Data Center Architect | Cloud Architect Network | THE CLOUD NETWORK

Further expansion for virtualDCS as the team sets up in a second Data Centre

2012-02-13T12:59:03Z

Further expansion for virtualDCS as the team sets up in a second Data Centre
Posted on February 13, 2012 by Nikki Towler
The Cloud Computing Experts have expanded into a new Leeds based data centre in order to continue their growth and strengthen their relationship with the Yorkshire region.
The virtualDCS team purposely selected a location in Leeds, as they are proud of their Yorkshireenterprise hosting history and wish to continue their growth within the region.
Richard May, Managing Director of virtualDCS said: “Since our business was established in 2008 we have had 100% growth rate each financial year, with four new members joining the team in 2011. The Yorkshire region has been good to us and we wanted to continue our contribution to the local economy.”
Richard continued to say: “Our expansion into a second data centre means that we can continue to offer high levels of service to even more businesses as the Cloud Computing industry grows. All of our solutions are tailored towards the individual needs of a business, and the move into a second data centre allows us to offer an additional layer of protection to our already incredibly resilient platform.”
The founders of virtualDCS have pioneered the development of the Cloud Computing industry for over a decade. As one of the first companies dedicated to Cloud services in the world, businesses can be confident that they will only receive the finest solutions. Their approach is to work in partnership with clients to ensure that their infrastructure is ready to exceed the service levels demanded by their business. The company’s existing customers include global recruitment business IHR Group, recruitment consultancy Work Group and Yorkshire law firm Clarion.
For further information email enquiries@virtualdcs.co.uk or call 08453 888 327.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

Qube Managed Hosting Finds Flexibility in R1Soft’s Cross-Platform CDP Backup Software

2011-12-09T22:17:02Z

Qube Managed Hosting Finds Flexibility in R1Soft’s Cross-Platform CDP Backup Software

Qube Managed Services today announced the successful implementation of R1Soft CDP Enterprise Edition, which enhances Qube’s carrier-class cloud services with a managed backup service. The news follows a thorough backup software evaluation that led to the selection of R1Soft CDP for its scalable data backup capabilities and affordability.

LONDON (December 9, 2011) @PR2WEB — Qube Managed Services, a cloud services and managed hosting provider, today announced the recent implementation of R1Soft Continuous Data Protection® (CDP) across its three carrier-class data centers in London, New York, and Zurich. CDP is a full replacement of the company’s previous backup software.

Qube’s selection of R1Soft CDP follows the company’s decision to find backup software more compatible with its needs; as a managed hosting provider, Qube has many different types of customers and servers, each with different backup and security needs. Further, Qube required a simpler approach to licensing. In search of a backup replacement well-suited to multi-tenant environments, Qube discovered R1Soft CDP Enterprise Edition.

In its analysis of backup alternatives, Qube evaluated each product’s functionality, security, and scalability in light of the special needs of a service provider. Across the board, it found R1Soft CDP to most fully meet the company’s objectives. R1Soft CDP not only features centralized management over multiple Linux, Windows, and VMware virtual servers, but also allows simple administration of new licenses. Designed specifically for hosting providers, CDP’s licensing structure and highly scalable software quickly and profitably accommodate expanding environments.

“For a managed hosting and cloud services company such as Qube, the positive difference experienced when switching to CDP is huge” explained Domingo Martinez, global marketing manager for R1Soft, a division of BBS Technologies. “From faster, lighter backups to more efficient management, the benefits of CDP are intended to further the objectives of the hosting provider.”

With the implementation of R1Soft CDP, Qube has gained advanced features such as Bare-Metal Restore, which enables customers’ data restore requests to be completed quickly. Additionally, Qube can use R1Soft CDP to backup up applications including MySQL, Microsoft SQL, and Microsoft Exchange Server.

