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Case Study 1: Turning an at-risk location into a no-risk asset

Case Study 2: Helping a Fortune 500 stay a Fortune 500

Case Study 3: Saving invoices for a rainy day

Turning an at-risk location into a no-risk asset

As an industry leader in managed data center services, Sterling Network Services provides enterprises with disaster recovery assistance. Believing that the best way to recover from a disaster is to avoid it altogether, Sterling’s expertise is creating and executing effective business and IT continuity plans.

The Challenge:
A well-known publisher operating an Alexa 50 Web site demanded high availability disaster protection. Located in a city with a variety of risk factors, the client’s primary network was susceptible to loss, threat and down time. The client needed a data center in less than 60 days so that they could meet corporate board and other requirements.

Our Solution:
The central problem of protecting the company’s entire IT core was solved quickly and inexpensively. Sterling Network designed, built and deployed a world-class, high-powered data center within 48 days saving the client millions of dollars in capital expenditures, countless staff and project management hours.

The Result:
Should a serious catastrophe strike the client’s home-town facilities, their network, applications core and related IT infrastructure will remain fully available and up and running.

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Helping a Fortune 500 stay a Fortune 500

For increased network safety and savings, more and more businesses are turning to colocation. Shared data center infrastructure eliminates the cost of construction and maintenance that most companies would gladly avoid.

The Challenge:
With operations in 80 countries, a Fortune 500 client planned on relocating their primary applications responsible for running their global operation. They had already invested a significant amount of money in building their own data center by purchasing land, hiring a building contractor, and acquiring routers and servers. After their budget had been spent, their deadline missed and still facing additional expenses, they still had not completed their data center. In addition, the financial burden of hiring a staff to maintain the network and maintain security had not been realized. Facing the growing problem, they turned to Sterling Network for help.

Our Solution:
Sterling worked with the client to enable them to duplicate their production systems and move huge storage arrays to our site, connected by dark fiber to their existing site. This “active-active” configuration allowed for the full synchronous replication of data -- namely that a disaster or interruption at their office site could not cause an enterprise-wide disaster.

The Result:
By creating and maintaining a Tier 4 dedicated data suite, Sterling Network provided a carrier-grade infrastructure (UPS, power, HVAC, advanced security systems) at a significant cost savings to the client. Now the company enjoys the flexibility of adding power, increasing network capacity and updating access in a matter of hours, as opposed to the months it would have taken at a site of their own creation and operation. With all of the other features that come from colocation with Sterling Network, such as redundant power, dual power feeds, dual network drops, and active and passive Internet connections, they will maintain 100% uptime.

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Saving invoices for a rainy day

Part of any Business Continuity Planning (BCP) manual should include what to do if the company’s networks fail. By utilizing a Sterling Network colocation site to hub a corporate network, companies enjoy 100% uptime thereby lessening the costs and challenges of having their data and networks at risk.

The Challenge:
A large retail client with over 500 stores nationwide had an inordinate amount of data in the form of invoices. Realizing that they could not afford to lose both their invoice data and their office facilities in the event of disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, they attempted to connect their stores and build an off-site data center. Upon investigation, the huge costs associated with building these network connections to their office campus were prohibitive. Further, the costs associated with retrofitting their existing data center were considerable. Instead, the client contacted Sterling Network to help them solve their data center problem.

Our Solution:
Sterling implemented a Business Continuity Planning strategy to access and locate a secure off-site network. With specific space needs and budget, Sterling recommended colocation and data center services.

The Result:
Now implemented, the company utilizes Sterling’s data storage in cabinets that sit behind 18-inch thick steel-reinforced, blast-resistant walls. Opting for a shared data center, they use the same power, air conditioning and security as our other clients. Since a shared data center is the most cost effective solution, the client enjoys great cost-savings – particularly in light of the money they could have lost doing it themselves.

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