Colocation. What does this mean in an age of Cloud or Distributed Computing? Does Colocation differ from Mission-Critical Colocation? Is hosting becoming too complex for small to medium sized businesses to manage themselves? The answer to the above is Yes and No. As they say, it’s complicated.
It is accurate to say that the days of throwing a server into a rack and providing an e-commerce store that you manage are virtually over. Now the need for a scaling business to cross-connect with local partners and interconnect to distributed partners is critical. However, the very premise of colocation still exists whether customers know it or not. The name Cloud is confusing in its connotation because literally nothing lives in the cloud. Data may travel through air and clouds, but it lives and is processed in a physical server or device in a physical location. The nature of Colocation is more critical now than ever before. Due to the movement in the direction of Distributed and Edge Computing. Getting closer to the user means more local infrastructure and less centralization.
At Fortress Data Centers, we have moved to a Mission-Critical Colocation focus. Where everything is interconnected. We are approaching the need to provide downstream and upstream data pathways by working with carriers to enable 5G and multiple cross-connects. We have partners in hundreds of data centers across the country and world to create an extensive mesh network. Securing software defined network (SDN) partners to provide a layer for customers above the mesh. We believe that Managed Service Providers (MSP) will continue to carry more of the capital expenditures and drive most of the scale to operational expenses in the industry. By offloading all of your networked infrastructure and internal intellectual knowledge to MSPs also comes with risk.
To illustrate, let’s look at the current Supply Channel issues that countries around the world are facing. With a small number of countries controlling the supply of much of the world’s Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), the US and other countries have faced uncertainty in supply. The reliance on a globally interconnected ecosystem has been shaken by political and logistics issues. Relying on a single MSP may also come to a day of reckoning for many companies.
If political tensions increase, expect to see more isolationism practices put in place, shutting off some Cloud providers from nationally sensitive businesses. We already see this through the current TikTok chess game happening between governments and companies. Having an IT plan that is flexible, scalable and protective against risk is the Mission-Critical Colocation plan that can ensure continuation of your business.
Mission-Critical Colocation does not mean that everything rides on your locally hosted servers. It means having a strategic plan to place a controlled and distributed set of servers that are protecting your data and that of your customers. This is like your gold at Fort Knox or your cold wallet storage for cryptocurrency. It is part of why Fortress Data Centers exists; to provide services that ensure that your business data needs are not only burstable and scalable but also protected from any risk contingency.
Because, what is here today, can be gone tomorrow. Colocation is here to stay and that is why at Fortress Data Centers, our mantra is “We are Here.”
Venture Capital Looking for Smart Entrepreneurs with an Edge Computing Strategy
It may seem like a difficult time in the startup and early stage company world. If your funding strategy is based on Venture Capital (VC), you have experienced the slowdown in deal making. Recent setbacks with high-profile deals have also driven a more cautionary approach for many. However, in risk capital, the bold and the visionary see the highest returns so the need for VCs will always be to entertain future-focused game changers. With an Edge Computing strategy that fits where the smart money is going, a deal will be easier to close.
In this talk from Andreeson Horowitz General Partner Peter Levine, he discusses “The End of Cloud Computing” with Machine Learning at the Edge as a significant accelerator away from the Cloud. We are also dealing with increasing data privacy and ownership concerns for individuals and companies alike. Blockchain is getting more refined and microtransactions are now possible through protocols like Bitcoin SV with cashless, peer-to-peer payments at scale. Machines can exchange data and the owners get paid. Individuals can own their data at their personal Edge and get paid for releasing it upstream. An integrated, trustless system of Edge and Cloud creates an interconnected mesh that holds endless possibilities for compute power, storage and dynamic interactions.
The days of a technology startup relying on a cloud-only strategy are over. VCs need to see that you are on top of your game and have an Edge Strategy that scales with the future of locally stored and controlled data. Just like the technology stack has changed from a linear and closed environment to a more open architecture, containerized and microservices structure, your Edge and Cloud Strategy has to evolve as well.
