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Truly Dedicated Hosting: Surviving Katrina

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Many hosting companies talk about reliability and dedication. But when hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, one hosting company in particular showed the world what dedication truly is. This is the story of directNIC and the men and women who kept the datacenter alive through the most horrific of conditions.

On Saturday, August 27th, 2005 at 11:05pm, Michael Barnett made the most ghoulishly understated comment since Captain Oates told the Scott expedition he would be "gone for some time." Observing the approaching hurricane from a 10th floor office on Poydras St. in New Orleans, Barnett posted an entry in his LiveJournal account that read, "Hmm. This could actually be a nasty storm."

The coming days would show the world not only that this was no ordinary storm, but that Barnett was no ordinary man. Known better by his handle "the Interdictor", Barnett is the crisis manager for directNIC. He is there because the 10th and 11th floors of this building house the directNIC datacenter, and this, most assuredly, is a crisis.

Commanding a crack team of 5 individuals, including the CEO and the Senior VP of directNIC, the ex-Special Forces soldier led the company through what can only be considered the absolute worst of all worst-case scenarios. The storm blew out windows, cut power and water to the city, and eventually flooded New Orleans with water that was later described by officials as a "toxic soup." But Barnett and his team stayed. Exempt from the mandatory evacuation order, directNIC weathered the storm, the floods, the fires, the looting and anarchy. They carried barrels of diesel up countless flights of steps to feed the generators. They kept the building secure, and they kept the servers up and running.

Throughout the disaster, directNIC kept one of the few, if not only, lines of communication open. They brought servers from nearby businesses and government buildings into their NOC to keep valuable and sensitive data safe. And through their cameras, IRC and Blog channels, they kept the rest of the world informed of the situation in all its gritty and unfiltered detail. They sheltered law enforcement and military personnel and provided logistical support for operations in the area. In short, Barnett and his crew went above and beyond the call of duty to serve their city, country, and their clients.

It is fortunate that not every hosting company will have the opportunity to prove themselves in the face of such horrible adversity. But one that did persevered, and did so in an exemplary manner. For the web hosting industry, directNIC will forever be the company that defines reliability and dedication. While "bullet-proof" hosting may be a fine marketing slogan for some companies, directNIC has undeniably shown us what it means to be hurricane-proof.

More about Michael Barnett, directNIC, and Hurricane Katrina:

Michael Barnett is an ex-Special Forces serviceman who currently works as Crisis Manager for directNIC. His LiveJournal account of his experiences surviving hurricane Katrina can be found at http://mgno.com/, and is well worth the read.

directNIC is a web hosting and collocation facility based in New Orleans, LA. Since the devastation of Katrina, they are seeking a new location for their facilities.

Hurricane Katrina has been called the most destructive natural disaster in American history, and has devastated hundreds of thousands of lives. For more information on how you can help the victims of Katrina, please contact the American Red Cross.

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