Inside Alerify: FOX43 Takes a Look at Data Centers
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
As data centers continue to make headlines across Central Pennsylvania, many residents are asking the same questions: What happens inside these facilities? Why do they require so much power? And how do they fit into the future of business and technology?
FOX43 recently visited Alerify’s Harrisburg data center to explore those questions, speaking with Founder and CEO Andy Kochanowski about the role data centers play in today’s increasingly digital world. As conversations continue around proposed facilities throughout the region, Alerify offers a firsthand look at the infrastructure that powers everything from business operations and cloud services to the next generation of artificial intelligence.
Keeping Business Data Close to Home
Founded in 2024, Alerify provides secure data storage, backup, colocation, private cloud, and business continuity/disaster recovery services for organizations throughout Central Pennsylvania and beyond. While many businesses rely on large public cloud providers, Alerify focuses on keeping critical data private, secure, and locally hosted.
During the FOX43 segment, Andy explained that one of Alerify’s greatest advantages is the ability to offer clients transparency and peace of mind.
“We can bring customers into the facility and show them exactly where their data lives,” he said.
For businesses, that local connection offers something many national providers cannot: accessibility, responsiveness, and a team that understands the needs of the organizations it serves. You don't ever speak with chatbots at Alerify. You get real people who live here and work here.
The Technology Behind the Facility
Inside Alerify’s 2,500-square-foot server room, rows of equipment work around the clock to store and process information. Keeping those systems running safely requires a carefully designed cooling strategy.
The facility uses alternating hot and cold aisles to manage airflow efficiently. Cool air rises through the floor and moves across the servers, absorbing heat before returning to the air conditioning system to begin the process again.
Alerify is proud to get almost half of required energy from solar power and use zero water to cool equipment.
Though the technology is complex, the goal is simple: to create a secure and reliable environment where businesses can confidently store the systems and information they rely on every day.
Preparing for the Future of Artificial Intelligence
As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, so do the demands placed on data centers. Traditional computing relies heavily on CPUs, but many AI applications require GPUs, specialized processors capable of handling significantly larger workloads at much higher speeds.
Those capabilities bring new challenges. GPU-powered systems generate much more heat and consume much more energy, requiring advanced cooling and infrastructure solutions.
Alerify is already preparing for this next chapter through AI Edge services, which provide businesses with secure, private AI capabilities without requiring them to invest in expensive hardware or rely entirely on public cloud platforms.
By combining local infrastructure with emerging technologies, Alerify is helping organizations explore the benefits of AI while maintaining control over their data in a sandboxed environment.
Looking Ahead
While Alerify operates on a much smaller scale than some of the facilities proposed throughout Pennsylvania, Andy recognizes that communities have important questions about energy use, infrastructure, and long-term economic impact.
As the industry continues to grow, he believes future projects must balance innovation with responsible development and meaningful opportunities for local communities.
As conversations around data centers continue across the region, facilities like Alerify provide a glimpse into the technology that powers modern business and the infrastructure that will support the future of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and secure data storage.