At Fortress Data Centers, there is a significant focus on building out the next generation data center that connects the local to the cloud and beyond. We see a time soon when your Mission-Critical Colocation is supported by a 5G Enabled, hyperlocal server environment that pulls and pushes data with the ultimate benefit for the end user. Schools will be interconnected to the students for at-home, classroom type experiences using mixed reality. Hospitals will provide homecare at levels that are close to those experienced in a physical facility. Gaming that becomes more lifelike as new virtual reality systems are setup including full body haptics integration.
The Cloud has progressed and can handle much of the needs of a startup. But for the Future, the Edge is critical as your audience will demand that they control their data locally. And Venture Capitalists will recognize the leaders who are bringing their solutions into an Edge world.
Contact Fortress Data Centers at info@fortressdc.com or call 1-800-940-0997 to learn more about setting up an Edge Strategy and lead into the future.
The Future of Entertainment Technology May be in Your Recliner or Couch Soon
It is a Friday night and you are getting ready to watch the latest blockbuster from your favorite place in the family room of your home. You could watch it on a 65” 4K screen or put your high definition virtual reality (VR) headset on and watch it alone or as part of a movie group who you can share some virtual popcorn with. Long distance relationships just got a little closer than just a facetime chat.
Or you want to go to the ballet but there are no physical events until early 2021. Do we chalk it up to the year that passed us by, or do we create a virtual world of expanded options? Think of all the old Rock and Roll bands out there doing the circuit to either pay the bills or to continue living the dream. It is doubtful that Kansas or The Moddy Blues used the PPP program to keep the funds flowing. And another year older…
The new reality is that Virtual has to fill the gaps. Zoom or other meeting software is fine, but the real magic lies in a full, 360°, High Def, VR Headset, Bose Over-The-Ear experience that leaves your heartbeat thumping and your senses tingling. You can be in a stadium with thousands of screaming fans at any concert in the world or enjoy the finesse and grace of a much quieter ballet theater. VR is a major part of the future of entertainment. Platforms like Engage or the revival of JanusVR, can take us to the virtual world of full immersion. Integrate a motion sensor sofa with haptic capabilities and a rumble seat and prepare for true exhilaration.
The audiences in VR are small now but there will be an explosion of usage over the next few years because not only entertainment will be on them, but education, work and training will be moving into VR in a big way. Your work-from-home neighbors will all have a personal or company issued VR device. Or WebVr will be used for those without the headsets. Now comes the technology challenges that 5G and Edge Computing will need to prepare for.
In the future, our entertainment rooms will also include isolation rooms that are soundproof and set up to allow seated or standing experiences. Safety rails or soft walls will keep us from getting hurt while we jump up and sing our lungs out with our favorite bands. All of this virtual entertainment is possible today with Fortress Data Centers leading a local charge to connect the 5G Enabled, Neutral Carrier Meet-Me Room with Edge Computing, SDN Interconnectivity, Mission-Critical Colocation and more. Speed and low latency are critical. Processing at the Edge optimizes the experiences as well. Pre-loading content to local nodes on the network creates even better experiences. It all needs to be as close to the user as possible.
We can’t wait a year to watch our favorite ballet troupe perform again, live. Or see Bruce Springsteen in concert for the 20th time, live. Because live is the reality we expect, even virtually.
Contact Fortress Data Centers at info@fortressdc.com or call 1-800-940-0997 to learn more about getting closer to your end user.
The Helen Woodward Animal Center in San Diego County California is a nationally recognized center for helping dogs, cats and people become better together. They find forever homes for orphaned cats and dogs but also have programs that reinforce the value to people that pets bring into our lives.
For nearly a decade, The Animal Center has been producing PAWmicon with recent events being held at and around the Comic-Con Museum in San Diego. Imagine a line-up of Super-Dogs and Wonder-Cats and you can understand the sheer enjoyment for attendees, both four and two-legged. But as with most physical events, plans had to change and change fast. Enter OMNISCAPE™ as a virtual platform to take dogs and cats in capes to new heights!