“R1Soft Continuous Data Protection has surpassed Qube’s expectations of backup technology. Not only has CDP proven to be reliable and manageable, but its Bare-Metal Restore function is also useful for easily cloning servers, which has been an unexpected bonus for us,” said Andy Ashley, Strategy/R&D Manager. “The reporting feature has also been very valuable to our backup administration and management as it provides a quick overview of all of the backup job statuses.”

For more information about Qube’s managed backup services, please visit Qube’s website.

About Qube Managed Hosting Inc
Founded in 2001, Qube is a premier managed hosting provider. Qube offers VMware-based cloud services, managed dedicated HP server hosting, managed colocation, and low-latency IP transit services from our carrier-class London, New York, and Zurich data centre facilities. Qube are experts at building, managing, and monitoring hosted IT infrastructure solutions for organizations requiring a 24/7 e-commerce presence on the Web.

About R1Soft
R1Soft is the developer of Continuous Data Protection® (CDP), scalable and high-performance backup software for Windows and Linux servers in the cloud. Recognized as the leading commercial backup software in hosted services, R1Soft CDP is currently used by over 1,000 cloud infrastructure providers and protects more than 200,000 servers worldwide. R1Soft is a division of BBS Technologies.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

VISI Completes SSAE 16 Type 2 Audit

2011-12-09T22:09:52Z

VISI Completes SSAE 16 Type 2 Audit

New audit framework replaces SAS 70

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., December 8, 2011 – @PR2WEB - VISI, a Minnesota-based leader in data center services, is pleased to announce that all of its data centers and managed service offerings are now operated under SSAE 16 Type 2 audited controls. The new framework, which replaces the SAS 70 guidebook, reaffirms VISI’s promise to meet the highest standards for security and availability, while making sure all of the appropriate controls and safeguards are firmly in place.

“The SSAE 16 audit provides third party validation that we’re delivering what we promise,” said Leon Schilmoeller, Executive Director of Data Center Operations. “Delivering on our promises is one of our most important values, and VISI is committed to making sure our customers have complete confidence in our ability to maintain a secure, reliable and prepared data center operation.”

The key difference between the SAS 70 and the SSAE 16 standards is the requirement that management must present an assessment and written assertion of the controls, to which a third-party auditor holds them accountable. As a result, the new report provides substantial insight into the people, processes and technology used to effectively achieve all the control objectives.

For VISI, these objectives include physical security, availability and change management, incident and event management, IT continuity and request management. With extensive teamwork and coordination company-wide, VISI was able to successfully obtain a comprehensive SSAE 16 Type 2 unqualified opinion.

To learn more about VISI’s unqualified 2011 SSAE 16 Type 2 report, contact VISI’s Sales department at 612-395-9090.

About VISI:

VISI Incorporated (VISI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems, Inc., a Fortune 500® company. VISI provides a full range of data center services including colocation, managed services, hosting services and first-rate cloud computing infrastructure. VISI has the only commercially available Uptime Institute Design Certified Tier III data center in the Midwest. VISI facilities are SSAE 16 Type II audited and staffed 24x7. To learn more about VISI, follow us on Twitter or Facebook, call 612-395-9000 or visit www.visi.com.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

Vaultas Announces Technology Partnership with MyTELEPATH

2011-12-05T23:03:37Z

Vaultas Announces Technology Partnership with MyTELEPATH

Access to New Alexandria, Minn., Data Center and Fiber-Optic Network Help Propel VoIP and Call Center Provider to the Next Level

