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Steadfast Networks - New Data Center/Core Network Upgrade

Posted by KarlZimmer, 12-15-2005, 12:26 AM
CHICAGO Steadfast Networks, a provider of shared web hosting, dedicated servers, colocation, and Internet transit service, is announcing that they will be opening a new data center facility in January 2006.

On Tuesday, December 13, 2005, NoZone, Inc., the parent company of Steadfast Networks, reached an agreement with Digital Lakeside, LLC, which owns and operates 350 E Cermak Road, Chicago, IL, also known as the Lakeside Technology Center. This agreement will give Steadfast Networks data center space on the 2nd floor of 350 E Cermak Road. This data center space will allow Steadfast Networks to continue business expansion and offer reduced colocation pricing. The new data center will have 24/7 on-site support staff and will feature full uninterruptible power supply and power generation facilities to maintain optimal power service and uptime. Internet transit service will be delivered to the data center via redundant 10 Gigabit Ethernet fiber from Steadfast Networks existing space in the Equinix facility on the 5th floor.

Due to power and HVAC restrictions in Equinix, where Steadfast Networks is currently located, most equipment, including all shared hosting servers, dedicated servers, and colocated equipment will be moved to the new data center facility. To minimize overall downtime, a core network upgrade will be performed at the same time as the physical move of the equipment. This core network upgrade will give Steadfast Networks greater control and flexibility in network operations while providing ample internal network capacity, which will assure that customers maintain a high level of service for years to come. This core network upgrade will consist of migrating from redundant Foundry FastIron II core switches to an infrastructure dependant on redundant Cisco Catalyst 6509 switches with Supervisor Engine 720. It will also involve migrating from Cisco Catalyst 3550 aggregation switches to the newer Cisco Catalyst 2560 switches. Additionally, these upgrades will allow Steadfast Networks to utilize IPv6 and multicasting technologies.

These upgrades and changes are being performed so that Steadfast Networks will be able to maintain a high level of service and maintain an adequate hardware inventory during the continued growth of the company. While some degree of downtime is expected during these changes, Steadfast Networks will attempt to work with all customers to assure that issues are kept to a minimum. Downtime should not exceed the 1 hour of maintenance allowed by Steadfast Networks standard 100% network and power uptime SLAs, which can be found on their website at http://www.steadfastnetworks.com/cor.../legal.sla.php