The more "mission critical" the
application is, the more
redundancy, robustness and
security required. Data centers
are classified by Tiers, with
Tier 1 being the most basic and
inexpensive, and
Tier 4 being
the most robust and costly.
According to definitions from
the Uptime Institute and TIA-942
(Telecommunications
Infrastructure Standard for Data
Centers), a Tier 1 data center
is not required to have
redundant power and cooling
infrastructures. It needs only a
lock for security and can
tolerate up to 28.8 hours of
downtime per year. In contrast,
a Tier 4 data center must have
redundant systems for power and
cooling, with multiple
distribution paths that are
active and fault tolerant.
Furthermore, access should be
controlled with biometric
readers and single-person
entryways, gaseous fire
suppression is required, the
cabling infrastructure should
have a redundant backbone, and
the facility can permit no more
than 0.4 hours of downtime per
year.
Multi-Homed Connection and Intelligent Routing
AmeriHosting is directly connected to 9 Tier-1 providers,
including Verizon, AT&T, Qwest, Level(3), Sprint, Cable &
Wireless, Digex, NTT/Verio, and Global Crossing providing
the best speed and redundancy possible. Our Intelligent
Routing Technology selects the best path out of 9 major
backbones and gets your data get from point A to point B
in the fastest, most reliable, and least-congested path
possible.
Premises
The Facility is housed in a poured concrete building, making it resistant to
natural disasters.
State-of-the-Art security monitoring system include intelligent card access,
fingerprint scanners, and even retinal eye scanners in addition to 24x7 video surveillance.
Force-Filtered Cooling
All the drives, motherboards, and power supplies of our
computers are in cases with a positive pressure filtered
air environment. Two large fans pull air into the
protective case through filters, and the components within
are cooled by fans which circulate this purified air. The
constant introduction of clean air into the case creates a
positive pressure environment, ensuring that dust and
particulates are swept out and never in. Raised floors
push air up through force filtered-air up through
server cabinets.
Environmental controls
Multiple
Liebert HVAC systems provide air conditioning and humidification control,
maintains a constant temperature of 65°F and a humidity level that does not
exceed 55%.
Our fire suppression system not only prevents extensive fire damage,
it virtually eliminates the potential for collateral damage to delicate equipment from the fire extinguishing
agent. Multi-level alarms allow floor attendants to investigate when the Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus
(VESDA) system detects a smoke signature. The smoke signature detection system constantly monitors the data
center for specific events and can pinpoint the physical location of an event immediately upon detection.
An FM200 fire suppression system handles individual instances on the data center floor.
Power Redundancy
The facility has a three stage monitored power redundancy system.
Separate power grids.
Constant Power Supply (CPS) System.
Multiple Diesel generators (infinite power).
To provide uninterrupted power supply to the data center, we use an
environmentally-friendly power supply system that incorporates a steady
stream of power from the local utility company and back-up power using a
state of the art constant power supply (CPS) and diesel generators. With
the CPS system we use, there is no need for battery operated uninterruptible
power supply (UPS) units. Instead, our short term backup power supply is
completely generated from flywheel systems and then power sustained using
diesel generators for long-term backup power. On-site fuel supplies ensure
power availability for days at a time. Contracts with multiple local fuel
suppliers allow us to provide power indefinitely.
Facility Equipment
All servers connected to our network via Fast Ethernet (100MB/second).
The facility backbone consists of Foundry Gigabit switches, Cisco Catalyst
switches and Cisco routers.
Full Tape Backup System on network with daily backups.