Minneapolis, Minn.—Dec. 5, 2011—@PR2WEB - Vaultas (www.vaultas.com), a premier provider of collaborative, vendor-neutral data center, collocation and BCDR (business continuity and disaster recovery) facilities in the Upper Midwest, today announced a technology partnership with MyTELEPATH, (www.mytelepath.com) a provider of managed communications services based in Minneapolis, Minn. By leveraging Vaultas’ redundant fiber-optic network and new collocation data center facility in Alexandria, Minn., MyTELEPATH will expand its Hosted PBX and Hosted Call Center offerings to businesses throughout the Upper Midwest.
MyTELEPATH is a leading provider of Managed Services and hosted Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services designed for the ever-changing communication needs of today’s businesses of all sizes. Through its technology partnership with Vaultas, MyTELEPATH will collocate critical IT equipment and infrastructure in Vaultas’ new Alexandria data center to support an expansion of its SMB VoIP offering and its nationwide Call Center services. Affordable and flexible access to Vaultas’ redundant fiber ring connecting Alexandria, Duluth and Minneapolis was critical to MyTELEPATH’s decision to proceed with a regional expansion.
“Nine years ago, we started by focusing on providing small to mid-sized business with a VoIP solution. However, as new opportunities have emerged, we have capitalized when and where it makes sense for our business,” said Mike Larson, partner MyTELEPATH. “Vaultas has opened up a new market for us in the Upper Midwest, and this partnership has already generated new customers and revenue acceleration for us—all made possible by Vaultas’ new Alexandria data center facility and their scalable and highly redundant fiber-optic network throughout Minnesota.”
Vaultas develops, owns, and operates vendor-neutral collocation data centers and business continuity and disaster recovery facilities that provide customers with secure, strategically located, private and semiprivate data center solutions that meet even the most stringent strategic and technical requirements. Vaultas’ vendor-neutral environments reduce TCO (total cost of ownership) for clients through effective use of infrastructure, vendor collaboration, network consolidation, energy conservation and strategic partnering.
“Businesses of all types across the Midwest are often thwarted in their aspirations to expand by lack of access to key infrastructure, including data storage facilities and even more frequently by lack of affordable and flexible network bandwidth,” said Vaultas President John Unger. “MyTELEPATH is a perfect example of such a business, with forward-thinking leaders and aggressive strategies, yet insufficient IT infrastructure to realize those plans. We are proud to partner with MyTELEPATH and help take their business plans to the next level, all while driving economic development in our home state of Minnesota.”

About MyTELEPATH:
Since 2002, MyTELEPATH has delivered managed communication solutions to business customers that reduce CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) without increasing OPEX (Operating Expenses). MyTELEPATH continues to be an expert in IP Telephony. By leveraging emerging technology changes, the company has expanded nationally into other market segments, like call centers, over the last three years. Additional information regarding MyTELEPATH is available at www.MyTelepath.com or by calling 866-795-VOIP (8647).

About Vaultas:
Vaultas is a leading-edge Minnesota data center company that develops, builds and operates collaborative, vendor-neutral, data centers and BCDR complexes to support the fast-growing demand placed on today’s data storage and IT application requirements, coupled with the complex disaster-recovery needs of any business. Vaultas has built a secure, high-capacity fiber-optic network from Minneapolis to Fargo, with plans to build multiple data centers along the route. Vaultas’ data center and BCDR complex has completed construction of its most recent facility in Alexandria, Minnesota where the company is based.
To learn more about Vaultas, visit www.vaultas.com.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

HP and Alcatel-Lucent Bring Together the Power of Data Center Technology and Communications Networks

2011-12-01T12:01:29Z

HP and Alcatel-Lucent Bring Together the Power of Data Center Technology and Communications Networks

Paris, France, December 1, 2011 – @PR2WEB - HP (NYSE: HPQ) and Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced a jointly developed solution to help organizations move, store and access vast amounts of information by integrating data center infrastructure technology and high-performance communications networks.

The new HP and Alcatel-Lucent Data Center Network Connect (DCNC) is an integrated architecture that brings together the strengths of data center technology with high-performance communications networks to offer enterprises the same levels of reliability, speed and capacity that are available on telecommunication service provider networks – now at substantially lower cost.

This offering builds upon HP and Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to equip enterprises and service providers with the specific tools they need to deliver converged systems of IT and telecom infrastructures for greater flexibility. DCNC is the latest example of that promise, assisting enterprises in creating efficiencies within their data centers and networks for greater agility. In addition, HP is helping service providers deliver public cloud offerings to customers by also announcing HP CloudSystem integration with Alcatel-Lucent today.

