Host Europe, who are part of the Host Europe Group, have been doing site builder analyses for quite a while now. Patrick Pulvermüller, Managing Director Host Europe GmbH, explains why they’ve chosen BaseKit to partner up with:

“We were looking for a premium website builder and BaseKit does the job perfectly. Our clients want to build their own website but none of the site builders can offer the design quality which BaseKit can; the templates powered by BaseKit look as if they were designed by a professional web design company. To top it all, someone with no knowledge of hosting or html can have a good looking website live within a matter of a few hours.”

BaseKit’s drag & drop editor allows small businesses to create a website from scratch, customise the lay-out and make it dynamic by all the different features available like social media, ecommerce and built-in databases.

The website builder has been awarded 5 stars as a ‘Best Buy’ by The Sunday Times earlier this year because of it’s professional look and great usability, something that Patrick Pulvermüller agrees with:

“The ease of use of the website builder is unmatchable. I am sure our customers will love the features provided by Basekit.”

Juan Lobato, CEO of BaseKit, concluded:
“Our own customers choose BaseKit, because of the quality of the website builder, this is exactly what Host Europe stand for, they’re after quality of their products and services. That’s what makes this partner a perfect fit for us.”

BaseKit started rolling out partnerships all over the world with the aim of becoming the number one website builder to everyone that wants to make their own sites online. BaseKit allows external systems to integrate with the product so that the platform runs on other companies’ infrastructures.

About Host Europe
Founded in 1997, Host Europe Group is the largest privately owned hosting group in Europe. It offers its 1 million customers domain registration, various hosting services including customised, managed and cloud hosting, and has a software-as-a-service offering. As the biggest domain registrar in the UK, and largest virtualisation provider in Europe, Host Europe Group is the ideal choice for consumers and businesses alike, who seek sophisticated hosting products with a high quality of service and first-rate performance. With its leading brands: 123-reg, Webfusion, Host Europe, dynamic-net AG, and Donhost, the Group has a strong market presence in the UK, US, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.

About BaseKit
BaseKit was founded in 2008 and has become one of the world’s leading website builders. The BaseKit editor is, besides German, available in the following languages: English, Spanish, French, Turkish and Portuguese.
The company now has over 50 employees, with offices in London, Bristol, Barcelona and Sao Paulo. It aims to help small businesses and web designers create beautiful websites quickly and easily.
BaseKit won Seedcamp in 2008 and has subsequently received investment from Eden Ventures, NESTA and Nauta Capital.

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China flies further into the cloud

Hewlett-Packard (HP) announced this week that they will be building a 7,500 square meter cloud data center facility for Range Technology Development, a Chinese cloud provider.  The press release stated that this is a reaction to expanding customer needs, both private and governmental.  It further stated that the data center will be designed to fit “carbon emission reduction plans” in the country.

Here’s why this is a very interesting development.  While this isn’t the first introduction of the cloud to China, this is a technology that may soon run the risk of running afoul of Great Firewall standards.  While crafty users have always found a way around China’s notorious censorship, now, more than ever, the country will need to provide to businesses a more sanction method of getting outside of it in order to remain competitive.

Cloud technologies are becoming increasingly distributed.  The trend of advancements in this field is for farmed out bits of the web to become smaller and smaller.  This is going to make it all but impossible for state agencies to keep a lid on what kind of data goes in and out.  How they will deal with this problem once they realize the breadth of it is an open question.

Cloud9 goes dark but stays on

The unexpected state-wide blackout that hit California in early September had one positive benefit: it wound up being an effective test run for how well the cloud would handle disaster-level situations.  While the news article detailing how well Cloud9 dealt with it very much reads like a company-written press release, there’s no reason not to believe that it’s accurate.  If that’s the case, the answer to this is “blazingly well.”  The article states that not a single customer was affected by the outage.

Let us remember that this was the whole point behind the design of the internet in the first place: to make a network so robust that even a nuclear strike couldn’t disable it.  In that sense, cloud technology is one of the developments that is looking to further realize this original idea.  We could very well be entering an era in which downtime seriously starts to become a thing of the past.

