Interland touts reliability of hosting model
BlueHalo service said to trim costs, eliminate single point of failure with redundant architecture.
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ATLANTA - Interland, a leader in the shared hosting market, is touting a new architecture that uses redundant servers to eliminate the single point of failure typically associated with most shared hosting scenarios.
Traditionally, shared hosting has meant that multiple accounts are hosted on a server. Such services save customers money - shared hosting runs between $20 and $200 per month, while dedicated hosting can cost tens of thousands of dollars per month - but they also leave customers vulnerable to problems because they are sharing hardware and system resources.
Interland is aiming to eliminate those issues with its blueHalo service, which it introduced last week. BlueHalo employs a redundant architecture to provide high availability to shared hosting customers.
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Customer content is hosted in shared network-attached storage devices, rather than on shared servers. That way, content can be served from an array of servers and there is no single point of failure. Load balancers direct traffic across the servers to ensure the best performance. BlueHalo also includes redundant firewalls, which provide an additional level of security, the company says.
The service includes a 99.99% uptime service-level agreement that calls for refunds for violations.
BlueHalo also includes new automated management tools to ensure that no sites are adversely affected by other accounts sharing the system. Code Manager monitors Web application code and provides suggestions to correct problems. Process Manager sets thresholds for resource consumption and monitors accounts to enforce them.
Web site development and Internet computer consultant Kurt Weiss of KW Productions says blueHalo is providing his customers with a hosting environment they normally would not find in a shared hosting package.
"In shared hosting, some single user can hog resources. With blueHalo that's much less likely to happen, and if it does happen the technology allows them to pinpoint who's doing it and they can take care of it," Weiss says.
Analysts say Interland, which competes with companies such as Affinity Internet and Ver, is raising the bar in shared hosting as small and midsize businesses look for more robust hosting platforms. Such businesses are increasingly expanding their Web presence, adding e-commerce functionality, for example, that demands better hosting capabilities.
"This platform allows companies to have a more reliable Web site," says Helen Chan, an analyst with The Yankee Group.
"That's a selection criterion that a lot of companies are starting to use as a reason why they're choosing a particular provider," Chan says. "It used to be selection was based on price."
BlueHALO is available on Windows or Linux servers and starts at $20 per month.
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Contact Senior Writer Jennifer Mears
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