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Reliability, Security, Quality of Service and
Scalability!
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Established in 1992, COA Network has become an industry leader developing and deploying
cutting edge telephony and web based solutions at an affordable price. These services
have helped thousands of our clients to have a 'Big Business image while enjoying
a Small Business Price'. Our clients range from individuals and home based businesses
to Fortune 500 companies and International organizations. Whether we provide our
clients with the ability to have a simple presentation hotline for ad response or
full PBX system functionality to manage a Big Business image, we make a difference!
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Reliability
Redundancy is built into our entire network architecture starting with redundant
OC-3 fiber connections for voice and data provided by Verizon and TelCove. We use
two (2) long distance carriers to load balance inbound and outbound voice traffic.
A telephony server farm is used to handle inbound calls. Service interruption when
a telephony server fails is limited to the calls that the server was processing
while it failed. A fully redundant NAS is used for storage of voicemail/fax messages
and greetings. A SQL Server Active/Passive cluster is set up for database redundancy.
If the Active SQL Server fails, traffic is automatically redirected to the Passive
SQL Server. Redundant systems are in place at all levels of our network in order
to assure the highest level of availability. Based on the second half of 2005, our
availability rate is 99.94%.
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For the Technology Geek in all of us, here are some specifics on the technology
behind our service, the Infrastructure, Security and Maintenance. |
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Scalability
The COA Network platform was designed to scale easily. This means that in order
to support additional subscribers, we can add telephony servers, storage capacity,
voice circuits, and bandwidth to meet the demand with little or no down time. Currently,
we are at less then 25% capacity. Whenever we exceed 40% capacity levels, we add
more lines, servers, etc. to handle the increased call volume. There is virtually
no limit as to our scalability options.
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Security
COA Network takes a very active stance towards keeping the network as secure as
possible. This starts with a very strong firewall policy utilizing Check Point NG
technology with extensive logging at all gateways.
Our telephony servers are located on the internal network and can only be accessed
by users with administrative privileges. Network logins can only be created by network
super-administrators and are subject to a strict password policy. An IP-based KVM
system allows for strict control over access to servers by designated users. Facility
access, including data center entry, is managed through an active key fob system
controlled by network super-administrators. All points of entry, as well as the
data center, are under 24/7 video surveillance and all key fob access is logged.
We are pleased to announce that not one security breach has been encountered to
date.
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Quality of Service
An IP-based network monitoring system monitors the network 24/7 and alerts our administrators
of network and telephony connectivity, hardware, and software issues through an
escalated system of alerts (including e-mail and cellular notifications).
Our DELL servers are under 24/7 same-day parts and labor warranty; in addition our
network administrators are trained to perform all hardware-related maintenance.
Many redundant systems are in place in order to minimize down time from maintenance
and repair. Since the software is created by in-house developers, any software issues
can quickly be resolved.
System backups
The databases supporting the system are backed up on a daily basis. Using a combination
of full, differential and transaction log backups, data can be restored to any point
in time within the last 2 months using MS SQL Server toolset. Up-to-the-second selective
transaction monitoring and rollback is also available through a Log Explorer utility.
All data is backed up to a NetAppliance NAS device vertically scalable up to twenty
terabytes, and a redundant backup to tape media is made on a regular basis. Off-site
backups of mission-critical data are also performed.
System upgrade
procedures
Operating system, server and software upgrades are usually applied between 4:00
AM and 7:00 AM EST to minimize service interruption for clients in the continental
US and Canada. System downtime during an upgrade is usually measured in 15–30 minutes.
All instances of planned system downtime are communicated to clients via an appropriate
area on the web-based login screen at least 72 hours prior to the scheduled upgrade.
New features will be developed and incorporated to the system on an on-going basis.
Resolving bugs is a high priority for us; once a bug is identified, it gets entered
into our issue-tracking system and a developer immediately works on resolving the
issue. Once it has been fixed, a quality assurance engineer will test to confirm
the fix in our test servers. Then the fix is moved to our production servers.
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