WeVideo introduces cloud-based video editing

This is a simple concept, but one that has the potential to seriously take off.  WeVideo has launched the first cloud-based collaborative video editing web site.  It’s difficult to say for certain from a glance, but it looks like they thought of all of the basics.  The site seems easy to use while still containing enough editing options to create high-quality videos.  It’s already set to work well with different types of smart phones and tablets, and to make sharing on social networks easy.

Nevertheless it’s the underlying idea that’s exciting.  Even for the experienced user, video editing can be hard, laborious work.  Using the cloud to allow editing by multiple users seems like the kind of idea whose time has come.  We’ll keep a close eye on it and see if it is.

CloudLinux doubles in size

CloudLinux Inc. announced recently that its operating system, CloudLinux OS, is now being run on more than 5,000 servers, double the amount of just six months ago.  CloudLinux bills its product as the only commercially supported shared hosting Linux OS.  It has the notable feature that each user account is put into its own Lightweight Virtual Environment.  This allows the administrator to put up safeguards that prevent a single bad user from impacting the entire server, the most common problem on shared hosting servers.  In that way it’s much like virtual private servers, and is designed to work with them, but without the level of virtualization that makes it appear like you are the only user on that machine.

With simple shared hosting starting to get squeezed out by all of the other hosting services providing more reliability at not much more cost, this is a development worth watching.  If this OS succeeds, expect to see others start to adopt some of CloudLinux’s tricks.

App developers find a Buddy

What Buddy Platform, Inc. has opened up for beta use is simultaneously expected and exciting.  As the number of portable devices grows and along with it the number of desired apps, programmers need to pump out their material faster.  Buddy helps in this endeavor by providing for developers APIs of common application functions such as user accounts, photo albums, location-based services and so forth.  The APIs would be in the cloud, accessed by the apps.

The short-term gain from this is that applications, especially those from budding freelancers and small IT firms who have limited resources but have ideas that are based on thinking outside the box, will come more frequently and be of higher overall quality.  The long-term gain is even more fascinating.  If this trend sticks, it means that programming will become even more distributed, opening up more opportunities outside of traditional IT business channels.

Trying to capture the cloud

For our last news item we come to an article which proves that cloud technology is operating by a new set of rules.  Marketing research firm Research and Markets (couldn’t they have chosen just a slightly less redundant name?) has added to their list of research publications the Frost & Sullivan report “Cloud Data Analytics: Technology Penetration and Roadmapping”.

As cloud technology rapidly develops, trying to get accurate cost-benefit data is going to prove increasingly labyrinthine.  Even just trying to determine who is using your technology at any point will be difficult.  What Frost & Sullivan is offering is surely going to be something that you’re going to see more often.  Even hosting providers can’t tell just from looking at it exactly where the edges of the cloud are anymore.

Related posts:

• April 14, 2011 – The Transition from Shared Hosting to the Cloud
• August 25, 2009 – Layer Technologies Breaks Through on Inc. 5000
• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• January 20, 2012 – Data Backup and Recovery Solutions
• December 19, 2011 – Cloud Backup & Online Storage Services
• December 2, 2011 – Is Cloud Computing Worth It for Your Business?
• November 19, 2011 – A Dark Cloud: Anonymity and Privacy Fall Further Before a Cloud Computing Experiment
• November 19, 2011 – The Future of Cloud Computing – Where it’s Going, and What it Means for You
• October 29, 2011 – Future Uses and Growth of Cloud Computing
• October 21, 2011 – A Look at the Top Xen VPS Web Host Providers

Learning from the lessons of previous timebombs (remember that little Y2K scare?), IPv6 supports a whopping 3.4 x 10³⁸ addresses, or about 340 billion billion addresses (340 undecillion, for those of you who want to impress your parents).  That should hold us for a while.  It appears through a few tricks that we’ve avoided the worst of the predictions regarding address exhaustion of the old system, and universal acceptance of IPv6 appears ready to begin at the start of the year.