“Clients are creating vast amounts of information that needs to be resourced, distributed and shared without compromising the quality of data or the speed at which it’s delivered,” said Arthur Filip, vice president and general manager, Technology Consulting, HP. “HP and Alcatel-Lucent provide clients a way to securely share extremely high volumes of data between data center sites when and where it’s needed in an instant.”

“Alcatel-Lucent and HP’s solution is based on technology engineered to satisfy telecommunications service providers that expect their networks to perform with exceptional reliability and meet their needs far into the future,” said Philippe Keryer, president, Networks Group, Alcatel-Lucent. “Large enterprises can confidently invest in these solutions knowing that they will receive the full benefit of their investment for years to come.”

Generating enterprise-wide flexibility with data center enhancements

DCNC combines HP’s breadth of technologies and services for data centers with Alcatel-Lucent’s optical transport solutions for service providers and its high-performance service routing and switching portfolio, which are key elements of the Alcatel-Lucent High Leverage Network (HLN)™ architecture.

DCNC will leverage the strength of Alcatel-Lucent’s recently announced CloudBand solution which accesses the power of the distributed network infrastructure to offer large enterprises and governments access to the cloud with the quality of service their activities require.

To address critical functions such as disaster recovery, data backup, virtual machine mobility and the creation of cloud backbones, large enterprises and service providers require an integrated solution that provides ultra-high bandwidth and low latency for connecting data centers. Emerging data center trends such as server virtualization, scale-out applications, network convergence and cloud computing have placed new demands on data center and service provider networks. As such, they require new designs and infrastructure technology that eliminate bandwidth, performance and availability limitations.

The HP and Alcatel-Lucent solution brings together key data center services and networking offerings from the portfolios of both companies. The DCNC supports immediate data center demands such as consolidation, business continuity and security, while laying the foundation for service-oriented, on-demand computing technologies.

DCNC takes advantage of high-performance service routing, switching and optical transport capabilities so clients can address the demanding requirements of the financial services, health care and media sectors, where speed and bandwidth capacity are crucial to delivering services.

HP Enterprise Services, which offers a range of data center services for HP’s outsourcing clients, used Alcatel-Lucent’s 1830 PSS (Photonic Service Switch) to create high-capacity optical links to interconnect HP’s commercial data centers. The first two projects in Germany and Switzerland were successful, and future deployments in other HP commercial data centers are planned.

Client benefits include:

Increased network performance with faster, more reliable throughput. This results in a highly reliable networking system for e-business applications, business communications and network-based business services.

Improved time to market through an integrated hardware, software and services solution that combines data center technologies with consulting capabilities to assist clients with implementation and support.

Enhanced flexibility and agility within the network using an open standards-based design so clients can meet and exceed service-level agreements.

Reduced total cost of ownership by making the network more efficient by consolidating and connecting multiple protocols and storage area networks and by enabling other resource-sharing capabilities among various locations.

Superior reliability to support today’s 24/7 business needs.

Availability and pricing

HP and Alcatel-Lucent Data Center Network Connect consists of existing products and product-attached services from HP and Alcatel-Lucent that are available globally now. The services are currently available in select locations with expected global and consolidated availability by year end.

About the HP and Alcatel-Lucent Global Alliance

The HP and Alcatel-Lucent global alliance helps service providers and large enterprises evolve toward converged IT and telecom infrastructures that are more efficient, flexible and adapted to the needs of fast-changing markets. Together, HP and Alcatel-Lucent bring to market the world’s broadest set of capabilities to support customers’ business transformation.

The alliance is currently rolling out comprehensive customer offerings such as the DCNC solution that take full advantage of both companies’ product portfolios for the enterprise and telecom markets.

