Data centers prepare for Sandy with cots, fuel and comfort food

30.10.2012
As it stood late this afternoon, Hosting.com's data center in Newark, Del., was within walking distance of the projected path Hurricane Sandy's center once it makes landfall.

This storm has put the staff at Hosting.com on alert. They went shopping at Wal-Mart this weekend to stock up on supplies, and are outfitted with cots and food.

"We're prepared for any contingency," said Jonathan Arena, director of service operations at the Hosting.com Newark facility, which provides co-location, managed and cloud services. "We're confident that we should be alright at this point, but we will see how we weather the storm."

There are about 40 people staying over tonight in the Newark data center, located in an office park. It has 23,000 square-feet raised for floor space in a building that is 60,000 square-feet overall.

They have cots, food, ping pong table, pool table and Xbox games. People were physically on-site starting last night, and if the power goes out they have enough fuel to keep the generators going for 50 hours before refuel, said Arena.

In New Jersey, SunGard Availability Services also has employees staying overnight at some of its facilities, including its 324,000 square-foot complex in Carlstadt, N.J., .