Data Centre Overview
eWAY's infrastructure is housed in Australia’s most modern Data
Centre, built at a cost of $80 Million. The current capacity is 1 Gbps, but easily
expanded as required. The Data Centre connects to the Internet through dual 155Mbps
lines from two different service providers. Both connections have their own redundant
$3 Million switches and are real-world tested every month. The secondary network
is kept purposely empty, so that if and when a transfer happens, it can take the
whole load without slowing down any services. This “empty standby” practice is unique
to a handful of the world’s top providers.
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The Data Centre operates and is manned 24 x7. It has its own Network Operations
Centre, staffed by trained technicians every hour of every day. It is a highly secure
facility which will pass the most stringent security audits. It is certified to
International Security standard 7799. It also has a full-time security team on duty
24 x 7. It comprises a built up area of 7,000 square metres, combining a high level
of fail-over capability throughout, with the capacity to meet high demand. There
is no more modern, secure or better designed facility in Australia . It is the only
one to have true N+1 redundancy throughout. Put in simple terms, that means that
whatever might fail, there is at least one backup to take its place.
Redundancy Features
- Fully integrated building management system for smoke, fire and water detection,
electrical and air conditioning
- Dual power feeds with sub-station on site
- Separate transformers and mains switch boards
- Five diesel backup generators (three required to produce all power)
- 16 x 500Kva Inverter UPS systems with battery backup
- Multiple power management modules
- Two high capacity diesel fuel tanks
- Multiple refrigerant air conditioning plants
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Backup Diesel Generators |
Biometric Security Portal |
Physical Security Features
The Internet Data Centre is a windowless building. Entrances and floor area are
protected by physical and electronic means. Security personnel screen all visitors.
Access is through biometric-controlled security portals and is limited to specific
areas of the centre.
Network Security
The purpose-built, integrated firewall and virtual private network (VPN) security
appliances and systems used by the Data Centre have achieved Common Criteria Evaluation
Assurance Level 4 (EAL4) certification. Common Criteria is an important worldwide
evaluation standard for security products, recognised in 16 countries and mandated
by many government agencies for their critical systems and network purchases.
The network security Intrusion Detection and Prevention (IDP) system, which is a
fundamental part of the Data Centre's security approach, was developed to accurately
detect attacks, stop attack impact and deliver simplified security management. The
innovative technology of IDP provides the next layer of security, complementing
conventional firewalls
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and VPNs to protect against attacks in network traffic. The Multi-Method Detection
mechanism integrates Stateful Signature, Protocol Anomaly, Backdoor, Traffic Anomaly,
IP Spoofing, Layer 2 and Denial of Service Detection to provide the broadest and
most efficient attack detection.
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Security Intrusion Support
The Data Centre's security team is headed by a CISSP security specialist who is
available 24 x 7 to meet any ongoing security threat. CISSP certification is also
known as ISO/IEC 17024. In addition, the Data Centre maintains a relationship with
two specialist security consultants who can be called in during or after a planned
and methodical intrusion.
Monitoring Services
The Data Centre's monitoring services are delivered from two locations. One is located
within the Internet Data Centre. Our backup monitoring is via dedicated links to
the Data Centre's main offices. The main network operations centre (NOC) is staffed
24 x7. This is a notable and important distinction, as there are few data centres
in Australia that have a NOC or provide this service on-site.
The Data Centre provides complex Web site monitoring and reporting. Essential infrastructure
components, such as CPU or disk space are continually monitored and alerts raised
when a pre-failure condition is detected. The Data Centre services include automated
phone, email and SMS message alerts to designated personnel. Monitoring
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Network Operations Centre (NOC) |
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services can be complemented by end-to-end performance and optimisation. Advanced
management tools are deployed to trace and record capacity levels, system performance
and pro-actively deliver recommendations. |
Backup and Fail-Safe Systems
The Data Centre has a custom backup and recovery plan for eWAY's
services, to ensure that critical services are maintained in the event of any outage.
The backup and recovery plan is regularly tested and reviewed.
Summary
The Data Centre provides standard “off-the-shelf” guarantees of 99.999% network
uptime, power availability and air-conditioning levels; and four-hour turnaround
in the event of equipment failure. System monitoring is also provided as outlined
below:
- Performance and capacity monitoring
- Security monitoring and management
- Database and applications support
- Data storage and protection
- Help desk and fault management