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Global Relay Data Center
Built for resilience and sustainability
—About Global Relay
Global Relay’s state-of-the-art, owned and operated, green data center is custom-built to serve the regulatory, security and performance needs of the financial services industry.
An achievement born of a $60M+ capital investment, the cutting-edge facility powers Global Relay’s fully integrated, end-to-end compliance solutions. It serves businesses operating in some of the most heavily regulated industries, including 22 of the top 25 banks in the world.
Explore what makes our data center unique and special.
Global Relay’s data center is a model of environmental responsibility, designed to minimize its carbon footprint. Through innovative technologies such as free air cooling, evaporative cooling, and reliance on clean hydroelectric energy, we have eliminated the need for traditional, energy-intensive cooling methods. Our data center operates without coal-powered air conditioning and achieves minimal carbon emissions, setting a benchmark for sustainable SaaS and data storage.
Free Air coolingKeeps the data center cool by using outside air, reducing the reliance on mechanical cooling systems.
Evaporative coolingUses water blankets to cool air, replacing the need for electricity in hotter climates.
Hydroelectric energyPowered by clean, renewable energy from BC Hydro.
Flywheel UPS systemReplaces traditional lead-acid batteries, reducing environmental risks and energy waste.
Power savingsHigher efficiency is achieved by using European 400V standards, reducing power loss and resource use.
Global Relay’s data center is designed for speed and scalability. With high-bandwidth fiber connections and proprietary technologies like NoSQL storage, it ensures lightning-fast data processing, even at massive volumes. Customers benefit from sub-two-second search response times and seamless scalability, enabling efficient data management for the world’s largest organizations.
Virtual 80-gigabit pipes to each switchEnsures high data throughput and processing speed.
Proprietary NoSQL storage technologySupports the massive scalability needed to handle even the largest data sets.
Two-second response times for searchesRapid data retrieval speeds ensure efficient eDiscovery.
Legacy data extraction/import toolsCapable of migrating hundreds of terabytes quickly and efficiently.
Outperforming public cloud solutionsSuccessfully migrated an organization archiving approximately 70 million messages/day after they outgrew a public cloud solution.
Global Relay’s private data center is built with tailored systems architecture and employs a hardware security modules (HSM) for managing encryption keys, offering a superior level of security compared to public cloud environments. By minimizing data transfers and system hops, Global Relay ensures that sensitive information remains secure, reducing the risk of exposure that can occur with traditional cloud services.
Hardware Security Module (HSM)Generates and manages encryption keys, critical for secure data handling in financial services.
Minimal data transfersReduces the risk of breaches by limiting the number of switches and transfers that can create vulnerability.
Proven record of securityAvoids vulnerabilities inherent in public cloud-dependent services, having a track record of preventing breaches, gaps and data loss caused by outages and product changes.
Transparent managementAvoids exposure to hidden policies, procedures and processing fees inherent in competing solutions dependent on large scale infrastructure providers like Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
Robust security and data standardsFully compliant with all Canadian privacy and security requirements, including those deemed equivalent in protection to GDPR.
Global Relay’s data center is engineered to operate 24/7, ensuring uninterrupted service under any conditions, including earthquakes. With redundant power systems, a mirrored Toronto facility, and a flywheel UPS, the data center can withstand catastrophic events without any downtime. Its design prioritizes both resilience and environmental sustainability, making it robust enough to power through even the harshest conditions.
56-hour backup powerOnsite diesel generators can power the entire facility for 56 hours without refueling in the event of an emergency.
Business continuity through mirroringThe North Vancouver data center is mirrored with a secondary East Coast facility, ensuring no single point of failure.
Flywheel UPSKinetic energy storage eliminates the need for traditional batteries, providing uninterrupted power and eco-friendliness.
Redundant systemsThe center uses an N+1 configuration with redundant fans and power systems, eliminating downtime risks from overheating or power outages.
Proven performanceSurvived power outages of up to 40 hours without going down.
Global Relay’s ownership of its entire data center infrastructure ensures that it can scale seamlessly to meet the evolving demands of the most regulated industries. Unlike competitors limited by public cloud infrastructure constraints, Global Relay can rapidly implement new technologies like AI without impacting capacity, performance, or reliability.
Proprietary technology stackComplete ownership of servers, power, and maintenance allows for quick adaptations to client needs.
Efficient AI processingApproach to data classification and model optimization allows efficient LLM model implementation and testing, reducing costs and environmental impact.
Pivot capacityAble to pivot to address new industry requirements or respond to new client demands, demonstrating a level of flexibility that solutions dependent on large scale public clouds struggle to match.
Global Relay’s data center helps its clients avoid the performance pitfalls, security risks and hidden fees inherent in competing solutions that employ ‘one-size-fits-all’ large infrastructure providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google.
Customers value its resilience and celebrate the fact that it is ecologically responsible.
