Data Center Resources – What to consider

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Adnan

What to consider when consolidating, migrating, or relocating data center resources

Whether you’re planning to move your company’s assets from one data center to another, or obtain data center resources for the first time, you need to ask yourself a few key questions to make sure you find the right provider and have the best possible experience during and after the transition. Your computing resources are vital to your business success, and a hosting provider needs to be more than a competent vendor – think of them as a trusted and reliable business partner. When choosing a hosting provider and data center location, first do your research and ask yourself these questions in each of the following areas:

Support from data center staff
How long has the data center / hosting company been in business? What areas of expertise do they have? What clients have they worked with in the past? What is the company’s track record for customer satisfaction?
If you have an unusual or challenging set of technical requirements, make sure the hosting company has in-house expertise to handle your case. But even for routine situations, some hosting companies are just better than others. Make sure you pick one that has the portfolio of results to back up their claims.

Experience with relocation
Does the provider have the necessary skills to help relocate you to their data center? Experience counts. Every hour of downtime means lost revenue and additional headaches for your business. Make sure your provider has a proven history of success.

Colocation options
Does the hosting company have a convenient location? For high-throughput applications, do they have a local data center that you can visit to avoid high bandwidth charges? Do they have geographically separate backup locations for offsite colocation and disaster recovery planning?
Even though you will usually access your data center online, location still matters. You may need to visit to upload large files or add hardware for hybrid cloud deployments. And of course, data backups in separate locations are great protection against accident or disaster.

Data center infrastructure
Is the physical infrastructure secure, well-maintained, and reliable? What security measures are in place? What power supply backups are available? What professional or industry certifications do they hold, and how long have they held them?
When it comes to security, you want more than just the basics. But at the same time, you don’t have the ability to do a full security audit of every prospective provider, and most companies have the ability to make themselves sound secure. This is where industry standards and certifications are helpful: many of these (e.g. SAS 70, SSAE 16) are based on in-depth security audits performed over many months. Make sure your prospective provider carries the relevant certifications.

Atlantic.Net has been in business since 1994, and has steadily grown by providing our clients with industry-leading services, infrastructure, and support. Talk to one of our data center professionals today to see how we can make your migration or relocation a painless, productive and transparent experience.

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Lunch & Learn

Posted on January 18, 2012 by John

We had a great turnout at our recent “Lunch and Learn” at our data center in Orlando, Florida.

Atlantic.net arranges these “Lunch and Learns” in collaboration with our business partners to educate our clients and prospects on the benefits of new technology, and a free lunch is provided.

This particular event was held in collaboration with Security 101.

Steve Dercole from Anixterpresented the topic of “Migrating to IP.” Steve holds a degree in business from Mississippi State University and has been with Anixter for 23 years. He has been regional security manager for Florida, Georgia, and Alabama for the last nine years.

We had a great turnout, the food was excellent, and everyone left with great information, a good lunch and gifts from Atlantic.Net.

Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you or your business is interested in holding a Lunch and
Learn, and we will be happy to work with you to put it together.

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TWO MEGAWATTS on the generator!

Posted on December 23, 2011 by Adnan

This was what happened when we dumped a full TWO MEGAWATTS on the generator!

This extensive test is part of our strategy that ensures our industrial grade power generation plant is fully functional and readily available!

We look forward to serving our clients for many years to come, backed by 100% uptime guarantee!

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Atlantic.Net – Manage Your Business Outdoor Campaign

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Adnan

Check out our latest outdoor campaign below, hope you like it!

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Cloud Computing Flexibility: A Key Advantage for Disaster Recovery Solutions

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Michelle

We all know that cloud-based computing solutions offer tremendous flexibility – not only can you set up, change or decommission servers in a matter of minutes, but additional managed hosting features are readily available, and the costs are much more affordable than those for in-house IT, with a fraction of the up-front outlay. These features are of great use in normal operations, but they are crucial for the realm of disaster recovery as well.

It’s often overlooked, but the simple reason is this: the resources available for your disaster recovery solution have to mirror those used in your actual day-to-day operations as closely as possible, because otherwise when a disaster occurs, you won’t be able to recover the most recent operational state. In order to maintain this closeness using in-house hardware, you essentially need to purchase two of everything each time you upgrade or change your infrastructure. And of course, keeping data mirrored properly between those two sites is a challenge, particularly if one site is merely a backup and not fully staffed. Changing hardware and networks inevitably takes time and money. This leaves you vulnerable to mishaps that can occur during the upgrade; to put it another way, during upgrades, the disaster recovery solution is not doing its job.

With a cloud implementation via a quality service provider like Atlantic.Net, your primary working IT infrastructure is also essentially a robust backup system – your data and applications reside in an offsite, secured data center facility with backup, uninterruptible power supply, and dedicated support staff.

So if your primary system is offsite, secure, and well-managed, then you get a double benefit: it simultaneously reduces the likelihood of ever needing to use your disaster recovery solution, while also ensuring that the disaster recovery solution (hosted elsewhere in the cloud) is more effective and affordable than an in-house version.

