Cloud Services – Colocation – Enterprise Solutions

In June, 2011, SAS70 was retired. This report gave customers some level of confidence regarding the service provider’s internal procedures. Now data centers are receiving requests from their customers for SSAE16 reports, the replacement to SAS70.

The challenge associated with the use of SAS70 and SSAE16 is that both standards are focused on internal controls over financial reporting (ICFR) concerns. ICFR is crucial for corporations that must comply with Sarbanes-Oxley requirements. In most cases, however, ICFR is of limited concern for the services data centers provide for customers. With limited reporting options, data centers found themselves in a conundrum.

Because there is confusion around these standards and they still seem to be evolving, this may clarify the situation to some extent:

Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70, SAS70 has been around for nearly 20 years. First released in 1992, it has been the gold standard for data center users to assure that their data center is secure and operating under proper control systems. According to the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), SAS70 was never designed to be used by service organizations in this way. It was focused on internal controls over financial reporting.

An SAS70 audit verifies that the controls and processes that the data center operator has in place are followed. Although, there is no minimum bar that the data center operator has to achieve and no benchmark to which data center operators are held accountable. A data center with strong controls and processes can claim the same level of audit as a data center operator with weak controls and systems. You have to read through the detailed SAS70 audit report to understand the level of controls and processes deployed and audited.

Enter the new SSAE16 reporting standards.

 The next generation of AICPA auditing standards for reporting on controls at service organizations (including data centers) in the United States is SSAE16, which goes beyond SAS70 by requiring the auditor to obtain a written assertion from management regarding the design and operating effectiveness of the controls being reviewed. The new reporting standard, SSAE16, also provides better alignment with the international audit standard  ISAE 3402.

The new SSAE16 standards will raise the bar for some, and allow others to shine under the stringent processes they already have in place. Users will get what they’ve been seeking – a standard benchmark to use when comparing data center operators.

Managed hosting services will now get what they deserve — a certification process that provides their users a high level of assurance about the quality of their data center security, availability and process integrity.

Find out more about how VAZATA takes reporting standards seriously:  www.VAZATA.com

As the data center continues to become an integral part of any organization, administrators are working hard to find ways to be as resilient as ever. The data center environment is a lot more complex now with many moving parts – all of which are vital to the efficiency foundation of an infrastructure.
With cloud computing, more users, and an increase in data – the challenge has become disaster recovery and business continuity. All distributed systems have to be checked and the data points must all be monitored. In working with these more complex data centers, many administrators are turning to the cloud and virtualization to help them create a more robust disaster recovery plan.
The reality is this: a well-planned out cloud and virtualization solution can truly help any organization create a more agile environment. There are inherent benefits to working with specific types of cloud models and virtualization platforms. A large part of IT is creativity – that’s why using new types of technologies can help reduce management costs and keep an environment running longer.
IaaS or “Data Center On-Demand.” Cloud and virtualization platforms now allow for the very fast provisioning of needed resources. In a disaster recovery scenario, the ability to recovery VMs and data, quickly, is essential. This is where cloud computing and virtualization can help. Administrators are able to create active/active or active/passive IaaS solutions which can be very cost-effective.  For example, an engineer can set a backup cycle with a given provider. That information is then housed in the form of dormant VMs and backup data. Then, if an emergency happens – the organization can ask the provider to immediately spin up new VMs and attach their data to the newly provisioned environment. Although recovery isn’t immediate, it’s still very quick.
Furthermore, organizations are able to adopt a “pay-as-you-go” model so that VMs are only paid for when used. On the other hand, organizations requiring high levels of uptime may simply have the VMs already running. The point behind a data center on-demand platform is the flexibility. Depending on your recovery needs, you can use a provider to help you gain that disaster recovery agility.

Read why clients choose VAZATA for disaster recovery:  http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/9/prweb9913591.htm

When a web hosting company “hosts” your website it means they are keeping it accessible at all times on a computer or network of computers that are always left turned on: aka a “server”. They are providing you with a dedicating hosting service.

For businesses that receive heavy traffic, whose visitors expect the utmost in service, speed, and reliability every time they visit; and those who rely on the utmost in privacy or security — dedicated hosting services is the best option.

With dedicated hosting services, you essentially rent or lease your own server: your own high-quality computer housed in a state-of-the-art datacenter under top-notch security and environmental controls. This not only gives your customers the consistently greatest experience of your website, but it gives you total power and control over how that website is managed.

When using dedicated hosting services, the ability to have control over your operating system is an advantage. Clients using a dedicated hosting server also have the option to pick the compatible software corresponding with their chosen hosting server. This will also give the individual access to control which applications, software and other options they want to use or are required to use.

Dedicated hosting services can provide managed dedicated hosting which provides the necessary support, high level of control over updates, the server and other background control items.  Reliability is critical, as problems do arise. Your ability to access the operating system with your dedicated hosting service, software, dedicated servers and database applications will be effected if you do not have unlimited access.

Customizability is a consideration if you have a fast growing business. When using dedicated hosting services with dedicated servers, you can make any changes you see fit, taking away or adding incrementally whenever you need to or as your company grows.

Contact VAZATA for more information.

Energy costs, environmental concerns and the cloud computing transformation are inspiring more businesses to overhaul their hosting infrastructures and think in terms of green data centers.

Scads of money will be spent worldwide to create green data centers over the next four years, to the tune of $45 billion by 2016, according to a new report by Pike Research. That compares with just $17.1 billion in green data center spending expected in 2011.

VAZATA’s Green data center hosting initiatives

VAZATA data centers are designed and built with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) data center energy certifications in mind, utilizing Hot Aisle/Cold Aisle configurations to effectively direct cool air into servers and hot air into return streams, balancing air flow. Our green data center hosting solutions include Dallas I which is LEED Silver certified, while  NoVA I and Dallas II are both LEED Gold.

