Welcome back to our Operations blog! We have been providing monthly updates on specific projects within the operations team, along with tips, tricks and insight into how to keep everything running smoothly and what to do when an issue occurs to ensure your business is back up and running in no time.
This month we will be discussing Data Center operations to educate customers about LightEdge’s top facilities and infrastructures. We are speaking with Curt Collicott, LightEdge’s Facilities Engineer. Curt works at the Des Moines, Iowa Data Center Campus and ensure daily operations run smoothly.
Why LightEdge Data Centers?
With dispersed facilities in Des Moines, IA; Kansas City, MO and Omaha, NE; our data centers and experts remain at the heart of your operations. All our facilities are designed to offer N+1 redundancy on every main component, providing greater protection and security for your crucial IT operations. With data centers designed to withstand nearly any weather incident with minimal downtime, your operations can continue without interruption.
“The fact that our buildings were designed and engineered to be data centers is the biggest factor that sets our Data Centers apart from our competition. Our facilities were built tough to withstand the harsh Midwest weather. We also have preventative maintenance contracts on all our critical infrastructure, which helps identify any issues so we can rectify them before they become big issues,” said Collicott
Security and Compliance
All of our facilities are accessed and controlled 24x7x365 by closed-circuit TV, dual door man-trap entrance, pass card security, and biometric access points. Upon entering a LightEdge data center, guests must provide an ID to be given a badge with their personal information printed on it. Badges must be worn at all times while inside of the facility. Security is a top priority at LightEdge.
When asked how our data centers are continually evolving and adapting to remain secure, Collicott said, “We continually monitor the marketplace for new ways to improve our security around our facilities. One of the newer technologies that we have put into place in the new Des Moines data center is facial recognition scanners. These will be used in conjunction with our badge and biometric hand readers to provide another level of security.”
Guests will also be accompanied by a LightEdge employee, who will have the pass card, fingerprints and code to navigate through the building. Our services also meet the rigorous standards of compliance regulations in our industry and also HIPAA and PCI-DSS. We work with our customer through their audits by providing evidence to demonstrate compliance with controls that fall within LightEdge managed services.
Power and Cooling
Another feature that places our facilities above the rest are our power and cooling systems. With multiple power entries in ring configuration, uninterruptible power supplies and onsite diesel-powered generators, LightEdge can meet the power demands of even the most complex network infrastructure.
“Our electrical power is backed up by uninterruptible power supplies and generators to protect the critical electrical load if there is a utility outage, and our cooling systems were designed to be redundant, so we have capacity if we have a failure,” said Collicott.
Redundant Liebert DS chilled water cooling systems are implemented and monitored in each of our data center facilities to ensure that servers are kept at their optimal operating temperature.
Around the Clock Monitoring
Our Data Center facilities and equipment are manned around the clock by expert Network Operations Center (NOC) staff. The NOC is always staffed and monitored by a live technician. Formal monitoring, logging and event management process are employed in the NOC to ensure that necessary information is recognized, identified, recorded and processed in a timely manner. These technical experts are also available to answer support questions 24x7x365.
When thinking about one thing customers count on while using LightEdge facilities, Collicott said, “I think our customers look to us to provide peace of mind. They look to LightEdge to provide the reliability, security, surveillance, cooling, network, and uptime that they might not be able provide for themselves.”
If you want to check out our data center facilities for yourself, set up a tour now! Find out which center is nearest you by visiting our Data Centers page here. Thanks for reading our monthly operations blog! We hope you learned more about our highly secure, Tier III compliant Data Centers. Check back next month to find out more ways that LightEdge can help make your operations run smoothly.
