Security is our primary focus

You might wonder why security is at the top of the list of details. Security is the most important characteristic of our colocation services. We understand and recognize that a single security lapse could significantly injure our clients and open our company to major liabilities. As such, our employees understand how important a comprehensive security program is when convincing our customers and prospects that ipHouse is a trustworthy partner.

Security is a market differentiator for ipHouse. Our target is appropriate security, not excessive security. Excessive security is counterproductive to our work effort and our customers’ needs. We continuously develop and manage our security program with good business judgment and respect for the customer.

While ipHouse is stringent about security, we are an Internet Service Provider and our customers require unrestricted access to the Internet. ipHouse considers a firewall a necessary component of network security and recommends that each customer implement a firewall as the first component of their colocation environment. ipHouse can provide fully managed firewall service as required. Speak with your Sales Guru for details.

ipHouse divides security into three separate fields:

Physical Access:

• The data center is governed by strict access control procedures. ipHouse provides these procedures, policies, badges and Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) for customers to physically access the colocation environment.
• Within the data center physical access to equipment is further restricted to individually locked cabinets and cages.
• Unless otherwise defined, customers have 24 x 7 x 365 physical access to their colocated hardware.
• Video surveillance systems cover all entrance/exits, and lobbies, man-traps, ancillary rooms and generator equipment.
• The data center is located within the Minneapolis SafeZone.

Network Access:

By default, ipHouse does not restrict network access from the public Internet. If requested, ipHouse can restrict network access via Access Control Lists on the network access point where the colocated hardware connects to the ipHouse network.

• Blocking specific network protocols can be implemented depending on customer requirements, but are not implemented by default.
• ipHouse maintains a high level of network infrastructure security following accepted industry practices. We provide security of the ipHouse network in the following manners:
• Restricting access to, and requiring regular periodic changes to passwords for ipHouse infrastructure.
• Restricting the use of network protocols via dedicated firewalls.
• Hardening and maintaining operating systems for ipHouse infrastructure.
• Utilizing encryption and encapsulation methods for ipHouse data.
• Maintaining and testing written policies and procedures (SAS70).

Remote Access:

• Customers control and administer remote access on their colocated hardware.
• ipHouse provides unrestricted Internet access to the colocation service. Customers should utilize industry standard remote access tools to gain remote access to their colocation platform.

Electrical Power

The data center is fed by three 1200 Amp 480 Volt feeders, one active, two spare. Power is fed to an automatic transfer switch and backed up by a 750kWatt generator with a 1000 gallon belly tank. Fuel is on-call 24 x 7 with a 2 hour time-to-delivery.

Both AC and DC UPS power is fed from a separate 2,300 sq. ft battery room onto separate cable trays for DC power and conduit for AC power.

The diesel generator backs up the HVAC system, lighting system, access control system, and fire suppression system. Power is customizable for customers with private cages.

ipHouse cabinets and cages come with their own dedicated power circuits. Each circuit is individually metered and monitored. ipHouse partners with Packet Power to individually meter for kWh/amps/volts 24 x 7, so you only pay for what electricity you use. At ipHouse, you do not share a power circuit with your neighbor. All power is protected and conditioned 24x7 by a UPS which in turn is backed by the generator.

Internet Bandwidth

We provide your servers with redundant multi-homed Internet bandwidth via three Tier 1 national backbones. When you choose ipHouse as your Internet gateway, your hardware will be connected to our network via a 10/100/1000 autosensing port and your traffic is directly routed via the best path. Real time statistics on our upstream connections are available to the public 24 x 7.

The facility is equipped with twin opposing underground communications vaults, spaced 270 feet apart. From these vaults, our connections to Time Warner Telecom, Verizon Business/MCI/UUNET and Level3 provide you with a carefree high-bandwidth, low-latency Internet experience. ipHouse also peers with other ISP's and local organizations to ensure that your traffic always takes the best route to its destination.

Facility Environmental Control

The ipHouse data center has a independent glycol HVAC system and is N+1 for all areas of the data center. The data center HVAC system consists of 9 ATS up-flow CRAC units rated at 20 tons (240,000 BTU) each. Details on each unit:

• Two 10-ton compressors with individual glycol piping
• Two fans
• 17 pph canister steam humidifier
• 10 kWatt reheat coil
• R-22 coolant
• Condensate Pump

Battery room and electric room are also N+1 systems. Dry coolers are N+1 with separate pumps for each dry cooler. HVAC systems are monitored by an Integ system notifying ipHouse technicians of change in system status. All cooling fluid piping is supported by drip pans with a separate leak detection and alarm system. The entire HVAC system is supported by the generator.

Fire detection is a dual zone ion/photo sensor system with dual cross-zone trigger release mechanism. Fire prevention is a self contained dry-pipe pre-action system (including dry-pipe valve and air compressor) interconnected with the building main fire water riser system designed at 200 sq ft. per sprinkler head. Water release of the system is a two-stage process that requires both smoke detection via photo/ion and heat of at least 150 degrees Fahrenheit beneath sprinkler head(s) to activate the system.

Network Neutrality

We pride ourselves on our bandwidth and networking. But when it comes to connecting to remote locations, we maintain a carrier neutral approach. Although it is unlikely you will need independent connectivity to access to your equipment, you have the ability to connect directly to any of the 18 national carriers already located in our facility.

Carriers with a presence in our building include: