The UK based VPS hosting company Webfusion, has recently purchased the hosting assets of another hosting company, XCalibre Communications. Specific details of the transaction such as the final sale price of the companie’s assets have not yet been released. However, what is known is that Webfusion’s capabilities as a web host have certainly increased with this acquisition, and they are expected to add a wide variety of new features to it’s services, including the start of their new 24 hour support department. Of course the customers of Xcalibre Communications will now become the customers of Webfusion , however this does not pose reason for concern for Xcalibre customers as they will share in the enhanced benefits of Webfusion hosting as well. In fact, this may be an improvement for the existing customers of Xcalibre hosting.

The Transition

The transition is a little bit more complicated than a simple transferring of clients. To be specific, the clients of Xcalibre will now technically be clients of Flexiant Ltd. Flexiant will work in partnership with Webfusion to trial a service known as “FlexiScale.” Flexiscale is a new platform developed by Flexiant that will eventually become a service offered to all Webfusion customer’s as well.  In essence, all three companies will be forming an alliance with Webfusion at the head.

Webfusion’s Comments

When asked about the decision to purchase the assets of Xcalibre Communications, the Managing Director of Webfusion, stated: “XCalibre has an excellent portfolio of hosting products and we are delighted to partner with them. The acquired Xcalibre customer base will benefit from an increased product set and more choice in entry level managed hosting packages. We look forward to the opportunities to widen our portfolio and present these customers with a greater choice of hosting and web security solutions.”

Xcalibre’s Comments

The CEO of XCalibre, also had something to say about the deal: “This partnership with Webfusion is very important to us and will allow us to strengthen our focus on the continued development of FlexiScale platform and other software products. Our roots are in hosting but our passion is development and going forward this experience will shape our transition into and growth as a software and services company, pioneering cloud computing.”

Affects of The Deal On End-Users

The customer transition of Xcalibre clients to Webfusion services took effect immediately after the deal took place, and everything is now official. No services that were previously offered by Xcalibre Communications will be removed or altered, and customer’s can enjoy the same familiarity with their new web host, as everything is still identical. The control panel and the user interface are also completely identical. Xcalibre customer’s will however benefit from the new twenty four hour support department, and an overall wider array of features and services offered by Webfusion. Both companies have benefited from the transactions, as have the end-users, making this an optimal web hosting asset acquisition. If you are a customer of either one of these companies and you would like to know more about the deal, you can contact the new twenty four hour customer support.

Rackspace, one of the most well known companies in the web hosting and cloud computing business, recently announced that the Rackspace Email & Apps division is now hosting over 1.6 mailboxes across its hosted email solutions.  Both new and existing clients agree that a robust email platform, seamless migration, award-winning Fanatical Support and a great price are just a few of many reasons for choosing to host with Rackspace.

Pat Matthews, General Manager of Rackspace Email & Apps division, said that businesses should no longer have to manage their mail servers internally, citing that email communications are more critical than ever before and companies need the backing of a partner they can trust.  Mathews states that Rackspace is able to bridge the gap for organizations that have enterprise-class email needs, but do not have the resources to invest in a costly in-house system, noting that the company’s track record during the economic downturn is evidence of its abilities to meet such requirements.

ReCourses, a Tennessee-based consulting firm, is one of several businesses that turned to Rackspace after encountering roadblocks while attempting to manage a complex email system in-house.  ReCourses founder, David Baker, was tasked with the challenge of maintaining his own server.  His biggest hurdle came on the road, when he was unable to physically access the server and get it back online.  Baker decided that he could gain the peace of mind needed to focus on the core aspects of his business by going with a hosted email solution.   He cited that dependable uptime and great support were key factors in making his decision.  According to Baker, Rackspace exceeded all expectations in both areas, giving him the reassurance of being able to conduct his business without the worry of service interruptions and costly downtime.

Bundle City is another client that is currently benefiting from Rackspace’s hosted email solution.  The company was trying to make due with a free email service that came packaged with its web hosting plan.  Unfortunately, the company only found itself frustrated due to the lack of features and poor overall service.  A major player in the e-commerce space, Bundle City relies heavily on email as it is the company’s primary communications medium.  To no surprise, speed and reliability is critical to its success.  Pez Elias, Bundle City founder, said that while Rackspace Email offers tons of sophisticated features, the cost is very affordable and suitable for small businesses.

