The Network
Welcome
to our extensive Network section. Here you can find
details on the NAC data center, its network and connectivity
plus various static and interactive tours.
The
NAC Data Center
We realized early on that a hosting company is only
as good as the network that powers it. Our hosting provider
has servers that are housed in the multi-million dollar
NAC (Net Access) Data Center, a vast facility with its
own network located in Parsippany, New Jersey. The Data
Center is connected to a multitude of backbone providers
by multiple OC-12 connections and indeed, with the recent
service extension to London, Net Access is now an international
backbone provider itself.
Hardware and Network Technology
The NAC data center is a robust facility and the network
is contructed with top-grade equipment and manned by
skilled network engineers. Significant investments have
been made in equipment from major vendors such as Cisco
and Lucent. Using industry leading equipment that has
a proven track record is the best choice, and is well
worth the extra expense. Utilizing top-grade equipment
may seem like a simple observation, but it is surprising
how many companies either overlook it or decide that
it's safe to economize. Economy is always nice until
your network goes down, at which point you are likely
to lose many times the money you saved.
You
can be assured that NAC uses quality network hardware
and that data center technicians work around the clock,
using such technologies as ATM and BGP dynamic routing
to ensure that all systems run efficiently and smoothly.
Connectivity and Node
Reliability
NAC's connections to multiple backbone providers, and
peering with many carriers on a regional and international
basis, allows it to easily reach remote networks even
in the case where a NAP may be unhealthy, or when a
specific backbone connection is down. Intelligent routing
decisions can always be made; for example, if we are
trying to reach a remote network which is on the Sprint
network, there's no reason to send it out to UUNET first.
By
placing core nodes at places like Equinix and Telehouse,
NAC is guaranteed a level of competent service. All
of the network's core nodes employ SONET networks, which
essentially provides a dual-redundant, counter-rotating
ring technology, and in the event of a fiber cut, the
SONET will automatically heal itself. Also, circuits
are divided among several telecommunications providers,
such as Verizon, MFS/Worldcom, and Adelphia.
The
NAC staff is working around the clock to ensure that
the network is operating at optimum state. They continually
review collected statistics to watch for traffic trends
so that we can react with the proper routing adjustments
and bandwidth addition.
Backbones, unreliability
and the NAC solution
A backbone is a set of paths that local or regional
networks connect to for long-distance interconnection.
The connection points are known as network nodes or
telecommunication data switching exchanges (DSEs). Many
data centers rely on one backbone provider (such as
UUNET, Sprint, or AT&T) for its connection to the
rest of the Internet. As the data center grows, it usually
buys more bandwidth from its existing backbone provider.
This has the advantage of simplicity and consistency,
but it has an unfortunate side effect - the data center
has a single point of failure in backbone provider it
has chosen. If the backbone fails, so does the data
center and all its users go down with it.
In
this day and age, is it really possible that regional,
national and international backbones can be so unreliable
and unstable? The truth is is that scenarios such as
this are a common occurence. Even top notch networks
occasionally go down because of factors beyond their
control. Network outages happen all the time, for varying
reasons, and there will probably never be a time when
they don't happen. It also happens that backbones, even
ones with names you've probably heard of, may not be
using the best equipment or the most knowledgeable people
to build their networks, even at the national or international
levels.
As
with most ISPs, NAC started out seven years ago with
a single connection to the Internet via one backbone
provider. As the need of users grew, instead of buying
larger access to a single provider, NAC started to interconnect
with many other backbone providers, and other Internet
Service Providers as well and now also maintains its
own international backbone which in itself, is used
by other providers.
A Powerful Platform
In summary, the combination of technical experience,
the latest technology, and quality network hardware,
Net Access has created one of the most reliable networks
in the region. We have deployed and continue to develop
our network to provide the speed and reliability the
businesses and consumers demand, at an affordable price.
