Joe Unger

Internet Peering in the New Digital Economy

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As we continue our discussion on internet exchange points and peering, it’s essential to look toward the future – or simply to the present. IXPs and internet peering are part of an ongoing digital transformation affecting the way the internet operates and how it is used.

In a recent article, Equinix discusses the realities of the new digital economy, and how IXPs and internet peering are playing a role in this ever-evolving landscape. We’ll summarize those shifts below.

Previously, if a certain geographic area experienced slow or unreliable internet connections, internet service providers couldn’t – or wouldn’t – do much to improve those users’ experience. Then, providers began to make a shift, moving from a “best efforts” status quo model to one that placed a high value on high performance and availability.

In doing so, providers worked to improve service delivery and reliability by developing new (and potentially redundant) internet peering hubs in those geographic areas. These efforts have continued as the need for scalability and resilience continues to grow.

 

Multi-IX Strategies

Another recent internet peering trend is the development of the multi-internet exchange, or multi-IX, strategy. Essentially, this is the use of dual suppliers or vendors to help providers achieve resilient peering by:

  • Protecting against operational issues or bugs that may affect only one of the dual providers;
  • Insulating users from sudden changes in provider status;
  • Ensuring that competition is high and pricing is robust; and
  • Expanding services and improving quality of experience.

Ultimately, it is the customer who benefits from multi-IX strategies, with lower costs and increased reliability. However, it also offers protections and benefits for service providers.

Internet exchange points and peering are making the internet faster, more reliable and more secure. If you have questions about IXPs and internet peering, and how they could benefit your business, get in touch today.

Vaultas is a premier provider of IT solutions, providing data storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage and more. Call us to better understand the value that peering and IXPs can bring to your business!

The Benefits of Internet Exchange Points

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In our last blog post, we provided an introduction to internet exchange points and peering, discussing the basics and general benefits of internet exchange points. Today, we’ll continue with a more detailed discussion of IXPs, and who and how they can benefit. Curious about whether an IXP is right for your business? Read on!

To recap: Internet exchange points, or IXPs, are access points through with providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. They are not internet service providers, but act as a switch that directs internet traffic to different networks.

Internet exchange points can be especially beneficial for local and small businesses, universities, and similar institutions. This is because the majority of their traffic is local. Therefore, by exchanging traffic with other local providers in the internet exchange point, the internet will become less congested and more efficient, leading to improved performance on apps and websites. Further, businesses won’t have to upgrade their internet networks nearly as often. This is a win-win for everyone on the IXP!

To further illustrate the benefits of internet exchange points: imagine that your internet service provider is located in New Jersey. So if you’re forwarding an email to your neighbor, it will first go to New Jersey before it goes across the street. Wouldn’t it be faster if your email was sent to a network in your city rather than a faraway location? Of course, all internet traffic eventually gets where it needs to go. But IXPs help it get there faster and more efficiently, improving the performance from the user’s standpoint.

Still not sure if an IXP will benefit your business? Give Vaultas a call – we’re happy to go over the details with you. Vaultas is a premier provider of IT solutions, providing data storage and backup, disaster recovery and business continuity services, hosting, colocation, cloud storage and more. Get in touch to learn more about how our services can benefit your business.

An Introduction to Internet Exchange Points and Peering

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The needs and potential uses of the internet continue to shift among businesses in Minnesota and around the country. In response, the internet itself is changing, with more opportunities for connection, agility and security. At Vaultas, we’re always working to stay at the forefront of trends, determining whether they’re just that – trends – or whether they represent ongoing and long-term changes in how Minnesota companies are doing business online. Internet exchange points and peering are two such developments.

So what are internet exchange points, or IXPs? Here’s a brief definition, courtesy of Techopedia:

“An internet exchange point (IXP) is a physical network access point through which major network providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. The primary focus of an exchange point is to facilitate network interconnection through an exchange access point instead of third-party networks.”

While IXPs allow network operators to exchange traffic, they are not internet service providers and cannot, on their own, connect a user to the internet. Instead, they function as a sort of “building block” of the internet. In more relative terms, an IXP is usually an Ethernet switch to which networks connect one or more routers, thereby sending traffic across the switch to other networks.

