Month: September 2021

VPLS Expands Bare Metal Capacity in San Jose Facility to Meet Growing Demand for Connectivity to Key Global Markets

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The data center now offers an additional 250 KW of IT load reserved for Bare Metal, offering direct connections to Silicon Valley and China

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We are excited to announce today a significant expansion to the capacity of its San Jose data center (SJC7). The SJC7 expansion was driven by demand for VPLS’s bare metal servers brand, Krypt.com, which offers direct connections with a capacity of over 200 Gbps to China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile International.

Located in the heart of Silicon Valley, the facility offers colocation, managed services, private and hybrid cloud, dedicated hosting, and network and security services to fast-growing start-ups and enterprises in Silicon Valley and the greater Bay Area. The additional capacity in the San Jose data center was achieved through an upgrade of the cooling systems, which unlocked an additional 250 KW of IT load. Replacing the aging mechanical equipment also benefitted the facility by lowering the site’s overall PUE from 2.1 to 1.35 on an annualized basis.

VPLS currently has over 600 servers in the San Jose data center with an additional 400 servers to be added over the next quarter, bringing the total number of servers in its network to over 10,000 and over 90,000 VPS under management. The IP network capacity at SJC7 has also increased from 205 Gbps to more than 415 Gbps of dedicated capacity. The additional bandwidth at SJC7 is a key advantage for companies looking for increased connectivity: SJC7 offers direct fiber link to major carrier hotels in Silicon Valley with over 200 Gbps of peering capacity, as well as direct connections to key carriers in China, resulting in the lowest latency to Asia from the continental US.

The next stage of expansion for the San Jose facility will be an electrical upgrade of 1.5 MW and a corresponding IT load expansion that will be online in Q4 of 2022. Combined with the data center’s myriad of network carriers and partners, the capacity expansion at SV7 provides a robust option for many companies seeking a reliable and flexible interconnection between key global and regional markets. For the past 10 years, the SV7 facility has provided uninterrupted, 100% uptime to customers seeking colocation, managed services, and hosting solutions. SV7 also offers low latency connectivity to major cloud providers such as AWS and Azure.

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Is a Managed Firewall Different From a “Traditional” Firewall?

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Is a Managed Firewall Different From a “Traditional” Firewall?

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Firewalls are an essential security component when it comes to keeping your network safe. Like the name suggests, firewalls act as a barrier, or wall, between your secure network and unsecure networks such as the internet. Firewalls also provide useful information like your system’s vulnerabilities to different kinds of cybersecurity threats and who might have an eye on your business. But as the threat landscape evolved, firewall technology has evolved as well. Today, there are a few different types of firewalls. But broadly speaking, they fall into two categories: traditional and managed.

What Is a Traditional Firewall?

Traditional firewalls are hardware or software devices designed to block threats and monitor the traffic in and out of a network. This traffic is controlled based on a few factors like destination IP address, source IP address, port, and protocol. These firewalls have basic features such as:

  • Stateful inspection, where instead of isolated packets, traffic is defined as flow. Decisions can be made on the behaviors, and rules can be applied to the traffic flow.
  • Virtual Private Network (VPN) offers a safe entry for the network when systems or users traverse an untrusted or public network. Firewalls can end the connection initiated by suspicious sources on users’ behalf.

What Is a Managed Firewall?

A managed firewall service is specifically offered by qualified managed security services providers (MSSPs) to supervise your network traffic and to prevent security risks. While the functionality of managed and traditional firewalls are similar, the difference is moreso surrounding the management of the technology involved. Monitoring the traffic allows the service provider to understand what the network landscape generally looks like, so anything unusual can be easily identified and rectified.

The managed firewall professionals who monitor your network also provide reporting and analysis as part of the service package. Most managed firewall services include web content filtering (to block access to malicious websites) and application control (to block applications to maximize employee productivity).

The purpose of a managed firewall is to shield your company’s confidential data, internal systems, and network against malicious access and intruders. While a managed firewall isn’t more robust than a traditional firewall in and of itself, a Managed Firewall is going to be more robust if your firewall isn’t being maintained correctly by your internal IT teams. That is where VPLS Managed Firewall services come in.

Why Do You Need a Managed Firewall?

