Western Canada Data Center Means Home-Grown Security

September 2, 2022

Why Build a Data Center in Edmonton?

Laptop connected to data center servers

Data storage is created equal, right? Nope! Not at all! Where you store your data matters—especially if you’re a regulated industry, need optimal loading times, or can’t afford a long site outage (to name just a few of the benefits).

That’s why Saltmedia undertook the mammoth process of building a state-of-the-art data center in Edmonton with a full back-up in Grande Prairie. And our data center is now a hive of activity!

We knew it was important for our business and our valuable client’s businesses to have a physical place for our data to live—on Canadian soil. With the opening of our data center, we can look after all your business needs including hosting, backups, data management, restore testing, and providing a place where other IT companies can host their virtual servers of every kind (Windows, Linux, etc.).

In any industry, local companies are known for going above and beyond to serve their customers. The data center is no exception! We give clear and honest answers to things like, “How good will this work?” and “How much will this cost?”. Things that large cloud providers can have difficulty with. And big outfits like Microsoft Azure, Amazon (AWS), and even Google Cloud can require specialized training in order to use the services effectively.

We’ve got you covered and will never leave you in the dark or struggling to make the most of the services you’ve paid for. We also offer Office 365 Tenant backups such as email, SharePoint, and OneDrive backups!

Backups, Firewalls, Load Balancers, and More!

Confused man trying to read laptop screen

Does it feel like we’re talking another language? Let’s keep it simple:

A data center is a physical location with a network of machines and connections that allows you to host applications and store data securely.

Data centers offer three main services:

  1. Network Infrastructure: both the physical and the virtual connections between the data center and other locations
  2. Computing Resources: Businesses run a lot of applications these days—everything from the software that runs your website to the software that helps dispatch your fleet of trucks to the software that schedules your kid’s soccer practices, and everything in between. A data center is like the engine that connects and runs all applications.
  3. Security: It offers security services including Identity Management, Access Control, and Remote Access.

In some ways, a data center is like a neighborhood. Different types of businesses and organizations have their data and operations running from their own ‘houses’. And, just like in a real neighborhood, it can be a lovely place for your business… or kind of sketchy. Saltmedia has full control over our data center. No sketchiness allowed!

So, what about those backups? We’re glad you asked! We’ve got our main Edmonton location that holds all data securely. Then, we have another center in Grande Prairie that’s a replica server. Every hour, all the data from Edmonton is replicated in Grande Prairie. With this system, outages and lost data become virtually non-existent. To quote a well-loved phrase; We’ve got you covered six ways from Sunday!

We can’t prevent natural disasters, but we do take disaster recovery very seriously. If you have a server that your business requires to function, we can back it up to our data center. If anything happens, your server can be run directly and securely from our data center.

Our data center also has redundant internet connections, multiple ISPs, generator and battery backups, switches, and firewalls. This makes us fully compliant for organizations with high-security requirements like legal firms and medical service providers. It’s also very valuable for established businesses and not-for-profits who legally need to store their data in Canada.

The Host with the Most

Welcome mat

All that high-tech equipment and connections means we can provide website hosting that’s based right here in Western Canada—and from a company that you can literally call and talk to a human! (Sure, you’re welcome to use Go Daddy or Amazon if you want, but you probably won’t ever get a human dedicated to meeting your needs personally!)

If you’re an IT company or want to sell hosting services to your clients, give us a call! Since we’re local, our clients enjoy excellent security, faster loading times, and access to top-of-the-line hardware.

Are you starting out small, but have big plans? We love working with and supporting start-ups! We will help with the infrastructure you need now, that will expand as your business grows. That means you get low costs upfront and can scale easily according to your needs. Save that capital for bigger and better things!

So, whether you want to work with a local company you can trust (and reach on the phone), you need compliant and secure storage, you’re ready to host with fast and secure connections, or it’s time to give the ancient computer in your backroom the heave-ho, our data center (and our super friendly support team) are ready to serve you.

About Alex Saltman

I'm Partner & VP Technology at Saltmedia.  My job is to keep the gears turning in our day-to-day operations. My favorite thing is keeping us on the bleeding edge of technology and smart online trends.
We love building great websites and creating effective marketing strategies. Let’s spice up your online presence today!
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We live, work, and gather on traditional, unceded, and treaty territories of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples from coast to coast to coast. We’re committed to our collective responsibility to the original caretakers of this land and to listening, learning, and acting in ways that support reconciliation.

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