Lavalife

PEER 1 Provides Business Continuity Capability and Server Co-location to Lavalife - To Connect Singles Anywhere, Anytime

Industry
Online meeting services for singles

Profile
Lavalife is one of the world's largest independent providers of technology-based meeting services for singles. Through web, phone and mobile services, Lavalife offers singles anytime, anywhere connections that help to make single life a positive, fulfilling and fun experience.

Challenge
In order to provide these diverse services for singles, Lavalife maintains a dynamic and complex technology network. Lavalife is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and grows by thousands of new members per week.

As good business practice, Lavalife realized that the time had come to invest in implementing the next phase of the business continuity solution to backup their existing network.

Lavalife wanted to find a company that could provider a secure backup data center location for its servers and other technology hardware. By locating equipment in this additional center, Lavalife would take the necessary precautions to help ensure that even if something happened to the Internet connection or the hardware at Lavalife's other data centers, there would be a backup solution in place and service for members would not be interrupted. PEER 1 offered the precise solution.

Solution
PEER 1, a leading Internet infrastructure solutions company, was the first provider to offer a 100 percent uptime guarantee. Its services include co-location, a high-performance Internet network as well as dedicated and self-managed hosting to enterprises worldwide. Since PEER 1's inception in 1999, the company has grown to include data centers and network points of presence in 16 major cities across North America and Europe, all connected by PEER 1's world-class Internet network.

PEER 1 met Lavalife's needs by providing co-location space and Internet connectivity for the company's backup server equipment in a temperature controlled, raised floor, secure data center near Lavalife's headquarters in Toronto. With the new space and backup services, Lavalife now has the capability to continue to expand its IT network to handle Lavalife's increasing membership while maintaining full business continuity and the highest security.

Benefits

• Provided secure business continuity solution
• Enhanced communication network stability
• Provided timely service for expansion
• Lowered IT costs

Provided secure business continuity solution
Lavalife has always needed high volume Internet connectivity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If the Lavalife network was ever disrupted, it could mean that many thousands of members would not be able to connect to the services that they expect and rely upon. PEER 1's guarantee of 100 percent uptime was the solution. If the Lavalife network ever experienced significant failure by technical malfunction, a natural disaster or any other type of unexpected disruption, the traffic will reroute to the backup systems, including those with PEER 1. Therefore Lavalife is assured that its members will continue to make undisturbed connections anytime anywhere.

Enhanced Communication Network Stability
Because Lavalife offers multiple ways for singles to meet, it not only connects with Internet providers, but also with telecommunication services. Lavalife strategically located its new hardware space with PEER 1 in a communication nexus in Toronto. Through this ideal location and PEER 1's backup support, Lavalife can support and supply each service with maximum functionality and complete network stability. Lavalife has complete control over its equipment and can access its servers and hardware as needed with 24/7 secure entry to the data center.

Provided Timely Service for Expansion
With PEER 1, Lavalife was able to expand its business continuity site within its short two-month timeline. PEER 1 executed Lavalife's specific needs with efficiency and expertise. PEER 1 custom built a 168-square-foot cage complete with the extra voltage needed to power Lavalife's ten racks of hardware. Along with power, PEER 1 equipped the customer space with air conditioning, essential to combat the extreme heat put out by ten racks of equipment. The raised floors provided space for cold air to be pumped in for additional cooling and allowed wiring to be fed between racks under the floor so that the wires are organized and do not pose a safety hazard.

Lowered IT costs
PEER 1 provided Lavalife a business continuity site and unmanaged co-location, which meant that Lavalife could channel its resources into internal IT experts who support its various technologies. Lavalife's efficient expansion with PEER 1 and ability to rely on PEER 1's guarantee of 100 percent uptime means the company can now focus its IT staff more effectively on hardware and software deployment, troubleshooting and prevention processes. System and network decisions can be made more quickly and effectively than if the maintenance was outsourced.

Keeping the Lavalife server hardware stable and running efficiently is imperative to Lavalife's growth. The more than 600,000 Lavalife members depend on a cohesive high-performing network to continue making their 1.3 million connections everyday.