MasterFile Hosted Services data centres

We can get you up and running quickly. But ease of entry doesn't come at the cost of security. MFHS rely on Lotus Domino's legendary private/public key encrypted authentication and not just simple passwords. In addition MFHS employs state-of-the-art firewall and switch network security and all communication between the Domino server and Notes client is encrypted directly at the ports of the server and your computers. Physical security and data centre access is rigourously controlled through multiple access layers with round-the-clock human surveillance and security cameras.

Lotus Notes and Domino Security

MasterFile uses no easily hackable network file servers or file shares for document access. Nor does MasterFile depend on network logon or file and directory access security to protect documents. Instead, MasterFile uses Lotus Domino servers and the only way to access MasterFile data is through the Lotus Notes client software. This is a fundamental advantage of MasterFile security as it immediately limits access to data to one method only: via the Lotus Notes client.

Domino is a quiet workhorse with over 145,000,000 e-mail users and comparable market share to Microsoft, but rarely gets adverse publicity, unlike regular press alerts about security breaches in other e-mail systems. Authority to access a MasterFile database stored on a Domino server is granted through Domino/Notes' robust private/public key encrypted authentication -- not just a simple password. Hackers need to have a trusted certificate to gain access to a Notes server -- the same technology used to make on-line banking secure. The same technology that keeps 145,000,000 e-mail users secure. And the same technology used by the US Navy for its global classified network connecting every Navy ship in the world.

Robust security using private/public key encryption was a design specification for Notes' database architecture from the beginning. It was not an afterthought and is matched by few, if any, other database products. In fact, Notes was one of the first commercial products to incorporate this technology and Lotus has the largest installed Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) customer base in the world.

Data Center

MasterFile Hosted Services are delivered from enterprise-class, telco data centres backed by an experienced team ensuring quality performance, security, and service. Our engineers have vast experience in Lotus Domino, Citrix, Cisco, networking, telecommunications, web hosting, e-mail support, and PC support, and a team that brings over 60 years of combined IT experience -- with much of the last 3+ years focused on managing sensitive data for tax preparers and their transactions with the IRS.

Redundancy
Our data centres offer both hardware and connectivity resiliency. Servers have matched warm standbys that are brought on-line automatically within a short period should the primary server fail. Hard disks are redundant and automatically switch over to warm standby servers on failure. Internet connections are also redundant and with high-bandwidth (100mb) connections to the Internet from both in the US and Canada.

Physical Security, Alarm, Environment
Physical security and data centre access is rigourously controlled through multiple access layers with round-the-clock human surveillance and security cameras. In addition to Notes/Domino security, our data centres employ state-of-the art firewall and switch network security.

Firewall Protection - included Free, because it's not an option!
Most data centre providers charge extra to have your server protected by a firewall. We believe firewall protection is critical and should not be optional under any circumstances, so this is provided by our partners as standard. We rely on ICSA-certified firewall technology. All servers are located behind a firewall, and for each server, only necessary ports are opened for the server to function -- 1352 for IBM Lotus Notes client access, 80 for web access, and if required, other ports for POP3, SMTP, SSL, etc.

24 x 7 Server Monitoring
All critical systems are monitored constantly 24 x 7 x 365 and alerts are sent out by e-mail and pager immediately after problem detection. Errors are detected and staff are alerted immediately as they happen. Simultaneously, recovery systems kick to self-diagnose and heal the network and application software, solving most routine hosting problems before manual intervention even starts – which means the best uptime possible!

Monitoring covers the status of Internet lines, general internal network health, individual servers and on each server, the Domino task itself. If a problem exists for longer than 2 minutes, an administrator is e-mailed and paged. A second group of administrators is alerted if the problem is not resolved within 30 minutes.