As a result, the flexibility inherent to cloud-based infrastructure as a service (IaaS) solutions essentially means much closer integration between your “normal operation” systems and your “disaster recovery” systems.  Consider a cloud-based disaster recovery solution to gain increased flexibility and increased responsiveness along with best-in-class hardware and software support. Any computing system carries risks, but a cloud-based disaster recovery plan is your best option for understanding, confronting and minimizing those risks, while simultaneously ensuring that your disaster recovery resources are always as close a match as possible to those used in your day to day operations.

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Making mass data storage in the cloud a reality

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Billy J

Until recent years, cloud-based mass data storage was impractical because of prevailing internet connectivity speeds, and the lack of robust management options for remote storage and access to large amounts of data. Since most if not all companies had their primary IT infrastructure in-house, cloud-based storage required immense throughput and was considerably less responsive than local storage options. In addition, the cost of running a suitable data center meant that cloud storage was economically un-viable for most common cases.

Fortunately, broadband connectivity has become nearly ubiquitous in the business world, remote application design has emphasized proportionately less data throughput, and advances in data center design and storage technology have dramatically cut the cost per GB. As a result, cloud-based data storage is now a cost-effective and convenient alternative that offers a number of advantages over local data storage, particularly for applications like managed data backup. Backup is one of a suite of essential managed hosting services that can be added to any cloud-based IaaS package.

Storing your data in the cloud means you have automatic colocated storage to ensure data security even if a disaster strikes your home office. In addition, top service providers like Atlantic.Net use carrier-independent internet uplinks to preserve access to your data even if a connection goes offline. And the sophisticated monitoring algorithms used in cloud data storage give you protection against local hardware failures, as well as simple mistakes like accidentally deleted, corrupted or missing files.

Backups can be scheduled at convenient intervals, and data integrity is verified by a hosting team. Backup options (full, incremental, differential) allow you to tailor the storage terms to balance throughput, cost and response time.

Perhaps the most important advantage of cloud data storage is that it’s easy to obtain. You don’t have to set up or maintain an in-house storage solution, and your capacity can grow as required. By making data storage in general and backup in particular easier to implement, cloud storage makes it far more likely that a suitable protection will be in place when a mishap occurs. For all these reasons, cloud-based data storage is the perfect complement to cloud servers, and recent advances in communications and security technology mean there has never been a better time to move your storage to the cloud

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How to migrate from a dedicated server to the cloud?

Posted on September 29, 2011 by John

If you are a startup, or your in-house IT infrastructure needs an upgrade:

Virtual Cloud Server
The simplest, cleanest solution for making the move to the cloud: set up a virtual server running on our professional-grade data center hardware, transfer your data, and immediately you have access to a flexible, upgradeable, fully-managed server that can transition your existing business functions, or serve as a building block for future expansion.

Dedicated Cloud Server
If you need or want exclusive hardware, consider a dedicated cloud server: all the advantages of a virtual server, but with dedicated hardware for increased performance and easier regulatory compliance.

If your in-house hardware still has some life in it:

Hybrid or Private Cloud
Hybrid and Private cloud are both solutions that incorporate your existing corporate IT hardware into a managed data center environment. The main difference is as follows. In a hybrid cloud, you retain some servers in-house and Atlantic.Net establishes a network of resources shared between those in-house machines and dedicated hardware at our data center. In a private cloud, the hardware is entirely secured in the data center. Either one can be a valuable option, but to determine what’s right for you it’s best to discuss with a professional adviser at Atlantic.Net.

Virtualized Environment
And if you have a peculiar set of requirements that doesn’t fall under one of the categories listed above, talk to a professional at Atlantic.Net to see what kind of fully virtualized solution is possible for your business – and what kind of savings it can mean for your bottom line.

Please remember: this post details some general guidelines, but your present situation and future needs will affect what kind of solution is right for you. The best way forward is always to talk to an expert, so contact Atlantic.Net today.

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Hot site protection on the cheap

Posted on September 8, 2011 by Michelle

In years gone by, fully redundant “hot site” colocation was seen as the gold standard for robust disaster recovery protection.  Having a geographically distinct site with redundant data storage and functionality was certainly good insurance against nearly any imaginable disaster, but of course the cost and complexity of establishing and maintaining distinct functional hot sites were impossible for most businesses to absorb. An array of other options (data-only backup, cold sites that require startup time) came into use as cost-effective alternatives, but each offered significant drawbacks and made it difficult for companies to implement a disaster recovery plan that was both comprehensive and affordable.

However, modern cloud computing solutions can offer almost all of the advantages of an offsite colocation facility, including their disaster recovery benefits, at a tiny fraction of the setup and running costs.

Since the lifeblood of most modern businesses is their data, data security and accessibility is paramount for any disaster recovery plan. But companies that use a cloud-based solution for day to day operations are already far ahead of the game: this arrangement means that the primary, current data is already secured in a service provider’s data center. As a result, adding measures like additional colocation mirroring, application hosting, web presence and e-mail continuity is extremely easy and affordable.