The beginner webmaster trying to weave their way through this gobbledegook may wonder exactly what this all means for them.

For once, the answer you wanted to hear

In general, for you this means nothing.  These changes are mostly taking place in the “wiring under the board”, so to speak.  All of the systems that need to be modified in order to make way for these changes are already occurring, or have already occurred.  Operating systems have been including support for this change for a long time, with Windows support going all the way back to Windows 2000.

Last year a number of major web sites held a “World IPv6 day”, and the results were promising.  This appears to be one area in which, for the most part, the problem was identified in time, and the solution proposed and implemented with no significant disruption.

So really, nothing at all?

Well, do make sure that you aren’t using any IP addresses anywhere on your web site.  Consider this a good opportunity to remind yourself that this is a bad idea to begin with.  IP addresses change all the time as it is, mathematical constraints or not.

Also note that this will change some of your security protocols.  Not only will you have to update all of your web and email filters, but at least one company is predicting that blacklists will become obsolete entirely.  With that many IP address, the thought is that individual IP addresses to hackers will become like cheap store bought cell phones to various types of ne’er-do-wells: a disposable tool that will make tracking far more difficult.

In general, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on the tech world at the start of the year to make sure that the unforeseen consequences to this change aren’t anything that affects your little corner of the web.  New developments always have a way of doing that.

So then why did you tell me all this?

Nevertheless for the most part, this is one that you can leave to the “experts.”  So why did we even bother writing about it?  Well, it is a big change on a technical level, which means that it’s one that you’ll hear about more and more as the switchover time comes closer.  So since you’ll probably be curious, doesn’t it make you feel good for once to be told that you don’t have to worry about it?

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Obvious pieces of information aside, what is CloudLinux 6.1 and why the bloody hell should I care? Well, for starters, the operating system is designed for web hosts, and is built upon the 2.6.32 kernel, which provides updated security, stability, and compatibility. On the subject of compatibility, CloudLinux is fully ready to roll with Red Hat and CentOS, as well as almost every control panel you can name. This includes cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and a choice few others.

If you’re concerned (or even just interested) in making the swap to CloudLinux, the company promises it can be done in under ten minutes without any damage to your existing systems. Not only that, but until October 15, the company will even provide you with free installation or conversion.

But still, what’s so great about CloudLinux? Well, not only is it the sole commercially-supported (think better tech-support) Linux OS made specifically for shared hosting, but it also comes with a unique feature set. The service brands each user account with a dedicated Lightweight Virtual Environment (that’s an LVE for those with the savoir faire). Each virtual environment allows the superuser—that’d be you, web hosters—to limit the CPU, memory, and concurrent connections allowed for each tenant.

Essentially, this eliminates any negative feelings between neighbors, or bad vibes between you and your tenants. Never again will one of your delinquent users suck up all the bandwidth, or use more than their fair share of the server’s CPU. With total control over your consumers, you might actually start to feel like the virtual slumlord you are.

Not to mention that CloudLinux offers MySQL Governor for further control over available database resources. The developer will also soon release the first virtualized file system available for shared hosters. This system, titled CageFS, will take some large steps towards ensuring your consumers’ files can only be accessed by them, or their associates.

All in all, CloudLinux is shaping up to be quite the Linux-based operating system. If you’re looking to swap, now is the time, what with the free installation and conversion. If you’d like more information, feel free to shoot the developer a message here. They’ll answer your questions, and of course, try to hook you even harder than we just did.

