WHIR tv continues to cover the ongoing construction of our new flagship data center in Toronto, Canada.

We are happy to announce that we’ve partnered with InMon, the leading traffic monitoring solution for high-speed networks, to provide precise bandwidth measurement and analysis capability to our Managed Hosting customers.

We will deploy the industry standard sFlow® network monitoring technology and InMon’s Traffic Sentinel, in all of our data centers to provide an industry leading bandwidth billing solution for Managed Hosting customers.

Bandwidth usage is measured on a per-IP address basis, so we are able to ignore traffic occurring inside the data center, and provide precise traffic charges to our customers in a way that is not possible through per-port or physical-layer network traffic monitoring.

For PEER 1 customers, the InMon-powered network traffic monitoring and analysis is accessible in real time through the online customer portal with customizable graphs and downloadable data.

Full press release: http://www.peer1.com/aboutus/news.php?id=134

Here is the second video installment of The Whir’s ongoing coverage of the build out of our state-of-the-art green data center in Toronto, Canada. The new facility will provide Managed Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, and Colocation services.

See first video here

Whir TV is doing on-going coverage of the latest PEER 1 data center being built out in Toronto, Canada. You can watch the first installment here.

This 41,000 sq ft space will transform into our most eco-friendly data center. The facility will use some of the most efficient products and technologies on the market, including the use of a local well for primary water supply with redundant connection to the city water system to reduce overall carbon footprint and provide lower energy consumption. The first of four planned stages is scheduled for completion in early 2010. Other efficiencies planned are the use of redundant high efficiency VFD centrifugal chillers and heat exchangers to take advantage of “free cooling” during colder months, providing significant energy savings. This also enables us to use more environmentally friendly refrigerants not commonly found in current air-cooled systems.

Charnell Pugsley, Rob Kinkaid, Dave Sherman, Kevin Lee, Jim Park

Wow! We’ve returned home from the 24 Hours of Lemons event at the No Problem Raceway in Belle Rose, Louisiana. I can honestly say that we got a true taste of this race this past weekend.

In my last post, I mentioned the PEER 1 road trip that started off on the wrong foot with an incompatible wire harness from RV to car trailer which left us with no working lights. Then the car trailer coming off of the hitch to the RV that left us stuck in rush hour traffic in Atlanta. Definitely not the way we wanted to start our road trip. Nonetheless, we made it to the event and all was well. Sort of.

After we finally passed tech and were allowed to race, the first day of racing started off great. The PEER 1 car and drivers (Team PEER Pressure) handled well and then the problems began. First we had an overheating problem due to a stuck

PEER 1 Car Overheating

thermostat.  We pulled the thermostat to run the coolant at full flow all the time.  Apparently, that causes the car to overheat almost instantly.  We drilled the thermostat, but the car would still overheat so we had to run a few laps, come off of the track to let it cool and do it all over again. By the end of the first day, we weren’t confident the PEER 1 car would make it for the next days race.

We started off Sunday replacing the water pump and thermostat with new units. I asked Kevin Lee, our racing team lead what exactly happened and he said:

After a few runs, we never got the car to the point where it wouldn’t overheat and started seeing oil in the cooling system.  This could be an indication of blown head gasket or cracked heads and we suspect that something may have broken off in the block that is possibly blocking the flow of water.

By the end of the race, the PEER 1 car just couldn’t make another lap around the track. We ended up finishing in 42nd place (which by the way matched our car – #42 and we all know 42 = answer to life, the Universe, everything ) After all of the long hours our team spent wrenching and welding, getting sunburned and dehydrated, we still had a damned good time and we’re looking forward to doing it again. Maybe we’ll get to go head-to-head with other hosting providers the next time, if they’re up to the challenge.

PEER 1's Mercedes race car at 24 Hours of Lemons

View our pictures from the 24 Hours of Lemons on our PEER 1 Flickr here: http://tinyurl.com/lbzet5

View all of the pictures (over 7000!) that we took at the event here: http://tinyurl.com/mk2bud

Charnell Pugsley
PEER 1 Community Evangelist

We’ve mentioned previously on our blog that we’re headed to the track again for the 24 Hours of Lemons and we’ve challenged you to a race. Will we see you there?

Last year PEER 1 participated in the 24 Hours of Lemons event that took place in

PEER 1 at 24 Hours of Lemons - Kershaw, South Carolina 2008

Kershaw, South Carolina. We posted pictures and a video interview with Jay Lamm, “The Chief Perpetrator”of the event and we’ll be at it again this year at the “Laissez Les Crapheaps Roulez New Orleans” on June 6-7, 2009.

We’ll have employees from two of our office locations participating – PEER 1 Atlanta and ServerBeach San Antonio. PEER 1’s system administrator Kevin Lee will be leading the team again this year. Last year, we quoted him saying, “I spent so much time at junkyards, I never want to see another one again”. Well, this year he was back at it hitting the junkyards getting the PEER 1 1981 Turbo Diesel Mercedes ready for this years race.

To remind everyone what the 24 Hour of Lemons is all about:

Nasty. Brutish. Not Short Enough.

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The crowd. The spectacle. The pall of blue smoke and roasted clutch discs. In all motorsport, no event captures the universal human need to whale on old crapcans and hoover down greasy barbecue like the 24 Hours of LeMons.

