Destaque Principal (EN)

The increasing use of the internet, and the resulting exponential growth in digital data ultimately led to an upsurge in the number of data centers to meet the demands of companies of all sizes and segments.

However, there are two types of data centers in the market: Carrier Neutral and Carrier Specific.

 Carrier Neutral data centers allow access and interconnection to several different carriers, offering optimal services to your business. Carrier Specific data centers, on the other hand, only work with a single carrier, which controls all access to corporate data. This might not be the ideal choice.

After clarifying this important difference between them, in this article we have listed the main advantages to take into account when choosing a Carrier Neutral data center over a Carrier Specific one for your organization. Check it out!

Carrier Neutral Data Center: What is it?            

A Carrier Neutral data center – or simply “neutral” – enables interconnection between several different telecommunications carriers and the colocation solution provider.

 Even if some of the data centers are owned and operated by ISPs (Internet Service Providers), Carrier Neutral data centers are operated by third parties (usually by the colocation solution supplier), which has little or no part in providing internet access services.

That is what makes the Carrier Neutral data center a more interesting choice compared to Carrier Specific. They promote competition and diversity, since a service located in a colocation can have a single or multiple providers, or even connect only to the head office of the company that owns the server, for example. 

Another major hosting benefit in Carrier Neutral data centers is the ability to change the internet provider as needed without having to physically move the server elsewhere.

We have also listed 4 other main benefits of the Carrier Neutral Data Center solution. Check them out below.

Benefits of a Carrier Neutral Data Center for your business:

1.       Free to use any carrier

 Colocation data center solutions offer a high level of control and scalability, reducing the need for developing new projects when your company’s demand increases or decreases.

 In addition, the neutrality aspect further expands this opportunity to save. Since companies are free to use any carrier in a Carrier Neutral data center, they can choose the one that offers the best contract. That is, the one that meets their needs with the best cost-to-benefit ratio.

2.   Competitive edge: scalability and flexibility

 The flexibility to quickly shift your data management strategy is yet an other advantage of the colocation solution.

The Carrier Neutral model is essential to those looking to expand their business. All it takes is a few commands in an interface or a call to the colocation central to increase or decrease the network transmission capacity.

All of this scalability and flexibility represent another important edge in such a fiercely competitive market.

And this element is very important for organizations working with processes using data that require immediate access any time of the day, regardless of the size of information flow and client needs, for example.

 3.   More freedom for your business

 Making changes in case of an emergency is much easier when you have several options available, right? The flexibility of being able to use different carriers based on your data center is also a unique benefit of neutral alternatives.

This is a benefit you can’t find in Carrier Specific data centers.

Since Carrier Neutral data centers do not belong to any specific carrier, this also means greater resilience when it comes to accessing your company’s data.

 4.   Local and regional redundancy

 Carrier Neutral data centers offer local and regional redundancy. But what does that mean?

Basically, the term means duplicating the information stored in these data centers.

The goal is to ensure your data can still be accessed even after hardware failures, damages and even natural disasters at the head office of the colocation solution provider, for example.

This benefit grants neutral data center users all of the options they need to protect their significant investments in virtual infrastructure and data, even when facing a serious setback.

Working with carrier neutral data centers clearly offers a wide range of benefits to your organization. Ascenty offers Carrier Neutral data centers for your company to use its network or define a provider that best meets its needs.

Contact our experts to learn what your company stands to gain by switching to Carrier Neutral data centers.

Connectivity is a key element for companies to thrive in today’s marketplace. The vast supply of services, on the other hand, muddles the limitation of several connectivity resources. This prevents corporations from accessing 100% of the information, which ultimately affects their business. However, there is a concept that can change all of this: NAP. Learn more about its benefits here.

The NAP concept

NAP stands for Network Access Point. One or multiple points with high connectivity potential and access to main Carriers, providers and contents worldwide.

One of the main benefits of the NAP is that ISPs connect their POPs (Point of Presence) to it, in order to interconnect with the main services and contents. This allows companies to access any local and global resource via the NAP connection.