Thomas Vranas is yet another customer who came to reap the benefits of Rackspace Email.  Vranas, President of PROACT Search, a leading executive search and management consulting firm, was looking for a replacement of the company’s legacy POP email system when running across Rackspace.  Instead of building an email infrastructure from the ground up, Vranas selected hosted email with Rackspace for its flexible solutions, scalability, guaranteed uptime and 24/7 Fanatical Support.

Rackspace Email offers a wealth of features, including a user-friendly administrative control panel, spam and virus protection, support for Microsoft Outlook, and integration with a variety of mobile devices.  Rackspace also specializes in hosted Microsoft Exchange, in addition to a hybrid solution compromised of Rackpsace Email and hosted Exchange.

There are a several things one should expect from a web hosting provider.  A decent amount of allowable web space, bandwidth limits that aren’t too restricting, and a consistent up-time ratio (preferably higher than 99.9%).  In what is still reverberating throughout the Internet, the web hosting provider DreamHost seems to have severely dropped the ball on the consistent up-time ratio.  What should have been a smooth data migration turned out to be a very poorly planned venture costing the web hosting provider some of its customers.

The Move

A move from Net2EZ to Alchemy Communications was announced as completed by DreamHost on November 24, 2009.  The company proclaimed its success, not knowing the ensuing issues that were about to plague them and their customers.  Starting out with a network failure, the problems quickly began to mount.  According to the technical team at DreamHost, the problems were being attributed to several factors.  The shared hosting hardware had been upgraded, the upgrade did not go as planned, and the support team frankly was at a loss as to how to solve it quickly.

Status, Technically Speaking

Starting out almost immediately and appearing to still be an ongoing slew of problems, the DreamHost status page is rife with network failures, dieing raid controllers, and continuous webmail errors.  For those with more than just a bit of technical knowledge, the offered status page may reveal more into what is going on with DreamHost and its latest move.  The average web hosting customer, however, may find the information a bit overly technical.  DreamHost would go a long way in offering information on a slightly less technical level and truly give its customers information they can use and understand.

Not too Happy

Tech-speak aside, it has been clear that DreamHost customers are less than pleased by the whole fiasco.  Twitter has been inundated with tweets from customers regarding their dissatisfaction with all the errors and resulting down-times.  Some have been content with complaining while others have decided to drop the web hosting provider and move onto a more reliable service.  The DreamHost Twitter account reported on November 30, 2009 that at least 95% of their services and servers were back online.  However, no further reporting has been made since that date (other than 2 personal responses and 1 holiday shopping URL).  As of December 4, 2009 some customers are still reporting web sites that are unavailable.

Final Thoughts

In retrospect, DreamHost could have and should have planned their data migration a bit more.  The support team should have been instructed on what might occur so they could be on the ball and ready to fix issues and errors as they arose.  Most importantly, it may have been in the company’s best interest to not crow about a successful data move until they were completely certain the network was up and running smoothly.

DreamHost may need to do a bit of good public relations to combat the fallout of this data fiasco.  It is uncertain how many customers they may have lost over the past week and how many more they stand to lose over the next couple of weeks.  The web hosting provider clearly needs to wake up and do a bit of damage control.

Even businesses can get into the holiday spirit.  One such merry web hosting provider is WebNet.  This web hosting company is getting itself and customers in a festive mood by offering some fantastic deals good through to the end of the year.

About WebNet

With beginnings in 2002, WebNet Hosting, LLC is a privately held web hosting and e-commerce provider located in Rockville, Maryland.  The web hosting provider has distinguished itself as a leader in the industry by providing rock-solid support and 24×7 non-stop services to all of its customers.

Among some of the best reasons to choose this company as one’s next e-commerce capable web host is its constant availability.  Even in the wee hours of the morning on a holiday, one can expect an actual human being to answer all incoming calls.  This type of commitment to complete service is one that sets WebNet in a class by itself.

WebNet controls a tier 3 data center with over 12,000 square footage.  This data center is open and secured 24×7 year-round.  The OC-48 fiber optic redundant connections employed by the hosting company ensure continuous operation for all of its clients.

