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Adhost Seattle Data Centers Pass SAS 70 Type II Audit
Posted in Company News,Security
We are pleased to announce Adhost successfully passed a SAS 70 Type II audit for the time period July 16, 2008 – July 15, 2009. During a week-long on-site visit in June, an independent service auditor examined the policies, procedures and business processes in place at Adhost over the one-year time period. The following controls related to the colocation services provided in our Seattle data centers were audited:
- Control Environment: discipline and structure are a key component of the organization and influence the control consciousness of its personnel.
- Physical Security: business premises and information systems are protected from unauthorized access, damage and interference.
- Environmental security: critical information technology infrastructure is protected from certain environmental threats.
- Availability: colocation facility is available and accessible to its customers
- Operations: Operations department identifies and resolves problems affecting the colocation facility or customers in a timely manner.
The examination was performed in accordance with standards established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Existing Adhost clients, as well as potential clients, can request a copy of the SAS70 audit report by emailing sales@adhost.com.
To learn more about SAS 70 and the details of the audit, visit our SAS 70 page.
permalink | digg this | technoratiSummer Internet Events in Seattle
Posted in Seattle Internet EventsMany associations take the summer off, but we found some interesting networking events if you’re staying around Seattle.
July 22: Northwest Internet Advertising Group networking event
July 22: Puget Sound American Marketing Association Eastside event – Marketing with Partners: Strategies to build a Sustainable and Profitable Partner Ecosystem
July 23: Techflash Summer BBQ and Ping-Pong Tournament
July 30: WTIA Summer Celebration – Featuring Xconomy Battle of the Tech Band
August 12: WTIA Family Night at Safeco Field – White Sox vs. Mariners
We hope you’re enjoying the beautiful weather.
permalink | digg this | technoratiFisher Plaza East Restoration Timeline
Posted in Company NewsAfter numerous meetings with Fisher Plaza this week, we have a tentative plan to share with our Adhost East Data Center clients. Note that this plan is still very fluid and we are meeting regularly with Fisher, as well as all of the various engineers, electricians, utilities, etc. to improve our electrical sources in the near and long terms. To this end, we are following a number of parallel tracks:
This weekend: Redundant generator-based power
- In order to provide N+1 redundancy, Fisher will add two additional generators and paralleling equipment to the existing temporary generators. This will provide redundancy across the three central risers affected by the power outage. Until the building returns to commercial/street power, this solution will allow the building to perform maintenance on the generators as necessary without impacting service. As of July 9, 2009, we expect this work to be completed by approximately 5AM on Monday, July 13, 2009.
- The City of Seattle has closed John Street next to Fisher Plaza for the additional generators.
- All necessary generators are on-site.
Short-term: Temporary commercial (Seattle City Light) power and generator backup
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We are working with Seattle City Light to create a temporary connection to their vault that will allow us to switch our main service back over to city power with generator backup.
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The time frame for this is hoped to be less than 4 weeks and is dependent on the ability to source the proper switch-gear and other related electrical equipment.
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This temporary solution would follow a parallel track of building a new switch gear room and rebuilding the original switch gear room.
Long-term: Permanent solution
- Fisher will build a new switch gear room outside the current vault and switch gear room on P2. This will allow Fisher to begin construction quickly without waiting to clear the damage equipment from the current switch gear room.
- Fisher will also rebuild the current switch gear room which will allow for redundancy.
- Fisher plans to add new equipment and paralleling equipment to power up the building’s four generators together.
Fisher emphasized that their vendors are locating equipment and designing the new plan as quickly as possible. However, they are expecting several months until full restoration. Once they have a firmer timeline we will share it with you.
permalink | digg this | technoratiSeattle Online Marketing Summit
Posted in Seattle Internet EventsThe Online Marketing Summit is coming to Seattle’s W Hotel on Wednesday, July 1. Events include workshops, on-site usability and SEO labs, presentations by search experts and peer-to-peer collaboration. Novices and experts alike will benefit from sessions such as:
- Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying
- SEO Planning & Strategy
- Integrating Online into Your Local Marketing Strategy
- Universal Search: How to Supercharge Your Organic Results
- How to Use Twitter to Promote Your Brand
- Integrating Email, Search and Social into the Entire Online Marketing Channel
- SEO 2.0
You don’t want to miss Seattle-based SEM experts Rand Fishkin of SEOMoz and Ian Lurie of Portent Interactive who will both be speaking in the afternoon. Here are a couple of 20% off discount codes (SEASM20 and SEOmoz20) to try when you register online.
permalink | digg this | technoratiIs Your Web Site Frozen in Time, Forgotten or Just Plain Funky?
Posted in Web developmentWeb sites are often out of sight and out of mind – but busy keeping customers away because they’re unattractive, unclear, unusable, unfriendly – just pick your ‘un’ word. We’ve had the pleasure of hurting our eyes on many such sites over the years.
