Server outages happen to everyone, that’s the truth. There are steps a hosting company can take to minimize the damage — whether it’s because of a failed part on the server or an outside infrastructure issue. Preparedness and backup plans are key to having control of unexpected situations.
What is redundant hosting?
In reference to technology or dedicated hosting, having redundancy means that there is a backup plan for any type of situation. You don’t need these redundant parts or processes under normal circumstances, but they are vital in case of an emergency. When you purchase a server, dedicated hosting or web hosting, there are several redundant layers that should be available. These layers give the customer a great dedicated hosting experience without any thought about what could happen to their data tomorrow. You have researched the hardware and pricing for your dedicated server, but do you know what else you need for a great dedicated hosting experience?
A view of our Tier 4 data center in the New York City metro area.
Redundant Power at the data center
We choose our data centers carefully to ensure they provide very high uptimes (99%+). You can’t go wrong with multiple backup generators and cooling backups. All of our data center locations are built to withstand extreme weather and extended power outages. Power redundancy is a basic need for data centers and for dedicated hosting customers who choose to them.
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Redundant Network
There are a multitude of network issues that can occur, and sometimes they are out of the control of the service provider. We aim to protect against downtime due to events like a cut fiber or faulty switches. You can build a data center literally from the ground up to have network redundancy. If you’re not building your own data center, then your service provider should choose one that has these features.
1- Multiple upstream providers
We know that our premium network is a selling point for customers. Our upstream providers are well known but for network redundancy the key point is that there are many of them available. This is necessary to connect to different parts of the world.
2- Redundant paths to the data center
The internet is frequently imagined as information flowing through a series of tubes. In fact, this is partially true as lines and fiber connects information around the world and leads it into the data center. Our data centers have multiple physically redundant paths. This means your information has many “tubes” to flow through. If one tube is cut or blocked, the data is instantly rerouted to the end point.
3- Redundant Switch Uplinks
A networking switch is a piece of hardware that directs data traffic to its intended port. We set up our network with two different uplinks, so that if one switch fails to distribute data, a second serves as its backup.
Hardware Redundancy
Dedicated servers are high-powered machines that are intended to run many processes simultaneously. Even with the highest quality server hardware inside of your machine, parts can fail. ReliableSite stocks backup parts that can be instantly replaced by our data center technicians who are at the data center 24/7.
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