Poindexter's Pond Blog | » dedicated servers

And The Award Goes To…

January 25th, 2012 by Kevin Swan in Announcements, Just for the Fun of It, Poindexter in the Press, Social Media | No Comments

It is officially awards season! First it was the Golden Globes and next will be the Oscars. But fortunately for us, between the two star-studded events we have been able to pick up some hardware ourselves (and we didn’t even have to rent tuxes).

I’m thrilled to announce that SingleHop won the award for Best Dedicated Server provider in the 6th Annual Web Hosting Awards by HostReview.com. Obviously anytime that you are recognized for being the best in class it feels good, but this honor is really very special for every SingleHopper. Dedicated servers have always been at the core of our business and even though we now offer a diverse product line, this shows that we’ve never lost our focus.

According to hostreview.com “Each winner has demonstrated a unique approach and exceptional dedication in addressing the rapidly changing technologies and business challenges of their customers. Over the past year, the honored hosting providers brought incredible value and delivered innovative solutions to the companies and individual clients they serve and the marketplace as a whole.”

As we continue to add products and services, like the recent addition of our public cloud, our goal is to keep collecting trophies along the way.

Cloud & Dedicated Server Hosting Together

January 11th, 2012 by Kevin Swan in Cloud Computing, Development, Sales | No Comments

In order to stay ahead of the curve and hopefully our clients needs and wants, we at SingleHop hold product development as a top priority. Keeping our hand on the pulse of industry changes as well as competitors’ innovations is how we have continued to grow at such a rapid rate (Over 7,900% over the past three years). One of the biggest challenges within the world of product development is coming up with a name that is unique yet accurately conveys the product’s purpose or mission. Everyone wants a name that pops, a name that’s easy to remember, and if you’re lucky a name that becomes a brand within a brand (iPhone to Apple).

One of the latest products to come out of the SingleHop laboratory is a little something we like to call the ”Dynamic Server.” I know what you’re thinking, “what kind of name is that?” And “what exactly is a Dynamic Server?” The product is the name and the name is the product!

Dynamic Servers combine the flexibility behind cloud computing with the real deal resources of a true show dedicated server. That being said, I think you know why we went with “Dynamic Server.” Can you say the best of both worlds? Now don’t you worry, just because this is a new product, it does not mean you are locked int one type of hardware or operating systems. The entire deployment process is completely automated, per usual.

The flexibility within the virtualization of a Dynamic Server allows the client complete control over a number of moving parts: CPU cycles, memory, and storage. Similar to a traditional cloud instance, the Dynamic Server’s resources can be adjusted in real time by using our client portal, LEAP.

To see hardware specifics as well as detailed resource availability click here.

The Man Behind the Machines

January 9th, 2012 by Kevin Swan in General, Hardware, Just for the Fun of It, SingleHop Leadership | No Comments

I recently had a chance to talk to Dave Szczur, our Director of Facilities here at SingleHop. Or as I like to call him the “Man Behind the Machines!”

Where are you from?

Chicago, born and raised.

Were you a computer kid? What was your first computer?

Absolutely. First used was a Commodore 64. First I ever personally owned was a custom built 66MHz Intel overdrive w/ 16MB ram, a 4MB Triton SVGA card, and 850MB HD.

How long have you been with SingleHop?

It will be 4 years this summer.

How much as changed since the early days?

A LOT. I started as the first DC tech, before that admins took care of everything. We now have 18 DC techs and growing to watch over our infrastructure and hardware needs, even though our automation and remote capabilities are much stronger than they were in years past.

What are your core responsibilities?

I keep the data centers staffed, handle scheduling and personal needs of the DC techs, handle all hardware orders, vendor relations, manage inventory with the help of NOC managers, deployments of new data centers, structure cabinet layouts, policies and procedures for the DC techs, and help in the planning stages and hands-on for large deployments or physical migrations. I also fill in for techs on vacation or sick days wherever I can. If the data center is busy, I am probably there. Basically anything hardware related with SingleHop is my gig.

What are the hot topics in the world of data centers right now?

With the world economy being where it is, cheap power and green cooling solutions is where it’s at!

What can we expect from SH in 2012?

New DC in PHX! Virtual load balancing, new server types (Intel E5 dropping soon!)

