Exelare Data Center Hosting Environment & Security Overview

When it comes to protecting your data, we don’t take any chances. Our hosting facility is state of the art, with 5 levels of security, redundant power backups, and a host of other important features. Data backups are taken every single day, with weekly redundant backups for additional security.

Overview

cBizSoft’s Cloud Hosting environment is located in a 20,000 square feet Data Center. The data center is a top tier facility in terms of network connectivity and infrastructure design and is SSAE 16 (formerly SAS70) Type II certified. Our primary Data Center is located in an 18- floor, all steel frame, secure building. It is one of the largest telecommunications facilities in the central region of the United States.

Data center is a strategically located in St. Louis because of its central location in the United States making it an ideal location from which to distribute Internet data throughout the United States and around the world;
Our data center building receives electricity from two separate power feeds on a spot network that provides for automatic failover capabilities.

Certifications

SSAE 16 SOC 1 Certified TYPE II Compliant
U.S. Department of Commerce Safe Harbor Certified

Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16, Reporting on Controls at a Service Organization, was finalized by the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in January 2010. SSAE 16 effectively replaces SAS 70 as the authoritative guidance for reporting on service organizations. SSAE 16 was formally issued in April 2010 with an effective date of June 15, 2011. SSAE 16 was drafted with the intention and purpose of updating the US service organization reporting standard so that it mirrors and complies with the new international service organization reporting standard – ISAE 3402.

US-EU Safe Harbor is a streamlined process for US companies to comply with the EU Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of personal data. Intended for U.S. organizations that process personal data collected in the EU, the Safe Harbor Principles are designed to assist eligible organizations to comply with the EU Data Protection Directive and maintain the privacy and integrity of that data.

These external certifications are performed yearly.

Key Features

Ability to support compliance requirements for HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI DSS, PII and others

Network

Our hosting environment maintains direct multi-Gigabit bandwidth connections into four of the tier 1 international Internet backbone providers. Each carrier must enter our data center through a different route eliminating the possibility of a complete service failure caused by a physical network cut.

From the upstream providers down to the network card, the highest quality equipment and hardware is utilized to give us a consistent, fast network.

Traffic is not exchanged with other providers at public exchange points such as MAE-East and MAE-West. Such peering agreements do not provide for any service quality guarantee. In fact, public exchange points often lead to greater packet loss.

Key Features

BGP routing to deliver packets to end users via the shortest path;
Redundant 10Gb/GigE fiber connections to the Internet on diverse physical paths;
Tier 1 carriers include Verizon/UUNET, CenturyLink/Qwest, Level 3 and Cogent.

Power

Our Data Center building is served by two ultra-reliable underground grids configured in a spot network that allows any one grid to drop without interruption to the building power supply.

Our environment doesn’t rely solely on the local power grid to guarantee around-the-clock power. Onsite diesel-powered generators and uninterruptible power systems (UPS) deliver redundant power if a critical incident occurs. Separate power generators are connected to separate power grids to provide redundant power protections. There are uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) that insure against short-term interruptions of power and also regulate the quality of power so that all equipment receives constant line voltage. Infrastructure is regularly tested to make sure it performs as designed in the event of an emergency.

Key Features

Redundant ultra-reliable underground power grid feeds from the electric utility company Ameren UE;
Redundant diesel generators with priority refueling contracts in place;
Four industry leading MGE UPSes;
Parallel power protection with two independent ATSes.

Security

There are five levels of security required to gain physical access to securely hosted servers and equipment in the data center.

LEVEL 1: Our data center building is locked from public access. After filing a personal picture with the building access database and a ID verification, each customer will be issued an access card to gain entrance to the building. Each entry is computer logged.

LEVEL 2: Building Security Guards. Our data center building has security guard on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Building security guards will check data center visitors and monitor building environments.

LEVEL 3: Biometric Hand Scanner. All employees and customers are required to pass in order to gain access to our data center.

LEVEL 4: Once inside the data center floor, all server areas are protected by steel doors and Proximity Security Badge locks. The name, date, and time of every entry is computer logged and can be reviewed at any time.

LEVEL 5: Locked Cabinets are provided for secure hosted servers. Keys or access codes are required to open and access these cabinets. All keys and access codes are managed by hosting center staff.

In addition to five levels of physical access security, the entire data center is monitored 24×7 by security cameras and on-site staff. Cameras are positioned at every entrance, each and every rack aisle and customer cage areas. All security cameras are recorded.

Key Features

Military-grade pass card access and biometric identification units provide additional security
Security is independently verified by regular SSAE 16 Type II audits
24×7 on-premise security guards

Cooling

Redundant Computer Room AC (CRAC) units precisely regulate temperature and humidity year round to ensure optimal equipment functionality and reliability. Each CRAC unit contains independent compressors and cooling loops to further enhance fault tolerance and reliability. CRAC units are powered by normal and backup generator electrical systems, in order to maintain their availability.

Key Features

Proactive monitoring and control of temperature levels;
Redundant Water tanks;
Dual water mains with diverse entries;

Fire Suppression

The Data Center is engineered with the highest degree of protection against fire damage. Concrete floors, all steel ceilings, fire proof walls, and steel framed racks. There are no flammable materials inside the data center area.

State-of-the-art VESDA air sampling fire detection systems are capable of detecting invisible by-products of materials as they degrade during the pre-combustion stages of an incipient fire by actively and continuously sampling the air.

To prevent accidental sprinkler discharge, the data center is equipped with a zoned, drypipe, pre-action sprinkler system that requires two or more sensors to activate.