WebNet Services

WebNet offers two different web hosting accounts for prospective customers to choose from.  Starting at just $7.95 a month, the company’s Standard option comes with 1,000 megabytes of disk space, 3,000 megabytes of monthly transfer allowance and is stocked with the standard hosting programs and options one expects from any regular web hosting account.  One step up and customers can build their online presence with the Business Builder for only $17.95 a month.  This hosting account option comes with 3,000 megabytes of disk space, 60,000 megabytes of monthly bandwidth and also includes a web site editor tool and Site Studio Web Design (over 600 templates to choose from).

Miva Merchant hosting is what WebNet is most famous for.  The provider gives customers three different Miva Merchant 5.5 accounts to choose from.  The E-Starter is equipped with 500 megabytes of storage, 5,000 megabytes of bandwidth and comes in at the low price of $24.95 a month.  The difference between this account and the next two higher Miva Merchant accounts is the allowed number of dedicated IP addresses (the E-Starter does not include this) and the allowed space and bandwidth.  The E-Customized costs $34.95 a month and the E-Semi-Dedicated will set one back $84.95 a month.

As with many web hosting providers, WebNet offers a lucrative reseller account option.  Each account can be purchased at just $10.95 per month and includes one Standard web hosting plan.  The solution provided can be fully branded and is set on private nameservers along with a reseller control panel.

Latest Bargains

From now until the end of the year, WebNet is offering the following fantastic holiday deals:

• Sign up for any of the company’s Miva Merchant Web Hosting plans and receive the first month free
• A waiver of the $99 set up fee that is normally included with any dedicated hosting package
• A free Miva Merchant 5.5 license (normally $995)
• A free upgrade to the latest version of Miva Merchant 5.5 with the purchase of any Miva Merchant hosting account
• A free Miva migration from previous web host to WebNet with a guarantee of uninterrupted up-time

Final Thoughts

WebNet is an industry leader when it comes to reliable hosting with dedicated support and services.  The hosting provider is clearly getting into the holiday spirit and passing this joy along to new customers.

In the UK, one of the largest web hosting and domain name providers recently grabbed one of the biggest dedicated hosting providers.  Namesco Limited acquired Poundhost as of November 19, 2009 with assurances all around that no discernible disruptions or changes would be noticed by Poundhost customers.  The combination of these two companies is one that is consistent with Namesco’s tradition of acquiring leaders in web host providers and domain name registrars.

Namesco

Namesco began as two separate internet entities – Names.co Internet Services Limited and Webcall.com Limited – back in 1996 and 1997.  The two were combined in 2000 and became Namesco Limited.  Namesco is a subsidiary of the Italian services firm, Dada SPA.

The company has a long-standing tradition of “evolution through acquisition.” In 2004, Namesco acquired Simply.com Limited, another domain registrar in the UK, and added over 90,000 domain names under its wings.  A year later, the company acquired NDO Limited and was able to greatly improve its clients connectivity.  In 2008, Namesco snatched up Register365, Ireland’s largest web hosting provider at that time.

Through its strategic acquisition, Namesco has managed to claw its way to being the fourth largest domain name and web hosting provider in the UK.

Poundhost

Poundhost Internet Limited received its name in 2001 when the company started offering web hosting services the cost of £1 per megabyte.  The company desired to fit the need of providing high quality internet hosting while simultaneous being cost effective.

A part of the BlueSquare Data Group, this dedicated hosting provider prides itself on bypassing third party support and second tier network providers and has its own 24×7 staff working inside of the company’s BlueSquare data centers.

Considered one of the UK’s fastest growing dedicated server providers, Poundhost currently house more than 10,000 virtual and dedicated servers of which 30 percent are located in the US.  By Namesco standards, another big player in the web hosting business.

Dada SPA

Dada, an Italian service company, is an international leader in the community and entertainment service industry.  The company offers web services, mobile services, domain registration services, web hosting and online advertising solutions.

With offices in Florence, Milan, London, Barcelona, Paris and more, Dada is divided into to separate business areas – Dada.net, an entertainment section of the company, and Dada.pro, its professional and advertising section.

Acquisition

With the latest acquisition, Namesco will own 100% of Poundhost and its subsidiaries which include Poundhost Internet, VPS, Blueconnex and Server Arcade.