What do you do when you’re not managing nearly 10,000 servers?

I have a beautiful 10-month old daughter who takes up nearly all of my free time. Aside from family and work, I try to game and upgrade my rig whenever possible. I am also looking for a new band to sing in which I have absolutely no time for.

The Holiday Miracle of IaaS

December 19th, 2011 by Kevin Swan in Industry Insights, Social Media, Solutions | Comments(1)

Working in an industry where just about everyone you meet could be or is a potential client, can get a bit tricky at times. It’s funny how many holiday party conversations I have found myself apart of over the past few weeks that have included, “So Kevin, what do you do?” (Which I think is pretty normal). However, unless the inquirer works in the tech business, “Oh, I work for dedicated and cloud web hosting company” is usually met with a confused look or a “ohhh, ok, that sounds like fun.” At which point I start raddling off the Cliffs Notes version of the web hosting industry between sips of eggnog.

I understand though, the average user clicks and clicks his/her way through their day and things just work. Apps just load, emails are just sent, and reports just run, like magic, right? Not quite. So for all of you IT techs, system admins, developers, and programmers alike, I salute you and think of you every time I hear these comments!

At SingleHop we provide an extensive list of products and services for companies of all sizes. We are a full Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider with nearly 10,000 servers in two different Chicago-land data centers. We are a leader in dedicated and cloud hosting which is exactly what I told a small business owner I recently met who had no idea our industry, let alone our company existed! He exclaimed “wait a minute, I could get rid all of the constant stress about our network going down or losing valuable data because I don’t know what I’m doing?” Yes sir, yes sir you can! He looked like he had just seen a holiday miracle right before his very eyes!

The NY Times recently ran a story about a Chicago-based business that nearly went under water, literally, but never feared losing data because they outsourced their servers. The lesson here is to get rid of those servers sitting in a dusty closet and let the professionals care for and run your IT operations!

Private or Public, There’s a Cloud for Your Business

December 5th, 2011 by Martina Mihaljcic in Cloud Computing, General, Sales, Software | No Comments

Public Cloud Vs Private Cloud

In being relatively new to the industry, there’s been somewhat of a learning curve. I’ve found that it’s sometimes hard to keep up when the key differentiators between public and private cloud are somewhat unclear, so I’m hoping to give some color on the topic. Hopefully this insight will help you choose the best cloud product for your business.

Let’s start with some definitions:

Public cloud: Shared cloud instance on a dedicated server that offers scalability and data redundancy (i.e. clients do not have to purchase more resources than needed at a given instance)
Private cloud: Dedicated machine with virtualization installed and ready to use on deployment. Features configured virtual environment which allows client more control over internal configuration.

Now, to get into the real-world differences, or pluses and minuses. The obvious advantage of a public cloud is first and foremost scalability. On a public cloud you will have the freedom of a practically infinite platform as far as scaling your resources is concerned. Let’s take for example a particular occasion when your website could spike in traffic enormously. If you were on a private cloud you would not have the luxury and ease of managing those unpredictable instances which prompt you to scale RAM or CPU instantly. Why? The public cloud not only lets you scale up or down at any given instance, but also allows you to set your own limits with auto scaling. If your traffic should peak at random hours of the day or night, you will automatically be scaled up to adjust for the increase. With that said, if the highest priority in picking the right solution for you is scalability, you should seriously consider the benefits that public cloud has to offer.

On the other hand, you also have the option of utilizing a private cloud depending on your specific requirements. As you might know, SingleHop’s private cloud product is built on a dedicated server. The fact that it is dedicated based means that you will undoubtedly have a more reliable product where security could never in your wildest imagination be a concern, purely by the fact that you are the sole user of that hardware. PCI or HIPPA compliance solutions are perfect examples of a definite need for a private cloud. This is not to say by any means that public cloud is unsecure, but it’s become clear that some users are not yet fully comfortable with the public cloud. The truth of the matter is that consumers dare not take the risk in most situations when needing secure options. A private cloud gives you the peace of mind as well as the opportunity to baby step into a public cloud if a need should be there in the future.