Related posts:

• September 13, 2011 – Choosing Between cPanel and Plesk
• September 14, 2009 – VPS Web Hosting – Do Your Really Need a Control Panel?
• February 13, 2009 – cPanel Then and Now
• October 5, 2011 – Understanding The Root User And How to Obtain It
• September 29, 2011 – The Ins and Outs of DirectAdmin
• September 25, 2011 – What To Remember When Moving To A New Control Panel
• September 7, 2011 – The Control Panel B Team – A World Beyond cPanel
• December 1, 2010 – Choosing Control Panels: cPanel or Plesk
• November 29, 2010 – Dedicated Hosting – A Brief Introduction and Overview
• October 13, 2010 – Hybrid Servers: Helping the Environment One Byte at a Time

Web Hosting Blogs: Blogging has witnessed a great rise in its popularity in the last several years. There are innumerable blogs on almost every niche. Web hosting is among the hot favorite niches of bloggers. You can get detailed information on web-hosting topics and current affairs from trusted news blogs, such as WebHostingGeeks.com!

Search Engines like Google and Yahoo:  You can search news directly from search engines. You just have to type in the keyword ‘Web hosting news’ and you will get a plethora websites to choose from. However, it is advisable to go for the news websites on the top page, as they have a reputable status and you can only garner genuine news on web hosting from trusted sources.

Magazines and Newspapers:  Print media is another easy and feasible way to keep you updated. You can avail daily or weekly magazines that offer highly useful news.

Books: Of course, some books provide you with the latest news in the world of web hosting. However, there is a drawback. They do not update the content on a regular basis. Hence, they are not the best source of obtaining updates. Thus, you need to make sure that you hone in on a good book or resource that offers timeless information, most often utilized for education rather than news reports.

Social Media: This is the best way to obtain web hosting news. There are many news communities on Facebook. You can join them. There are also pages and groups that are run by the members themselves. You can gain knowledge and at the same time contribute to the groups by sharing good ideas and viewpoints. Social media has come up to be the most preferred way of gaining knowledge by the people.

These are only some of the ways to obtain news. All you need to do is devote some time and bookmark good websites and blogs. Before you know it, these resources would bear the role of your companions on the road of success for your website.

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Your best defense: preparation

You can’t be prepared for everything: as a reminder, a week before Irene the east coast was hit with a rare earthquake.  But most events can be forecast, and that leaves the responsible web host with the time to prepare.

In this case, your best preparation is your people.  Make sure that your data center work schedule is well covered, and also make sure that there are a few veterans in the mix.  Not only will they have the best technical expertise to handle any sudden problems that surface, but they will be the best at keeping the younger employees focused and calm should things really get bad.  You will also want to make sure that you have enough employees to stay in constant communication with concerned (or in some cases, far over-panicked) users.

Make sure as well that everyone is aware of the fact that the storm may force them to stay way longer than normal, and they should have food and other preparations set.  An older worker is also good to have for these situations, to keep the office from turning too much into a slumber party.

Dual-location: taking advantage of the internet’s original strength

The internet was originally a military creation.  The idea was to make an information and communications network that could survive a nuclear attack.  It seems ironic, then, that the web hosting world is only now starting to take the best advantage of this strength through the use of multiple, spread out data centers.

If you are one of the hosts considering going this route, then now that you’re thinking along these lines, it’s important to consider something that you might have thought originally was irrelevant to the web: location.  Some places are simply more geologically safe than others.  Any second data center should take this into account, and should focus its construction on preparing for the most common types of harsh weather for that area.

For example, with InMotion Hosting you can choose your data center location. Moreover, InMotion Hosting’s exclusive Speed Zone technology helps keep your website and email fast by locating your data as close to you as possible. Check InMotion reviews if you’re thinking about switching web hosting providers, the company really stands out from the crowd.

Communication with customers

Lastly, communicate with your customers at all times, no matter how bad it gets.  Start by issuing warnings ahead of time.  You may scoff at this because of the early paranoid set that will send you end-of-the-world pleas about their web site.  Deal with it: by paying this small price, you gain confidence with your entire customer base.  They can see that you are working on problems before they start, and that you are not afraid to tell them the truth: that some things, like Mother Nature, are simply out of our control.

Hurricane Irene was a good test.  It should be used by the responsible web host to reassess their procedures to make sure that they are ready for the next big one.  To quote one famous sci-fi heroine: “If not boom today, boom tomorrow.  There’s always boom tomorrow.”