The current acquisition is considered to be consistent with Dada’s group strategy.  This strategy strives to combine the European market leadership and in doing so enhance their position of managing online identity, as well as their presence of web advertising products and solutions.

According to Paolo Barberis, Chairman and founder of Dada, “The acquisition of Poundhost completes the offer of the Group’s digital services from domain to click and opens up the potential of the US market.  The further expansion of the customer base accelerates the development of Simply, the new Dada online advertising project, in the UK market in which internet advertising has already overtaken television.”

Cloud computing is one of the latest internet technologies that affords companies the ability to present their data and information within outside sources.  With recent concerns with regard to cloud computing and security, it is no wonder that many businesses may be a bit hesitant to jump on board.

Rackspace is endeavoring to reverse the latest cloud computing intimidation by offering solutions that will enable businesses to move their applications from in-house to the cloud.

Rackspace

Based in San Antonio, Texas, Rackspace started its services in 1998 and has grown to provide enterprise-level hosting services to businesses both small and large all around the globe.  At the latest count, this web hosting solution provider caters to over 70,000 customers of which over 51,000 are cloud computing clients.  The company specializes in managed hosting, e-mail and applications as well as cloud hosting.

New Cloud Products

In a continuing effort to bring companies onto cloud computing, Rackspace has recently announced a new set of product offerings.

The Rackspace Cloud Drive is the company’s solution to file server management.  With this product, customers can store and share files with ease, backup and restore files without a hitch and can be accessed remotely.  Additionally, all files located on this cloud solution can be quickly synced across teams and desktops.

For those in need of an online backup solution, Rackspace offers the Rackspace Server Backup product.  Powered by Jungle Disk (Rackspace sister division), this product works for both Windows and Linux servers.  Users can backup files and directories onto either the Amazon S3 or Rackspace Cloud Files storage services.

A product that has not been released yet (December 2009 release date) is the Rackspace Hosted Microsoft SharePoint solution.  This product will enable customers to utilized a centralized document repository that allows for collaboration, project tracking, content management and other business communication tools.

Best reason to use cloud computing

All online businesses strive to increase their customer base and in doing so, increase the need for resources.  Increased resources means having to purchase and implement new hardware to keep up with the demand and growth.  Cloud computing allows online businesses to increase their productivity and customer base without having to pour out money into either optimizing current hardware or purchasing new equipment.

Rackspace is leading the charge in cloud computing.  With outstanding services the hosting provider already is well-known for, the addition of new cloud computing solutions will place Rackspace as a leader in the cloud.

Scheduled for October 22, 2009 at the famous 76 Portland Place conference venue in London, England, the Cloud Computing World Forum will focus on the benefits SaaS and other cloud computing solutions offer to the small business segment.  The event will feature a presentation from Mike Spink, Research Director for renown research firm Gartner, and several other key speakers.  All speakers will explain why the cloud is ideal for small and medium sized businesses.

Mark Johnstone of Point Zero Media, the organizer of the event, mentioned that the purpose of the forum is to enlighten businesses on the potential of SaaS and computing in general, noting how the technology can deliver tremendous benefits to the SMB.  Johnstone remarked that Point Zero Media is hopeful that the event will provide valuable information the business attendees can put to use and also give them the a chance to network with their peers and other like-minded IT professionals.

In preparation for the event, Mike Spink expressed that cloud computing offers an excellent opportunity for smaller companies to revisit their IT strategy and other planning approaches.  Spink believes as the market continues to mature, the cloud will evolve into a cost efficient alternative to traditional on-premises environments for a larger number of IT requirements.

The conference will feature a who’s who of industry experts.  Some of the key speakers of the event include the following:

Andy McLoughlin – Huddle co-founder and Strategy Director

David Terrar – D2C Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Pamal Sharma – General Motors CIO of UK and Ireland

Euan Semple – BBC consultant

Evangelos Kotsovinos – Morgan Stanley VP of Hosting

Keith Misson – Aviva Business Director

Laurent Lachal – Ovum Senior Analyst

Mike Spink – Gartner Senior Analyst

Robin Daniels – Sales Force Senior Manger and Product Marketing

Simon Abrahams – Rackspace EMEA Head of Product Marketing

Tim Mather – Author of Cloud Computing and Privacy

The event will also offer many more perks, including an intimate setting designated for exhibition and networking.  This area will be available to all who attend and provide excellent opportunities for those interested in rubbing elbows with industry leaders and sharing ideals with other businesses and experts involved in the cloud computing sector.

