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This is Fred Ball for Zions Bank, speaking on business.
Do you ever wonder what supports the Internet? I mean you can call up a site at any time and from anywhere in the world. But what makes that possible? Well, those of you who are techno savvy already know that the Internet is brought to us by what are called servers. They’re specialized computers that do nothing but store and serve up information. So, when you type in an Internet address, you’re really asking a server to give you information.
But what if the server isn’t functioning? What if its connections to the net are down? Then you obviously won’t get what you need. Well, a Utah company, which is actually a spinout of Questar Corporation, was created to ensure that won’t happen.
It’s called Consonus, and it’s dedicated to powering net delivery through managing application reliability and performance. It sounds high tech but it’s really a simple concept and probably best understood from this point of view: Suppose you’re in the business of selling merchandise over the Internet. If you’re server isn’t functioning, you can’t sell your merchandise.
Consonus has made it possible for more than 250 companies to rest easy. They’ve guaranteed as they say, “always-on connectivity,” which means a company’s or person’s Web site will always be there. They do so by building and managing huge, extremely secure data centers. In all, Consonus operates three in Salt Lake City with room for thousands of servers for customers located throughout the West.
The buildings are fascinating. They store valuable information so they’re built to withstand nearly any kind of calamity from earthquakes to power outages to break-ins.
But Consonus does much more than provide secure hosting of Web servers. The company also helps its clients build and monitor their own complex computer networks using the latest equipment. And it helps manage and monitor Web site performance and prevent problems before they occur. Consonus’ engineers can also upgrade existing programs so they can be delivered on the Web with high reliability Internet software.
Consonus is the kind of company that will certainly grow. This year, the company expects to launch additional Internet data centers nationwide.
For Zions Bank, I’m Fred Ball. I’m speaking on business.