Scalable Connectivity
Network Redundancy
Network Reliability
Raw Performance = High Throughput
Top-Notch Servers
Industrial Strength Equipment
Scalable Connectivity
Multiple full T-3's from Qwest communications and Frontier Global Center
provide Site-Host clients with a secure, fast, redundant connection.
Site-Host is housed in a state-of-the-art, teleco grade, data center. We
have 2 NOCs, which are located in Baltimore, Maryland, and New York City and
they are unusual in several ways: They have a unique "OnNet" connection to two
tier-one backbone provides. The connection is a scalable, bandwidth-on-demand
connection. Our backbone providers have substantial redundant peering
arrangements, creating great reliability. The end result is that over 90% of your
traffic will be exchanged in private peering arrangements and travels from our
network well under their guaranteed network speed of 80 ms. This combination
results in an extremely low packet loss and latency.
Frontier GlobalCenter (FGC) whose 13,000-mile fiber optic network and Dense
Wave Division Multiplexing (DWDM) technology provide an enormous 460 Gbps
of capacity worldwide, has an ATM fiber node located just a few floors below the
Site-Host NOCs. With our OnNet connection, fiber optic cable runs inside our
buildings directly from the NOCs to the GlobalCenter point of presence, placing
us right on their network. You enjoy the same fast, secure connection. In
addition to our connection with GlobalCenter, Site-Host also makes use of
Qwest Communications for an OnNet high-speed connection to their backbone
very similar to the one with GlobalCenter (FGC).
Qwest comes into Baltimore and NYC with an OC-12 line, and plans to upgrade
their connection to an OC-48 in the near future. The Qwest connection enables
Site-Host to offer additional redundancy and better routes to Europe, Latin
America, and Asia. With both of these two carriers, our router will have up to
150,000 possible routes to send each packet of traffic. Industry analysis reveals
that 70% of downtime over 10 hours with any ISP is caused by telephone circuit
failure. Because of the direct fiber optic connection between our Cisco 7200
routers and theirs, Site-Host does not need to link to the Internet though
an OC3 or T3 Telecom circuit. With this unique arrangement, circuit failure is
virtually eliminated.
Some web providers operate an additional dial-up Internet service with 1000's of
users that slow down their connection to the Internet. Remember, we are not
Internet Access providers -- our scalable bandwidth lines are entirely dedicated
to serving!
Network Redundancy
Studies have shown that the second most common reason for downtime is circuit
failure on the tier 1 backbone, that is why we have two tier one providers. If one
has problems we can route traffic down the other one. Furthermore, because we
are OnNet with Frontier GlobalCenter and Qwest we share their digital distribution
architecture, which includes private peering network connections to major
Internet carriers such as MCI, Sprint, UUNET, EUNET, AT&T, AOL, Best, Erols,
@Home, IBM Advantis and others. These private peering arrangements allow
Site-Host to exchange packets of data with every major backbone carrier in
a one-to-one environment quickly and efficiently. In addition, FGC has
high-speed links to 8 public exchanges including both MAE East and West and
several NAPS. Through these many public exchanges, customers have the ability
to reach their site wherever they are coming from on the Internet. Thus we have
the best of both worlds: a network that is both efficient and wide reaching.
Network Reliability
Industry analysis reveals that 70% of downtime over 10 hours with any ISP is
caused by telephone circuit failure. Since one of our NOCs is just 13 floors above
Frontier GlobalCenter in the same building, circuit failure is virtually eliminated
because there is no phone circuit between us and FGC. Instead, there is a
direct-connection between our Cisco 7200 routers and theirs. The second most
common reason for downtime is circuit failure on the Tier 1 backbone.
GlobalCenter, themselves a backbone, also have peer connections with other
major Tier 1 providers, which allows traffic to be switched to other backbones
quickly in the event of a crisis. How reliable is this? Yahoo is another fine
company who connects directly using only Frontier GlobalCenter. If you can reach
Yahoo, you can reach our network. FGC's ground-breaking 460 Gbps network
runs BGP to 25 other major carriers through private peering arrangements,
providing the fastest, most efficient and most reliable network available today.