So who connects to IXPs? Generally, internet service providers (ISPs) connect in order to allow their customers to communicate. In addition, content providers or advertisers may connect to IXPs in order to spread their content to customers of other ISPs.

Peering is an essential aspect of IXPs. But what is peering? DrPeering defines it as:

“Internet Peering is a local routing optimization, a way to exchange some of your traffic with neither party incurring Internet Transit fees.”

So while IXPs are the point at which ISPs connect and share information, peering is the process by which that sharing occurs. Peering allows networks to connect and exchange traffic without having to pay a third party to move the traffic across the internet. Peering is often less expensive than similar information sharing processes, and it gives network operators greater control over traffic flows.

Vaultas offers a wide variety of network connection options, and because we’re carrier– and vendor-neutral, we’ll work to find the best hybrid IT solution for you and your business. To learn more or get started, contact us today.

Edge Computing is the Newest Trend in Hosting

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In our previous blog posts, we’ve discussed server hosting in detail – the different types and the benefits of server hosting. Today, we’ll cover one of the new and popular trends in the hosting word: edge computing.

Edge computing may seem like a complicated concept, but it’s really pretty simple. It entails a network of micro data centers that store or process the most critical data locally, and push less important data to a cloud storage warehouse or a central data center. This results in a smaller local footprint and faster processing times.

There are many benefits to edge computing, which can explain why it is growing so quickly in use and popularity.

 

Benefits of Edge Computing

  1. It’s more reliable in instances of breaches, outages or intermittent connectivity. This is a big plus for companies who are looking to implement or improve their disaster recovery and business continuity processes.
  2. It’s more secure, processing personal information locally instead of within the cloud.
  3. It’s faster, providing better response times for internet-connected devices.
  4. It can reduce costs, because it allows businesses to cost-effectively decide what information gets sent to which location.
  5. It gives a boost to businesses with multiple locations by allowing data processing to occur at the site while communicating with the home office.

Edge computing is especially beneficial for applications within the Internet of Things (IoT) – devices and objects with the ability to automatically transfer data over a network – which are growing in popularity. Edge computing allows for streaming data to be captured in the moment.  This can prevent devices from failing, and can also prevent defects, reroute traffic and optimize production and speed.

Ready to find a new hosting solution? Give Vaultas a call at 888-998-2858, or contact us online. With custom solutions to meet the most demanding IT needs, we’ll work with you to find the best hosting products for your business.

The Benefits of Server Hosting

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As companies continue to transition more of their data and operations to digital platforms, the need for a sufficient and secure hosting service becomes even greater. Depending on a company’s size and resources, it often makes more sense to enlist a server hosting service, like Vaultas, to maintain and oversee the company’s physical hosting.

But what are the benefits of using a hosting service?

First, a refresher: server hosting is the offsite management and maintenance of a company’s hardware hosting resources – the physical and virtual servers on which data is stored. Read our previous blog post to learn more about the different variations of server hosting.

There are many benefits of server hosting. When physical hosting services are outsourced, so are the financial and personnel resources involved in maintaining a server onsite. This can result in significant savings – both in time and money – and is especially beneficial for smaller companies who can’t afford a dedicated IT staff.

In addition, server hosting usually significantly increases a company’s protection against disasters, ransomware, and other security threats. Hosting services protect their clients’ data with firewalls, backups and physical security measures, protecting it against whatever threat might occur.

Finally, if your company seeks to host an application or website, there may be special skills required to support those platforms. An experienced physical hosting service will have the necessary knowledge, saving the company the effort and cost of having to hire or train someone skilled in that area. At Vaultas, we engage a network of vendor partners to support most applications, and our data center environments allow us to offer customers the reliability necessary to support the applications that are critical to business continuity.

Ready to switch to a hosting service for your data, website or applications? Learn more about Vaultas’ dedicated hosting service, then get in touch to receive a custom quote from our experienced hybrid IT professionals.

What is Server Hosting?

