Gallery: Terremark Readies Secure Cloud Data Center

Security is one of the primary concerns shared by IT pros as they evaluate cloud computing. Cloud service provider Terremark is trying to answer those concerns with a new "ultra secure" data center in northern Virginia.

The first of five planned data center buildings in Terremark's 30-acre facility in Culpeper, Va., opened last year and a second is nearing completion and due to open in the first quarter of 2010. The federal government's Data.gov and USA.gov are among the Web sites running on Terremark's Enterprise Cloud service. The company operates data centers in nearly a dozen worldwide locations, including Silicon Valley.

Terremark's Virginia facility features 12-foot berms and Department of Defense-approved fences around the perimeter, blast-proof exterior walls, and motion-sensor cameras with video feeds to its security office. "This building is like a secure bunker," a company official told InformationWeek when we visited the facility.

Terremark, which serves both government organizations and businesses, describes its data centers as being "fortress style." Customers with special security requirements can get 9-gage steel mesh installed under the raised floor, or, for those with classified information, floor-to-ceiling concrete walls with locked doors. Other security measures include armed guards and bomb-sniffing guards.

The company offers two kinds of cloud services: vCloud Express, which provide on-demand infrastructure in a few minutes with credit card payment, and Enterprise Cloud, with features such as role-based security that are geared toward larger companies. Terremark also offers collocation and managed hosting services.

For more from our tour of Terremark's Virginia data center, see "Inside Terremark's Secure Government Data Center."

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