1. Jacksonville data center's security as advanced as its technology | Jacksonville.com
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Jacksonville data center's security as advanced as its technology
In a building designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, Colo5 offers companies such as Stein Mart a place to keep their information
secure.
BY MARK BASCH STORY UPDATED AT 1:37 AM ON SUNDAY, JUL. 5, 2009
Photo 1 of 5 When Barnett Banks Inc. built its 120,000-square-foot operations center on Jacksonville's Southside in 1971, it didn't
construct just any building. It built a facility that accommodates state-of-the-art technology and can withstand a Category
5 hurricane.
"It's a bunker," said Doug Recker, chief executive officer of Colo5, which now occupies the building.
Colo5 is a data center operator that offers colocation services to businesses - that is, it offers them a secure facility to
store and maintain their information technology systems.
Jacksonville-based Barnett was Florida's largest bank and used the building for all of its data processing operations. But
after Barnett was acquired by NationsBank (now known as Bank of America) in 1998, the facility became redundant. The
bank sold the building to a group of investors for $3.4 million in 2006 and the investors formed Colo5, which opened for
business about three months ago.
Although Colo5 has spent more than $3 million on upgrades to the building, Recker credits Barnett for giving the company
a good foundation to start with.
BOB SELF/The Times-Union "Barnett went overboard" in constructing the facility, Recker said. "Ninety percent of the stuff was here."
Doug Recker, CEO and founder of Colo5, in the facility's
Network Operations Center where the building's operations Donnie Smith, corporate services project manager for Miller Electric Co., has been working in the building for 20 years
and technology is monitored 24/7. Colo5 is a data center while both Barnett and Colo5 operated it (Miller was Barnett's original electrical, communications and building control
operator on the Southside that offers a secure building - it's
contractor for the facility). Even after Barnett was sold and NationsBank began winding down operations, it continued its
essentially a bunker - in which businesses can store and
maintain their IT systems. upkeep on the facility, Smith said.
"What's unique is how the building has been maintained. It hasn't been run into the ground," he said.
The building is technologically advanced, but what stands out are its security features. It starts with 17-inch-thick concrete
walls and windows covered by steel mesh screens that can withstand a 200-mile-per-hour projectile. The glass doorways
are equipped with roll-down steel doors that can cover the glass in an emergency.
Smith said the facility was actually built above ground and has a series of pumps underneath to keep water out. "Flooding
is not an issue," he said.
The building has three large diesel generators that will ensure a continuous power supply in case of a power outage. And
Colo5 is currently installing freezers and refrigerators for food storage, as well as an artesian well to supply water. Colo5
offers office space to its clients and some do have staff permanently stationed at the building to maintain their information
technology systems.
But the building is also equipped to house workers if a hurricane approaches.
"People can actually come to this facility and work and stay," Recker said.
In addition to the main building, Colo5 recently bought another 20,000-square-foot facility to serve as a second data
center in Jacksonville and it is also a partner in a data facility in Las Vegas.
But those buildings don't have the same hurricane-resistant features of the main facility.
Colo5's clients so far range from large corporations like Jacksonville-based Stein Mart Inc. to fledgling businesses like Grooveshark.com, a Gainesville-based Internet music file-sharing
service started by former University of Florida students.
Grooveshark.com has a half-million registered users and its servers handle 2 million music streams every day, said Chief Information Officer Colin Hostert.
The company is using Colo5 as its main site to house its servers.
Hostert said they looked at sites in several cities and chose Colo5 because it offered competitive pricing.
"The big thing was their ability to work with us in terms of pricing and because of their excellent facility in Jacksonville," he said.
mark.basch@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4308
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http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-07-05/story/jacksonville_data_centers_security_as_advanced_as_its_technology[7/6/2009 4:20:11 PM]

2. Jacksonville data center's security as advanced as its technology | Jacksonville.com
http://jacksonville.com/business/2009-07-05/story/jacksonville_data_centers_security_as_advanced_as_its_technology[7/6/2009 4:20:11 PM]