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When you hear the word “hosting,” what comes to mind? For many, hosting is synonymous with web hosting, which is providing a platform for a website or application. This is an important type of hosting, yes – but it’s not the only one. At Vaultas, we provide not only web hosting, but also server hosting, which is the offsite management of a company’s physical or virtual data and digital operations.

There are several different types of server hosting, which we’ll detail below.

Managed physical server:

The customer either provides the server or leases the server for use onsite. The hosting service installs the server and provides maintenance and monitoring, but the customer has control over the operating system, hardware and software. This can be an expensive option because the server requires both onsite management and offsite monitoring.

Dedicated server:

This is similar to a managed server, but the hosting service owns and maintains the server offsite. Customers have fewer choices for operating systems, but less hands-on management is required. It’s in the hosting service’s best financial interest to provide high-quality maintenance to increase reliability and life cycle duration.

Virtual private server:

VPS provides the same benefits as dedicated servers, but involves the coupling of a robust group of servers to host in a virtual environment. This creates a “high availability” server for high-demand environments and applications, often with a lower cost to the customer.

 

There are variations within each of these server groups, and each can be customized to fit the unique needs of your business. With a wide network of partners and 24/7 support, hosting with Vaultas ensures that there will never be any interruptions in your hosting.

To learn more about hosting, cloud storage, data storage or any of our other hybrid IT solutions, visit our website and get in touch for more information and a free quote.

Five Important Things to Include in a Disaster Recovery Plan

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With the ever-increasing threat of ransomware and other forms of cybercrime, it’s becoming apparent that a disaster recovery plan is no longer an option – it’s a necessity. Many businesses have put DR on their to-do list for 2018, but are unsure of where to start. If you’re in that situation, give Vaultas a call – we can help you along every step of the disaster recovery planning process.

No matter your industry or business size, the experts at Mission Critical agree that there are five essential elements that should be included in your company’s disaster recovery plan. We’ll summarize them below.

 

  1. Define Trigger Points

What is the point at which the company will put its disaster recovery plan into action? To determine this, it’s important to perform a business impact analysis and create a risk profile.

  1. Determine Authority and Documentation Management

If an outage occurs, who is in charge of guiding the company through the DR plan? This should be more than one person – ideally, all members of the IT team should be able to follow the procedures laid out in the plan, and document the steps taken.

  1. Application Prioritization

Determine which services take priority, based on which have the greatest impact – financial, reputational or otherwise – on the business, and order them accordingly.

  1. Set a Testing Schedule

A good disaster recovery plan will include a schedule for review and testing of that plan. It’s important that the plan stays current, and that the team knows how to execute it seamlessly.

  1. Continual Evaluation

Along those lines, remember that a disaster recovery plan should be a dynamic and evolving strategy. Companies should continually work to evaluate and improve DR plans, especially following an outage.

 

Have questions or need help creating and implementing a disaster recovery plan for your business? Vaultas can help! We’ll create a personalized solution for your company’s specific DR needs, and ensure that you have the tools to implement it. Get in touch today to get started!

12 Steps to Better Business Continuity for Data Centers

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No matter the reason, IT downtime can be costly for businesses of any size, in any industry – but it’s especially damaging for data centers. That’s why it’s important to establish a business continuity plan in the event of ransomware, severe weather, or any other unexpected outage.

Today, we’re going to discuss 12 important steps that data centers must take when establishing a business continuity plan, as detailed in Mission Critical Magazine.

1. Get the Conversation Started

Discuss business continuity with the companies and IT professionals that rely on your data center, asking what systems are the most critical to maintain during an outage.

2. Conduct a Hardware Risk Analysis

Create a specific list of the hardware that needs to be protected in the event of an outage, including the original cost and current replacement cost. Rank the importance of each piece of equipment based on how important it would be to keep it up and running during an outage.

3. Diagram the Network Structure

Here, you’re trying to determine how to replicate the network by identifying network switches, cables, routers and other components. Make a list of backups as well.

4. Divide Assets into Two Performance Cycles

By splitting assets into “business critical” and “temporary downtime” categories, you’ll be able to focus on the most important aspects of continuity and recovery.

