Infrastructure
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 a similar Melbourne facility so that we can provide our clients with unique solutions. These typically include geographic redundancy and specialised communications services. Learn more about our main Data Centre.
Our main Sydney suburban Data Centre has full N+1 failover systems that can meet mission-critical standards. It also meets and is certified to the demanding global 7799 security standard. But as good as that is, data centre security and failover systems are not the whole story when it comes to real world uptime.
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 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 is designed to take over (without losing a connection) 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 consistently provide the highest levels of reliability in the industry.
Certifications
For government applications, the finance industry and US subsidiaries, security of information is a priority. For many other organisations, low security is simply not worth the risk.
ICO passes and exceeds the levels of redundancy and security covered by the following certifications. For an in depth understanding of how we are able to maintain high availability and high security why not contact us for a tour?
- Microsoft Gold Certified Partner - ICO has been a certified partner with Microsoft since 2001. ICO staff devote time to the Microsoft .net development community speaking at user groups and sponsoring educational events. Our expertise in this area allows us to troubleshoot problems right down to the code level.
- Red Hat Ready Business Partner. With Red Hat Certified Engineers and Red Hat Certified Technicians on staff you will always speak to a qualified Red Hat expert.
- ISO 27001 - Formerly known as AS/BS 7799 this standard covers best security practices for Data Centre Management. Our Data Centre meets and exceeds the requirements of this standard in many areas. This standard is demanded by many US based public companies for all subsidiaries and contractors.
- ASIO T4 Standard - Required for government application hosting. Our Data Centre is certified as a "Secure Area" in accordance with the Commonwealth Protective Security Manual 2005, and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Technical Note 4/06 Physical Security of Secure Areas / SR1 Rooms, November 2006.
- ISO 17024 - Our security team is lead by a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. This qualification is certified under ISO 17024 ensuring that professionals certified under the program are qualified as Security Professionals. This gives our customers the piece of mind that we have the appropriate skills to deal with security in a proactive manner and resolve issues appropriately should they arise.
- ISO 9001 - Quality Management Certification. This certification covers both the Data Centre and our whole organisation. It's your guarantee that you are dealing with a quality focused organisation.
