Patent ID: 8479275

Claim:
A data center comprising: a first data-center tier configured to electronically connect to an external network; an internal portion of the data center coupled to the first data-center tier, wherein the internal portion comprises: a second data-center tier comprising: a second data-center tier internal core; and an intrusion detection service module; and a third data-center tier comprising a third data-center tier internal core; a first routed firewall instance coupled between the first data-center tier and the external network; and a second routed firewall instance coupled between the first data-center tier and the second data-center tier, wherein the second routed firewall instance facilitates data filtering and routing data between a plurality of virtual local area networks (VLANs) that are internal to the first data-center tier and a VLAN that interfaces the first data-center tier and the second data-center tier, and wherein the intrusion detection service module is electronically connected to the second routed firewall instance, the second data-center tier internal core, and the third data-center tier internal core.