Glossary of Terms

n+1: Is a term used to describe the level of redundancy within an infrastructure. If an eco-system has at least 1 unit being reserved for failover capacity, then it is considered n+1. This allows for any component in that ecosystem to fail, and still maintain a high level of operation and service. Every InfoRelay network location maintains a minimum of n+1 redundancy.


Availability: The proportion of time a system is in a properly functioning state. InfoRelay offers a best in industry standard of 99.999% (five nines) network availability guarantee.


Bandwidth: A rate of data transfer or bit rate throughput and is measured in bits per second. InfoRelay provides clients with bandwidth speeds from 10Mbps through 10Gbps.


BGP: Border Gateway Protocol is the protocol backing the core routing decisions on the Internet. It maintains a table of IP networks or ‘prefixes’ which designate network reachability among autonomous systems.


Carrier Neutral Data Center: Commercial buildings where multiple telecommunication carriers can house their network equipment for the primary purpose of accessing and developing network connections with one another. InfoRelay offers services in several carrier neutral data centers across the U.S.


CDN (content delivery network): A system of computers on the Internet that delivers content (or media) transparently to end users. InfoRelay’s IP Anycast can effectively deliver the same result as a large complex CDN by geo-targeting the closest available data center to serve content locally to the end user.


Cloud Computing: Location agnostic computing whereby a shared cluster of virtualized servers provide resources, software, and data to other computers and devices on demand. InfoRelay’s cloud based storage and platform mesh our highly redundant low latency network with today’s sharpest cloud technology.


Colocation: Data center facilities that are purpose built to support IT infrastructure and data storage applications outside of a common business location. InfoRelay is a colocation provider that blends world class purpose built data centers with 2n network configurations.


Compliance: The act of adhering to or demonstrating adherence to a standard or a regulation. InfoRelay has undergone training in HIPPA and PCI colocation and can conform to other regulatory standards.


Data Center: A facility used to house computer systems and components. Data centers are purpose built to withstand certain levels of component, mechanical, electrical, and cooling failures while maintaining peak operating performance. All InfoRelay North American data centers are a minimum of Tier III rated (of IV) and are completely redundant.


DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service): A method of attack involves saturating the target machine with external communications requests, such that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered effectively unavailable. InfoRelay has invested a large expenditure to ensure we can mitigate a DDoS attack for our clients through our Premium Network Assurance.


Dedicated Server: A server being hosted and leased to a company or individual person that is owned and maintained by the hosting company, in the hosting company’s data center. Normally root access is provided for the client to manage the server remotely, as well as bandwidth, IP addresses, and support. InfoRelay offers a variety of dedicated server options with guaranteed priority support and fully dedicated resources.


Disaster Recovery: An organization’s ability to recover from a disaster or an unexpected event and resume or continue operations (business continuity). InfoRelay offers low cost disaster recovery programs in all data center locations nationally.


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Fault-Tolerant: A fault-tolerant system is designed to withstand a single, or multiple points of failure and maintain peak system availability. InfoRelay’s network and data center topology is completely fault-tolerant which allow us to guarantee a 99.999% up-time promise.


Firewall: A technological device designed to prevent unauthorized access to a computer system or network. InfoRelay’s managed Cisco firewall services help our clients maintain a secure system infrastructure in our facilities.


HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act): Standards (P.L104-191) enacted by the Federal Government to ensure the security and privacy of health records as well as improve efficiency by encouraging widespread use of electronic data interchange. InfoRelay is trained in HIPPA colocation and is able to apply the standard to support and hosting requirements.


IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): Cloud-based infrastructure services that provide a virtual platform for hosting computer applications. InfoRelay has developed it’s own proprietary virtual platform meshed with a highly optimized IP network for a “cloud’ based product that is second to none.


Internet: A global network system of interconnected computer networks that facilitates the exchange of data through TCP/IP, or standard Internet Protocols. InfoRelay is happy to bring people together by facilitating the exchange of data through the Internet on our reliable networks.


IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6): A version of the Internet protocol designed to succeed IPv4 due to the number of available IP addresses dwindling to zero. IPv6 uses 128-bit addresses and supports 340 undecillion (3.4 x 10^38) IP addresses, whereas IPv4 only supported 4.3 billion IP addresses. InfoRelay is ready for the global IPv6 deployment and currently operates a dual stack IPv6 topology.


IT (Information Technology): An area of expertise that focuses on the creation, support and management of computer-based information systems. Our comprehensive services allow us to act as an extension of your IT department.


Load Balancing: The process where the workload is distributed evenly throughout the server network so that no single server is depleted of resources. InfoRelay offers complex load balancing services between web and application servers.


Metro Ethernet: Point to point connectivity of local metro buildings normally through lit fiber connection. InfoRelay offers the region’s most aggressive pricing on point to point lit fiber connections to utilize layer 2 or high speed layer 3 Internet connections.


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NAS (Network Attached Storage): Computer file-level data storage that is connected to a computer network. NAS units are a popular method of sharing files among many computers because they process data much faster than traditional file servers.


Network: An interconnected system of people or things. In the technology world, this can refer to various things such as a system of routers, fiber or cable. We insure that our networks are redundant to minimize downtime.


Optimization: The process of improving something to perform at top level. Often referred to utilizing then current top of the line technologies to advance internal business processes.


PaaS (Platform as a Service): A service package that includes all of the needed facilities to support the complete life cycle of building and delivering web applications and services entirely available through the Internet. This includes both hardware and software.


PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard): A set of standards that are designed to insure that a secure environment is maintained at all companies that process, store or transmit credit card information.


PDU (Power Distribution Unit): A device, similar to a power strip, that distributes electric power. PDU’s can be metered (equipped to measure electrical current), switched (remote power management) or basic (no measurement device).


Penetration Testing: A way to evaluate the security of a system and determine if there are any vulnerabilities by simulating an attack from a malicious source. InfoRelay can offer penetration testing on internal client networks to ensure that any and all vulnerabilities are eliminated. Our penetration testing also includes patches and consultation to rectify any found vulnerabilities.


PoP: A PoP is an industry term that means point of presence. It is common for networks and telecom carriers to refer to an area of service as a point of presence. InfoRelay has over 12 PoPs nationally to meet an ever growing global marketplace.


Remote Hands Support: Support at a data center given when a client is not physically present. This can also mean support when a client has developed a set of procedures for a colocation company to help maintain both the physical and logical IT environment. InfoRelay offers both in depth remote hands support as well as simple reboots and hard drive replacement.


SaaS (Software as a Service): Software that is deployed on demand, typically over the Internet. InfoRelay provides the optimal environment for any SaaS, IaaS, or PaaS provider with best in industry network availability and latency.


SAN (storage area network): A dedicated storage network that provides access to consolidated block level storage. SANs make disks appear local to application or web servers so the devices appear as locally attached and thereby improving delivery.



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