In addition, world-class cloud computing providers like Atlantic.Net offer robust physical infrastructure benefits that may well have been beyond the reach of even an advanced hot site implementation. Data centers include features like:

  • Carrier neutrality - Multiple redundant internet backbone connections, to ensure connectivity even if an uplink fails.
  • Robust power supply - N+1 UPS supply, plus backup generation
  • Dedicated fulltime security and staffing - Unlike a hotsite, the cloud computing service provider is always staffed and ready to respond to a crisis.
  • Robust physical security - Full-time security staff, reinforced walls and doors, biometric scanners, etc.

Thanks to cloud computing options, you no longer have to make so severe a compromise between disaster recovery functionality and cost.  A quality cloud computing service provider can give you great peace of mind with minimal hassle and expense. Talk to a provider like Atlantic.Net today to see what kind of service package would be right for you.

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Cloud Computing Flexibility: A Key Advantage for Building Dynamic Businesses

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Adnan

It’s sometimes difficult to quantify the value of resource flexibility for your business – it’s an obvious thing to praise, but your day-to-day business operations may seem not to require it. In fact, sometimes it seems like stability and predictability would be preferable. How often do you need to change your IT arrangements, anyway?

But in reality, having a flexible IT infrastructure via cloud computing is valuable not only as a response to your existing business needs, but also to encourage dynamic growth in your company. In our experience, potential clients often underestimate how much flexibility they can actually use, simply because they’ve become accustomed to making do with the minimum amount available from in-house IT.

Cloud computing solutions offer tremendous advantages in flexibility in two main areas when compared to traditional in-house IT: financial and technical. These two interact, of course, but their respective advantages are worth explaining in some detail:

Financial Flexibility

It’s well-known that cloud computing reduces up-front setup costs and provides better value for money compared to in-house IT solutions, but its flexibility goes beyond this. With cloud computing, it’s easy to scale payments as-needed and reduce extra capacity, for instance to weather an unexpected downturn or react to a seasonal variation in business. And cloud computing costs are in an entirely different tax class than infrastructure purchases, and are often tax-deductible (please consult your tax adviser). The bottom line is that paying for a service, rather than buying the hardware and doing it yourself, is inherently more flexible. Cloud computing allows you to react with greater speed to changes in IT requirements, as well as to tailor your services more precisely at any given time. The key advantages of its financial flexibility are tax leverage and avoiding overpaying for unneeded services.

Technical Flexibility

One of the key advantages of running virtual servers in a data center – or having an IaaS provider manage dedicated hardware for you – is that it’s very easy to add or remove servers, change server specifications, update or alter software, and undertake required maintenance. In addition, you have a professional support team on-hand to manage changes and ensure consistent uptime. This technical flexibility is often undervalued simply because it’s so unexpected, but the advantages in encouraging dynamic business growth should be clear. For instance, a small biomedical start-up undertaking a complex trial of a new chemical compound can commission a server to run analysis of a huge dataset, and then decommission the server afterwards. The cost savings compared to purchasing the appropriate IT hardware should be obvious.

The bottom line is that having access to flexibility helps your company become more dynamic. Cloud computing helps you regard computing resources as on-demand tools to enable your company vision, rather than fixed quantities that must be the allocated when deciding what you can do in the future.

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Private Cloud vs. Virtualized Environment

Posted on August 1, 2011 by Billy J

In a previous post, we explored the value of a “private cloud” solution for clients who want the advantages of getting their IT Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), but who also need to comply with particular data privacy regulations. Private cloud is often compared to (or confused with) “virtualized environments” or “virtualization”. Some of the confusion comes from the fact that different service providers use the terms in slightly different, often overlapping, ways. However, at Atlantic.Net we believe there’s an important difference between the two, and we’re very proud of the private clouds we’ve deployed as well as the sophisticated virtualized environments we’ve developed for clients in a range of industries.

Our approach to virtualization is indeed very close to a “private cloud” concept – in both types of system the client has dedicated data center hardware that is controlled, monitored and managed through a hypervisor layer. Both these solutions allow optimal compliance with applicable regulatory issues, and also permit clients to keep their existing IT hardware, if desired.

The key difference is that while private cloud is a characteristic Atlantic.Net product (i.e. it typically uses an Atlantic.Net hypervisor); virtualization is a custom solution derived from a detailed consultation with the client, in which we design an infrastructure and select a hypervisor entirely based on the client’s needs. Thus virtualization is the most personalized and most exclusive cloud-based solution available, and it’s sometimes the best fit for very demanding client applications. Virtualized environments give us complete freedom to take existing IT hardware move it to a secure data center, establish the requisite access and permissions for remote client use, and manage the entire solution.

A virtualized environment extends the capabilities of cloud computing solutions to cover nearly anything you can require for your business – servers, management, security, storage, remote work, and more. Since the category is so flexible – and capabilities are constantly evolving – the most relevant definition is what it means to your business in particular. To find out, call and speak with an experienced professional from Atlantic.Net.

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