March 1, 2023
Our Infrastructure Consultants are here to facilitate the perfect cloud architecture for each customer. This post rounds up some of the most frequently asked questions they get about the gBlock Cloud.
Is your cloud built for High Availability?
Can you provide Microsoft Licensing?
Can we scale our infrastructure to meet temporary demand?
How secure is your cloud? Can you provide security services?
Is storage encrypted at rest?
Is data transfer encrypted?
Is your infrastructure audited? (and what type of audit?)
How does your customer support model work?
What type of managed services can you provide?
How can I access my cloud servers to manage them?
What VPN options are available in the public cloud?
What is the biggest server configuration available?
Will I be charged for resources if my virtual machine is powered down?
Can we store a snapshot of virtual machines?
Are IP addresses tied to my account? Can we buy more IPs?
How many server locations do you have in the USA?
The Green House Data cloud has been rated in the top 10 for availability among cloud providers in the past, even going up against commodity clouds. With redundant components, protection against the system failure, and nationwide data centers, your applications and information will always be available. Read more about the SLA guaranteeing our availability.
Yes, Green House Data provides Microsoft licenses for all versions of Windows, Windows Server, Exchange, Office, SharePoint, and SQL. Certain client-owned licenses under Microsoft’s License Mobility program can also be transferred to the cloud.
Cloud infrastructure is available in Pay-As-You-Go or Allocation Pool pricing. You can add PAYG resources at any time, allowing you to scale up resources on demand.
We take security very seriously, with multiple audited compliance standards, 24/7 staff monitoring, and a variety of anti-malware, IPS/IDS systems, and other software. These features are in constant use on primary Green House Data infrastructure and main network entry/exit points; for more granular security over your individual environment you must purchase managed cloud security options.
By default, storage is not encrypted. We recommend encrypting your data at the operating system level using Microsoft’s Bitlocker Drive Encryption, or LUKS on Linux-based systems.
Green House Data is happy to provide consultations regarding your security needs, such as ensuring a HIPAA-compliant environment.
Data transferred to another location, such as your main office, over an IPSec VPN tunnel can be encrypted using 3DES, AES, or AES-256 encryption.
Green House Data passes annual audits for SSAE 16 Type II as well as HIPAA compliance. These audits test our internal controls, reporting, management, data handling, and security measures (physical and digital).
We provide audit attestation reports upon request.
We provide free customer service to every customer, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. That includes coverage for any critical infrastructure issues and security threats. Customer support is extended to additional purchased software and hardware beyond what is included with each contract.
We provide customer notifications at least one week in advance of any planned system maintenance. Customer communication is performed via e-mail or ticket system, with 24/7 access to tickets provided in the Customer Portal.
Green House Data offers many managed cloud services, including:
Access to cloud servers is available online via the Green House Data Customer Portal, the vCloud Director web console, or directly over Remote Desktop and SSH.
The Edge firewall can support a standard site-to-site IPSec VPN tunnel. This can be used to create an “always on” connection to devices such as Cisco ASA, SonicWALL, and FortiNet firewalls. We are also able to provide a custom OpenVPN client VPN solution.
By default, the operational limit for a single server is 32vCPU and 128GB of RAM. Larger architectures can be accommodated by request.
You can shut down your VM and not incur cost for vCPU or RAM resources. However, storage costs are still incurred for powered off machines and templates until they are fully deleted.
Yes, you can store a snapshot of the server in your catalog. We also have a public catalog that we share with our clients, so they have access to server images and can deploy them quickly and efficiently.
IP addresses are assigned to you when your infrastructure is deployed. Though you may delete a server, the IP address remains in your possession and is tied to your account. You can purchase more IP addresses as needed.
We have a nationwide cloud infrastructure system in place, with deployments in Wyoming, Washington, New Jersey, Oregon, New York. See our data center locations.
Hopefully this blog answered your basic questions about the Green House Data gBlock Cloud. For more detailed inquiries, feel free to fill out a contact form or give us a call!
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