Raw Performance equals Low Latency/High Throughput
Often providers operate their networks at three to four times responsible
capacity, and as a result the corresponding transfer times reach over 300ms.
Site-Host's network daily average is 6.5% of its capacity, with mid-day peak
spikes reaching only 15.5% capacity. Site-Host guarantees that we'll carry
you to the Frontier GlobalCenter Sonet Ring at the heart of the FGC backbone in
less than 80ms over a five minute average at any time of day or night or we'll
give you that month free.
Top-Notch Servers
Your site will be hosted on one of our "state of the art" high performance Linux
servers. We are continually upgrading our equipment to be the fastest and most
reliable in the industry, so you can be assured your website will be accessible
24/7. Our servers come with "hot swappable" hard drives, so that if a drive fails,
our technicians can install a replacement in seconds. We also use 100%
redundant power supplies, so there will be no down time due to a power failure.
All servers are backed up nightly on our 288 gigabyte SCSI arrays and then
stored on tape for safe keeping. Our equipment is continually monitored for
problems and our system administrators are constantly checking on
performance, security and network conductivity. This is what we consider "Top
Notch"!
Industrial Strength Equipment Provides Performance and Reliability
At Site-Host we realize that down time is not an option for your server. We
have invested heavily in hardware and facilities to ensure that your site will
remain up and running on the web 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Site-Host's web servers are custom-built industrial machines designed for a
24/7 web serving environment. All of our servers are equipped with dual
redundant 450-watt power supplies, hot swap Fujitsu drives and force-filtered
cooling systems. Our Network Operations Centers (NOCs) are equipped with
standby machines, industry-leading Liebert uninterruptable power supplies
(UPSs) and a temperature-controlled environment, all located in secured,
monitored facilities.
Force Filtered Cooling
All the drives, motherboards, and power supplies of our computers are in cases
with a positive pressure filtered air environment. Two large fans pull air into the
protective case through filters, and the components within are cooled by fans
which circulate this purified air. The constant introduction of clean air into the
case creates a positive pressure environment ensuring that dust and particulates
are swept out and never in.
Hot Swap Fujitsu Drives
The drives and drive bays of our servers are all constructed from high-grade
aluminum, and rest in a Shock Mounted Drive Cage, which adds to the durability
of the hardware. We back up our servers nightly. If your industrial grade drive
were to fail, all we would have to do is copy your backup (never more than 24
hours old) onto a standby machine which is already on-line. Your site would be
up and running within a matter of minutes.
Redundant Hot Swap Power Supplies
Each server has dual redundant hot swap power supplies. If one of these power
supplies were to fail, the server would not go down because each power supply is
capable of running the server by itself, indefinitely. Meanwhile, alarms would
alert our technicians to the problem; they would restore redundancy with one of
our spares and then service the failed supply unit. During all this, your site
would never be down.
Standby Servers
We keep spares on-line of all CPU configurations. If your server were to
experience a hardware failure we would literally turn a key, grab the handle on
your drive, pull it out, and insert it into an identical standby CPU. We'd reboot
the second machine and your site would be up and running again in a matter of
minutes.
Smooth, Clean, Redundant Uninterruptable Power System
To guard against local power failures, we have invested in an industrial strength
Liebert UPS system. It acts as a back-up battery, maintaining uninterrupted
power in case of surges or power outages. In addition to this high quality power
system, the Site-Host NOC is also equipped with a natural gas generator.
With these backup systems in place, we can keep our network up and running
indefinitely without relying on the building's power. This is just another example
of the commitment we have to keeping your site up 24/7 no matter what
situation arises.
What is a web site?
Why do I need a web site?
What's in a domain name?
How do I get my own domain name?
Why Should I choose Site-Host?
How do I move from my current host to Site-Host?
Also be sure to check out our Pre-Sales FAQ. You will find answers to the most common pre-sales questions. Email Us if you have any additional questions.