If you read through this and still feel that neither is the perfect solution for you that might be true. The options of just public cloud or private cloud aren’t always your best bet. What we’re looking to do here at SingleHop is not have this either/or attitude, because we feel that both solutions are beneficial. With that in mind, we’ve really built our latest products to facilitate hybrid solutions, where we allow clients to place more scalable services (like a webserver) into the public cloud, but your more secure and more fixed usage services like your database into a private cloud. I believe it’s helpful to understand the differences between the two platforms, but our belief is that the real solutions that are both scalable, secure, and cost-effective come from a hybrid approach.

Thanks for reading,

Martina

Welcome to SingleHop University: Advanced IT Training

October 24th, 2011 by Andrew Munz in Announcements, Cloud Computing, SingleHop University | No Comments

What fascinates me most about IT is the amount of information involved in IT. One cannot simply know everything about the industry, because there is always a new product or a new application or a new programming command that enters the arena to shake things up. Often times I feel like that underdog boxer in the corner of the ring with my coach squirting water in my mouth and massaging my shoulders, doing his best to prepare me for the next technical terminology challenge I’ll have to endure. The only hang-up is that I have to act as both the struggling boxer and the motivating coach. Bring it on, I say!

Initially coming into my position, I didn’t know the difference between a dedicated server and the cloud, so the journey has been a rocky one, but ultimately very rewarding. I knew when I started that I would be thrown into the deep end, and it would be a bumpy case of sink or swim. But once I survived those first few weeks of cluelessness (phew), I knew there was a desire to emphasize our internal knowledge base at SingleHop.

Out of that desire for more knowledgeable employees and clients emerged SingleHop University, our company’s first official training program.

Structured similarly to other colleges and universities, SHU is designed to transform even the most uninformed new hire into a tech-savvy, SingleHop guru. By structuring the rudimentary trainings over the course of two full weeks, each employee would have the possibility of earning 72 hours of training before “graduating” and stepping into their role in the company.

Each new employee goes through a two-day orientation (introducing them to the industry and SingleHop) before entering their undergraduate program, which is customized based on their position in the company. Hosting Consultants and Client Service Specialists will take many of the same classes, but each position will have role-specific education tracts to make sure they are 100% comfortable by the time their butt hits their chair.

Creating a knowledgeable community is a value that we strongly believe in at SingleHop, and I’m eager to get our first freshman class to go through the program! With SHU, we can always update the classes to fit into our ever-expanding industry, because each class is tiered and structured by our awesome and experienced department heads.

I believe SingleHop University is really going to set us apart from the other hosting dittos out there, and I’m incredibly excited to for that school bell to ring and a new flood of students to rush through the doors. Okay, so we don’t have a school bell, but I’m stoked anyway!

Andrew Munz

Vibe & Relationships

Dean of SingleHop University

Web Hosting – Sales

October 14th, 2011 by Mike Zobitz in General, Sales, SingleHop Leadership | Comments(1)

Similar to the early days of several other industries, clients within the web hosting industry have been brainwashed into thinking that the lowest price solution is the best decision. Users have been trained by hosting-provider marketing and promotions that “less is more.” It’s simply not so.

There are no absolutes in life, so there are scenarios when the idea that the most inexpensive solution is the most ideal. Startups are tight on cash and simple needs clients are included in these. But in general, they’ll get exactly what they pay for. Solid online presence and functionality is not a want for a 21^st century business…it’s a need. And a vital one at that. Server down time means lost sales, revenue and clients. Yet prospective clients hold on to the “less is more” mentality when shopping for new service like a fat kid does a candy bar. They risk serious loss to save literally a few bucks a month. Is that logical?

There are generally two types of clients within the hosting market: the first understands that the best value comes at a premium and views web services as an investment rather than a cost. The best leveraged investments are those that both generate a positive yield as well as avoid loss. The second type of client sticks with the “less is more” mentality and often experiences a loss due to lack of proper construct in their system due to constraints and sacrifices resulting from slashing cost. These clients regularly revert to type one clients as they learn through unfortunate experience and loss that a logical investment always outweighs cost saving risk.

Financial terms that explain this comparison are capital expenditures (“CapEx”) which are expenditures that create a future benefit and operating expenditures (“OpEx”) are expenditures that support an ongoing product or service such as web hosting bill.

