Having just fought off Hurricane Katrina without any significant downtime, New Orleans based Intercosmos Media Group, Inc., operators of www.directNIC.com , one of the largest domain name registration and hosting providers in the world, is now preparing for the wrath of Hurricane Rita.

While the current hurricane is not going to be a direct hit on New Orleans, there are significant threats to the city, and Intercosmos is prepared, CEO Sigmund Solares said.

The near Herculean efforts of the company during Katrina were documented at www.mgno.com and reported by major news outlets around the world.

"We stayed in our New Orleans datacenter as windows blew out, looters gathered downtown, and the city fell. We made sure that our critical infrastructure which supports 400,000 Internet clients around the world did not go down," Solares said of Hurricane Katrina. "We intend to do the same with Rita," noting that many critical local communications travel through the company's datacenter.

Broken windows in the company's offices have been boarded with wood and then sealed with Great Stuff foam, Solares said. Replacement hurricane supplies also have been delivered, and 6,000 gallons of diesel are now at the ready.

Additionally, the company's uninterrupted power supplies and generator were serviced and brought back to full working capacity this week. Critical computer systems also have backup locations in place, should they be needed.

"We hope Rita fizzles in the gulf, but we are prepared once again for a major disaster, directly or indirectly," Solares said.

During Katrina, core staff members rode out the storm in the company's 6,600 square-foot windowless datacenter in downtown New Orleans. Blow-by-blow reports of the challenges facing the team were posted on the mgno.com blog, gathering hundreds of thousands visitors and cheerleaders, the world-over.

"We are committed to staying in New Orleans and being part of the rebuilding," Solares said. "We succeeded in providing vital, high-tech communications through the worst disaster in human history when nearly all others failed. We don't want to turn away now."

However, Solares did say the company is looking for a second location to diversify its staff and physical resources as an added safety measure against any possible future disasters.

Starting next week, Intercosmos will offer reduced and at-cost collocation and communication hosting in its Tier 1 datacenter to emergency, government and relief organizations. Proper qualifications will be needed, and the use must be limited to hurricane related technology needs.

For media or facility inquiries, email Ezra Hodge at ehodge@intercosmos.com or call (504) 274-2666.

Source: Intercosmos Media Group, Inc.
Web Site: www.directNIC.com www.mgno.com