Related posts:

• September 27, 2011 – Common Web Hosting Terms And What They Mean
• September 6, 2011 – Understanding Colocation Hosting
• September 2, 2011 – Pioneering Cloud and Colocation Facility Opens
• August 30, 2011 – Data Centers Still Running Following East Coast Earthquake
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• March 31, 2011 – The Freedom and Flexibility of Colocation Hosting

Statement from the CEO

In a recent statement by the CEO of ScaleMatrix, he said that the newly constructed facility leverages modern data center hardware to create a highly efficient location, whereas, most competitors operate from facilities that are at least a decade old. Therefore, ScaleMatrix creates a new industry standard with regards to density and overall efficiency.

Facility Characteristics

The facility features innovations in thermal management and cabinet design to create the most efficient, highest density data center location in the region. These attributes allow customers to maximize their hosting investment while minimizing their environmental impact.

Economic and Environmental Impact

The opening of this facility creates two impacts on the surrounding area. The first is from an economic point-of-view as San Diego’s technology sector will benefit from the several hundred new jobs created as well as the capacity requirements. Environmentally, ScaleMatrix’s data center will decrease the requirement for construction of corporate hosting facilities which tend to be much less efficient and have a much higher impact on the environment.

San Diego a Prime Location

The decision to select San Diego as the location for the data center can be attributed to the thriving information technology community and three native San Diegans in high places within the organization. This allows the company to feature best-in-class efficiency while creating new jobs for the region.

Preparing for Future Growth

Cloud computing is currently the fastest growing technology sector. Therefore, ScaleMatrix is positioning itself to rapidly grow through the customization of cost-effective and efficient solutions for a fast marketplace. These data centers are engineered to support scalability and expansion requirements which are the basis of cloud computing technology.

ScaleMatrix Company Information

As an industry-leading Private Cloud Solutions Provider (PCSP), ScaleMatrix has expertise with colocation and dedicated server hosting. Founded as an effort to design, deploy and manage the best private cloud and dedicated hosting technology, ScaleMatrix services a variety of customers from small start-up companies to Fortune 500 organizations.

The new data center confirms their position as one of the leading cloud hosting providers in the industry. The new facility was built to optimize all equipment from an environmental and storage aspect. Hopefully this will entice many new customers to the hosting provider.

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• April 16, 2009 – Novella Reveals Plans for New IT Solutions
• January 20, 2012 – Data Backup and Recovery Solutions
• December 19, 2011 – Cloud Backup & Online Storage Services
• December 2, 2011 – Is Cloud Computing Worth It for Your Business?
• November 19, 2011 – A Dark Cloud: Anonymity and Privacy Fall Further Before a Cloud Computing Experiment
• November 19, 2011 – The Future of Cloud Computing – Where it’s Going, and What it Means for You
• October 29, 2011 – Future Uses and Growth of Cloud Computing
• October 14, 2011 – Top 6 Web Hosts Who are Riding the Cloud
• October 12, 2011 – A News Rundown About the Great Growing Cloud
• October 5, 2011 – A Look at Common Cloud Hosting Lingo, Part One

Migration Service

This new management service is only available by utilizing the coupon code FREEMIGRATION which applies to cPanel-based shared hosting accounts as well as OpenVZ and Virtuozzo virtual servers. Those without cPanel-based accounts can also receive migration assist at a low cost, one-time fee of $15 which will be applied directly to their accounts.

Host Color has always focused on providing new and current clients with the opportunity to select from a variety of options. Since there are many webmaster who are not satisfied with their current providers and do not have the time or technical expertise to correctly migrate their website to a reliable provider, Host Color is there to assist.

New Data Center

The company recently transitioned into a new data center and developed a fully-redundant network with a 100 percent uptime guarantee. The provider has also recently announced several money-saving opportunities to small business websites, dedicated servers and VPS hosting accounts.

