Retarus operates its Swiss data center in Green data center Zurich-West
Retarus AG
Efficient exchange of information is essential for business processes no matter what communication form is used – person to person, person to application, or automated machine to machine. Retarus ensures that information flows quickly and securely within and between companies – in the technology or format that best meets the customer’s needs – by email, SMS, fax, or with structured data. With its extremely powerful IT infrastructure worldwide, Retarus stands for the highest levels of security, transparency, and compliance in information logistics.
Retarus customers include sophisticated companies from all industries, such as Adidas, Bayer, Continental, DHL, DZ Bank, Green Datacenter AG Retarus Honda, Linde, Osram, Puma, Sixt, Sony, and Thomas Cook. To be able to offer its customers smooth, global information exchange, the company operates multiple data centers in Europe, America, and Asia. Retarus has sales offices in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Singapore, and the USA. The Swiss subsidiary is located in Kloten.
The challenge
The Retarus business model means that often highly sensitive information has to be processed. For legal reasons therefore, Retarus has to store and process its customers’ data in Switzerland, whether the companies are Swiss companies or local subsidiaries of international firms such as banks.
Up until now, Retarus operated a small data center with its own hardware in a telecommunication company’s data center. Based on fundamental strategic considerations, Retarus decided to look for a carrier-neutral data center. It was left open whether it would use its existing international partner in Switzerland or turn to a local provider.
The evaluation
The evaluation started in the second half of 2015. In addition to carrier-neutrality, there were a number of technical and commercial criteria that were taken into account in the decision. For instance, the data center should be equipped to the Tier III or Tier IV standard and have the most important certifications for operating sensitive infrastructures.
It should also have a redundant design, high availability and be environmentally friendly. Low latency was another requirement. In November 2015, Retarus chose from a short list of three offers and ultimately decided in favor of colocation in greenDatacenter Zurich-West in Lupfig, one of the most advanced data centers in Switzerland.
The greenDatacenter Zurich-West has an excellent location, was built in accordance with the Tier IV standard, is ISO 27001 certified, and fulfills the requirements of the financial industry and its regulators. Lupfig is centrally located in the Zurich–Bern–Basel business triangle. Not only is it easy to access, it is also far away from hazardous zones. The data center offers highest availability.
All systems required for operation are duplicated. Multiple feeds are used for the power supply and the connection to the data network. And these feeds are even separately routed within the data center. Five security perimeters protect the data center against unauthorized access. Security measures include biometric access systems. For its exemplary energy efficiency, it received the Prix Watt d’Or 2013 from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy.
“Green operates a state-of-the-art data center in Lupfig,” commented Anita Szilagyi, Project Manager at Retarus on the reasons for the decision. “greenDatacenter Zurich- West was the winner of the evaluation both from a technical point of view and in terms of commercial considerations.” It was also helpful that Green already had a number of reference customers from the financial industry.
The implementation
Following the evaluation, Retarus was able to place a firm order just before Christmas 2015. The initial order was for racks in a zone used by other customers, as well. During the project it soon became clear, however, that the company needed its own cage with three racks to better secure highly sensitive data. These changed requirements meant that the project had to be recalculated, which resulted in a certain amount of time pressure for the technical implementation.
Implementation began right after the holidays. An engineering team from Retarus headquarters in Munich handled the migration of the equipment and data from the previous data center. “As a result of its excellent cooperation, Green ensured that we were able to complete implementation on time, despite the tight schedule, and that we now have a secure solution for our highly sensitive data,” praised Anita Szilagyi. “Our engineers were warmly welcomed by their Green colleagues, who provided exemplary support in all respects.” Retarus was able to start up operation of its new data center in February – within the promised six weeks. In addition to data center space, Retarus also purchased local access from Green. Via the Green fiber-optic ring, an IP transit line was laid between Lupfig and Retarus’ international data center partner in Zurich. Retarus operates and supports its own equipment. For specific smaller tasks or very urgent work, for example replacing a defective electricity cable, the company is also happy to use Green’s Remote Hands Service.
Scope of Services
- Private cage with cold aisle
- Connectivity
- Pre-wiring in the cage
- Rack deployment