About HP

HP creates new possibilities for technology to have a meaningful impact on people, businesses, governments and society. The world’s largest technology company, HP brings together a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure at the convergence of the cloud and connectivity, creating seamless, secure, context-aware experiences for a connected world. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

Editorial contact:

Laura Startzenbach

+1 508 797 2508

laura.startzenbach@hp.com

www.hp.com/go/newsroom

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to statements of the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations, including execution of growth strategies, transformation initiatives and restructuring plans; any statements concerning expected development, performance or market share relating to products and services; any statements regarding anticipated operational and financial results; any statements of expectation or belief; and any statements of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include macroeconomic and geopolitical trends and events; the competitive pressures faced by HP’s businesses; the development and transition of new products and services (and the enhancement of existing products and services) to meet customer needs and respond to emerging technological trends; the execution and performance of contracts by HP and its customers, suppliers and partners; the protection of HP’s intellectual property assets, including intellectual property licensed from third parties; integration and other risks associated with business combination and investment transactions; the hiring and retention of key employees; expectations and assumptions relating to the execution and timing of growth strategies, transformation initiatives and restructuring plans; the resolution of pending investigations, claims and disputes; and other risks that are described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, 2011 and HP’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2010. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

© 2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

About Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU)

The long-trusted partner of service providers, enterprises, strategic industries and governments around the world, Alcatel-Lucent is a leader in mobile, fixed, IP and Optics technologies, and a pioneer in applications and services. Alcatel-Lucent includes Bell Labs, one of the world's foremost centres of research and innovation in communications technology.

With operations in more than 130 countries and one of the most experienced global services organizations in the industry, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach.

The Company achieved revenues of Euro 16 billion in 2010 and is incorporated in France and headquartered in Paris.

For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com, read the latest posts on the Alcatel-Lucent blog http://www.alcatel-lucent.com/blog and follow the Company on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Alcatel_Lucent.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

Vaultas Partnership Powers Lakes PC Help Technology Offering

2011-11-22T00:58:11Z

Vaultas Partnership Powers Lakes PC Help Technology Offering

Fiber Optic Network and Data Center Collocation Services Combine to Help Drive Growth for Computer Support Specialists

Minneapolis, Minn.—Nov. 21, 2011— @PR2WEB - Vaultas, a premier provider of collaborative, vendor-neutral data center, collocation, and BCDR (business continuity and disaster recovery) facilities in the Upper Midwest, today announced a collaborative partnership with Lakes PC Help based in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

With the growth of virtualization technology, Lakes Area PC Help has experienced considerable growth over their 13 years in business; evolving from a provider of residential computer repair services to a robust offering that includes innovative technology solutions for the B2B market. The company was built on a reputation for excellent customer service and continually providing affordable, in-demand technology solutions to the local community. As a result of its partnership with Vaultas, Lakes Area PC Help is expanding its offering and its business operations with the creation of Wireless Data Systems, LLC. Currently in beta, Wireless Data Systems will provide web design, wireless access, web hosting and cloud computing to both residential and business customers in and around Alexandria, MN.

“The opportunity to significantly expand our geographic and product footprint to customers in both Detroit Lakes and Alexandria is largely driven by our new partnership with Vaultas,” said Lakes Area PC Help owner Tim Schacher. “With Vaultas’ state-of-the art data center facility, their 800 gigabit fiber-optic network, and access to many other network providers, combined with their team’s collaborative, can-do attitude, I’m now empowered to grow my business while providing the community with more-affordable wireless internet access. My critical data was previously stored in Texas, but now Vaultas gives me peace of mind with servers one hour away in Alexandria, and soon in St. Cloud—all providing my business complete control over my data and uptime.”

Vaultas develops, owns and operates vendor-neutral IT data centers and business continuity and disaster recovery facilities that provide customers with secure, strategically located, private and semiprivate data center solutions that meet even the most stringent strategic and technical requirements. Vaultas’ vendor-neutral environments reduce the TCO (total cost of ownership) for clients through effective use of infrastructure, energy conservation, vendor collaboration, network consolidation and strategic partnering.

“Vaultas is delighted to play a role in empowering the Alexandria business community with much-needed economic development and the most advanced colocation data center,” said Vaultas President John Unger. “Our new Alexandria data center facility is completed, bringing the local business community collocation solutions, data storage and backup solutions, web and application hosting, and high-speed internet access that scale to meet their requirements. We are pleased to play a role in the impressive growth and success of Lakes PC Help and their founders, and we look forward to many more such initiatives that drive economic growth throughout Minnesota.”

