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What is a Data Center?

Getting help from a data center service provider can harden your security position, protect against unplanned downtime, and free up capital, as well as your team’s bandwidth.

Many businesses utilize managed cloud services for their data storage, application management, backup and recovery; however, as I discussed in a recent blog, the public cloud may not be the best solution for your organization. That’s why Quest offers a variety of flexible data center services that can be customized to fit your needs.

With the proliferation of AI/machine learning, the Internet of Things (IoT), 5G, and remote work, the data center today is the heart of many businesses. Data centers are one of the central pieces of infrastructure in today’s business world and one of the most powerful drivers of the economy.

Because they play such a key role, cloud data centers are very expensive. They can require a vast outlay of capital, costing more to build than other commercial investments. In addition to the racks of servers, routers, switches, storage systems, and firewalls, data centers require multiple power sources and banks of batteries to ensure business continuity. All of this valuable equipment requires an elaborate HVAC system to maintain a carefully controlled environment. And they need to be located in places that can be kept safe and secure. You don’t want your data center in a place that’s prone to fire, flood or earthquake.

Maintaining all of this can be extremely costly and time-consuming. For many organizations, data center services comprise significant operational costs and distract teams from their core business.

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Quest Data Center Services

Co-location (co-lo) is an affordable, efficient, and scalable alternative to hosting your own on-premises data center. Co-lo simply means that a provider houses your data center at a secure location, and provides networking, redundant power, cooling, and —most importantly— 24/7 security against cyberattack.

Quest maintains a global network of Service Delivery Centers, each located in a low-risk area and hardened with abundant protection against environmental threats. If, after a consultation, you decide to transition to a co-location data center, our team can help make it happen quickly.

Disaster Recovery and Data Centers

Quest’s disaster recovery services have utilized our secure data centers to help many businesses and organizations over the years. In the event of a fire, flood, earthquake, hurricane, power outage, equipment failure, or pernicious software bug, having your data backed up at an off-site data center can literally prevent disaster. Unplanned downtime alone can be crippling, while the outright loss of data is even worse. With your IT and network data backed up at a secure location, you can ensure that business resumes as quickly as possible.

With increasing frequency, we get calls in the wake of a cyberattack. Some of you have heard the cybersecurity firm FireEye announced that it had been hacked by what it called “a nation with top-tier offensive capabilities,” most likely Russia. As a leading cyber-defense company, FireEye’s tools are the most sophisticated in the world, and the hackers stole those very tools.

The bottom line is that you must be thoroughly and securely backed up by integrating Business Continuity Management (BCM) across your entire organization. That is the key to ensuring recovery time expectations will align with IT provider and disaster recovery resources. A secure data center is the best approach to such a plan.

I hope you found this introduction to data centers helpful. As always, contact us anytime about your technology needs.

Until next time,

Tim

Meet the Author
Tim Burke is the President and CEO of Quest. He has been at the helm for over 30 years.
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