budgeting

If your business is located in Texas, you may have come on-site to one of our data centers to set up your IT equipment or move it from your previous environment.

But when you have something like a hardware reboot — the simple turning off and on of hardware to reset the equipment and get it back online — is it really your best use of time to drive or fly to our data center to do it yourself?

The best business acumen will say budgeting for that short trip doesn’t make fiscal sense. It’s better to utilize the expert on-site FIBERTOWN staff to handle the in-person fixes.

You can also ship your hard drives or devices to FIBERTOWN data centers, and we can install them for you. Save your tech the trip.

Reason #2: We take care of the repetitive tasks

In an IT environment, small changes that need to happen for hardware aren’t always difficult — but they are necessary.

For example, tasks like labeling or racking devices — placing devices into cabinets, plugging in power and connective cords are important. They must be done correctly and accurately, but not necessarily by your own personal techs.

These are great tasks to hand off to our hands and eyes team.

Reason #3: Cheaper than sending IT staff to fix

Troubleshooting is always going to be part of the IT daily tasks.

Whether it’s a new configuration or devices, testing and fixing are just part of the business process.

If you need someone to console or plug into devices, discover what errors the device is showing, and work with your team on fixes — we have the skilled staff to handle it.

Instead of sending your own team, or hiring a third party, you can rely on the 24/7/365 staff that knows the ins and outs of our data center environment and can get you back on track quickly.

It’s a simple way to save money on your bottom line.

Reason #4: Convenience

When you’re in the middle of the workday, canceling meetings and interrupting the flow of your day to make your way to your data center is a hassle.

Convenience is key.

You can rely on the FIBERTOWN staff to help you with those on-site swaps that need to happen for your IT department.

We can help swap bad memory or hard drives to avoid excessive downtime.

Or, we’re able to reterminate or relocate cabling. Direct our staff to swap out bad cables or move cables to different ports or different devices, and we’ll get it done for you quickly.

Reason #5: Gives your staff time to focus on higher-level tasks

Being able to see the long-term vision for your IT staff is vitally important.

Every team has concurrent projects that have solid deadlines.

Giving your staff the time they need to focus on those higher-level tasks keeps projects on time and staff on point.

For customers who have a lot of data storage needs, we can handle tape rotations, store tapes on-site, or pack up tapes to ship to off-site storage.

Prepared for the upcoming hurricane season

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

Customers look to FIBERTOWN and our team of disaster recovery experts to maintain 100% up-time.

Our hands and eyes service is just one way we continue to help our clients when they need it most.

Call us today, and gain peace of mind knowing you can handle any disaster that comes your way.

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 1^st 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.

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Is Your Data Center Ready this Hurricane Season?

June 1^st marks the beginning of hurricane season for regions on the Atlantic Ocean. And not to be an alarmist, but meteorologists are predicting 2022 to be a busier than normal hurricane season.

While human safety is the most important issue, data protection is critical. After all, functioning data systems help keep people safe and assist them in returning to normal life after weather events.

Now is the time to be considering data protection, specifically a data center, in preparation for hurricane season.

Use the questions below to guide your search for a data center or to evaluate the readiness of your current one.

How strong is the data center?

This is an obvious consideration. More questions are listed below to determine the building’s strength and its likelihood for being affected directly by a hurricane or its aftermath.

-Is the data center located in a flood zone? And the best scenario – It’s located outside of a 500-year floodplain.

-Has the data center always been accessible by vehicles in previous weather events?

-Is it deemed “storm-hardened”?

-Is the roof wind rated? If so, what is the rating?

-Are the windows covered with a blast guard window film?

After all, if the building is no longer standing or not accessible by vehicle after a weather event, it’s failed to serve its purpose – to keep business moving forward, even in tough conditions.

What about continued service for the data center during storms?

Colocation services allow companies to store their private servers and equipment in an off-site location for a monthly fee. This solution is cost-effective for businesses, as on-premise data centers are expensive to build, staff and maintain, and they provide no distance from a weather event affecting the parent company.

But, clients like you want to know that your colocation services at a data center will continue even with a hurricane bearing down on the Texas coast.

Here are some questions to ask to ensure likely service.

-What is the data center’s uptime service level agreement (SLA)? Word of caution, many centers offer 100% uptime. However, in the fine print, you’ll often find that they’re reliant on insurance policies to offset any failings. You want a data center that provides 100% uptime due to its infrastructure, not its willingness to pay you if something fails.

-Does the data center offer redundancy and concurrency for power, connectivity, and cooling? In layman’s terms, does the data center utilize multiple components and pathways so failures in equipment don’t derail data protection?

-Is blended internet used?

-Are backup generators ready and on-premise?

-Does the data center ensure full power for at least 24 hours for the whole facility?

-Is there access to backup fuel? Is it on standby or on-premise?

-Is the data center’s cooling system dependent on cooling towers linked to public utilities? Best case scenario – Its cooling system is not reliant on public works.

-Does your data center use standby equipment in a lead or lag rotation? This routine ensures backup equipment is operable when needed.

Is a human available onsite to assist my team during a storm?

You’ll want to hear a “Yes” to this question. Below are others to ask to further confirm human assistance during a crisis.

-Does your data center staff employees on-site…24/7?

-What is the process for seeking assistance? Is a support ticket required? If so, who addresses the ticket? During a crisis, does this process for assistance look different? If so, how is it different during an emergency?

