Whether you are a company or a sole trader, the laws regarding security and privacy affect you. In addition, at a company level there is also a responsibility to make decisions that at the least, do not adversely affect your company.
Security and privacy can be simple or complex. Each business has different requirements.
From a hosting point of view though, there is an internationally recognised starting point; ISO 7799 (in Australia, AS/NZS 7799).
From a due diligence business perspective, there is an additional factor to consider, and that is the ability of a hosting provider to deliver what is expected or promised as a total system, which includes much more than just a data centre presence.
In the next few paragraphs we will discuss Data Centres and Network Connectivity, two quite different issues that are often confusingly linked.
Data Centre
A data centre's purpose is to keep computers secure, powered up and cooled down. It also provides a point where connections can be made to the Internet.
There are huge differences in data centres across Australia, and even greater differences in the types of internet connectivity that providers use within them.
ICO's main Data Centre is a 7000 square metre high-security facility. We do 90% of our hosting there, but we also use two other data centres from time to time, so that we can provide our clients with unique solutions. These typically include geographic redundancy and specialised communications services.
Our main Sydney suburban Data Centre is one of the few in the world with full N+1 failover systems that can meet mission-critical standards. It’s also one of the few in the world that is certified to the 7799 security standard. But data centre security and failover systems are not the whole story.
As mentioned above, different hosting providers often use the same data centres, but connect to the internet from these centres in vastly different ways.
Network Diagrams
If you are betting your internet business on the reliability of your internet presence, then you should ask your potential hosting provider for a number of things. One of these should be a network diagram that shows how the hosting provider is connecting your server to the Internet, showing all devices between your server and the Internet backbone. You need to ask (at the least) about actual bandwidth available at all points, names of upstream providers and whether or not there is any redundancy in the system.
One part of ICO's network, for instance, uses redundant multiple Tier 1 Internet connections wired through two identical $3 Million Cisco 12000 series switches. In the event of the failure of a connection or switch, the other takes over in 26 seconds. From these points, ICO provides completely unrestricted bandwidth. We have always met every peak load, including the e-commerce for the Athens Olympics.
Written SLAs
In addition to asking for a network diagram, ask your potential hosting provider for SLAs for every part of the system being offered; network connectivity, power, air-conditioning, server downtime, support; operating system and application, to name a few.
A few minutes spent checking these important issues at the beginning of a project could save months of problems later on. In today's climate, that checking is simply due diligence.
But please don’t believe what you read here, or elsewhere. Compare providers. See for yourself. We welcome your inspection of our Data Centre and will be happy to provide you with network diagrams and SLAs that show why we offer the highest levels of reliability in the industry.
Main Sydney Data Centre
Our main facility operates 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. It combines the highest levels of redundancy and fail-over capability with the capacity to cater for rapid growth in demand. The main Sydney facility is the most secure, highly redundant and modern data centre in Australia, featuring:
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Multiple auto-failover power conditioning and UPS systems for instantaneous changeover from Energy Australia to our own local power supplies.
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Multiple diesel backup generators (five 16 cylinder 2.5 MW Caterpillars).
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Two high capacity diesel fuel tanks (with three days of fuel).
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Fully integrated building management system for smoke, fire and water detection, electrical and air conditioning.
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Backup for every system (minimum N+1 redundancy for network, power and airconditioning).
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Dual Energy Australia power feeds (one from the North, the other from the South) feed into our own sub-station on site.
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Separate transformers and mains switch boards.
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Multiple power management modules for each section of the data hall.
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Multiple redundant Industrial Carrier refrigerant air conditioning units
Please call us or write to us to arrange an inspection. 1 300 727 733 or
service@ico.com.au