Online Gaming in PA: Finding the Right Data Center Provider

In Pennsylvania (PA), online casinos and internet gaming (igaming) are legal. However, the state requires online gaming companies to work with a registered gaming service provider certified by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB). The state ensures the integrity of online gaming through licensing requirements and strict enforcement. More states are expected to adopt the PA online gaming model.

To achieve compliance and certification in Pennsylvania, businesses with online gaming applications turn to data center providers and their certified partners for guidance and assistance. In addition to the PA gaming board compliance benefits, data center providers help businesses overcome some of the common digital infrastructure hurdles, like physical data center security, cybersecurity, threat mitigation, data retention, and disaster recovery.

We examine two of the biggest benefits of using a data center provider for online gaming in Pennsylvania.

Hosting online gaming with data center colocation services

Some online gaming businesses build and manage on-premises data centers in Pennsylvania. Many other businesses look to 3rd party data center providers for colocation (colo) services in the state.

What is data center colocation?

Colocation is the practice of sharing third-party space in a data center. Instead of housing your equipment in your organization’s on-premises data center, your IT equipment will be housed in a facility managed by a colocation provider. Typically, data center colocation facilities provide floor space, cooling, power, and physical security. This allows organizations to deploy a data center facility without having to buy or manage it.

Moving off-premises to a colocation data center provider brings many benefits, like:

• data center services reduce the burden of IT staff managing day to day data center tasks
• increasing IT infrastructure resilience and an extra layer of protection against disasters
• improved latency and performance due to edge data center benefits
• Interconnected data center footprint throughout the United States
• data center 24/7/365 physical security
• moving from Capital expenses (CapEx) into Operational expenses (OpEx)
• additional connectivity options and network services
• access to additional managed services, like security products, managed cloud services, remote hands support, and disaster recovery solutions.

Colocation simplifies management; the facility, data center infrastructure, experienced IT personnel, and managed data center services are ready for you. That’s why members of the online gaming industry use data center providers to set up and maintain equipment, security, and disaster recovery solutions for PA gaming. Here are the most important elements of a modern data center infrastructure.

Data Center providers offer a variety of network connectivity options; routing and switching infrastructure, power redundancy, and physical security controls are other benefits of colocation. They also offer a 100% uptime guarantee for power, cooling, and space for peace of mind to business leaders and increases game availability for players.

Read our Strategic Guide to Colocation and Data Centers to learn more about the value of data center colocation.

Overcoming cybersecurity challenges with security services

Cyber attackers frequently target online games with ransomware, DDoS, and other attacks. The need for comprehensive cybersecurity tools and an IT security strategy is paramount. When looking for a data center provider to host online games in PA, businesses should look out for these security features and offerings:

• cybersecurity audits
• next-generation firewalls
• intrusion detection and protection
• DDoS mitigation tools
• Endpoint protection
• Encryption

Compliance with online gaming regulations in Pennsylvania is a challenge. Requirements include interactive gaming testing and controls (like software authentication and security policy) and gaming platform requirements (like data logging and security, records retention, and disaster recovery). Together with secure colocation and hosted private clouds, TierPoint provides proactive managed security and disaster recovery services for online gaming.

Secure and compliant data center services help online gaming companies ensure regulatory compliance. TierPoint data centers offer these compliance standards: SSAE 18 Type II & SOC 2, Type II, HIPAA/HITECH, GLBA, PCI DSS v3.2, NIST SP 800-53 (FISMA), SOC 2 + HITRUST, and EU-US Privacy Shield.

TierPoint provides resources to help our customers achieve and maintain compliance for PA online gaming. This includes expert guidance from approved registered gaming service providers certified by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

Read our Strategic Guide to IT Security to understand the key threats and protections available against some of the biggest cybersecurity threats all industries face.

Your data center guide to online gaming in Pennsylvania

At TierPoint, we work with experts who specialize in preparing businesses for PA gaming board certification and can help your business get to market and maintain compliance. With data centers in Allentown, Bethlehem, Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, Valley Forge, and the Philadelphia suburbs, we can help you achieve your digital infrastructure goals. In addition to cybersecurity and colocation data center solutions, we offer cloud & hybrid cloud services, disaster recovery solutions, and a host of managed services to help you get set up to operate in Pennsylvania. Contact our sales team to learn more.

Dave Callan has sold mission-critical data centers solutions throughout his career, working for several major infrastructure and data center services providers, each specializing in designing, delivering, and supporting high availability solutions. Today, Dave is responsible for TierPoint’s Atlantic Region business which includes the Commonwealth of PA, and several surrounding states. For more information on TierPoint’s offerings, Dave can be reached at david.callan@tierpoint.com.