About Lakes PC Help:
For over 13 years, Lakes PC Help, based in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, has provided honest, reliable, and cost-effective computer repair services to both residential and international businesses. Our proven and responsive solutions repeatedly lead to reduced cost, improved system stability and enhanced customer satisfaction. Launching in January 2012, Wireless Data Systems, LLC, will provide wireless access, web design, web hosting, and cloud computing to both residential and business community in Alexandria, MN.

To learn more, visit www.lakespchelp.com.

About Vaultas:
Vaultas is a leading-edge Minnesota data center company that develops, builds, and operates collaborative, vendor-neutral, data centers and BCDR complexes to support the fast-growing demand placed on today’s data storage and IT application requirements, coupled with the complex disaster-recovery needs of any business. Vaultas has built a secure, high-capacity fiber-optic network from Minneapolis to Fargo, with plans to build multiple data centers along the route. Vaultas has completed construction of its most recent data center and BCDR complex facility in Alexandria, Minnesota where the company is based.

To learn more about Vaultas, visit www.vaultas.com.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Architect to the Clouds

Wi-Manx Selects Juniper Networks for New State-of-the-Art Data Center

2011-11-09T11:29:51Z

Wi-Manx Selects Juniper Networks for New State-of-the-Art Data Center

Juniper Networks EX Series Ethernet Switches and MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers Chosen for New Data Center to Support Provider's Hosting and Cloud Services

SUNNYVALE, CA—(@PR2WEB - November 09, 2011) -
Highlighted Links
Juniper Website
Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR), the industry leader in network innovation, today announced that Wi-Manx, one of the Isle of Man's leading communications and IT solutions providers, serving customers with a wide range of internet, voice and data solutions, has chosen Juniper Networks® EX Series Ethernet Switches and MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers as the backbone for its new state-of-the-art data center and IPv6 network.
Wi-Manx's Heywood House data center and IPv6 network will feature the latest generation of redundant power systems, cooling technology, access control, high-speed connectivity options and server systems. From the new data center, Wi-Manx will launch a comprehensive range of hosting services including dedicated servers, co-location solutions, virtual servers, cloud hosting, complex hosting, domain-name and e-mail services.
"This data center is critical to our strategy of building on international success and becoming a truly global player in the data center market, enabling us to offer the very latest technology at a competitive rate," said Joe Hughes, chief technical officer, Wi-Manx. "We wanted leading-edge technology for our network and undertook a detailed research and evaluation phase where we considered a number of leading vendors. We selected Juniper Networks because it enables us to provide fast, secure, reliable Ethernet connectivity and deploy our services more quickly and cost-effectively. "
"Service providers seeking to play on the global data center stage need to build networks that deliver on ever-increasing requirements for quality of service, network performance and availability," said Mike Marcellin, vice president, systems strategy and marketing, Platform Systems Group, Juniper Networks. "By choosing to partner with Juniper Networks, Wi-Manx will be able to provide a differentiated user experience and scale its network to support increasingly higher amounts of bandwidth, services and subscribers."
Powered by Juniper Networks single operating system, Junos®, the MX Series provides a consistent operating environment that streamlines network operations and improves the availability, performance and security of all types of services supported at the Universal Edge. The MX80 3D Universal Edge Router integrates carrier Ethernet capabilities and a modular port concentrator design to create a cost-effective solution for environments with limited space.
The EX Series Ethernet Switches feature Virtual Chassis fabric technology designed to enable up to 10 interconnected EX4200 switches to operate as a single, logical system. Virtual Chassis fabric technology reduces the number of managed devices in the network and lowers capital and operating expenses, providing the highest levels of availability for demanding converged data, voice and video environments and delivering the most reliable platform for unifying enterprise communications.
Additional Resources:
For more information about Juniper's Universal Edge solution, please refer to the following resources:

