Data Centres
Hetzner houses servers in data centres across three locations: Gauteng, Cape Town and Germany. Our data centres feature redundant power, HVAC, fire detection systems and are monitored 24/7.
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Buyers Guide
A Data Centre is, by definition, a facility used to house computer systems and associated components. As a web hosting business, Hetzner has a number of Data Centres around South Africa and in Germany which house shared and dedicated servers used to host your website(s) as well as the various components that ensure these servers run smoothly.
Hetzner’s Data Centres
Hetzner owns and operates four Data Centres in South Africa. The first Data Centre (CPT1) was opened in Cape Town's Great Westerford Building, Newlands during 2001. In order to cope with national demand in hosting services, Hetzner strategically opened the Johannesburg DC (JHB1) in July 2004 at Gallo Manor, Sandton. By 2006 both Data Centres were running at full capacity. As a result, Cape Town's second Data Centre (CPT2) was opened in July 2006. With customer demand increasing further, together with Hetzner’s continuous commitment to invest in our customers’ growth, a third Data Centre was opened in Cape Town (CPT3) in September 2011.
Hetzner's associate company, Hetzner Online AG in Germany, hosts servers and websites for those customers who wish to target European and US based markets or wish to make use of more cost effective hosting options as bandwidth quotas are more generous in markets outside SA.
Hetzner’s Network Connections in SA
Hetzner provides a resilient and redundant network infrastructure which allows for maximum uptime. Our substantial bandwidth capacity allows us to accommodate spikes in traffic, reducing the chance of customers experiencing network degradation.
Our routers are connected via fibre optic cables to our upstream provider, MTN, from where we have uncapped access to their local and international network. Our Data Centres are connected to MTN via a 1GBit uplink. A second, redundant fibre optic cable follows a different path.
Hetzner’s Network Connections in Germany
Hetzner offers a third server location option in Germany by making use of Hetzner Online’s state-of-the-art, energy efficient Data Centres. The company received the GreenIT Best Practice Award in 2011 by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology in Berlin.
To meet the demand for increasing volumes of data, Hetzner Online is continually expanding its bandwidth capacity. With connectivity to carriers such as DE-CIX, German Telecom, Init7, Level3 and private peerings, total bandwidth has been increased to 420 Gbit/s.
Find out more about our Hosting Locations.
Climate Control
The heat output of servers is considerable, and without environmental control, servers will fail or have their lifetime reduced considerably. To compensate for the heat output of Hetzner servers, all Data Centres are fitted with Air Conditioning systems designed to provide maximum cooling for the server environment. The Air Conditioners were installed and are maintained by experts, ensuring maximum efficiency.
The Remote Technology (RT) systems provide an early warning of air conditioner failure or other unusual environmental conditions. Should a fault or failure be detected, all our Data Centres are equipped with redundant Air Conditioner capacity.
Security and Monitoring
Biometric/Magnetic Access Control
All visitors to the Data Centres must be accompanied by a Hetzner employee at all times.
Access to the Cape Town Data Centres is controlled by a Biometric fingerprint access system. Hetzner is able to manage the movements of staff by identifying and verifying them with this fingerprint technology.
To access the Johannesburg Data Centres, employees need to pass through the building's security check points as well as Biometric Access control before reaching the actual Data Centre's keypad access system. A unique combination is entered into the keypad which will then disengage the magnetic hold on the doors.
24/7 Monitoring of premises
All South African Data Centres are monitored by CCTV cameras. In addition each building premises is patrolled by 24/7 on-site security guards.
UPS and Generators
A redundant Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is installed to ensure clean power is delivered to our network and to instantly protect servers from any power interruptions. A diesel power generator takes over in the case of an outage. All Hetzner UPS's have battery backup.
Fire Protection
Hetzner Data Centres are fitted with fire detection and fire suppression systems. When there is confirmation of a fire, the Suppression system releases an Argon-Nitrogen mixture which decreases the oxygen level to below the point at which combustion can take place.
Technicians and Support
All critical systems (UPS, air conditioning, temperature ranges, managed servers etc.) are monitored 24/7/365 with notification via email and SMS to more than one support staff member. All servers in our Data Centres are installed and monitored by qualified technicians, minimising the risk of error or failure.
Network Framework
Hetzner's primary uplink is managed by a redundant pair of Juniper edge routers in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. In addition two redundant fibre routes connect Hetzner’s edge routers to its upstream network provider from where the network breaks-out onto the internet. By using the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), Hetzner engineers are able to manage routing between Hetzner and other upstream providers, minimising the impact of network abuse and degradation.
The core network in all Hetzner data centres makes use of the latest Juniper technology boasting a high level of redundancy and network throughput. With the implementation of Virtual Chassis technology Hetzner has created a single logical network in each geographic location where its data centres are based. This technology increases the internal redundancy of the network and ensures a robust core network while allowing for greater flexibility.