In other words, the NAP enables corporations to transcend barriers and frontiers, connecting to a world of new possibilities.

In simple terms, the NAP makes it easier to access information, allowing companies to break free from the limitations of their countries or geographical regions, besides accessing a wide range of international connections.

ROI in Colocation: the full rundown

NAP benefits: what companies stand to gain

Modernization and coverage are the main keywords.

The NAP offers several benefits in general. There is a wide range of different options that add value to companies that contract this service. However, all of them focus on modernizing and expanding the reach of your business.

NAP enables the development of your IT sector, adopting multicloud environments or even hybrid environments much easier and more efficiently.

This service allows you to interconnect your environments to as many vendors and partners you need.

That is why this resource fuels companies that seek to scale their own business through major changes in their network infrastructure. The NAP also helps maintain maximum efficiency in your production routine, guaranteeing an available and very low-latency connection.

It includes resources such as Golden Jumper or Cross Connect to bolster your strategic execution, connecting your company to the entire world.

This means a company based in Brazil can use all of the structure and applications of carriers operating in Europe, North America, Africa and many other locations!

The NAP’s benefits are even better for companies that rely on international connections to carry out their business activities. The NAP gives your company a powerful connection with much lower operational costs.

Having an NAP is crucial for companies seeking to update their network and maximize the coverage of their operations.

The differential of NAP at Ascenty

It’s one thing to use an ordinary NAP service, but nothing compared to Ascenty’s NAP.

Ascenty’s data centers feature countless international carriers. That is why the company can take its clients to wherever they need to go.

Ascenty’s NAP is an interconnection point that allows clients to reach content and information anywhere in the world.

How is this possible?

In Ascenty’s design, fiber-optic cables are connected to the Submarine Cable Landing Stations in Praia Grande (state of São Paulo). That is where the first and main connection points of submarine fibers of major international carriers are located.

Instead of simply creating a routing point for the signal of these international carriers within Ascenty, we take one step further and ensure optimal transport between the submarine stations and the Data Center, through the fiber-optic network itself.

This ensures an extremely high-quality connection with very low latency and international coverage, allowing clients to access and use countless resources from several different carriers.

By contracting any carrier (with a connectivity point at Ascenty), your company already has access to the benefits of Ascenty’s NAP. Simply request a link for the carrier to make a cross-connect and bring your company to Ascenty’s NAP. All of that without even having to contract a Rack or data center at Ascenty.

After all, Ascenty strives to meet each and every one of your business needs, delivering custom services to help solve your problems and ensure scalable growth for your company.

Besides, it is important to point out that all of Ascenty’s data centers are connected to the NAP. That means that all clients have full access to the entire ecosystem of connectivity and solutions.

Enhance the quality of your connection, securing your data and expanding access to information around the world – schedule a meeting with our experts and let us guide your company through this modernization process!

Have you ever wondered how corporate connectivity details impact network performance and business strategy?

The truth is that many people don’t know which factors can affect their connectivity. For companies, understanding these concepts is essential – and especially when it comes to NAP (Network Access Point).

After all, the Internet that supplies your business network (usually) does not leave the provider (ISP) to connect directly to your company.

In fact, there are several variables along this path. Everything depends not only on the geographic possibilities of the place, but also on what companies that provide the service and which technologies they use.

NAP (Network Access Point) is a great solution that telecommunications companies have found to allow their customers to make successful connections, expanding their reach without losing internet connection quality.

But how does that affect internet connectivity for organizations?

Having a NAP (Network Access Point) location increases the variety and performance of your connections and improves the interconnection with your Data Centers, as is the case with Ascenty customers.

However, before you start, you should have a firm grasp of this concept and what benefits it brings to businesses. Keep reading to learn more about NAP!

NAP (Network Access Point): What is it and how does it work?
NAP (Network Access Point) is one or more locations with a high level of connectivity and several options to access the main carriers and content. In it, different providers (ISPs) and telecommunications companies set up their POPs (Points of Presence), allowing any business to easily use their connectivity services.

