Cloud Services

What do you get with the Vintage Cloud?

1. What kind of internet connectivity do you have to your cloud?

1. 40 megabits per second (upload and download) fiber to the Time Warner Telecom 10 gigabit loop that runs right in front of our Data Center. Our current plan allows us to call and have increments of 10 megabits per second added up to 100 megabits per second if necessary. Client also has the capability via TWTC of having “Metro-Ethernet” connect your office to ours at 1 Gigabit Speed (subject to availability).

2. What kind of power and backup power do you have to your cloud infrastructure?

1. We have a dedicated electrical circuit supplying power to the rack which holds our current cloud hardware (batteries, servers, storage, switches, routers, firewalls). Our battery run-time if we lose power is approximately 1 hour, with gas generators as a backup to that. Over the last 2 years we have not had to completely shut down during an outage, including during the recent rolling black outs. When our block was without electricity for two days, our servers and telephones continued to run.

3. How is the physical security of your cloud handled?

1. Physical access to the building is only allowed by Vintage IT Services personnel. Physical access to the server room is controlled by combination keypad on a solid-core door. That combination is only known by the 2 or 3 employees that have a need to physically access that room. All other personnel that need temporary access are escorted (for instance, when storing the offsite backup disks). There is an alarm system in place for the building that all employees have access to arm and disarm when leaving or arriving to the office as needed.

4. What kind of network security / monitoring do you have in place for the cloud?

1. All logs are sent to a PCI Compliant syslog server which allows parsing of information across our infrastructure from one interface.
2. Network bandwidth is continuously monitored to ensure proper Quality of Service for all customers.
3. All inbound and outbound traffic to the cloud is monitored and logged in accordance with PCI Compliance Standards
4. In December 2012, PCI Compliant Intrusion Detection Systems will be in place to facilitate proper detection of unwanted traffic to all subnets.
5. Temperature and Humidity within the server room are monitored by our system and alerts sent when thresholds are reached.
6. All customers are firewalled both physically and within the vSphere software.
7. Cameras are used to monitor important spaces within the building.

5. What kind of hardware / software do you use, how redundant is the hardware?

1. We use IBM Servers, connected via multiple redundant Gigabit network connections to redundant Cisco Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching. Routing, firewall, and VPN connectivity are also handled via Cisco devices.
2. For software, we are a Certified VMWare Service Provider, utilizing VSphere 5 Enterprise Plus as our bare metal hypervisor, with the vCloud suite of software providing management and front-facing end user interfaces.
3. For storage, we utilize Enterprise Class storage arrays made by EMC.  Our SANs feature redundant power, controllers and connectivity to all hosts.
4. All hardware, where possible, has redundant power supplies. Switches that do not have that option have a redundant switch in place to minimize risk of failure. All hardware is covered by repair / replace warranties.
5. All server loads are closely monitored to ensure we have the capacity to host all Virtual Machines running properly in the case of a server failure.

6. What is your backup scheme for the cloud?

1. Leveraging our partnership with Veeam, we use their industry leading software to backup virtual machines in our cloud environment.  We also have the capability to backup on a file-level, with a very easy and fast “One Click File Restore” feature available to restore files quickly and securely.
2. All virtual machines are backed up nightly to a redundant storage unit, providing fast recovery from a catastrophic condition.
3. Those backups are replicated to a 3rd storage unit in a completely separate building, but still available for fast recovery by mounting the storage to the cloud environment over the “wire”, just as if it was in the server room itself.
4. Data from the redundant site is also copied to independent storage disks, and those disks are rotated to yet another secure off-site location.

7. Disaster Recovery….what happens if the DataCenter is completely destroyed?

1. Our backup scheme and selection of VSphere as our hypervisor allows multiple options in case of a catastrophic event.
2. We can restore your environment temporarily to another cloud vendor. This would be the fastest way to restore all data while the DataCenter was being recovered, keeping your environment up while we handle the catastrophic situation. Restoration in this scenario could normally be done in 6-12 hours. This time may vary depending on how many Servers and how much Data needs to be restored.
3. As an Ingram Micro Partner, we have the ability to quickly procure and next-day ship new hardware. Approximate recovery time of our primary Data Center using this scenario would be around 2 business days, giving us enough time to procure the hardware, rebuild a temporary environment, and restore your data.
4. Many other customized options are possible. One of the great things about the Cloud is that our options for disaster recovery are more flexible than when using the typical in-house server infrastructure. Knowing that each client may have unique disaster recovery requirements, we can customize an appropriate plan your business needs.

8. How does my Microsoft Licensing work in the cloud?

1. You are able to purchase and own your Microsoft licenses. Vintage IT Services is also a Certified Microsoft SPLA Partner. This allows us to rent your licenses to you on a monthly basis based off users or processors. Renting software allows the client free software license upgrades as they come out without having to purchase any additional Software Assurance licensing. This SPLA licensing is also available for desktop software (Windows 7, Microsoft Office 2010, etc).

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