Clients should consider that the difference between the two can be in the mindset of how they are invested in, used and leveraged as well as the general understanding of the contrast.

Logical investment determination will vary from client to client, but almost always include a bit of a leap of faith in the form of proactive problem solving and chaos theory assumption.

- Mike Zobitz, Director of Sales

SATA, SAS, SCSI â€“ What Hard Drive does your Server Need?

July 29th, 2009 by mvillegas in General | Comments(4)

“So what is the deal with the different hard drive formats that are out there? ” Is a question that I have probably heard a hundred times from new potential clients and people that are looking for quotes.Â Although SingleHop primarily provides SATA drives for our standard server configurations, we do make custom solution dedicated server solutions that perform to your exact specifications.Â The three main hard drive formats that are currently offered at most hosting providers are SAS, SCSI, and SATA.Â Some hosting providers still offer IDE but they are a rarity.Â Throughout the industry the preference for each type usually coincides with the level of performance that is sought, fastest (and most expensive) are SAS drives, then SCSI and finally SATA type drives, which are currently considered the industry standard.Â The efficiency of these drives is solely based on your needs.Â SAS (and SCSI) spin much faster than SATA drives and as a result process data quicker.Â However SATA provides more storage space and are more cost effective.

The function of a SCSI drive is that it connects and transfers data via a bus oriented interface to handle concurrent operations.Â SAS hard drives (Serial Attached SCSI), are probably the most modern hard drive format to hit the market.Â Replacing the parallel SCSI drive, current SAS drives spin at the same speed but are more efficient and have higher sustained data transfer speeds.Â Largely recommended for major database solutions, such as a Mysql server, SAS hard drives provide the benefits of point to point serial protocol and higher transfer speeds of data.Â The only down side with this type of hard drive is its cost factor as well as their limited storage space, this is becauseÂ SAS hard drives come in smaller GB levels compared to SATA drives since they are built for more intense and compact work.Â SAS is generally recommended for media content and of course databases.Â SingleHop does offer 15k rpm SAS drives at an additional cost if you wish to have it implemented on our Xeon solutions.

So what are some benefits about SATA drives if SAS is so great?Â Well SATA drives tend to offer more storage space and cost less than SAS drives.Â SATA drives can be used to store large databases along with offering an affordable solution for a backup drive on a server.Â We have recently launched a NEW quad core server (http://www.singlehop.com/servers/S-NQ9650.php) which uses brand name Western Digital Caviar Black SATA drives.Â This type of SATA drive is great for multimedia, editing, gaming, database and any high performance computing tasks.Â And whatâ€™s even better, is that we offer it pre-installed this machine with a 750GB drive that spins at 7200RPM for our Intel Core2Quad Q9650 3.0GHz machine.
If you have any questions and want to learn more about hard drives feel free to send me an email at Miguel@Singlehop.com.Â I welcome any feedback or questions any SingleHop Blog follower may have.

Wifi at 30,000 ft?

July 27th, 2009 by ChrisW in General, Software | No Comments

Want wireless access along with your drink and peanuts? Turn off your cell phone, and enable your Wi-Fi, more and more U.S. air carrier’s are now offering in-flight wireless service. So, how does it perform and what does it cost? Is it safe?

In August 2008, American Airlines became the first U.S. air carrier to offer in-flight wireless service on select flights. As of May 20, 2009 Virgin America now offers in-flight internet service on every flight. Delta has promised service on all flights, by the end of 2009. With all these announcements I began to wonder who is providing this service, and how are they doing it?

I found out that most of these airlines are using GoGo Inflight Internet service, developed by Itasca, IL based Aircel LLC. The firm uses 92 cellphone towers that cover North America, including Canada and Mexico, and up to 300 miles offshore. These cellphone towers are equipped not to point their signals along the ground, but instead toward the sky. The aircraft receives the signal through a receiver installed on the underside of the vehicle. The signal is then distributed throughout the cabin via a Wi-Fi system. Pricing varies between $7.95 and $12.95, depending on device type and length of flight. A 30-day GoGo pass is $49.95.