Each LeMons race is for cars purchased, fixed up, and track-prepped for a total of 500 dollars or less. But before reaching the grid, you’ll have to survive trials like the Personal-Injury-Lawyer Anti-Slalom, the Marxist-Valet Parking Challenge, and the Wide Open Throttle Rodthrowapalooza. Twelve hours into the race, the car voted People’s Choice is called in and awarded a cash prize; simultaneously, the car voted People’s Curse is called in and summarily destroyed. At the end of 24 hours, a gala awards ceremony plies the survivors with trophies, plaques, and four-figure purses in canvas bags full of nickels. What’s not to like? — 24 Hours of Lemons Website

For requirements, rules, and fees, visit http://www.24hoursoflemons.com. For track information and location, please visit http://www.24hoursoflemons.com/events/noproblem09/

For more information on the PEER 1 race challenge, or if you’re in the neighborhood and would like to say hello, please contact:

Charnell Pugsley
PEER 1 Community Evangelist
cpugsley@peer1.com
210-798-4413

We’ve partnered with Lisa Sabin-Wilson, celebrity blogger and author of “WordPress for Dummies”, to offer free premium blog templates, valued at $1,200 each, designed exclusively for PEER 1 and ServerBeach.

With an estimated 133 million blogs worldwide and growing, social networking and blogging has become the fourth most popular activity on the Internet, surpassing even e-mail.* For those looking to join the fast-growing blogging community, or just wanting to spice up current blogs, PEER 1 is offering five free custom-designed WordPress themes as a download to anyone who visits the PEER 1 or ServerBeach Web site.

The templates won’t be around for long, available for download only until June 30. To view the different designs and download a favorite, visit the PEER 1 Web site http://www.peer1.com/resources/wordpress_themes.php or the ServerBeach Web site http://www.serverbeach.com/resources/wordpress_themes.php.

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To view the full press release, please visit http://www.peer1.com/aboutus/news.php?id=118

We’ve just recently launched SmartMonitoring^TM, a full suite of advanced monitoring solutions now available for our managed hosting customers. Utilizing the platform of partner, Absolute Performance Inc., SmartMonitoring provides in-depth data and analysis to better anticipate IT needs for business success. This offering, which will be expanded to all product lines later this year, represents strategic momentum in working together with best-of-breed companies to provide PEER 1 customers a valuable range of products and services.

“With the launch of SmartMonitoring, we are offering the best monitoring services available, while continuing to provide the advanced hosting services that are in greatest demand by our customers,” said Tim Varma, director of product management for PEER 1. “SmartMonitoring will help our customers increase efficiency and maximize IT resources, which is especially vital in today’s economy. With our fully scalable hosting solutions and services, PEER 1 adjusts to customers’ needs and helps them be more cost effective, to keep their businesses running smoothly.”

With SmartMonitoring, PEER 1 customers can choose the services and features, from basic to highly complex, that are most vital to their business success. These services are available through SmartMonitoring’s on-demand platform interface, which provides anyone in the organization, from CEO to system engineer, understandable, information on how application and system components are working together. This real-time data gives insight into potential issues so they can be proactively addressed in the most efficient and timely way.

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For more information and full press release, please see http://www.peer1.com/aboutus/news.php?id=117

PEER 1 announced today that we are building out on a 41,000 square foot green data center in the Toronto area. Our new facility will implement some of the most efficient products and technologies on the market, including the use of a local well for primary water supply with redundant connection to the city water system to reduce overall carbon footprint and provide lower energy consumption. The first stage is scheduled for completion in early 2010, and will include 7,500 square feet of data center space, and 8,000 square feet of office and staging area. The remaining 25,500 square feet will be dedicated to additional data center space and infrastructure which will be built out in three future phases.

We also announced our membership in The Green Grid. The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to advancing energy efficiency in data centers and business computing ecosystems. The Green Grid seeks to provide industry-wide recommendations on best practices, metrics and technologies that will improve overall data center and business computing energy efficiencies. By joining The Green Grid, we’re trying to do our part in helping influence both developers and end users of data center technology.

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Read press release

A few months back I began a fun little project – exposing our customers and posted about it on our ServerBeach Blog. The goal of this project is to give your business some added exposure. It’s called “You’re on My Shirt”.

Every week I will post a picture of me wearing a client’s branded T-shirt along with a description of your business and a friendly link to your site or blog.

So what’s the catch, you ask? Nothing really. To be featured, all you have to do is be a current PEER 1 client and mail or courier me a T-shirt with your company name on the front and/or back… and that’s it! BTW, size MEDIUM please.

The PEER 1 Blog has a loyal following and is viewed daily by many online users. This new feature is a way for us to extend some love to our clients and get you some more free exposure.

You can view some of the ServerBeach “You’re On My Shirt” pictures and blog posts here: http://serverbeach.wordpress.com/?s=you%27re+on+my+shirt.

To get on my shirt, fire off an e-mail to me and I’ll reply back right away with some details and questions about your business, as well as an address to send me your T-shirt.

Be the first one to get featured!

Charnell Pugsley
Community Evangelist
cpugsley@peer1.com