Juniper's Universal Edge -- http://www.juniper.net/edge
The Network Ahead blog -- www.juniper.net/networkahead
Juniper.Net Community -- www.juniper.net/community
Juniper's Social Channels -- www.juniper.net/social

About Juniper Networks
Juniper Networks is in the business of network innovation. From devices to data centers, from consumers to cloud providers, Juniper Networks delivers the software, silicon and systems that transform the experience and economics of networking. Additional information can be found at Juniper Networks (www.juniper.net).
Juniper Networks and Junos are registered trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. in the United States and other countries. The Juniper Networks and Junos logos are trademarks of Juniper Networks, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks are the property of their respective owners.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Data Center Architect to the Clouds

Vaultas Announces Planned Data Center Expansion into the St. Cloud Market

2011-10-31T23:44:05Z

Vaultas Announces Planned Data Center Expansion into the St. Cloud Market

Learn more about Data Center, Collocation and Cloud Services at the St. Cloud Chamber Technology and Education Conference

Minneapolis, Minn.—Oct.31, 2011— @PR2WEB - Vaultas (www.vaultas.com), a premier provider of collaborative, vendor-neutral data center, collocation and BCDR (Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery) facilities in the Upper Midwest, today announced an expansion plan into the St. Cloud, Minnesota market. Vaultas continues its overall growth strategy, bringing a powerful suite of vendor-neutral collocation, data backup, data storage, cloud services and hosting to Central Minnesota. This follows the completion of the company’s most recent data center facility in Alexandria, Minnesota.
Securing organizations’ mission-critical data assets remains a top priority among CIOs, and recent trends in data center and collocation outsourcing, coupled with overall growth in cloud computing and hosting, demonstrates continued acceptance of data center virtualization technologies.
In Forecast: Data Centers, Worldwide, 2010–2015, Gartner is forecasting steadily increasing growth in data storage as more organizations shift from in-house to outsourced facilities. Data loss from either human error or a disaster can be disastrous to any business and is increasingly critical given that 93 percent or firms never recover from such a loss.
Vaultas develops, owns, and operates IT data centers and business continuity and disaster recovery complexes that provide customers with secure, strategically located, private, and semiprivate data center solutions that meet even the most stringent strategic and technical requirements. Vaultas’ vendor-neutral environments reduce TCO (total cost of ownership) for clients through effective use of infrastructure, energy conservation, vendor collaboration, network consolidation and strategic partnering.
“Our expansion into the St. Cloud market is a key milestone for Vaultas, expanding our footprint in Central Minnesota and further empowering our customers with flexible data center and cloud computing solutions that scale to meet their requirements,” said Vaultas President John Unger. “Our mission is to bring the St. Cloud business community collaborative, affordable security solutions to defend their data and ease operating expenses. At Vaultas, we deliver best-in-class services for primary data center and collocation, website, and business application hosting; ultra-high-speed bandwidth, data backup, and recovery solutions.”
Vaultas will be on-site to meet the local business community at the St. Cloud Chamber Technology and Education Conference taking place November 1, 2001 and is offering free data center and networking consultation to attendees.
About Vaultas:
Vaultas is a leading-edge Minnesota data center company that develops, builds and operates collaborative, vendor-neutral, data centers, and BCDR complexes to support the fast-growing demand placed on today’s data storage and IT application requirements, coupled with the complex disaster-recovery needs of any business. Vaultas has built a secure, high-capacity fiber-optic network from Minneapolis to Fargo, with plans to build multiple data centers along the route. Vaultas’ data center and BCDR complex has completed construction of its most recent facility in Alexandria, Minnesota where the company is based.
To learn more about Vaultas, visit www.vaultas.com.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Data Center Architect to the Clouds

Millennium bcp Chooses Cisco Cloud Computing Architecture to Support Application Development

2011-10-22T13:38:34Z

Millennium bcp Chooses Cisco Cloud Computing Architecture to Support Application Development

New cloud computing Services will help optimize performance and improve business agility for the bank

Lisbon, October 21, 2011 – @PR2WEB - Cisco today announced that Millennium bcp has selected Cisco® cloud computing technology to help optimize data center resources required to support application development,simplify data center management and reduce total cost of ownership while increasing business agility and productivity.

