FirstBank Chooses i/o Data Centers

Colocation provider i/o Data Centers will design, build and operate a financial grade data center for FirstBank, the largest locally-owned bank in Colorado, the companies said Wednesday. FirstBank will occupy a custom suite in i/o Data Centers’ Scottsdale ONE data center facility as part of a multi-year agreement. The i/o site will serve as a disaster recovery facility for FirstBank, which currently has over 120 locations and serves more than 600,000 customers.

“With online banking becoming so prevalent in today’s society, FirstBank, as well as its customers, can have peace of mind knowing that their core IT is housed in a secure and reliable data center,” said Anthony Wanger, Senior Managing Director of i/o Data Centers. “We are committed to FirstBank and are pleased to have the opportunity to accommodate and assist them with their rapid growth and success by providing them with best-in-class data center space.”

i/o Data Centers Completes SAS 70 Audit

i/o Data Centers has completed the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) Type II examination for its data center in Scottsdale, Arizona. The audit results were announced yesterday by CrystalTech Web Hosting, a large hosting provider that houses its servers with i/o in Scottsdale.

The SAS 70 Type II audit is a rigorous third-party evaluation of internal procedures, policies, and controls in accordance to the standards set by the AICPA. The completion of this audit, which was performed by independent service auditor Deloitte & Touche LLP, provides assurances that Newtek Technology Services’ data center space has the necessary controls in place to effectively manage and protect customer data.

i/o Data Centers Lines Up Generators

i/o Data Centers said today that it has reached an agreement with Empire Power Systems, the Caterpillar distributor for Arizona and Southeast California to ensure that it will have backup power for the build-out of its data centers. That will include 16 megawatts of backup power for i/o Data Centers’ Scottsdale ONE facility, all supplied by Caterpillar.

“The Caterpillar name implies quality,” said Tony Wanger, Senior Managing Director of i/o Data Centers. “Cat has a reputation as being a premium product in this market, and that matches up well with our desire to create a high level of confidence in our ability to host our client’s most important information. In the arrangement with Empire, we get the highest quality of product and we also have access to the capabilities of a very large Caterpillar distributor.”

Strong demand for diesel generators from data center builders and growing economies in China and India have contributed to a delivery backlog for large generators, with backlogs approaching a year for some larger models. Many new data centers are arranging for large volumes of power, which places additional pressure on manufacturing capacity. DuPont Fabros has 32 generators at its new facility in Ashburn, Virginia, while Google has received permits for up to 38 generators for its new data center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. With that level of demand, procuring generators becomes a key element of the data center construction timetable.

Major Qwest Contract with i/o Data Centers

Qwest Communications (Q) has announced a multimillion-dollar agreement with i/o Data Centers to create a custom telecommunications solution for i/o Data Centers’ Scottsdale ONE facility. i/o said it chose Qwest because it provides an “exceptionally robust solution” for large bandwidth needs and could work within the company’s design specifications. Scottsdale ONE is the first facility for i/o Data Centers, which plans to build a national data center network.

“This agreement shows how Qwest is willing to go above and beyond for customers such as i/o Data Centers who have mega bandwidth needs,” said Chris Ancell, vice president of sales, Qwest Business Markets group. “Qwest now provides high-capacity network services for many of the top Fortune 500 companies in the nation. And now, other businesses in Arizona can take advantage of the mega bandwidth available in the i/o Data Center.”