The interconnection between these lines and companies allows customers to reach any location on the globe through the connections provided by the NAP.

What are the characteristics of an NAP (Network Access Point)?

Carrier Neutral;
Easy and cheap acquisition of Cross Connection or Golden Jumper;
Several national and international carriers available;
Traffic exchange points (IX.br);
Content providers;
Leading Cloud Service Providers available (Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, Google, IBM Cloud). 
Why does your company need an NAP (Network Access Point)?

Any company whose strategy includes developing a regional and global reach, vertical growth for IT environments, adopting hybrid environments, multicloud environments or even interconnecting its environments with multiple suppliers, partners or service providers must be part of an NAP (Network Access Point). After all, it’s the ideal place for them to reach their connectivity and growth targets quickly and easily.

Because it’s a point with several connectivity options, it also offers extreme flexibility to adapt to each company’s strategy. In other words, companies that originally needed to connect with North America and adjusted their strategy to start doing business with Europe can easily acquire connections within the NAP, often acquiring a Cross Connect or Golden Jumper to plug into carriers that serve this region.

By itself, this characteristic of the NAP considerably increases the quality and variety of the connection as a whole. NAPs are usually also recognized for the high volume of information transferred and the large number of companies that are part of this location.

It’s the perfect solution for anyone paying too much for their internet connection, international connections or interconnection. NAP lowers costs and offers a powerful, low-latency connection.

In addition, the interconnection environment promotes an ecosystem where corporate networks not only remain stable, but are scaled. And that takes much more than just connectivity – you also need full-time availability, which the NAP (Network Service Point) provides.

In general, the NAP (Network Access Point) is the ultimate solution for companies looking for a high level of connectivity quality standards.

Benefits of the Ascenty NAP

Ascenty is setting up an NAP (Network Access Point) in São Paulo to enhance its customers’ connection.

This point will also offer an interconnection with the company’s entire ecosystem, enabling customers of any Ascenty Data Center to leverage its benefits to improve their connectivity.

This is possible because the company does not require its customers to set up physical POPs within the Ascenty Data Centers, since it is Carrier Neutral and connectivity is made through integrations and cross connections, either through any carrier or its own network. This is the best path to reach the main carriers, providers and content that the market can offer and demand.
 

Why is it important for a Data Center and an NAP to be Carrier Neutral?
 

Simply because it allows them to enable any level of connectivity from any carrier, regardless of which provider your company has chosen.

When it comes to the infrastructure, Ascenty’s NAP (Network Access Point) customers can also rely on the dedication of a leading data center infrastructure provider throughout Latin America.

Excellence in providing high quality standards in connection is one of the core businesses of the company, which has its own fiber optic network, in addition to more than 60 providers spread across Brazil.

Need to improve the quality of your connection, adding redundancy and more security for your data? Talk to one of our specialists right now and find out how the NAP (Network Access Point) solution can solve your connectivity problems!

Information Security is a great ally in harm-reduction strategies and flexibility is a major differential during database attacks. Security is essential when dealing with extremely important and confidential information, as it provides reliability, demonstrates compliance during audits or regulatory inspections and ensures business continuity in the event of a failure or attack on the system.

There are several flexible technologies available for crisis prevention and resolution. They include:

Install an AntiSpam program

E-mails are a very important communication channel and can also be an entry point for viruses or other system hacks. Using an AntiSpam program is a simple and flexible way of protecting the computer and the company network. This tool helps select unwanted messages and removes them from your inbox. This means that employees do not lose time deleting infected e-mails.

Invest in a digital Certificate

This technology allows the user to safely conduct online transactions and communications. The digital certificate acts as a virtual identity of a private individual or company, device or website. This digital signature guarantees authenticity and integrity of the most sensitive data. This technology can be used for counterfeiting and fraud prevention.

Use a content filter

Your company’s internal network can have content filter tools to stop users access sensitive data or block malicious entities that may pose a risk to the company or its network. This tool provides an edge by providing extra security via site keywords. Furthermore, these filters increase productivity by preventing access to certain websites that are not directly work-related, such as online gaming sites.

