First server in Hong Kong goes online

CORTEX media’s first server in Hong Kong goes online

Erster Server der CORTEX media in Hongkong geht ans Netz Ulm - cortex monitoring worldwide

Our customers with global sales and marketing operations have long benefited from our globally distributed server infrastructure, which ensures fast response times and high performance—from Europe to the Americas, Australia, and Asia. In today’s global, digital age, this is a huge advantage. We are constantly adapting our network and tailoring our services to meet the specific needs of our customers. Following the launch of the servers in Sydney and Tokyo at the end of 2015, an expansion of the Content Delivery Network (CDN) has now gone live in Hong Kong.

Distributed servers worldwide

CDN refers to a network of geographically distributed servers. Such a network makes it possible to minimize access times and the failure rate, as copies of the desired data are temporarily stored on various servers. This means that data such as images do not have to be sent all the way to Germany and back again when accessing a CORTEX media GmbH website from China, for example, but can be obtained directly from servers “nearby”. This reduces the loading time of a website many times over. In concrete terms, this means the following: A normal visit to the website https://www.hauff-technik.cn from China takes around 40 seconds due to the long distance to Germany and the Chinese firewall, whereas our solution takes less than 2 seconds. For security reasons, company-critical data and login data will of course remain exclusively on our servers in Germany.

In addition to numerous strict guidelines (e.g. for hosting), China also has the so-called “Great Firewall”, which makes it difficult for foreign companies to enter the Chinese market. The Great Firewall is part of China’s censorship policy and, according to the government, is intended to protect its citizens on the internet. So if Chinese citizens want to access a website that is hosted far outside China, the Great Firewall intervenes and attempts to circumvent the firewall via VPN are also stopped. If a website makes it through the firewall, then only with enormous delays. We did not want to and could not make such a compromise, and hosting directly on Chinese soil is also not easily possible due to local laws.

Ultimately, we decided to set up a server in Hong Kong with a direct connection to China. This not only allows us to bypass the Great Firewall, but also means we don’t have to deal with the complex legal issues in China.

Hauff-Technik GmbH & Co. KG, which is now also entering the Chinese market with its website, is particularly pleased about this innovation.