Keep These 5 Disaster Recovery Factors in Mind This Hurricane Season

Keep These 5 Disaster Recovery Factors in Mind This Hurricane Season

The 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through the end of November, is well underway, with the season’s peak lasting from mid-August to late October, according to the National Hurricane Center. While all eyes are on the tropics this hurricane season, businesses and network operators in the U.S. are focused on safeguarding critical data to keep business operations up and running in the event of a natural disaster.

If you haven’t secured your business yet with disaster recovery (DR), don’t wait for a dangerous storm to threaten before taking action. Though it becomes top of mind during hurricane season, DR is the insurance policy every business, big or small, needs year-round. Unfortunately, many companies don’t fully realize the importance of comprehensive DR until the day their business depends on it to stay operational. With customers up and down the East Coast, including in South Florida, 365 Data Centers takes DR and business continuity (BC) very seriously – and we want to make sure all businesses are prepared. Keep reading to explore four key components to DR.

Disaster Recovery Time vs. Disaster Recovery Point Objectives:

A DR plan isn’t just backing up data. It’s important to understand the difference between the two, which lies in the time and point objectives for data recovery.

 #1: Disaster Recovery Time Objective (RTO)

Data backup is a long-term type of protection that can take months or years. For example, if you need to recover a file that you lost a few weeks ago and it’s not an urgent situation, data backup will come to the rescue. DR, however, is required when your systems are down and you need to recover your most recent data in a matter of minutes. Both time objectives are very different but equally important to your business.

#2: Disaster Recovery Point Objective (RPO)

The version of the data you access in a DR scenario, known as the disaster recovery point, is just as important as the time spent getting your data back online. With backup, it’s not always necessary to find alternate points of data retrieval, but it is important to utilize this method during a disaster. During a hurricane, businesses can replicate data with multiple copies across many locations to mitigate the risk of data loss. For example, if a hurricane targets South Florida, it’s crucial to have a DR plan with north-south and east-west diversity to protect your assets no matter which way the storm turns. Businesses can also turn to public or private clouds to store information if it’s not feasible to roll out infrastructure to support a DR plan.

#3: The Network Component of Disaster Recovery:

The most overlooked and challenging part of a DR process is the network component. As you replicate your data to alternate sites, you must have the same applications and data running as your home site. It’s not just a transfer of data from point A to point B. It’s critical to have network infrastructure designed to configure and support the function of data transit and transfer. When you failover from one site to the next, it should look seamless. If your site is in Boca Raton and you route it to another location, such as Nashville, Tenn., it must look the same. That can only happen if you’re tapping into networking, data and applications supported by modern, redundant network architecture.

#4: Data Locality:

In addition to making the data transit look seamless, the linchpin in getting operations back online quickly is data locality. If you are just replicating the data, you will need to pull that data down to an alternative site and that will take time, in addition to the time spent turning those services back on quickly. However, if you are close enough to the data to reduce latency, then you can reduce that time needed to restore services. The business impact can be directly related to how fast you can get your business back online during a disaster. Data locality will greatly expedite the process of restoring data quickly. The closer you get to the data, the less downtime your business will have. The 365 Data Centers team has the replication technology needed to save you time and money lost from systems down.

The timeframe to get back online and operational is becoming more narrow and aggressive, and the demands are higher for businesses to be online all the time. For example, downtime in the healthcare industry could put lives at risk and downtime in the financial industry could severely and negatively impact trading firms.

#5 Business Continuity Office Space

Although it’s not likely that your office space would become uninhabitable due to a natural or manmade disaster, it is important to have a safe and secure space to keep business practices going. Do not let power outages, floods, sprinkler malfunctions, or disaster stop your business operations. Business Continuity office space is customizable to fit business needs located in private, secure, temperature-controlled suites, powered by diesel generators and network.

365’s Disaster Recovery Plan

The 365 Data Centers team can help you create a customized disaster recovery plan to protect your company’s critical data. Our onsite staff across our 13 data centers, and especially the teams at our Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa facilities, are highly experienced in DR services and have expertise in DR plans to keep critical data safe and up and running during hurricane season. In addition, 365 has customizable, private, and secure business continuity space in Boca Raton, Nashville, Philadelphia, and Tampa that can be available to your local staff, so they can keep working during a power outage, significant wind damage or flooding.

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is a leading network centric colocation provider operating 13 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, DRaaS, BaaS, and business continuity services.