Protect your network against DDoS attacks

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks overload company network connectivity, which includes desktops, notebooks, cloud services, providers and IoT (Internet of Things) devices. Each of these devices could become an entry point for hackers to try and infiltrate the network after DDoS attacks.

This demonstrates the importance of prevention and adoption of a DDoS attack management system, in order to stop high volume traffic affecting equipment that provides connectivity and internet access. These attacks could also be used to draw attention away from attacks intended to steal data and carry out other crimes.

The speed these attacks are dealt with is extremely important and they can be prevented without disconnecting or switching off any servers. There are solutions that you can adopt that have been specifically developed to protect your company from these kinds of threats.

Cloud backup

Backing up to cloud serves makes a huge difference in times of crisis, speeding up recovery of sensitive data that a needs to keep running. Cloud computing is the best option for fast data recovery. This technology also can keep your systems up to date and secure. There are several cloud service options that offer protection and you can even use different services depending on your business requirements.

End point security

It is extremely important to focus on your end points! Failure to address mobile devices, desktops and notebook could threaten your entire security strategy. This security measure blocks pen drive access to networks, avoiding unwarranted data transfers that could damage or infect your network.

Security solutions are an important issue for all types of organization and security technologies enhance service performance. This means security is a crucial aspect when dealing with information. Did this article help you to find solutions and promote information security? Contact our specialists!

We proudly present the positive results of our partnership with Vitoria Hotels, a chain that runs 5 hotels in Campinas, Paulinia and Indaiatuba. At the end of 2014, the customer transferred a large part of their structure to an Ascenty Data Center, leading to increased security for all its information and processes and greater real-time availability and redundancy.

The Chain

Vitória Hotels relies on the Ascenty market-leading services, a high density co-location structure that ensures more efficient data protection as well as increased availability and redundancy for all operating systems. To support this infrastructure, the customer also hired the dedicated lan-to-lan links on Ascenty’s proprietary network, guaranteeing lower latency and more robust Internet access, as well as the convenience of contracting everything from a single data center and link provider.

Customer Services

The Ascenty data center met all of Vitória Hotels’ requirements, providing the necessary technical differentials that the project required, such as high quality customer service and robust infrastructure, as well as certificates that guarantee data security and protection.

“Ascenty’s excellent technical support, the quality of the infrastructure, robust data protection and real-time redundancy were the differentials that made this partnership work. We also plan to transfer all of our data to the Ascenty Data Centers in the near future”, says André Luiz Dario, TI Manager at Vitória Hotels.

“We are very happy with our partnership with Vitória Hotels. We work hard to understand all of our customers’ requirements so we are able offer a meaningful service that reduces costs by increasing availability and fully securing their information”, says Roberto Rio Branco, Marketing, Sales and Institutional Director at Ascenty. “In addition to our physical security, which includes power contingency plans, triple infrastructure redundancy and many other resources, we also hold the most stringent cyber security certificates, proving that Ascenty is a partner you can depend on to store and process critical data securely”, he adds.

About Vitória Hotels

The hotel chain was founded in 2000 when the Residence NewPort unit, ideal for long-term stays, was unveiled in Campinas. Over the following 16 years, Vitória expanded across the Campinas metropolitan region and currently manages five hotels, three in Campinas (Vitória Hotel Concept Campinas, Residence New Port and Vitória Hotel Express Dom Pedro), one in Indaiatuba (Vitória Hotel Convention Indaiatuba) and the most recent unit in Paulinia (Vitória Hotel Convention Paulínia). All of the Chain’s ventures conform to high quality standards and are constantly striving for service excellence, all of which has made the company a benchmark for hotels across the state of Sao Paulo. Importantly, besides the hotels, the Chain also manages eight restaurants offering a variety of cuisines which have won awards from Veja Campinas Comer&Beber magazine, including the Bellini Ristorante (Mediterranean cuisine), Kindai (Asian) and Esquinica (Contemporary). To find out more, please visit www.vitoriahoteis.com.br