Firewalls are crucial to securing network traffic including the flow of sensitive data. They are also necessary for compliance mandates like HIPAA, SSAE, IDS, ISAE, and PCI DSS.  Managing a firewall requires technical expertise and can become costly for large organizations quickly. Organizations that are interested in better data breach prevention and closing data security gaps are likely to benefit using a managed firewall service.

A managed firewall provides maximum protection to block modern cybersecurity threats. Here are some of the capabilities that a firewall can offer to your business:

  • Application awareness and control to identify and block risky applications
  • Integrated intrusion prevention
  • Upgrade paths to include future data feeds
  • Threat intelligence sources
  • System to address changing security threats

Don't Leave Vulnerabilities In Your Network:
Get VPLS Managed Firewall Services

Your modern business needs modern protection. The cyber threat landscape is rapidly evolving each day as technology advances, and cyber criminals are becoming more ruthless in achieving their objectives. VPLS offers managed firewall services, providing multiple layers of security for your network and company as a whole.

As your managed security partner, we take the responsibility away from your personnel, and let your staff focus on what they do best. To learn more about our managed security and firewall services, please call us at (888) 365-2656 or write to us online.

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As a worldwide leader in internet infrastructure and computing, VPLS partners with businesses to solve their most complex technology challenges. Have a question about the article? Contact our team at [email protected].
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Cybersecurity: 6 Best Practices to Combat Cyber Threats

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Colocation: Cybersecurity: 6 Best Practices to Combat Cyber Threats

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Any organization, big or small, can fall victim to cybercrime. From healthcare and education institutions to government organizations and banks, reports of cyber-attacks are coming from everywhere. So, it comes as no surprise that smart businesses are investing more in managed security service providers to keep their sensitive data safe and eliminate cybersecurity risks.

If you are in the same boat and are looking for ways to protect your company’s data in 2021, check out these proven cybersecurity best practices to prepare your business against potential data breaches and ensure business continuity.

1. Create an Insider Cybersecurity Threat Program

 

At its core, every modern cybersecurity strategy has an insider threat program. Employees having access to company information is dicey since devices can be damaged and information has the potential of being leaked.

If your company has sensitive data, and your reputation could be tarnished in the event of a data breach, having an insider threat program in place is critical. While it can be considered a low priority task and it does come with a cost, your managed security service provider should not delay in gaining the support of top management to craft policy across all departments.

2. Secure Traveling Employees and Remote Work Environments Against Cybersecurity Threats

 

Many corporate employees have a tendency of accessing their corporate networks through public/unsecured Wi-Fi networks while working remotely or traveling on work trips. In the corporate world, sacrificing security for convenience is simply unacceptable, and your employees must be aware of the enormous risks they are taking.

Make sure your managed security service provider offers education and training on the precautions that employees can take to avoid risks. For example, employees should avoid installing anti-malware programs. While they may think they’re helping, randomly installing an anti-malware program could possibly increase the risk of a breach.

3. Conduct Phishing Simulations

 

Phishing attacks are one of the most common forms of cyber-attacks today – they accounted for 22% of all data breaches in 2020. Conducting phishing simulations will train your employees on how to avoid downloading unknown files or clicking on malicious links.

By raising cybersecurity awareness among employees, these simulations help them understand the far-reaching impact of a phishing attack. It will help them learn about the latest tricks and give them a safe space to test their knowledge and ask questions.

4. Audit Privileged Access

 

Every respectable managed security service provider recommends reviewing the number of users who have privileged access to sensitive data of your business. Giving out privileged access is certainly a necessary risk, especially when there is a change of roles or staff. Make sure you regularly look at permissions, develop a system of auditing privileged access or adopt a system of rotating or temporary credentials.

5. Update Systems and Software for Best Cybersecurity Practices

 

Cybercrimes are ever-increasing, and a less-than-solid network will fall prey to it sooner or later. Make sure your company’s network is always protected by scheduling regular maintenance on hardware security and planning routine software updates.

6. Maintain Compliance

 

Not all organizations will need to do this, but if your data legally requires it, your programs (such as cybersecurity, for instance) will need to be in compliance with regulatory bodies such as HIPAA, ISAE, and PCI DSS.