Omniscape is an evolving virtual platform that has been used by brands like FITAID for the Spartan World Championship where attendees could gather augmented reality digital tokens using the Spartan Search App and use those tokens for rewards like drinks and merchandise. In addition to digital goods, Omniscape now has the capability to create virtual spaces that are very immersive using virtual reality for headsets as well as WebVR. They are using a combination of technologies to create the virtual event for PAWmicon which is happening July 7-8. It should not only be a fun event but also showcases the next step in taking all conferences and events virtual.
For PAWmicon, here are some of the virtual things that can be done as per their event ticket site:
AUGMENTED REALITY DOGHOUSE
Customize your own augmented reality doghouse with a variety of cool objects by completing simple activities. Perfect for fun pet-selfies and showing off to your friends!
WEBVR EXPERIENCE
Explore an immersive WebVR experience including an artist gallery, a viewing room, and amazing themed environments, each with sponsored 3D objects to discover for special offers.
At Fortress Data Centers, we are working with companies like Omniscape and their parent, Transmira, Inc. to enable the rapidly expanding immersive experiences that virtual and augmented reality can bring to audiences like those for PAWmicon. Rather than miss a year of pooches decked out in Star Wars garb strutting their stuff in front of the cameras, the virtual “digital twin” of events can extend to audiences around the world and build a protective shield from disruption like that from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The best experiences also create the most data intensive environments due to massive amounts of video data being generated. Over time, when virtual events become mainstream and we are all using 360° cameras to capture our experiences and then interact with realistic avatars of others in the virtual space, the data could crush local networks and experiences could suffer. Edge Computing and 5G enabled interconnectivity are some of the advances Fortress Data Centers is at the center of with our local Edge Data Centers to ensure that virtual experiences are the best they can be.
Most of us have heard about Zoom trolling. People who enter an unsecured meeting or event and disrupt it in various ways are exposing some of the downsides to the new normal of remote work or education. The disruption can not only be embarrassing for the organizers but also expose a company’s trade secrets and intellectual knowledge to competitors, along with even greater security issues.
There is a new movement happening around the professionalization of remote work. Something we may have seen evolve is that news organizations have slowly encouraged their reporters and newscasters to use professional backgrounds, regardless of where their “studio” is. “Joe” in the corner of his kitchen doing the weather does not cut it anymore. And it also involves getting serious about ensuring that internal meetings and events are served with the level of security commensurate with the need. Imagine the executives of companies developing new products holding unsecure Zoom meetings. It is a recipe for disaster if you are not professionalizing your approach to remote “everything”.
This post is spotlighting NetFoundry as one of the leaders for orchestrating remote-worker zero trust networking, among other services they provide. According to a NetFoundry customer from their website, “working with NetFoundry Zero Trust enables us to best serve edge compute. We have been working to embed our IoT Edge solution with NetFoundry SDKs to enable customers to meet their edge compute goals without the hassle of deploying VPNs, firewall, or propriety hardware.” With their SDN (Software Defined Network) with zero trust networking services, NetFoundry can help their clients quickly spin up a high-performance private network without putting up locally configured VPNs. The scale potential for remote meetings is tremendous but equally important is the level of confidence needed in the security capabilities of the network.
Let’s highlight the meetings and events business as an example of an industry hit very hard by COVID-19 and how they might address this as an opportunity. In San Francisco, along with the rest of the world, the physical event business has been decimated. One of Fortress Data Center’s clients is building a next generation platform that can bring this business back as a digital twin to the physical event. Even as people start traveling again, the need for a digital twin is critical since it protects and expands the market for events. From Wikipedia, a digital twin “refers to a digital replica of potential and actual physical assets (physical twin), processes, people, places, systems and devices that can be used for various purposes.”
For instance, J.P. Morgan will potentially hold its 39th Annual Healthcare Conference at the Westin St. Francis hotel in San Francisco in January 2021. In January 2020, according to their website, over 9,000 attendees from more that 450 private and public companies attended. For 2021, it appears they are still planning to hold the conference and expecting even more participants. What happens if a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus happens in late fall and they are not ready for a digital twin? The hotels lose out, the city of San Francisco loses out and the attendees are faced with missing the knowledge transfer and networking that they are there for.