Access is allowed once the pilot has reached cruising altitude, and allowed the use of electronic devices. Service is discontinued once the plane has descended below 10,000 feet. GoGo service is only available in-flight, it is not available inside the airport terminal. During testing, approximate speeds between 500-600 KiBits/s for downloads and 300 KiBits/s for uploads have been seen, comparable to cell phone internet surfing speeds on land or a slow home DSL connection.

Is it safe? If GoGo wireless service is “safe”, why can’t I simply use my regular cell phone service?
According to GoGo, the service has been thoroughly tested and has been certified by the FAA. Currently using cellular network services either voice or data, during flight is not allowed by the FCC. Thinking about using the Wi-Fi service to make your calls? You won’t be able to, as GoGo prohibits both VoIP and Video Chat services.

Get to Know SingleHop, Andrew Brooks Interview

July 6th, 2009 by Dan Ushman in General | Comments(2)

Hey Everyone,
This is Jeremy. I wanted to do something for everyone to get to know a little bit more about the people that work here at Singlehop. So I thought I would interview a person and put what they said up here for your viewing pleasure. I started with Andrew Brooks, and this is what he had to say.

How did you get into hosting computers/servers? - I started off as a member of the Linux community a few years ago, getting started as a newbie. Eventually, I made some friends in the community who wanted start their own forums or web sites or just servers in general. One thing led to another and I started breaking some things, fixing some things, etc. At the point where I was fixing more than I was breaking, I started doing some freelance work, mostly security based, which eventually turned into a career working with dedicated servers and complex hosting solutions at SingleHop!

What subject brings out the best in you?- Security. I’ve always had a passion for system and application level security technologies and that particular skill set is something I really enjoy delivering to our clients.

Do you have any hobbies?- I play a lot of TF2 and I am looking forward to Prototype when it’s released. I work full-time and go to school full-time, so when I do have some spare moments I like to spend them with my girlfriend. I also read a lot and consider myself as somewhat of a lifetime learner so I am always reading up on new issues, mostly technology related.

How did you find SingleHop?- I actually found SingleHop by talking with Ronald Cotoni, the datacenter manager on IRC. He mentioned that work was busy and I told him he should hire me to take the load off. That same day I had send my resume to Andy Pace and the rest is history as they say.

Something interesting about yourself?- I worked as a professional chef at some upscale restaurants in the metro Detroit area prior to pursuing my love of computers.

Anything funny happen to you while at work?- Itâ€™s rare when something funny doesnâ€™t happen at work! SingleHop is an incredibly fun place. While there is lots of work to be done, the group of people I get to work with are both professional and entertaining. I donâ€™t think there is anything more rewarding than actually enjoying your job and the people you have to spend 40+ hours a week with.

What is your most memorable moment at SingleHop?- Hmmmâ€¦One of my most memorable moments at SingleHop was when I was performing some in-house security development. The fun part wasnâ€™t necessarily a particular moment, but the enjoyment I derived during the weeks I was working on this project. I remember that it was great being immersed in the level of system security I always wanted to work in. It was a great exercise in applying what I had already learned and learning more along the way. Then there was the time Dan Ushman walked into the office wearing a pair of stilts. That might be a close second.

What hardware/software do you use for your work computer or home computer?- I have a few machines I work off of at home. My desktop is an Intel E7400 Wolfdale, 4G of RAM, 500G Seagate drive, Radeon HD3879, nothing terribly fancy but it gets the job done! As far as operating systems go I have Vista Business which I use for work, and my primary OS is Vista Ultimate 64-bit at home. I also run some Slackware, CentOS, Ubuntu and Fedora Core 11 virtual machines that get used for various things.
—-
Andrew Brooks (we call him Brooks) is a pretty entertaining guy. He works upstairs and every time he comes down stairs he usually has something funny to say. He is a great guy to work with and makes even the crummiest days a little better â˜º Hope you all enjoyed this interview, and you can look forward to more of them.

Adrienne Wicklund

Account Consultant

Hours

9AM - 5PM

Mon - Fri

I'm here to answer your questions.

Let me know if you need any help.

Singlehop Blog

And The Award Goes To…

Web Hosting – Sales

SATA, SAS, SCSI â€“ What Hard Drive does your Server Need?

Wifi at 30,000 ft?

Get to Know SingleHop, Andrew Brooks Interview

REASONS TO CHOOSE US

ABOUT SINGLEHOP

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