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Single-Source Colo, Cloud & Network: Customized, Cost-Effective, Accountable

Single-Source Colo, Cloud & Network: Customized, Cost-Effective, Accountable

WHY A COMPREHENSIVE COLOCATION, CLOUD AND NETWORK STRATEGY (UNDER ONE ROOF) IS THE BEST WAY FOR BUSINESSES TO ACHIEVE MEANINGFUL AND COST-EFFECTIVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

In our last blog, we had a look at the many benefits of employing a comprehensive and unified colo, cloud and network strategy. Notably, we looked at how — in combination —  these solutions create an optimal playground for an effective Digital Transformation strategy.

In this blog, we’ll peel back the onion a bit more and look at how a single-source provider of colo, cloud and network solutions can be instrumental in “right-sizing” your services and Digital Transformation journey. Customization, Cost Effectiveness, and importantly, Accountability are all keys to the overall success of the solution.

Remember…

It’s not A solution; it’s YOUR solution

Solution customization is only as good as your partner’s ability to understand your unique needs and to grow as your business grows. This means having the ability to customize a solution that is right for your business, now and in the future. It’s about right-sizing the immediate and long-term needs in real time and in concert with technological enhancements and advances. The amount of lifting involved here can be substantial, particularly if one or more of the pieces being lifted are from separate providers. Meaningful customization, scalability and efficiencies are often lost in this process and can take time (and money) to recoup.

It’s important to choose a partner that can handle the entire evolution of your business’s growth — from a single server to a cloud strategy to dark fiber procurement — and with ample network options in-house. A single-source provider adds depth to the engineering and thought process, benefits that include a more cohesive, integrated, secure and proven solution. In other words, a single source of accountability.

One hand to shake

100% accountable. That’s not something we hear often when it comes to IT services. More often than not, the accountability ball is passed from in-house IT to colo provider to cloud and network operator — and back again. It’s the proverbial service outage hot potato. In the meantime, any SLA protection remains in limbo until fault can be established and timers can be started. At that point, what’s the point?

This is arguably the most aggravating result of having multiple digital transformation or technology partners. This is an aggravation that can easily be mitigated by partnering with a single-source provider of colo, cloud and network — a provider of comprehensive Infrastructure-as-a-Service. The SLA starts counting the moment an issue is detected — no bureaucracy, no client coordination.

Cost Effective: The solution is yours; the infrastructure costs belong to us

Building a car part by part costs more than buying a car that’s already been built. In regards to hardware, the cloud is providing it virtually, there are no write off or sunk costs for the business and no need to reclaim a piece of hardware for the provider. The result? Cost savings and efficiency.

Moreover, there are savings for both the provider and the customer as ALL the costs are controlled by the ONE provider; they operate the facilities and infrastructure and own the equipment. Those controlled costs and savings, across many customers, often mean more timely and thorough hardware, software and equipment upgrades and updates. This means a better total cost of solution for the end user.

Often overlooked, a single-source provider possesses the ability to build and test services across a total solution — colo, cloud and network.

365 Data Centers: One Partner, Multiple Solutions, 100% Accountability 

365 Data Centers is a leading network-centric colocation provider that operates 20 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions, including secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, and DRaaS. We are that single-source provider of colo, cloud and network.

365 Data Centers plays a critical role in the Digital Transformation journey:

  • Designed and architected by the same team — no multi-vendors
  • A better quality product
  • Hybrid element to handle the customer’s future growth
  • All packages are tested and we make it work — one company on the hook

We are “Technology, Humanized.”

 

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is a leading network centric colocation provider operating 13 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, DRaaS, BaaS, and business continuity services.

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Colocation, Cloud & Network: Digital Transformation, Transformed

Colocation, Cloud & Network: Digital Transformation, Transformed

Why a comprehensive colocation, cloud and network strategy, under one roof, is the best way for businesses to achieve meaningful and cost-effective digital transformation

A lot has been made of Digital Transformation as a concept. And it can mean different things to different people and institutions. But the overarching theme is simple: using digital technologies to create new (or enhance existing) business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. Translation: do business, better.

While the theme might be simple, the process is anything but. Generally speaking, there are a few common challenges to overcome, including overall organizational resistance to change, antiquated IT infrastructure and lack of in-house expertise to get the ball rolling. In this blog, we’ll focus primarily on infrastructure and expertise since addressing these challenges first often alleviates some initial organizational indigestion.

And stay tuned for our next blog where we’ll cover each of these services in more detail and examine why a single source for colo, cloud & network is the most customized, cost-effective, and accountable solution for your business’ needs.

