Why did Tavid AS, the largest trader of precious metals in Northern Europe, decide in favour of our data centER?

Tavid AS began in 1991 with a single currency exchange in the old town of Tallinn and has grown over more than 30 years into the largest trader of precious metals in Northern Europe. We spoke with Indrek Kalluste, the CIO of this Estonian company operating in 13 countries, about the role of IT in their business, the critical importance of owning IP addresses, and the challenges of moving IT equipment from one data center to another.

Image by Soofia Tailor, Pixabay.

Tavid is a company with a long and proud history. How would you briefly sum up Tavid's story?

We started as a small currency exchange. Today, we've grown to be the largest trader of precious metals in Northern Europe.

From an IT perspective, in the early days, each office had a small local Foxpro database supporting our operations. For the past decade, we've developed our own central software, which we now manage from our cloud. Compared to the 1990s, it's like night and day.

Why do customers prefer you, or why should they?

When we started, there weren't many players, and we managed to get our foot in the door at the right time. Today, we've established strong long-term relationships with key partners. For instance, gold became very popular during various recent crises, starting with the coronavirus pandemic. We were in a privileged position because the refineries filled our orders first before those of our competitors.

Can it be said that your business thrives during economic crises?

Indeed, we have fared better during crises than many others.

What role does IT play in your success?

We probably have more infrastructure than many other companies. Our business is dynamic, and the prices of precious metals change constantly. While a jeans shop in a shopping center might change its prices at most once a month, our merchandise prices change every 5-10 minutes. We constantly monitor the markets and base our decisions on this information. This info must reach our employees in various countries and also online.

Additionally, we are under the supervision of the Financial Inspection Authority. Beyond Estonian legislation, we naturally have to consider the laws of all the countries in which we operate. Therefore, the demands are high, and there are myriad things to comply with.

How have you generally set up your digital infrastructure?

Initially, when we started, there was one server under my desk, and that was enough. I remember when I finally moved it out of my room, it was unbelievably quiet. Today, we have significantly more IT equipment.

Our principle is to keep data in Estonia, and Greenergy Data Centers has become our primary data center. We also use the cloud in parallel. Besides increasing business reliability, it's good to say when a state institution inquires, that all our data is in Estonia, outside the office, encrypted, and under our control.

I know it took quite some time to prepare for moving to Greenergy Data Centers. What did that preparation involve?

The first step was finding the motivation to undertake the move. Secondly, the move meant changing our IP addresses. Specifically, we moved to our own IP addresses. This meant we had to register Tavid as an operator with RIPE (Regional Internet Registry – ed.) beforehand and buy our IP addresses.

Why is this important for your business?

Our business depends on secure data exchange. The simplest way to do this is using fixed IP addresses that we own ourselves. Thus, we can have these confirmed with all important partners and service providers. If we didn't own them, each move and change of service provider would mean starting the whitelisting process again.

And how easy is it to buy IP addresses today?

They are hard to come by because the addresses are exhausted. Like many, we were put on RIPE's waiting list. Eventually, we found an alternative solution and bought the addresses from a bankruptcy administrator. Frankly, many bankruptcy administrators may not even think to include a block of IP addresses among the assets that can be liquidated.

Once the addresses were in hand and whitelisted, we could move forward. We let Christmas pass, a busy time for us, and started planning. We made a detailed plan of what order to take things down and put them back up, who was responsible for what, who would move what.

And how did the move go?

The move was completed quickly, in one night. First, we set up one shoulder in GDC, switched the IP addresses, removed the equipment from the old location, and transferred it to the new data center. We experienced about 4 hours of downtime. Assistance also came from a knowledgeable employee at your Network Operations Center, who guided our swift actions.

Were there any surprises or obstacles?

There were surprises, such as issues with cables. Since we decided to use colors within the rack to mark different directions or shoulders, we needed various cables. If you go to a store and ask for 10 yellow and 10 red cables, the seller might say that they only have 6 red ones available and it would take two weeks to order more. Then you're in the store thinking about what other colors we have that could work. And so it goes. Even small things like cables or nuts and bolts should be thought through in advance.

There was also an incident. Once we had placed the IT-equipment into rack, I tried to access the servers. By that time, we had been in a reduced oxygen environment in the data center for quite a while (data centers have slightly less oxygen in the server rooms to prevent any kind of fire – ed.) and I now understand why it's recommended to step out every few hours. The server lights were on, but I couldn't connect. Do what you will. We then stepped outside for a break. When we came back, we realised that the servers hadn't been switched on. Only the lights on the network card ports were on.

How did you come to choose us?

We had some issues at our previous location, and frankly, there weren't any good alternatives before you. Even initially, there was a doubt about how you would find enough clients. But now you have managed to bring in quite a few companies, so we felt more confident coming over.

What do you value most about our value proposition?

Time will tell. But one thing is certainly that you are a real data center with the necessary certifications.

Another aspect we value is the diversity and choice among telecommunications providers. Today, I have two independent ISPs using physically different routes.

Thirdly, there's the matter of security to ensure that no one tampers with my rack. In the past, our equipment was stored in a shared cabinet. Although the service provider assured us that each client would only be able to access their own machines, the reality proved otherwise. For instance, there was an occasion when my team accidentally pulled out someone else’s server from the rack.

Lastly, convenience cannot be overlooked. For example, it's impossible to retrieve anything from a 600 mm wide cabinet. I've experienced a situation where to get a finished switch, we had to move half the cabinet around. The broken device just wouldn't come out otherwise. GDC is somewhat more expensive, but it avoids many common issues found elsewhere.

Overall, our IT team really appreciates the free weekends. We don't want to rush into work due to problems. Thus, we carefully consider our actions to ensure the best results possible.