5. Discuss Disaster Recovery Time Limits

Create a list of potential disaster types and assign approximate response times for each step of recovery, based on the specifics of that disaster.

6. Create a Contact List

When disaster strikes, it’s essential to have all necessary contact information available immediately.

7. Back Up Everything

Back up the server, back up applications, back up data. Back up everything.

8. Make a Plan for Temporary Offsite Networks

If main places of business need to be restored, have a plan for working out of temporary, offsite facilities, both in and out of state. Don’t forget to plan for transportation of both personnel and hardware.

9. Redirect Telecommunication

Because it may take time to get those temporary locations set up, create a system to divert calls to a different location. A third-party provider may be a good option here.

10. Virtualize

Add extra agility and resiliency by virtualizing the IT environment. This allows for complete automation at the virtual machine level.

11. Invest in Power Management Software

Power management software can be a powerful tool – it moves data to safer locations without any interruption to users, and can even trigger a recovery platform.

12. Use a Network Monitoring Tool

By monitoring networks and watching for the first signs of an outage or threat, you can significantly minimize downtime and negative effects.

If you need to create a business continuity plan and you’re not sure where to start, get in touch with the hybrid IT experts at Vaultas today. We create custom disaster recovery and business continuity plans, ensuring that your business is prepared for any outage that may occur.

Ransomware Reinforces Importance of Disaster Recovery

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We’ve written multiple blog posts about the importance of having disaster recovery and business continuity plans. Outages – whether caused by severe weather, a power outage, or some other unforeseen event – are common, and a disaster recovery plan is essential to ensure that business operations continue as usual and data is not lost. In the last few years, ransomware has become more common, and is causing more disruption than ever before. So how can companies guard their business systems?

Ransomware is a software that uses encryption in an effort to lock up a computer or company’s database and upload files into the hard drive. A ransom note will be sent, demanding money (usually in the form of Bitcoins) in exchange for the private decryption key.

Below, we’ll share a few tips for protecting your business from ransomware. Above all, it’s important to have a solid disaster recovery plan in place. Contact Vaultas to learn how we can help.

Be aware

Because ransomware can attack an IT system from a seemingly-innocent email, link or file, it’s important to educate all employees on possible sources and origins. It is, of course, important to invest in data protection technology, but it’s also necessary to create and enforce policies around prevention.

Know how to spot ransomware

Ransomware is sinister because, at first glance, it looks relatively normal. It is generally transmitted in .png or .txt files buried in an email or link. It will work fast, encrypting and locking up files within a few minutes. Know and educate employees on what ransomware looks like and what to do if they suspect they have clicked on a corrupt file.

Make a contingency plan

Even with the best protection plans in place, ransomware can easily still strike. If and when that happens, make sure your company has a detailed disaster recovery plan.

With the current increase in events occurring in Minnesota and across the country, industry experts predict that ransomware is no longer an “if” situation, but a “when.” When ransomware attacks, will your business be ready with a disaster recovery plan? The cost of most disaster recovery solutions is far less than the cost of a single attack, so it’s in your company’s best financial interest to invest in DR today.

If you want to learn more about creating an IT disaster recovery plan for your business, get in touch today. Vaultas’ business continuity service streamlines disaster recovery, keeping your business operating through any disaster or disruption.

When Should Hosting Be Outsourced?

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If you’re in need of a hosting solution for your business, you may find the options and process confusing. What’s the difference between website and storage hosting? Can we manage our hosting in-house, or should we outsource some of it to a third-party provider? Does it make sense to let someone else manage it all?

When determining what and how much to host, the first and best advice we’ll give is to get in touch with a reliable company and ask a few questions. At Vaultas, we’re happy to talk businesses through the details of our hosting solutions, and to help determine what exactly they need.

On the question of outsourcing some or all of the hosting services, what you choose will largely depend on: 1) your company’s personnel resources, 2) your company’s financial resources, and 3) the type of business you conduct. Managing your IT infrastructure in-house can save money, but it will also require an investment in the personnel and technology required to manage it.

One option is to choose an IaaS, or Infrastructure-as-a-Service, provider to manage select hosting needs, while managing others in-house. This allows companies to save money while outsourcing some of the more complicated aspects.

