Virtual Servers
Highly flexible, ultra reliable & green
IC supply reliable, highly scalable servers hosted on high performance architecture
within a secure and fast network at the home of two Internet exchanges. Virtual
machines are hosted on powerful, enterprise-class servers. Your business will benefit
by tapping into additional resources as needed.
Why choose IC?
- Completely bespoke virtual server solutions tailored to your needs
- Dedicated and knowledgeable support team
- 95% of all support calls answered in less than 30 seconds
- Emphasis on quality solutions with “best possible” hardware and software
Our virtual server solutions are secure and reliable delivering on your SLAs. All
equipment is fully managed by certified, experienced professionals. Your virtual
server operates and performs like a physical server, but with the added advantage
of being resilient against hardware and network failure.
Using VMware our aim is to provide a quality hosting with a superior network and
storage infrastructure. Prices start from £40 per month.
Server Power & Scalability
Servers that grow with you
Why pay for a server you might need to change in a few months or even years
time? A virtual server can grow with you. Memory, CPU and drive size can be
adjusted to suit your needs thus reducing your investment and providing a more
flexible pay as you grow model of business.
Server Basics
- Multiple O/S's supported including Windows & Linux derivatives.
- Dual 64bit Quad core Intel Xeon processors per head unit
- High performance SAN data storage for maximum disc performance.
- Meshed multi-gigabit networking architecture for maximum throughput
Physical vs. Virtual
Given the whole architecture of the Virtual platform that IC has deployed and
the advanced technologies used, the virtual platform will most often heavily
outperform a single server dedicated solution. With performance optimisation for
MSSQL servers up to 8,900 database transactions per second can be performed and
200,000 I/O operations per second.
Data Storage & Security
Fast, accurate and resilient data and disc storage
The most common cause of failure or slowness within a server is the hard disc
and associated subsystem. IC have deployed Dell EqualLogic storage systems,
known as SAN's (Storage Area Network) these units provide a shared storage
system to which multiple head servers connect.
Storage Quick Overview
- Powered by Multiple Dell EqualLogic iSCSI SAN's
- Each SAN has dual iSCSI controllers for fault tolerance
- Multiple Gigabit connections per controller for maximum data throughput
- Internal 2GB battery backed cache with dual core 64bit MIPS data processors for
maximum data integrity and speed.
- RAID 50 data storage with multiple hot standby drives to help prevent downtime
and data loss in the event of hard disc failures.
The platform uses RAID 50 data storage within the SAN's to ensure that your data
and hence server is both fast but also highly fault tolerant. In the event of a
disk failure within the array, a hot spare drive is immediately bought into
action and the drives re-built using the parity information stored across the
remaining discs with no downtime. The remaining faulty drive is decommissioned
from the array and made ready for removal and replacement.
To add further protection to your data 'SnapShots' can be taken, a SnapShot is a
moment in time complete image of your server (disk, state and memory) which can
then be backed up off the platform for peace of mind and security.
High Availability
Keeping your server running and fast
HA (High Availability)
Virtual Private machines are hosted on one of several servers in a cluster but,
should it be needed, Virtual machines will move to other servers within the
cluster under the HA system. Using vMotion, the HA component will provide
protection should the host server fail by moving Virtual Private machines from
the failed servers to other servers in the cluster. It continuously monitors all
physical servers by checking a heartbeat. Following the loss of a heartbeat,
after a certain length of time, HA will automatically initiate the migration and
/ or restart of all affected virtual machines to other physical servers in the
resource pool.
Components for High Availability
- VMware High Availability (HA)
- vMotion (live server moving)
- VMware Fault Tolerance (hardware failure protection)
- VMware Data Recovery
- VMware Storage vMotion (live data moving)
- VMware DRS (Dynamic Resource Scheduling)
- VMware DPM (Dynamic Power Management)
vMotion will allow live Virtual Private machines to move from one physical
server to another with absolutely no downtime. Customer machines will continue
to respond, write to disk and access all resources whilst transfer is in
progress and there will be no disconnection or drop from the network at any
point.
DRS will automatically and dynamically balance computing capacity across
the hardware resources available within the cluster, as defined by the resource
pool. If the Virtual Private machine experiences increased load, VMware DRS will
automatically allocate additional resources by moving the machine to other
physical servers in order to meet business needs and changing priorities.
Networking & Security
Keeping your servers on-line and secure
In addition to keeping your servers running using HA, your servers need to be
available on the network. With this in mind IC have created a highly resilient,
meshed, high speed network backbone to interconnect the platform together.
Networking & Security Highlights
- Protected by Fortigate UTM ICSA certified firewalls
- Intrusion Protection, Anti-Virus & Malware protection all in the wire
- Multi Gigabit Meshed Network design
- Cisco powered network architecture
- >99.97% Internet Transit availability
- Choice of firewall options
Located within a secure cage in one of the leading UK datacentres and is
directly connected into the UK Internet infrastructure. With access to both UK
direct peering and also multiple Tier 1 IP transit feeds you can be assured your
server will be both highly available and very responsive.
The platform is protected from the outside world by the award winning Fortigate
unified threat management firewalls which currently has more ICSA certification
than any other major vendor - protecting your servers from a wide range of
potential security threats.