As a LEED certified data center, all VAZATA data centers use green data center technology and building management systems to track energy usage trends and performance of major components that comprise the power and cooling.

30% annual green data center energy reduction saves…

• 118 million kWh each year
• 571 railroad cars of coal
• 270,000 barrels of oil
• 12,735,000 gallons of gasoline
• Power for 208,759 100W light bulbs
• Power for 12,330 homes.
• 127,343 ton reduction in carbon emissions

NoVA I’s efficient design provides a superlative green data center technology environment, enabling traditional to ultra-dense power densities to the IT floor.

VAZATA is proud of its green data center certification

• Dallas One – built to LEED Silver certification.
• Dallas Two – built to LEED Gold certification.
• NoVa One  – built to LEED Gold certification.

To read more about VAZATA’s green data centers visit us today!

A colocation data center is high-tech real estate, or outsourced data center space, where you can operate your company-owned software and hardware. Think of a colocation data center as a highly reliable computer room that’s empty, waiting for your network equipment, hardware, disk storage, software and connectivity to complete the picture.

Large companies with strong Information Technology departments often choose a colocation data center, also known as wholesale colocation or wholesale data centers, to house their computer rooms. These companies value colocation’s flexibility for growth and change. Data center capital costs are enormous, and building your own no longer makes sense for many companies that need high levels of reliability.

VAZATA operates enterprise quality colocation data centers designed for mission-critical colocation, managed hosting and cloud computing services in key cities across the US. These facilities are developed by leaders in the data center construction industry and built to the most current specifications. VAZATA also provides usable SAS 70 II audits, working with clients on audit and PCI, SOX, HIPAA and other compliance measures to ensure the best possible value.

Colocation data centers operated by VAZATA are run through a stringent commissioning process, testing the colocation centers holistically to ensure proper performance at maximum demand load. Ensuring top tier value to clients is priority one for VAZATA.

For more information go to:  www.vazata.com

The phrase ‘Enterprise Solutions’ refers to business solutions for large corporations which have large networks. Enterprise Solutions provide for a scalable, easy to manage programming solution to providing business management and information accessibility for internal and external clients. It requires programming and databases. The main challenge is how to most efficiently make data accessible to those who need it.

Enterprise solutions must provide:

• ·Security – Ensures data is safe and available only to those who have authorized access
• Scalability – Accommodates an increase in clients
• Affordability – Easy and cost-effective to program and maintainance
• Management – Provides the ability to manage implementation, including version control software and software that helps manage team effort with regard to providing the solution
• Portability – Flexibility to accommodate changes in technology

For a business to properly choose an enterprise solution, a proper ‘requirements definition’ must be completed. All desired features along with priorities for each feature must be assigned in order to make a suitable decision.

As an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) provider, VAZATA provides enterprise solutions to Global 1000 businesses, U.S. Federal Government, Agencies and Mid-Market Enterprises. VAZATA provides highly secure, stable, and scalable technology solutions that meet the challenges of global customers using a proprietary cloud architecture called vStructure™.

The vStructure™ IaaS platform from VAZATA allows for enhanced computing capabilities, accessibility, and fiscal viability in solutions designed to grow with organizations of all sizes.

For more information contact us

A practical, economical alternative to having your own IT department is to choose a dedicated virtual server hosting service. VAZATA provides the benefits of a shared multi-tenant environment with a security-focused implementation usually reserved for private cloud environments.

In order to achieve the balance of security in a multi-tenant environment, VAZATA has implemented a layered protection of its multi-tenant virtual environment comprised of Network (physical and virtual), VMware and administrative security for the vCenter™ management layer:

All of VAZATA’s vStructure™ IaaS solutions utilize dedicated ports and each customer is configured using dedicated VLAN(s) with continuity from the compute and storage infrastructure up through the security and routing infrastructures.

One of the most vulnerable areas to sensitive data is through the standard contact forms that are available on the Internet. Online Web forms are the most insecure forms of communication available on the Internet. Without a dedicated virtual server that is protected by special software, these forms are an open invitation to spam and worse.

Be sure to use secure passwords for the administrative access features of your dedicated virtual server. Simply choosing one of the thousands of common passwords used on the Internet today is a mistake. Hackers have files containing the most used passwords on the Internet today. An example of a secure password is a randomly generated combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.

Using a proven dedicated virtual server hosting service such as VAZATA offers the peace of mind you need to get on with running your business successfully.

For more information contact vazata.com

Business owners are asking themselves many questions about managed hosting as they search for hosting options for their website. Managed hosting is more expensive than some options, but there are many benefits that make it well worth the cost.

Less stress
You will have less stress knowing your hosting is in the hands of experts. That enables you to focus on your core business instead of worrying if your website is live or not. This is especially the case if you have a lack of hosting knowledge yourself.

Monitoring
A major benefit of managed hosting is the monitoring that is included, usually 24/7. If there are problems, the site can be quickly restored to normal. Issues can often be prevented before they occur, and if something does go wrong that impact the site, it only has a minimal affect.

Complex Hosting
If you have complex hosting requirements then managed hosting could be a good option. It means having technical expertise managing your hosting so not having to control it yourself. Whereas with a basic hosting package you might be able to manage it yourself, with a complex solution amateurs are less likely to be able to handle it. This means having it managed can be essential and is certainly justifiable from a financial point of view.

Your Own Server
With the vast majority of managed hosting solutions you will get a dedicated server for your website. Sharing with other sites has the potential to have a negative impact as problems related to some sites on the server can affect others sharing it. This is not an issue if you have a managed hosting package with your own individual server.

Overall, the key advantage of managed hosting is you don’t have to manage it yourself. Because your hosting is controlled by experts, the benefits outweigh the cost.