We define High Availability as the ability to maintain a service at all times. The goal is to create an environment that is as resilient as possible so in the event that something does go wrong, your business process and services is unaffected.
We are able to maintain this level of service using the following services:
Backups
Local backups, for quick recovery
Local backups of the database are stored within the environment. This makes recovery almost instant if data corruption or deletion occurs. In addition, the backups serve as an archive, allowing is to roll back to earlier version of your data if the need ever arises. This typically happens to cover human error, such as, “Oops, I deleted the wrong file”.
Off-site backups, for security & disaster recovery
Moreover, another set of backups are performed offsite, in another data-center. This allows the protection of your data even if a disaster occurred at our main data-center site.
SQL Clustering, Always-On service
Active/Passive cluster
When running in Active/Passive mode, SQL Server runs on one active server while the passive server waits in case of a failure.
Automatic/Manual fail-over
A fail-over can occur both automatically or manually. A manual fail-over is beneficial in the event that patching or some other form of maintenance is required at the physical server level. We have implemented clustering in order to ensure that if ever a hardware failure on the physical server hosting your SQL instance is encountered, your databases would continue to be available to your applications and users.
Load Balancing
The network traffic benefits from being load balanced using the same architecture as Twitter, Fedora, Farmville, Instagram, Playfish (EA), Reddit, and Virgin Airlines, to name a few. We can handle 300 000 requests per second and 100 Gbps of traffic.
Firewall
Our entire network is protected by high end firewalls. These firewalls are setup in a high-availability configuration. These firewalls will also allow for visibility on attacks and protection against breaches within our networks.
Our Data-center advantages
Security
- Server access restricted to a few qualified technicians
- 24/7 surveillance in our data-centers
- Firewalls and virus definitions updated many times a day
Stability
- On-site team to maintain diligently the equipment
- Technicians available to swiftly answer service calls
- Hardware redundancy inside servers
- Many direct backbone connections to the internet
- Backup generators in case of power outage
- UPS (electrical surge protection and short power failure backup)
Performance
- Standard internet link of 100x100Mbps
- Up to 10x10Gbps internet available
- Gigabit local network
- Enterprise class cooling system