As CEO of the Netwise Group, I thought it would be beneficial to give you all an insight into the development of our new data centre facility which is due for completion in the forthcoming New Year. I hope to write frequently to keep you up to date with our progress and to show you where your data will soon be stored.

To start with, you may or may not have been aware of the fact that we were planning on building a new facility for your data. This was decided just 6 months ago due to major inflexibility at our current premises; this almost forced the decision for us to move or for us to at least re-think the direction in which we wanted to head.

After several key meetings it was clear that a new facility was the most logical answer from both a service and financial point of view. From here we started to list in detail our requirements from which a specification could be produced. As always this is easier said than done. As I am sure you are aware, with technology constantly moving at such a quick pace it’s often difficult to try and specify accurately and to cater for both now and the future whilst keeping within strict financial budgets. During this process it was soon evident that we needed to keep our motto at the heart of our plans; speed, security, stability.

From this, several main areas arose from which solutions could be researched and discussed. This covered everything from the real estate side right through to the best method of air containment within the data centre; I hope to cover these in more detail in future posts.

The first major area was finding a suitable site/building. After much searching and number crunching we finally found a suitable area for locating our new facility. It ticks all the boxes; large amounts of available power, accessible redundant fibre connectivity, room for all the M&E equipment both internally and externally and plenty of room for both now and the future, but it is rather expensive! I will try to upload some photos in the near future for you all.

When completed we will have two state of the art server floors, each being able to accommodate over 1500 servers. As well as this, a new larger office space, meeting areas and a network operations centre will be built. Alongside this we are planning on providing designated server provisioning areas. This will give our both our internal technicians and our colocation customers a comfortable and practical area from which they can manage their servers and the associated hardware without being stuck in the middle of an uncomfortable server row. We want to encourage all types of client to visit our facility to show them firsthand what we do and how we do it, this should hopefully aid the building of long lasting and fruitful business relationships.

From here, we moved towards the major structural and provider services side of the build. Endless meetings with energy suppliers, specialist connectivity providers and data centre designers led us towards a final specification (if it is or interest to anyone then I can write up certain amounts of information in regards to this). We are now finalising our schedule of works and stage one should be under way within the next few weeks, fingers crossed!

And this is where we are up to. The build and kit out should progress very rapidly, we will have several teams working around the clock to meet our deadlines, I will try to provide photos whenever possible. I hope you have found this interesting and I look forward to updating you further in the near future. If you have any questions or comments then please don’t hesitate to get in contact, we would love to talk to you.

Although the Netwise Hosting Blog already contains a lengthy and detailed article on the importance of online backup, it didn’t really go far enough in helping users to understand backup as a technology – and how to use it.

Online backup can essentially be broken down in a number of ways. Our first article primarily discussed the physical differences in various forms of backing up data. This included various popular methods, such as local backups, online backups and tape-drive backups etc. The different forms of backup were discussed in relation to how important off-site backups are in ensuring mission-critial data is kept secure. But as stated, after coming to the balanced conclusion that online backups are a quick and efficient way to keep your data out of harms way, the dicussion ended.

Now we can explore the world of online backups in more detail, with more information regarding how its done and just how simple it can be to own a backup solution with Netwise Hosting.

First lets break down the various forms of online backup into their primary types. These are full backups, differential backups and incremental backups. You may find other more varied methods if searching online, but the three listed here are the largest to factor in when planning an online backup strategy.

Full backups are essentially what they sound like – complete and full uploads of all the data within your chosen directory to the remote system. This is used to establish baseline data for disaster recovery. A full backup is normally the first action to be undertaken when starting an online backup strategy. Because your online account is fresh and completely empty, a full backup allows the system to retain your data for updating at a later date.
The first method of full backup after you have set your baseline would be to continue with a single full backup everyday, which would fully overwrite the original data replacing it with the new data. The major downfall here is the time taken to complete such a data transfer. Because not every file on the system will have changed from day-to-day, it would be a waste of time and resources to employ this method too often. It can be useful however for special backups should you wish to rewrite your baseline data, or if you wish to use a media rotation, of which all the relevant parameters can be set within your chosen backup software. This sets up a defined number of backups which enter a circular rotation. If you were to set up a 7 day rotation, you would have a separate set of backup data for each day of the week. Once you enter the 8^th day, the 1^st days data would be overwritten (and so on). This is useful if you wish to have a backlog of data giving you greater flexibility over your disaster recovery. Should data become corrupt and be backed up by mistake, you can revert to the last working set of data.