Recently, we were contacted by a firm with a site no one at the company had looked at – literally – for months. The marketing person with responsibilities for maintaining the site had actually been gone for some time and evidently hadn’t mentioned the site to their replacement. Fortunately, their old school e-commerce shopping cart was still taking occasional orders that went straight to the warehouse for fulfillment. Finally, someone realized these orders were coming from a web site and took a look at it.
After finding their shades and clicking around the glaringly out-of-date site, they started shopping around for some Seattle web development help and found Adhost. Our initial call revealed that they had TWO sites. A brochure web site – that no one knew how to manage or update (natch) - was wrapped around a separate and very creaky e-commerce cart. It was a no-brainer to recommend an updated cart with Content Management Features that would allow them to manage all their content – brochure and product – from one consolidated web-based administration area. We got ‘em up and running in about 3 and half weeks. They aren’t challenging Amazon.com just yet, but the orders are coming in and now they don’t need shades to look at the sites.
Looking at the bill was not a problem either. We did this for less than the guesstimate they had generated internally. So, the lesson? I don’t know. The only things I can swear to are that sky is blue, sea is green and clam shells make great ash trays. However, I’m pretty sure that when it comes to ROI, a well-designed and promoted Web site can get your message out for much less than other media channels. And on the Amazon thing, well, we made some SEO and PPC recommendations to them and you never know…
Perhaps, it’s time to dust off your site and invest in a fresh Web design, an e-commerce solution, or a content management system. If so, give us a jingle. We’d be happy to put on our shades and look at your site. Contact the Adhost sales team at 1-888-234-6781 to discuss your options or visit the Adhost Development site.
permalink | digg this | technoratiAdhost CTO Presenting at NAISG Seattle
Posted in Company News,Seattle Internet Events,SecurityMichael Smith, CTO of Adhost and CISSP, will be presenting at the National Information Security Group (NAISG) Seattle chapter on Thursday, September 25th at 6:30 PM. The presentation is titled “How secure are you? Keeping secure in an interconnected world.” Mike will cover some current issues that affect all computer users, some of which you may know and some that will probably come as a complete surprise! Come by and learn about how to better protect yourself anywhere you are with your computer.
If you become a NAISG Member, you can also qualify for a 10% discount on the SANS CISSP training Mike will be leading beginning in October.
The NAISG meeting will be held at: New Horizons Center of Washington, 12822 SE 32nd Street, Suite 200, Bellevue, WA.
We hope to see you there - be sure to bring picture ID to gain admittance to the building. For more information about NAISG, please visit: seattle.naisg.org.
permalink | digg this | technoratiAdhost is now a Seattle SAS 70 Data Center
Posted in Company News,SecurityWe are pleased to announce Adhost successfully passed a SAS 70 Type I audit on July 18, 2008. An independent service auditor examined the policies, procedures and business processes in place at Adhost during a week-long on-site visit. The following controls related to the colocation services provided in our Seattle data centers were audited:
- Control Environment: discipline and structure are a key component of the organization and influence the control consciousness of its personnel.
- Physical Security: business premises and information systems are protected from unauthorized access, damage and interference.
- Environmental security: critical information technology infrastructure is protected from certain environmental threats.
- Availability: colocation facility is available and accessible to its customers
- Operations: Operations department identifies and resolves problems affecting the colocation facility or customers in a timely manner.
Our success in passing the SAS 70 audit validates Adhost’s commitment to provide exceptional colocation and web hosting service to our clients. To learn more about SAS 70 and the details of the audit, visit our SAS 70 page.
permalink | digg this | technoratiMicrosoft Windows 2008 Launch Event in Seattle
Posted in IndustryAdhost invites you to join us at the Microsoft Server & Tools 2008 Launch “Heroes Happen Here” event on April 1 in Seattle. Microsoft is launching three powerful new products to make it even easier for you to be an IT hero at your company. Attend the Seattle event to learn how—then leave with a launch giveaway kit that includes versions of the Windows Server® 2008 operating system, Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008, and Microsoft Visual Studio® 2008. And be sure to stop by our booth in the exhibitor expo.
The event is sold out to the public but they have saved some spots for customers of their partners. Space is limited - register today at http://www.clicktoattend.com/invitation.aspx?code=126636
permalink | digg this | technoratiTrends in Email Marketing Event
Posted in Seattle Internet EventsOn Wednesday, November 7, the Seattle Direct Marketing Association is hosting a panel discussion on “The Changing Email Landscape: Trends in Email Marketing.” Enjoy dinner and networking while you learn tips and tricks from the email marketing experts at WhatCounts, Alaska Airlines, Expedia, Tommy Bahama and Microsoft. I hope to see you there. Register today at Email Marketing Panel.
permalink | digg this | technoratiSeattle Facebook Event
Posted in Seattle Internet EventsAt the SDMA meeting last week, I learned about an interesting event coming to Seattle in December: the Web Community Forum Seattle 2007. If you’re curious about how your company or non-profit organization can leverage the popularity of Facebook, check it out. The forum will be a chance to learn about best practices for community building using Facebook. If I can sneak away from the office, I’ll be there December5-6 at the Bell Harbor Conference Center.
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