Hosting and Infrastructure

Your union's data is hosted
in our own data center

Winmill owns and operates the infrastructure that runs eMembership. Every labor union on the platform benefits from enterprise-grade hosting, security, and 24/7 support at no additional charge.
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24/7
Monitoring and staffed support
SOC 1, SOC 2
SSAE18 / ISAE3402 compliant
HIPAA + PCI DSS
Certified compliance
0 server fees
Infrastructure included in subscription
Fully Managed Hosting

Everything is handled.
Nothing is your problem.

When a labor union joins eMembership, they inherit the full hosting infrastructure Winmill has built over 30 years. There is no server to manage, no backup to schedule, and no IT staff required.

Servers, OS, and patching

Winmill owns and maintains all server hardware in the hosting facility. Servers are refreshed every three to four years at no charge. We handle all operating system upgrades, security patches, and hotfixes for the application, .NET framework, and SQL Server database.

24/7 monitoring

Automated monitoring runs continuously across system health, URL availability, bandwidth usage, and application activity. The facility is staffed around the clock so that if an issue arises, it is addressed immediately by people who are physically on-site.

Nightly offsite backups

Every night, a full backup of your union's data is created, encrypted, and transmitted to a secure offsite vault. Recovery from hardware failures, environmental failures, or application server failures is included at no additional charge.

Access from anywhere

Because eMembership is internet-based, every authorized user at your labor union can access the platform from anywhere. Staff in the office, field representatives on a job site, and executives traveling all connect to the same live database.

Redundant architecture

No single point of failure exists in the eMembership hosting environment. Power, networking, HVAC, and internet connectivity are all redundant. If any component fails, a backup takes over automatically, and your labor union's data stays available.

All licenses included

Winmill maintains licenses for all requisite operating systems, web servers, and database servers. There are no software licenses your union needs to purchase or track. The full technology stack is part of your eMembership subscription.

Certified compliant
SOC 1 (SSAE18)
SOC 2
HIPAA
ISO 27001
PCI DSS
Security

Enterprise security
for labor union member data

Union membership databases contain sensitive personal information. Winmill builds security into every layer of the eMembership platform, from the network perimeter to the database records themselves.

Clustered firewalls

State-of-the-art clustered firewalls provide the first line of defense. If one firewall in the cluster fails, the other takes over automatically in under 3 seconds, with no disruption to labor union users currently in the system.

Encryption at rest and in transit

All data is encrypted in transit using TLS. Sensitive member data, including Social Security Numbers, is encrypted at rest using disk-level encryption. Credit card processing is handled exclusively by third-party processors; card numbers are never stored in eMembership.

Continuous vulnerability scanning

Winmill performs both dynamic and static code scanning on the eMembership application, along with code reviews. Security is embedded into the development process through a Secure DevOps methodology overseen by CISSP and CISA certified engineers.

Proactive threat monitoring

Winmill continuously monitors web traffic, database activity, and application activity to detect and prevent unauthorized access before it can cause harm. This active monitoring is in addition to the passive controls built into the infrastructure.

Certified compliance program

The data center holds SOC 1 (SSAE18/ISAE3402), SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS certifications. These are independently audited compliance standards that verify the controls protecting your labor union's data meet defined benchmarks.

Physical security

The facility is manned 24/7. Physical access requires multiple layers of authentication including swipe cards, fingerprint scanners, and facial geometry scanners. Servers are housed in locked cages and cabinets within the secured facility.

Base Architecture

What's included in every
eMembership hosting environment

The following infrastructure components are provided to every labor union on eMembership as part of the standard hosting environment. No add-ons. No tiers.
1
Redundant power
Power is backed by redundant generators and redundant UPS systems. A utility power outage does not affect eMembership availability.
2
Redundant networking
Redundant gigabit switches eliminate any single point of failure in the network architecture. Connectivity to the internet is also redundant.
3
IP address management
Winmill provides and manages all necessary public and private IP addresses. Your union has nothing to configure or maintain in this area.
4
Automated 24/7 monitoring
Continuous monitoring covers system health, URL availability, and bandwidth usage. Alerts are routed to on-call staff immediately.
5
Redundant internet connectivity
Internet bandwidth is delivered through a massively redundant, high-speed peering connection to the internet backbone. No single upstream failure can take eMembership offline.
6
Emergency contacts and escalation
Winmill maintains defined emergency contacts and response procedures. If an issue arises that affects your labor union's access, there is always a person available to address it.
7
On-site staffing
The hosting facility is staffed around the clock. If a problem causes an application outage, on-site staff can respond and address it in person without waiting for remote access.
8
Redundant HVAC
Environmental controls are fully redundant. Thermal management and humidity control are maintained regardless of individual equipment failure.
Working with Winmill's eMembership team was a pleasure. The team was efficient and pleasant, and eager to make sure we built the database into something useful for us. Taking an out-of-the-box template and building it to work for our local was exactly what we needed.
Steve K., Field Representative, IATSE Local 839
Common Questions

Frequently asked questions about
the labor union data center

eMembership is hosted in Winmill's own data center. Winmill owns and operates the physical infrastructure, including all server hardware, networking equipment, and environmental systems. Winmill manages everything: hardware, operating systems, security patches, monitoring, backups, and connectivity. Labor unions using eMembership have no servers to maintain and no infrastructure to manage.
The labor union data center is certified under SOC 1 (SSAE18/ISAE3402), SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS. These certifications are maintained through independent audits and represent a formal verification that the controls protecting your data meet recognized industry standards.
Winmill uses a defense-in-depth approach. Clustered firewalls protect the network perimeter. All data is encrypted in transit via TLS and sensitive fields including Social Security Numbers are encrypted at rest with disk-level encryption. The application undergoes both dynamic and static vulnerability scanning. A CISSP and CISA certified Director oversees all security operations across the data center and software development teams.
No. Although eMembership supports member dues payments and billing, all credit card processing is handled by certified third-party payment processors such as Authorize.net or EPN. Winmill's systems never store credit card numbers. This design protects your members' financial data and simplifies PCI DSS compliance for your labor union.
Recovery from hardware failures is included in the eMembership hosting environment at no additional charge. The architecture is built with redundancy at every level across power, networking, and compute, so that individual component failures do not result in data loss or downtime. Nightly backups are encrypted and transmitted to a secure offsite vault as an additional layer of protection.
Winmill refreshes server hardware every three to four years at no additional charge to labor unions on the platform. Winmill assumes full responsibility for all hardware maintenance, replacements, and upgrades. Your union never receives an invoice for infrastructure refreshes.

Ready to learn more about
eMembership for your union?

Start with a short intro call. We will walk through the platform, answer your questions, and show you the modules most relevant to your labor union's operations.

Book an Intro Call