Safeguarding the Dreamers on the Air

The secret behind the most popular broadcasting station in Taiwan

Since a new voice has emerged in the air of the Greater Taipei region in 1996, UFO Radio has been accompanying people to receive radio broadcasts joyfully, bringing additional inspiration and vitality each day in their lives. Several brilliant records were achieved upon its launch. There was never a private-owned radio station that could extend its wing throughout Taiwan and expand to the overseas region in such a short time in the history of radio broadcasting in Taiwan. According to the Broadcasting Development Foundation’s survey, UFO Radio offers all the top 5 most popular programs, and 8 out of the top 10 most popular radio hosts are from UFO Radio. Its Advertising turnover went from only one or two million per month to 400 million in the year 2000.

In regards to such outstanding achievements, “Our technology capabilities are far ahead from other radio stations,” supervisor of the IT Team of UFO Radio, Sheng-I Chen remarked.“We are always trying new technologies, whether it is the hardware or broadcasting equipment.”

The courage to try new technologies and outsource the host management

The radio station was established to be digital-centered from the very beginning. All broadcasting systems, MIS systems, recording systems were digital tools. At that time, MP3 was just becoming popular in Taiwan, thus the adoption of digital recording technology has already outpaced many other countries. In addition, after its establishment, the radio station immediately set up its website to provide online broadcasts and other services. This was a great move of innovation in the industry. However, “The management of a website is extremely manpower-consuming. The cost is not cheap either. It requires at least one to two persons to maintain and update the website regularly,” Sheng-I Chen pointed out. In the early stage, the radio station tried to manage the host on its own, yet there was a limited amount of IT staff who not only needed to maintain the computer system but also in charge of information engineering. There were no people left to manage and maintain the host. Thus, host management became the most ideal option.

24/7 guardian of host and Internet security

Currently, the host of the radio station’s website, online broadcast, and corporate portal sites are all managed and maintained by eASPNet Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “eASPNet”). “It is extraordinary when it comes to stability and security run by eASPNet. There were two very impressive events after eASPNet started managing the host, one was Typhoon Nari, and the other was the 331 Earthquake. Many of the IDC crashed, but not eASPNet,” Sheng-I Chen described how he was impressed by eASPNet’s rapid reactions. “When all radio stations were in chaos after the 331 Earthquake, we’ve already received eASPNet’s e-mail and telephone notifications, informing us that the IDC was safe and all online services were normal.” Apart from these two experiences, there was also one time when eASPNet called at midnight to warn about a hacker who tried to hack the radio station’s website and advised the staff to stay alert and strengthen the security measures. The daily routinary tasks in the station were so overwhelming that it is impossible to always monitor the network. However, eASPNet served as a guardian that safeguards the station and brings peace of mind.