A solution is to prepare for inevitable disruption and use the opportunity to reach more people on a global basis with a quality and immersive experience. With NetFoundry’s capabilities tied into the Fortress Data Centers’ San Francisco location, everything can start locally and then go global through the cloud with low latency and high connection speeds. Since Fortress Data Centers are at the center of a cross connected environment of carrier neutral 5G and Edge Computing, the digital twin of the Westin St. Francis can be rendered in near real time with aspects of virtual and augmented reality to support video feeds happening in the venue. The hotel becomes a destination for virtual attendees and travelers from all over the world which expands the reach and drives revenue for the Westin, City of San Francisco and other providers of event and experience services. Now magnify this by every venue in the Bay area and we have a new paradigm of how conferences are done.
This is just one example of how the landscape has changed and why having an SDN capability to support the hybrid server needs of every physical and virtual business needs to change as well. NetFoundry is bringing the new capabilities needed for all business to consider and Fortress Data Centers is prepared to set the standard for excellence in helping achieve the best local-to-global has to offer.
Have you ever needed a flashlight and the battery was dead? Most of us have experienced this frustration. Now consider what happens when all the batteries in a data center need to be maintained. As part of the critical infrastructure, you really, really need them. As the SVP, Information Systems and Design at Fortress Data Centers, Chuck Best pioneered the use of lithium ion batteries (LIB) in a data center environment because he recognized the critical-function improvement that they could provide. In contrast to more traditional lead-acid batteries, LIBs have proven to be more reliable for ensuring the data centers up time and sustainability.
At Fortress Data Centers, the common theme is to provide high levels of customer support, service and superior customer experience. Chuck is characteristic of the theme “We Are Here” because he attends to the details, plans for the future and is “Here” for the customer. Chuck brought the idea of changing from lead-acid batteries to CEO Jason Warner a couple of years before the movement to LIB in most data centers was mainstream. Initial cost is a factor, so a capital expenditure of this magnitude required more than a hunch and a belief. Chuck did his homework and Jason agreed to move forward based on the long-term ROI of replacing lead-acid batteries at the Fortress Data Center locations.
Chuck Best, SVP Information Systems and Design
Innovation of this type not only requires research; it requires courage and a focus on implementing while reducing risk over the course of the implementation and subsequent full integration. Some of the benefits that LIB provides include;
Longer battery life – as all of us who drive cars know, lead-acid batteries need to be replaced. You just don’t want to be stuck in a remote location with a dead car battery. Right? Same in a data center. When the power goes out and the batteries are dead, or can’t carry the load your standing in the middle of a disaster of epic proportions.
Recharge rates are extended – similar to battery life, you don’t have to recharge the batteries as often. Less cycling, longer life.
Deeper discharge rates are not a problem and LIBs can handle many more cycles than traditional Lead Acid.
Lighter than lead-acid for the power you get – bottom line, lighter is better. There is less weight to lug around and less structural support needed in the buildings.
Smaller than lead-acid for the power – again, like weight, smaller is better. We can add more power for the equivalent footprint or reduce the space needed for the batteries.
LIBs can perform better in higher temperature environments – heat is always a consideration but if failure happens with the cooling systems, LIBs won’t be at the risk level of non-performance compared to lead-acid batteries.
Less drag on the environment: LIBs don’t require as many raw materials, are used for longer times so recycling time is better and as discussed, take less space and weigh less. All good for the environment.
But with all good things, there are naturally some questions and decisions to be made. When Chuck and Jason worked out a plan to replace lead-acid with LIBs, the fundamental aspect of cost had to be considered. Replacing all at once or over time was the primary consideration. They accelerated a replacement plan by looking at the batteries that were in the second half of their life cycle and swapped out those, followed by the rest over a reasonable period of time. For data centers that have a significant inventory of back-up batteries, coming up with a cost-rationalized plan that also meets the customer experience excellence desired will be critical. At Fortress Data Centers, the focus on improving the confidence of customers by not having power interruptions was a factor in accelerating the swap.
Innovation comes in large and small implementations. The guiding focus of Fortress Data Centers is on high levels of service, customer experience and confidence that stuff just works. Lithium ion batteries use are just one of the components of a data center that Chuck has pioneered and proven to success.