The Cloud Computing World Forum was created to help IT professionals learn more about potential of the cloud.  It promotes the discussion of the future development and implementation of cloud solutions and is set to showcase some of the key decision makers from some of today’s top cloud service providers.  The event will focus on the current state of the market, strategies for deployment and integration, the issues of security and privacy, and the value the cloud offers to businesses among other important topics.  It will also take a look at what the future could possibly hold for service providers.

There is still time to register for the conference by contacting Mark Johstone at: mark@pointzeromedia.com. You can also visit the official Cloud Computing World Forum site for more details.

Just announced, web hosting automation and server virtualization software vendor Parallels, will play a host to a traveling show that targets its partners, hosting firms, cloud service providers and ISVs.

The EMEA Partner Roadshow will share insight regarding the best practices for deploying web applications and services in the hosted environment.  The event will also give comprehensive examples of how hosting providers can leverage white-label reseller solutions to generate a profitable indirect sales channel with a broader range of applications, all while maintaining customer loyalty and brand independence.  White-label reselling allows providers to resell and distribute a number of popular SaasS applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Office Communications Server and Sharepoint in a hosted environment.  The key selling point of the SaaS model is that customers merely subscribe to applications rather than buying them outright, generally on a monthly basis.  With this pay-per-usage model, small to medium sized businesses get the benefit of an easy to use, affordable service.

Dan Germain, CTO of managed IT solutions provider Cobweb Solutions Limited, explained how that by leveraging Parallels, the company was able to significantly increase its average per user revenue while reducing operating costs and deploying new solutions faster than ever before.  Germain remarked that it was imperative for them to find a provider capable of properly supporting a white-label service on both a modular and infrastructure level.  This in turn, enabled its partners to transparently resell Cobweb hosting solutions under their own brand.  Thanks to Parallels, Cobweb and its resellers can now provide a multitude of solutions, flexible billing and administration options across its wide array of services.

White-label reselling allows hosting providers to adequately delegate service offerings to clients, thus providing them with a way to offer and resell a broader spectrum of applications without all the cost and complexities of maintaining an infrastructure to distribute the applications themselves.  It also opens up an additional sales channel while allowing resellers to maintain their unique brand identity and loyalty within the customer.  This type of solution makes it possible for almost anyone to operate their own web hosting business.  All they have to do is lease the server space, bandwidth and necessary services from an established hosting firm for a low price that spares them the cost of expensive web servers, network connectivity, IT staff, software licenses and infrastructure.

The 2009 Parallels Partner Roadshow is scheduled to take place on September 1 in Stockholm, Sweden and run through September 7, with the final show wrapping up in London, England.  You find more information or register for the events at the Parallels website.

About Parallels

Founded in 1999, Parallels is a global leading provider of web hosting automation and virtualization software.  Its products are designed to optimize the computing experience for cloud service providers, businesses and consumers across virtually every major operating system, hardware and virtualization platform.  Parallels is currently one of the fastest growing companies in the industry with more than 650 employees throughout the continents of Asia, Europe and North America.

On Monday, August 10^th, Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a decision which previously stated that Novell, owner of the SUSE Linux distribution, owns the source code of the Unix operating system.  This ruling clears a path for SCO to pursue a copyright infringement claim against IBM to the tune of $1 billion.  In the 54 page decision, the court said that it was overruling the 2007 judgment made by U.S. District Court for the District of Utah Judge Dale Kimball, who initially ruled in favor of Novell as the owner of the Unix OS and all UnixWare copyrights.

In a statement made to the Salt Lake City Tribune, Darl McBride, CEO at SCO, said that the federal appeals court decision was a tremendous victory for SCO, explaining that it would not only give the company the ammunition needed to follow through on a lawsuit against IBM, but a similar suit against Novell as well.