The second of the primary methods is a differential backup. This should not be confused with an incremental backup which will be explained in more detail further into this article. A differential backup includes all of the data that has changed since the last full or incremental backup. This utilises two sets of data on your accounts. The first is the full set of data established as the baseline during a full backup. The second is the differential data, stored as a separate set of data and includes only the differences in information between the baseline and this new differential backup. This second set of data is then overwritten each time a new differential backup is completed, leaving the baseline untouched. All that is required to restore a system using this method is the full set of data and the differential set of data. This can also be setup as a media rotation schedule, should you desire.

The third of the listed methods is an incremental backup. This utilises just one set of data by including all changes to the baseline in the same set of data. This means that less space is used by employing just one set of data. Any changes or additions to data since the last full or incremental backup are added to the same set of data. This method of backup is fast, as only the changes are sent to your accounts.

It all comes down to choice, and how you wish to implement your own set of backup methods. The most successful backup routines often employ a mix of certain backup types depending on the situation at hand, however it should be understood that it is not good practice to mix differential and incremental backups together. The Netwise Hosting system also gives the option of compressing and/or encrypting your data, which further helps save space and gives far greater security.

You should also take note of calculating the space you require when purchasing an online backup solution. The space needed will vary depending on the type of solution (or combination of solutions) you opt for. For instance, a full backup media rotation will need several times more space (at the very least) than in the case of an incremental backup.

We recommend the use of Cobian Backup, which is a free open-source solution with all the tools and features of more expensive options. Other options can be found in this comprehensive list. If you would like any further information on the particular backup solutions provided by Netwise Hosting, feel free to visit our main site or contact us with more detailed queries.

Remember, our online backup solutions complement any dedicated server packages perfectly, and greatly help to reduce the risk of permanent critical data loss.

In our modern world, image is everything. Of course the services offered have to match the image, but it is the initial impression given out by you and your business that will gain you customers – or at the very least solid enquiries.

Dedicated server providers could have it the toughest of all with regards to corporate image. The IT industry is renowned for its high-gloss polished image, and how it leads the way forward allowing other forms of industry to follow in its technological footsteps. This can be an incredibly hard precedent to live up to, especially for newer businesses with weaker cash flows. But it should always be remembered that money spent on improving your image is a multifaceted operation. It will improve a large area of your business by doubling up as a form of advertising, as well as boosting the value of your company (and its assets).

When dealing with colocation customers, it is incredibly important to promote a solid image. When clients are spending well in excess of £20,000 each year on a colocation hosting solution, the are going to expect a facility that reflects their spending. However do not be fooled into thinking this will require a brand new purpose-built datacentre with its own substation and an internal floor space extending beyond the eye can see. Far from it in fact.
All that is required is a highly respectable facility that looks professional, and is finished to a very high standard. Size is not as important as many people may think. Many industries across the globe are moving from singular large facilities to a number of smaller facilities, realising that customers appreciate the perceived notion of a more personal level of service.

The important thing to remember, as with almost anything, is quality over quantity. If your customers enter an excessively large warehouse full of server equipment, it will not necessarily aid you in building your image. Yet invite customers into a perfectly balanced premises with high-end equipment, well designed office spaces and comfortable ulitity areas, and the rest will follow on from your wise choices.

Netwise Hosting fully understand the need for exceptional quality when it comes to customer care and satisfaction. It is because of this that the team have decided to move premises. Although we will be moving from one high-tech facility to another, our new space will allow us to expand more organically, and offer our customers the very best hosting solutions on the market, for the best possible prices.