.INFO Promotion

One promotion is on .INFO domain name extensions and .INFO domain-based websites. The price of these domain names has decreased to $6.97 per year. Current owners of .INFO websites have been awarded coupon code, INFOWEBSITE, which gives them a 22 percent discount when signing up for a shared hosting plan at the provider. This promotion is scheduled to end September 30^th, 2011.

SUMMERTIME Coupon Code

Those who do not require the migration of an account will be given savings on their monthly hosting bill. Host Color is providing 25 percent off their bill with the coupon code SUMMERTIME when signing up with any shared hosting package. This code is scheduled to expire at the end of August 2011.

Host Color Company Information

Founded in 2000, Host Color is a web hosting provider incorporated in Delaware. The company boasts a fully-redundant network with a 100 percent SLA uptime guarantee. Host Color hosts thousands of small business and personal clients in their data center based out of South Bend, Indiana.

With so much competition in the web hosting industry, Host Color is offering deals and specials that are refreshing to consumers. Perhaps the extensive advertising and great deals will entice customers to switch to Host Color.

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• May 12, 2009 – Making the Most of Uptime
• January 6, 2012 – Control Panel: Advantages & Disadvantages
• September 29, 2011 – Using cPanel to Setup Cron Jobs
• September 29, 2011 – The Ins and Outs of DirectAdmin
• September 25, 2011 – What’s A Preinstalled Script, And Do I Need It?
• September 25, 2011 – What To Remember When Moving To A New Control Panel
• September 17, 2011 – CloudLinux 6.1 Launches
• September 16, 2011 – Using cPanel to Change File Permissions: How and Why?
• September 13, 2011 – Choosing Between cPanel and Plesk

Secure Cloud Hosting

FireHost leads the industry when it comes to offering users a robust and flexible cloud hosting infrastructure. The company goes the extra mile when providing enterprise security which includes web application protection, real-time blocked hacking reports with origin mapping, HIPPA and PCI complainant, and SSL VPN access for enhanced secured cloud server management.

FireHost’s Managed Support includes 24/7/365 customer support via phone, ticket or live chat, daily backup snapshots with 30-day retention, monitoring of servers and applications with immediate action when necessary, and an impressive SLA guarantee promising 100% uptime which includes network and infrastructure.

Furthermore, FireHost offers users independent scalable resources including memory (up to 84 GB), storage (up to 3 storage tiers available including SATA,SAS, and SSD), and processors (up to 8 processor cores). Detailed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annual server performance is also available.

PCI 2.0 Compliant Cloud Hosting

FireHost’s PCI 2.0 Compliant Cloud Hosting is an ideal solution for e-commerce ventures allowing business owners to spend more time focusing on expanding customer bases rather than exhausting valuable resources on administrative aspects of running a business.  Supported operating systems include 64-bit Windows Server 2008 and 64-bit Linux.  The PCI DSS Ready Plan offers users log management, vulnerability monitoring, antivirus protection, managed SSL Service, 1 Gps public& private network, two-factor authentication, and application & DB server isolation.

Managed security includes such features as redundant firewall protection, web application protection, and DoS/DDoS mitigation, monitored intrusion detection, managed 30 days backup snapshots,  proactive OS security patches and VPN/SSL server management.  The PCI DSS Ready Plan is designed for those serious about e-commerce growth starting at $845/month with no setup fees or contract required.

HIPPA Cloud Hosting

FireHost’s HIPPA Ready Plan is very similar to the PCI Compliant Ready Plan when considering features and monthly service fees of $845; however, it’s designed more so for healthcare organizations. Regardless of the organization size, FireHost strives to protect sensitive patient and healthcare provider information. In addition to offering the same features and cloud hosting services, the plan also supports 64-bit Windows Server 2008 and 64-bit Linux operating systems.

