In the next 4-6 weeks we will be upgrading our network core to Extreme Networks Black Diamond 6808 switches, which will give increased redundancy and flexibility to our network.

We are also using Keyspan to provide us with another OC-3 fiber circuit loop to Telx at 60 Hudson in NYC. Telx has over 60 providers on site, which will allow us to provision new circuits quickly and efficiently, as well as offer lower bandwidth rates to our customers.

8-03
LOCAL ISP "OPEN FOR BUSINESS" THROUGH BLACK-OUT
You plan for it. You build for it. Then it happens. The unforgettable darkness that follows that gut-wrenching spool down of fans, hard drives and air conditioners. Then…nothing. Darkness.

For many people on the East Coast, Thursday, August 14th will inspire the question, "where were you when the lights went out in 2003?". The nation had already been tested, but now, when we least expected it, yet another test of our emergency preparedness loomed down like the light of freight train in a dark tunnel.

One New York company had a test of their own on Thursday. As the lights went dark over much of the Northeast, this Long Island Internet hosting and programming company finally got the chance to "test the system". They too had run practice tests of everything every week. Failure plans were in place, redundant lines and power planned; but Thursday brought the real test. A true total black out of monstrous proportions provided the ultimate check of a system planned but never really tried. TWS Hosting now truly has the bragging rights of having pulled through the big one.

For many businesses selling their products and services on the World Wide Web, Thursday was a day that brought a halt to selling, serving and profiting from the superhighway that runs past their virtual showrooms. During the historic blackout, TWS Hosting, continued to serve up its batch of Internet sites despite a complete loss of outside electrical service. Through back-up diesel generation and forward thinking redundant fibre line planning, the company was able to successfully provide its customers with continuous service through the night.

Hours after the power finally came back on, TWS Hosting started receiving thanks from companies that remained live during the black-out. Eat-Fit and MozDev were two of the sites served up by TWS Hosting. Scott Teger of Eat-Fit continued to service clients during the blackout with no interruption of service. "I had my site along with my clients sites hosted at TWS Hosting, located on LI where the entire area was out until 6am Friday. They got that place completely hooked up - I took a tour once and was showed all the backup capabilities, which pretty much every facility says they have, but when a true test came around yesterday it all worked as planned - while everyone else was down - Eat-Fit.com was still bringing in the sales. I have nothing but good things and high recommendations for those guys.

Pete Collins of mozdev.org and mozdevgroup.com gets over 4 million visits a week to his world-wide popular development website. "Some of you may also have noticed that Mozdev which is located here in New York has remained up. With *ZERO* interuption of service. I must commend our new hosting provider TWS Hosting and Todd Cogliandro the noc (network operations center) guy over there for their outstanding service. I remember when he was showing me the facility, I saw a battery backup system the size of a Volkswagen and I was impressed. Then he walked me around to a huge facility in the back and showed me their backup generator that was the size of my garage. I was really impressed. I also remember saying to myself, "nice generator, but a bit overkill. It will never be needed". Well, "say no more".

President and CEO, Madj Ebadi commented on the real life test of the company's mettle during the black out. "Our in-house system really shined when the lights went out over the entire state! We were very happy with the performance of our back-up systems and the quick thinking of our technical team that kept us operating without so much as a glitch. I'm hearing that we were one of the only New York providers that managed to stay up during the whole outage and we're proud of the fact that we were able to keep our clients online even during a crisis situation."