VPLS: Your Most Trusted Managed Cybersecurity Service Provider

 

At VPLS, we offer comprehensive insider threat protection solutions that cover many of the latest cybersecurity strategies available today. Our broad functionality includes access control solutions, response tools, and extensive monitoring capabilities.

Fill out this contact form to learn more.

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As a worldwide leader in internet infrastructure and computing, VPLS partners with businesses to solve their most complex technology challenges. Have a question about the article? Contact our team at [email protected].
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Hybrid Cloud Service by VPLS: How it Can Benefit Your Organization’s IT Infrastructure

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Hybrid Cloud Service by VPLS: How it Can Benefit Your Organization’s IT Infrastructure

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Almost every business today utilizes cloud computing to store and process data. Generally, cloud computing services are public, third party, on-site, or privately owned. However, hybrid cloud service computing – as the name suggests – uses a combination of all of these.

If your organization is looking for an easier way to scale or have additional agility, using a hybrid cloud service from VPLS can be an excellent option. The VPLS VMware hybrid cloud services allow you to meet your customers’ needs and boost your business’s efficiency while keeping your data compliant and secure – all at an affordable price.

VPLS is a Hybrid Cloud Service Provider

VPLS is a leading provider of VMware Cloud Hosting. We are one of the very first in the industry to become vCloud Powered partner for enabling both VMware Hybrid and Public Cloud services. What this means is that when you choose us, you’ll be able to rely on a private cloud and public cloud platform, allowing you to be flexible when trying to meet your business goals.

Thanks to our hybrid cloud services, you can seamlessly integrate functions, applications, and data with hybrid cloud environments. Those benefits are achieved by creating a highly secure environment that essentially acts as an extension of your own data center. With that, your organization can enjoy the agility and flexibility of storing information in both private and public data centers without risking security and compliance.

The VMware hybrid cloud also helps transform your IT infrastructure in fundamental ways, allowing you to efficiently address your customers’ needs and achieve more business efficiency.

Here are some of the benefits you’ll reap with VPLS Hybrid Cloud and choosing us as your cloud service provider.

It is Easily Scalable

Since a hybrid cloud employs more than one type of cloud service, VPLS Hybrid Cloud evolves as your company grows. You can easily increase your subscription package or upgrade your virtual machine without having to invest in expensive upgrades with on-site infrastructure.

Backed-up Data Will be Secured

When you are using the VPLS Hybrid Cloud, regardless of where your data is, it will be 100% secure through one of our 19 worldwide data centers. This reliable backup is ensured through the use of secure IPsec VPN tunnels when accessing both private and public clouds.

Since data centers are designed to be much more secure and sophisticated than standard commercial properties, you won’t have to worry about unexpected and unforeseen situations like weather disturbances, natural disasters, and power outages. This reduces the likelihood that sensitive data will be lost or destroyed.

It is Easy to Use

If you are already using VMware vSphere services, you can connect to the VPLS Hybrid Cloud with the help of vCloud connector. It will allow you to easily move your workload with the VMware vSphere client.

The VPLS Hybrid Cloud can also access your company’s private cloud through secure IPsec VPN tunnels. Think of our cloud service provider as an extension of your very own data center. You can either purchase a subscription package or use the Hybrid Cloud via a pay-per-use model, depending on your business needs.

It Provides Advanced Compliance & Security

Your organization can use the vCloud Connector plugin for vSphere to securely and easily connect to both public and private clouds. This connection to both platforms allows you to choose where you can store data and workloads, making it more difficult for hackers to locate and retrieve sensitive information.

The industry-leading vCloud Connecter plugin for vSphere achieves the highest level of security by acting as the interface between private and public clouds when transferring any size workload, keeping both your on and off-premise assets safe.

Why Choose VPLS as Your Hybrid Cloud Service Provider

If you are already using cloud computing services, whether private or public, the VPLS Hybrid Cloud will help build a secure cloud environment for your organization’s data – without you having to use any physical servers. Want to learn more about how we can maximize your business’ efficiency? Complete our online form.

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VPLS Marketing Team
As a worldwide leader in internet infrastructure and computing, VPLS partners with businesses to solve their most complex technology challenges. Have a question about the article? Contact our team at [email protected].
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