Colo, Cloud and Network: Greater than the sum of its parts

The business benefits of partnering with a reputable data center / colo provider are many. First, you get better connectivity and network redundancies to safeguard your mission-critical data and application flow. You get advanced security, including the latest firewalls and virus protection systems that help to prevent nefarious players from gaining access to your data. And you get all of the traditional benefits of space to grow your IT infrastructure and redundant, uninterrupted power. All very important, but alone, just one small piece of the digital transformation puzzle.

The same can be said for cloud strategies, be that full or hybrid. A cloud strategy provides several benefits, not the least of which include increased and scalable capacity, performance and cost-effectiveness. However, without access to a cloud provider, there is no cloud. There is no cloud strategy, and there is little or no room for meaningful growth. Note too that this access happens in the data center. This is an important piece of the puzzle when shopping for the right digital transformation partner. This fact alone should make choosing a partner without cloud access partnerships already in place a deal breaker.

And finally, the one piece that quite literally makes it all work, the network (see what we did there?). Without network connectivity, a data center is just a building, and the cloud is just a box in that building. The network, colocation and cloud are just cars on the ocean. Having access to a network, multiple networks, is essential to accessing your customers and the rest of the world. Network and the various ways of networking, from dark fiber to SD-WAN, is the road to your customers and to your customer’s customers.

While the above captures the importance of each piece-part, how they are integrated, how they are interconnected, and how they are deployed and managed to create a comprehensive solution can vary wildly. This is where next-generation technology economies live and die in the business digital transformation journey. And this is why partnering with a single source for your colocation, cloud and network needs can make the journey that much more efficient and profitable. It’s the sweet spot.

365 Data Centers is a leading network-centric colocation provider that operates 20 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions, including secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, and DRaaS. We are that single-source provider of colo, cloud and network. We are “Technology, Humanized.”

In our next blog, we’ll take a deeper dive into the benefits of a single source for colo, cloud and network, including customization, efficiency (and accountability) and everyone’s favorites —  cost savings and ROI. Stay tuned.

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is a leading network centric colocation provider operating 13 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, DRaaS, BaaS, and business continuity services.

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365 Data Centers Transforms Website

365 Data Centers Transforms Website

NEW LOOK, EXPANDED OFFERINGS, SAME RELIABLE CUSTOMER CARE

In the face of the many disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses and individuals alike are becoming increasingly aware of how data centers are crucial to daily life, providing connectivity to data and information worldwide. From a simple internet search to streaming a video to storing data for a large enterprise, it’s essential that these facilities operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. In fact, a recent IDC study predicted that the collective sum of the world’s data will grow from 33 zettabytes this year to a 175ZB by 2025, making data centers an even more vital commodity.

365 Data Centers understands the importance of data centers as it is the company’s lifeblood and factor of success. Therefore, this week, 365 has officially unveiled its sleek and bold revamped website. With refined visuals and improved navigation, the website better showcases the company’s comprehensive suite of solutions that support the backbone of its data center operations. These services include secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, and DRaaS. It also highlights 365’s commitment to customer service with a streamlined client portal and robust resource library to address any client challenges and educate them moving forward.

“As the last year has shown us, the need for global data centers to store and transport data and provide network connectivity is ever-growing,” said James Cornman, CTO at 365 Data Centers. “To adapt to today’s digital demands, our team has decided to transform our existing website to align with our broadened portfolio and renewed vision from the latest acquisitions and partnerships. We have now strengthened our position to deliver exceptional customer results for both new and prospective clients.”

Amid 2020’s global uncertainty, 365 was able to embrace its shortcomings, turning unique challenges into prosperous opportunities. The company engaged in a strategic partnership with the international network provider, Crosslake Fibre, and completed two significant acquisitions, supporting its aggressive network-centric colocation strategy. Additionally, Stonecourt Capital acquired a majority stake in 365, further establishing its growth. With the acquisition of Atlantic Metro Communications (AMC), 365 doubled in size and is able to serve customers at 13 redundantly interconnected data centers and five additional partner-operated facilities.

“For 365, these acquisitions expanded our geographic and infrastructure footprint, complemented our IaaS offerings, and significantly increased our customer base, revenue, and cash flow, which are all great benefits to our customers,” said Bob DeSantis, CEO at 365 Data Centers. “This refreshed website with improved functionality demonstrates our current growth and represents our status as the all-in-one colocation, cloud, and network IaaS provider.”

About 365 Data Centers

365 Data Centers is a leading network centric colocation provider operating 13 carrier-neutral data centers located in strategic, primarily edge markets. We offer a comprehensive suite of solutions that includes secure and reliable edge colocation, nationwide network connectivity, cloud compute and storage, DRaaS, BaaS, and business continuity services.

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