A History of Turmoil

This controversial legal matter goes back to 1993, when Novell purchased Unix System Laboratories, who at the time, owned all Unix copyrights and licenses, for more than $300 million.  Just two years later in 1995, Novell elected to pull out and sold the Unix business to SCO.  The confusion came about through differing stories from the two sides in regard to whether or not the acquisition included copyright ownership of the Unix source code.

It was in 2004 that Novell stepped up to claim ownership of the rights to Unix.  This was shortly after SCO made the decision one year earlier to enforce the copyright through the courts.  2003 was a very heated year as it marked the time SCO claimed that the popular open-source Linux operating system was an illegal variant of the Unix code, which it said was purchased in full from Novell.  From there, SCO lashed out fiercely, lining up IBM as its first target.  The basis of SCO’s whopping $1 billion copyright infringement is that IBM violated its copyright ownership by contributing the Unix source code to Linux.

It didn’t take long before Microsoft joined in the chaos, signing on to license SCO’s Unix code under the Linux brand.  Microsoft’s involvement resulted in mass confusion over open-source licensing and probable liabilities that corporate users could face for using the code.  In response, SCO sent out approximately 1,500 letters to companies, giving stern warning that using the Linux OS would infringe on its intellectual property.  When Novell claimed ownership of the Unix code, SCO immediately went on the offensive but in the beginning, things did work out its favor.

On August 10, 2007, a summary judgment was issued in the case of SCO vs. Novell.  This turned out to be a bad day for SCO as the court ruled that Novell did indeed own the copyrights to both UnixWare and the Unix code, followed up by a $2.5 million judgment in favor of Novell.  Shortly after the decision, SCO filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

With the recent reversal, SCO is cleared of paying Novell and can now take legal action to receive a big payoff from both Novell and IBM.

ElasticHosts, UK-based web hosting, virtualization and cloud computing solutions provider, recently add to its portfolio with the launch of new cloud server products.  According to an announcement made last week, these solutions are designed to provide easy to use and highly flexible server capacity for the company’s web hosting and on-demand burst computing customers.

ElasticHosts CEO Richard Davies, said that businesses seeking to leverage the scalability and cost benefits of cloud computing have traditionally had to deal with complicated user interfaces and been limited to a few servers of fixed sizes.  Davies noted that ElasticHosts’ new solutions are designed in a manner where the cloud can be used by almost anyone and permits users to customize the servers to meet their specific needs.  Customers can now take advantage of a user-friendly interface that can be effectively maintained right from their desktops, providing them with the ability instantly create virtual servers and instantly resize their capacity on the spot.

ElasticHosts’ cloud computing solutions provide customers with cost efficiency that comes with being able to purchase enough capacity to suit their existing needs, and easily scale up as their demands increase.  Customers are billed for their capacity on an on-demand and by-the-hour basis.  This is in contrast to traditional service contracts that lock customers into fixed capacities over a certain amount of time.  The ElasticHost servers are compatible with all PC operating systems and can be fully configured and tailored to suit all types of web hosting.  In addition, the company offers a 100% Service Level Agreement along with 100x credits for any downtime ensued.  ElasticHost is currently the only IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) provider to offer its customers reliable service out of two European data centers, leaving PEER 1’s lightning fast, high-performance SuperNetwork infrastructure.  These network features give the company the power to comfortably support the mission-critical IT needs of companies for whom disaster recovery and business continuity are of the utmost importance.

Andrew Fear of UK firm Trana eCommerce and an ElasticHosts client, remarked that while he has tried many other virtual and cloud server solutions in the past, none even came close to the efficiency of what ElasticHosts has to offer.  Now with multiple servers at his disposal, Fear added that the cost savings and scalability were huge benefits, but support was the key advantage as the provider’s technical staff were actually able to communicate fluently on a technical level.

To help offset the launch, ElasticHosts began by allowing customers to experience the cloud’s power and ease of use with a four-day free trial offer.  While this period has since concluded, its cloud services remain very competitive for as low as £29 per month.

About ElasticHosts

Founded in 2008, ElasticHosts delivers extremely affordable and flexible server capacity for a wide range of scalable hosting and on-demand burst computing needs.  The company provides easy to use hosting solutions, with highly customizable platforms that offer the flexibility and control of a traditional hosted server, but with the ability to be maintained from any browser to unleash all the added benefits of virtualization technology.