The application development team is responsible for the majority of the business applications that are supporting the bank's services. Thanks to Cisco cloud computing technology, the development team will be able to decrease the application time to market for new services.

Millennium bcp is Portugal's largest listed bank, with more than 98.9 billion euros in assets, 1,800 branch offices in Portugal and at its international locations, and profits of 225 million euros in 2009.

This is one of the first projects in Portugal to incorporate an architecture for a virtualized dynamic data center, including a private cloud, where Millennium bcp will work in an infrastructure as a service (IaaS) model. Portugal Telecom will provide all the hardware required to develop new projects and the services.

With this formula, Millennium bcp will be able to increase agility in its business, reach unprecedented scalability levels, offer flexible services and make efficient use of energy, physical space, and the total cost of investment.

In adittion, the development team will be able to use IaaS for each new application. With this approach they will use standardized hardware and software pre-negotiated without the need of using the procurement department for every single process.

Through this model the customer will be able to implement a self-service model in which users can add storage capacity without any complications. Users can also change agreements for support and recovery service levels if necessary. In parallel, this solution allows users to share the same infrastructure, network or storage resources without compromising vulnerable information.

This solution will allow Millennium bcp to have a more adequate cost management, while improving the response to the development team through a better usage of resources and provisioning. This will lead to an improvement on the project's time-to-market, and to an increase on the development teams' productivity while reducing the operational risk.

Facts

Millennium bcp is one of the first customers to adopt a cloud-based model, based on Portugal Telecom's cloud infrastructure.

In this case, Millennium bcp will use a private cloud model.

Portugal Telecom collaborated with Cisco to design and build its underlying cloud computing infrastructure, based on a brand new-data center.

The key driver for this new model was the existence of a large quantity of equipment that no longer met the technological requirements, and was not being used at full capacity.

The new cloud-based model proved to be the most appropriate from a cost, management and productivity perspective.

Supporting Quotes

Carlos Alves, CIO, Millennium bcp

"We expect to change some of our organization foundational principles. We trust this will serve as a benchmark for improving operations, bringing increased agility and flexibility to the bank, while helping control costs. It will also release internal resources from commoditized tasks, allowing Millennium bcp's employees to focus on the core business."

Wendy Mars, director Data Centres and UCS, Cisco

"The data center is constantly evolving to meet employee expectations for accessing networks, applications and information anywhere at any time with any device. Cisco's approach to infrastructure allows for this change and the delivery of new, not-yet-enabled services. With the announcement of this project, Millennium bcp is taking a pioneering step forward by embracing new technology such as virtualization, cloud computing, desktop virtualization and a unified data center infrastructure, which will see a number of benefits, including economic efficiencies, differentiation from competitors and crucially, being able to meet their employee expectations while simultaneously helping to meet their own business goals."

Supporting Resources:

Millennium bcp

Cisco

Cisco Unified Service Delivery

Tags / Keywords:

RSS Feed for Cisco: http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds

About Millennium BCP

Millennium bcp is Portugal's largest listed bank, with more than €98 billion in assets, €225 million in profits in 2009, and 1,800 branch offices in Portugal, Poland, Greece, Mozambique, Angola and Romania. A market leader and recognized IT innovator, Millennium bcp provides universal banking services across a broad variety of platforms, from traditional retail branches to online, mobile and telephone banking. Further information about Millennium bcp can be found at http://www.millenniumbcp.pt.

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at http://www.cisco.com. For ongoing news, please go tohttp://newsroom.cisco.com. Cisco equipment in Europe is provided by Cisco Systems International B.V. and Cisco International Limited, wholly owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.

# # #

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

-xx-

Back to Main Page

Gary E. Smith - Data Center Architect to the Clouds