For companies without the personnel or IT resources to manage any part of the infrastructure, fully managed services may be the way to go. A service provider should function as a partner – fully knowledgeable about the company and its needs, and ready to step in whenever assistance is needed. This is a more costly option, but it allows for smoother day-to-day operations.

An important note: if a company does business in healthcare, banking, insurance or financial services, there are federal regulations on security and compliance that can make it more difficult to manage in-house.

Vaultas offers a wide variety of hosting options, including website, application and storage hosting solutions. If your business needs a more custom solution, we can tailor any of our services to meet your needs, providing nonstop, comprehensive support to ensure that there are no interruptions.

To learn more about hosting, cloud storage, data storage or any of our other hybrid IT solutions, visit our website and get in touch for more information and a free quote.

All About Edge Computing

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Edge computing has become one of the fastest-growing trends in data storage, cloud computing and hybrid IT. But what, exactly, is edge computing? Basically, it is what it sounds like: service providers that operate at the “edge” of existing data centers, rather than in a central data warehouse or in a cloud.

edge computing

To break it down a bit more, let’s examine edge computing from a historical standpoint. Initially, it began as an effort to improve web services for internet users who lived outside of large metropolitan areas like New York and San Francisco. By storing applications and content on servers closer to mid-size cities like Minneapolis and St. Paul, the literal “edge” of the internet was extended to those smaller markets.

So what does this mean for business and internet users? There are many advantages to edge computing. For applications within the Internet of Things (IoT) – devices, digital and mechanical machines, and objects with the ability to automatically transfer data over a network – edge computing allows for streaming data to be captured in the moment, which can prevent parts from failing, prevent defects, reroute traffic and optimize production.

In addition, businesses with multiple office locations can process data at the site while communicating with the home office.

In general, edge computing can improve processing speeds and ease pressure on network resources. This is because, depending on how they’re implemented, edge computing systems may process only the most time-sensitive data at the origin, and send less vital data to the cloud for analysis and data storage. This improves response time and conserves network resources.

There are some challenges, however, such as issues with security and network configuration. It will be interesting to see how these concerns are addressed as hybrid IT continues to grow in popularity and usefulness.

At Vaultas, we offer a wide variety of data solutions, cloud storage and hybrid IT that can be easily customized to meet the needs of your business. Contact us to for a free consultation to determine which data solution is right for you.

Should You Move Your Business To The Cloud?

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Cloud solutions have grown increasingly popular in recent years, and for good reason. By placing all of your company’s computing services – including software, programs and data – in the cloud, employees can access everything they need to do their job with just an Internet connection. As the workforce becomes more mobile, moving to the cloud just makes sense.

Need a few more reasons to move your business to the cloud? We’ll list a few below. To learn more about the cloud solutions offered by Vaultas, visit our website or get in touch today!

Cloud solutions are scalable

Only pay for what you need, when you need it. If your business grows in size or offerings, simply add more cloud compute power or storage capacity to meet your new business demand and needs.

Easier collaboration

By moving all of your documents and programs to the cloud, employees can collaborate more easily and with fewer errors. This is especially helpful if some or all of your workforce is remote or telecommutes.

Greater security

What if a laptop with sensitive company information was lost or stolen? If your business is in the cloud, using VDI or RDP, you can simply block their log in and/or remove their access to any information altogether. None of your company data needs to be at risk. The cloud also inherently provides solutions for your disaster recovery and business continuity requirements.

Increased mobility

We live in an increasingly mobile society – and that extends to the business world. Even if your employees don’t work from home full-time, having cloud solutions empowers your company to allow employees greater flexibility to telecommute if and when they need to.

Lower cost

By not having to pay for a separate data center or unused resources your company will save significant money for your company that can be spent on additional revenue generating activities. Generally, cloud services are offered with a la carte pricing, so you’ll only pay for what your business needs – and never for more than you use.

Are you ready to move your business to the cloud? Vaultas has a variety of cloud computing solutions that can be customized to meet your business’ needs. Contact our Minneapolis cloud storage specialists today to learn more.