High Traffic Cloud Hosting

If there’s one area of expertise FireHost is known for is high traffic hosting solutions.  Business owners with large e-commerce sites can truly appreciate a hosting provider that insulates online ventures from being attacked, thus ultimately going offline for indefinite periods of time. The High Traffic Plan offers users an array of features including multiple load balanced servers, available terabytes of storage, redundant enterprise-grade power infrastructure, full root-level access, 24/7/365 monitoring and response, and up to 8 processors/server, and 84 GB of memory/server.  The managed security features include the same as in the other cloud hosting plans.  The High Traffic hosting plan is available for business owners of any size; however, it’s best suited for mid-to-large size online ventures starting at $655/month.

Conclusion

The buzz surrounding FireHost shouldn’t be ignored as it’s one of the leading scalable high-end cloud hosting providers that meets a wide range of needs. Whether looking for a reliable and robust cloud platform to support an e-commerce site, a healthcare organization in need of a secure hosting solution to protect patient information or dynamic hosting services to support heavy website traffic, FireHost accommodates individual hosting needs with a personal and professional quintessence.

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• December 2, 2011 – Is Cloud Computing Worth It for Your Business?
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• November 19, 2011 – The Future of Cloud Computing – Where it’s Going, and What it Means for You
• October 5, 2011 – A Look at Common Cloud Hosting Lingo, Part One
• September 2, 2011 – Saving Money and Increasing Sales with the Cloud
• August 31, 2011 – Top 5 Cloud Storage Service Providers
• August 24, 2011 – What Small Business Owners Should Know About Cloud Hosting
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• August 18, 2011 – Rebel Networks to Partner with OnApp

Data Center Preparedness

Buildings in Boston, Washington, New York City and Philadelphia were evacuated immediately following the earthquake. Also, a Virginia-based nuclear power plant initially lost power but continues to operate on reserves. This large quake (by east coast standards) has brought an interesting question to the table, how should data centers equip themselves to manage natural disasters?

HostGator Slow Speeds

Earthquakes can occur at any time in almost any region regardless of the location of a data center facility. Therefore it is critical for data centers to be prepared for every natural disaster imaginable. Following the quake, it was reported that the data center for HostGator experienced disruptions which resulted in slower-than-normal connection speeds.

Other Data Center Reports

Also, Hosting.com reported that it felt the earthquake at its location in D.C. but all equipment is online and functional. Additionally, another hosting provider, PEER 1, tweeted that the data center had not been affected by the earthquake. Furthermore, ServInt, Carpathia Hosting and ICANN tweeted that their services were functioning the same as prior to the quake and all employees are unharmed and accounted for.

In another tweet from Windows and Android phone development community XDA Developers, they stated that their systems could be slow for several hours as a result of the earthquake but several data centers would be shut down. However, the company did not specify which data centers went offline. Additionally, PAETEC, Contact Solutions, Razor Serves and Amazon Virginia also announced that they continue to be operational.

Data Centers Operational

Like all earthquakes this was an unexpected hit against the Eastern portion of the United States. Luckily no major damage or injuries were reported. The ground simply rumbled for several seconds and then stopped. Once evacuations were cleared, business continued in major cities and remained operational.

This natural disaster proves that data center across the east coast are ready for anything Mother Nature throws at them. With upcoming Hurricane Irene in the next several days, the data centers across the east coast will certainly have another chance to prove their durability and preparedness.

Related posts:

• September 27, 2011 – Common Web Hosting Terms And What They Mean
• September 9, 2011 – Hurricane Irene: Taking a Step Back
• September 6, 2011 – Understanding Colocation Hosting
• September 2, 2011 – Pioneering Cloud and Colocation Facility Opens
• July 21, 2011 – Data Foundry Opens Data Center in Austin
• June 30, 2011 – Telconet Scheduled to Build Two New Data Centers
• June 14, 2011 – Ascent to Partner with Comcast
• June 1, 2011 – Latisys Expands Credit Facility to $125 Million
• April 1, 2011 – Three Reasons Why Colocation Hosting Is More Expensive
• March 31, 2011 – The Freedom and Flexibility of Colocation Hosting