-Does the data center personnel routinely check lights and cables, rack equipment delivered to the center, and replace faulty or old hardware?

-Does the data center team prepare the area for my group’s arrival during an emergency event? Set up office space? Provide food and drink?

Is there office space for us at the data center or nearby?

For business to continue as usual during a horrific weather event, workers must have a viable space to work – a place with power and access to the company’s data.

The questions below will help ensure a business continuity plan for your team.

-How far is the data center or the affiliated office space from the company’s home base? Ideally, the drive should only be a few hours, and the “office space” should be located on major roads with food and lodging options.

-If the workspace is not adjoining the data center, how resilient is that office building? (Many of the questions in the first two sections of this article are relevant here.)

-Does the contract with the data center include assistance with setting up workspace during a time of crisis?

What about entrance into the data center during an emergency?

You want to know, in advance of a crisis, how your team can physically access equipment inside the data center. Ask the questions below to learn more about a data center’s security plan.

-Can the data center grant entrance using biometrics or an access card? Preferably, you want multi-factor authorization as well.

-Does the data center maintain an up-to-date list of approved employees who can access equipment there?

-Are data center personnel trained for how to grant access (or remove it) during a crisis?

-Are security guards employed by the data center 24/7?

Has the data center “withstood the test of time”…and storms?

Yes, we know new data centers are popping up every day. And many of them are great options. But, you’re not wrong to ask about any storms a data center has already weathered.

-When was this data center built?

-What storms has this data center already weathered? How did it fair during the storm(s)?

-Will you share some references/companies who rode out the storm with your data center?

-Can you quickly boost bandwidth, etc. and then do the paperwork? Basically, you want to know how much red tape is in the way of protecting your data in an emergency situation and for business to continue on.

FIBERTOWN Has Answers to Your Data Center Questions

We wrote this article to help you prepare for hurricane season. Plus, we’re confident in our answers to the questions above. Hurricane season, middle of the winter, or on a sunny Tuesday in the middle of October – we’re ready to answer them.

If you’re looking for a data center or unhappy with your current contract with a data center, we should talk. With hurricane season beginning soon, now is the time.

NOTE:

This article is an addition to one we published in July 2020. Read our original article 7 Key Questions to Ensure Your Data Center is Hurricane Resistant for more insight into protecting your data and, ultimately, your business during hurricane season.

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‘Tis the Season for Hurricane Readiness

Hurricane and tropical depression hazards come in a variety of forms, including storm surges, high winds, tornadoes and flooding.

The steps you take before the storm are critical.

Having an emergency weather plan in place is imperative to handle the disaster — as well as your recovery.

What should you do before a hurricane strikes?

The most important part of your plan is being prepared. Consider these steps before a hurricane threatens your area:

1. Prepare your emergency plan.

Develop or review your emergency plan, train your staff and run practice drills.
Include communication pieces for staff and contact information for your police/fire/gas/electrical providers and insurance carrier.

2. Create basic life safety tasks.

Have evacuation or shelter procedures in place.
Train people in first aid, medical procedures, CPR, etc.

3. Prepare emergency kits.

Have first aid and emergency safety kits on hand that are fully stocked with updated materials: non-perishable foods, bottled water, blankets, clothing, flashlights and batteries.

4. Prepare your building.

Inspect your roof to ensure it will withstand hurricane-force winds and rain.
Consider adding hurricane clips, gable end bracing, hurricane-proof doors, and hurricane shutters.
Store materials such as plywood, screws, caulk, and sandbags to deploy quickly if a hurricane approaches.
Inspect your sump pump and replace batteries so you don’t rely on electrical power.

5. Have a business continuity plan.

Establish a business continuity plan to maintain and resume operations during and after the hurricane.
Back up important data stored on computers to external hard drives or cloud storage.

What should you do when a hurricane is approaching?

Time becomes a critical factor when you know you’re in the path of a hurricane. Be decisive and heed the warnings of local emergency management officials.

1.Keep people safe and informed.

Your priority in any emergency is to keep people safe.
Start activating a phone chain for updates.

2. Move your valuables and documents to a safe location.

Raise items above floor level and or store them in a safe place, dry and up high.
Shut down computers and electronics.

3. Secure your building.

Close and secure all doors.
Shut off electricity.

What happens once the storm is over?

When the skies clear and all emergency issues are resolved, you enter the recovery stage.

1. Designate specific individuals to return to the site.

Work in teams and assess any damage.
Contact utility contractors.
Conduct basic repairs as necessary to secure the facility afterwards.

2. Communicate with all team members to provide a status report.

Determine if the damages are severe enough to restrict usage or implement a temporary relocation plan.
Coordinate volunteer cleanup efforts.

3. Follow up with your insurance carrier.

Report any damages that occurred to the claims team.

4. Re-assess your plans.

It is critical that you and your team assess how well your safety action plan worked.
Are there improvements you could make? Should you consult with industry experts and learn how to better prepare?

The best preparations will help your team be ready for any storm.

FIBERTOWN data centers are built to withstand winds of 135 MPH, have generator backup in case utilities shutdown, and have personnel in our NOC 24/7/365 — even during a hurricane.

We’re always there to help whenever you need.

If you’re looking for disaster recovery office space, call FIBERTOWN today.