Data Center Overview

SaaShost.net's San Francisco data center was built by WorldCom in 2000. The building also houses "super-nodes" for Verizon and AT&T local phone service in San Francisco, so it is considered an "essential" facility because 911 calls are routed there. We share generators, power, cooling, and fire suppression infrastructure with Verizon, including dual 2 Megawatt generators that support the critical power requirements and operations of the building.

Building Construction

Our infrastructure is located in a California Bay Area Telecom Center, conveniently located just south of San Francisco's Financial District. This 100% occupied telecom building also houses AT&T and MCI super nodes. The building was originally built in 1924 as a Marine Corps Depot for heavy equipment, so the five story structure is built of extra-thick, reinforced cast-in-place concrete. The building was seismically retrofitted in 1999 to convert the existing warehouse into a Telecom Center in accordance with San Francisco's Uniform Building Code, and then retrofitted a second time to exceed those standards by tenants AT&T and MCI in accordance with their stringent telecom carrier standards.

Secure building originally used for storage of military tanks and equipment
Built on an outcropping of solid bedrock that also supports a tower of the Bay Bridge
Seismically retrofit in 1999 to meet rigorous City of San Francisco building codes, then retrofit extensively by MCI again
Six separate fiber entrances with 2 fiber rooms. A large portion of the Bay Bridge Fiber Consortium terminates in the building (cross-bay Fiber)
State-of-the-art redundant systems for power, HVAC, fiber connectivity, seismic precautions and fire suppression

Fire Suppression

The state-of-the-art fire suppression has three levels of protection. Halon fire extinguishers are located throughout the data center. We also have a two stage TotalPac double interlocked, dry-pipe preaction system, with tightly defined zones to isolate and extinguish any fires without affecting surrounding areas. This system must detect both smoke and heat to be triggered. The data center is protected by a grid of 200 sensors on the ceiling and 200 under the raised floor plus "VESDA" AnaLaser-brand laser smoke sensors that are 10,000 times more sensitive than conventional smoke detectors and capable of detecting incipient smoldering. The system is monitored 24 x 7 on-site and off-site by both SaaShost.net and MCI NOCs.

Halon Fire Extinguishers
VESDA laser smoke detection with dry pipe suppression
Tightly defined preaction zones for localized fire extinguishing

Security

The San Francisco Telecom Center where our data center is located maintains the highest possible standards for physical security. This facility is home to only three tenants, MCI, AT&T and ServePath, and is equipped with state-of-the-art video and audio monitoring equipment and 24 x 7 on-site guards. All people entering the building are required to register with the security office and leave a valid ID while in the building. Those not on the access list are not allowed into the building without an escort. We check-in visitors a second time prior to entry into our data center on the second floor. The SaaShost.net NOC is staffed 24 x 365 and is afforded a direct line-of-site view into the data center.

24 x 7 security guards at front entrance
Secondary check-in at our second floor data center
24 x 7 systems administrators / NOC on the data center floor
Cooling

SaaShost.net has tremendous cooling infrastructure, with dual redundant chilled water supply loops and multiple Liebert air conditioning units pumping cold air into the pressurized raised floor of our data center. Chilled water is provided by the roof cooling towers, which also provide chilled water for MCI's critical systems. Additional chilled water supply and return valves are already plumbed every thirty feet along the perimeter of our data center, allowing for rapid installation of additional Liebert units should increased cooling capacity be required.

n+1 Liebert VACs w/n+1 supply loops and chillers
Up to 300 tons of cooling capacity that runs on MCI's chilled water systems
Raised floor system for efficient distribution of cooling

Power Infrastructure

The data center power is fed by conditioned UPS (uninterruptible power supply) electricity, with redundant feeds from dual 2 Megawatt generators that also support critical MCI phone switches. One generator can power the entire building for several days time, and there are 20,000 gallons of reserve diesel fuel on site. These generators are tested monthly to stringent protocols, and every third month the power is disconnected from the two utility feeds to ensure proper generator operation.

Redundant power feeds with UPS power
2 x 2 megawatt generators that also power MCI's local phone switches
20,000 gallons of diesel fuel on site, hot-refill ready
Fiber and Bandwidth Providers