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ServerStack Maintains 100% Uptime During Hurricane Sandy

The day after Hurricane Sandy six weeks ago, all ServerStack employees found themselves without power, heat, hot water, or access to gas.

In the days after Hurricane Sandy six weeks ago, all ServerStack servers and sites continued to maintain the perfect uptime record that they have held for nearly a decade.

On Monday, December 4th, Netcraft ranked ServerStack 7th in its list of November’s Most Reliable Hosting Sites. The list compared hosting sites from across the US, proving that even in the worst Northeast Storm of this century, ServerStack can still hold its own.

ServerStack was able to maintain its standard “White Glove” managed hosting experience because the company’s preparation and adaptability kept customers sites running while the roads of New York were being cleared of flood debris. ServerStack employees who could get out of their apartments, commuted daily to one of the few wired workspaces in the blacked out New York City, while those were locked into their homes kept ServerStack’s sites going strong because they had been equipped with 3G wireless cards in preparation. While New Jersey, where the datacenter is located was still working to pull itself out from under weight of sand and water, ServerStack leveraged its out-of-band access to avoid traveling across the rough NJ conditions.

As Serverstack employees did everything they could to stay connected and responsive to customers’ requests, the company’s 100% uptime was guaranteed by its partnership with an experienced and proactive data center. Equinix, located in North Bergen, NJ, has worked for years to secure the server hardware against potential issues. Quarterly tests of battery power and backup generator capabilities prepared Equinix for the conditions brought on by Sandy, while during the storm itself, datacenter employees made sure that diesel flowed to the back of the generators— a backup for the backup. The east coast, home to nearly annual snowstorms and blisteringly hot summers, does not have a history of severe flooding. Nonetheless, the datacenter was built high above ground level and far from bodies of water to ensure that, in the rare event of a storm like Sandy, the servers would not be affected by rising floodwaters.

And so, the years of drills and preparation paid off—ServerStack has proven that it can maintain perfect uptime not just in easy weather, but also under the most stressful conditions.

Companies distinguish themselves by the way they handle adversity. Investing in the strongest server infrastructure and preparing for the worst case scenario at all times, ServerStack was able to continue serving 200 Million page views a day while the east coast remained locked in, powered off, and very, very, cold.