Binary Net

Colocation is a service where your servers are located at a secure data center. The hosting company provides a connection to the Internet, redundant bandwidth and electrical connections, physical security, and rack space in which to mount your servers. Colocation is similar to hosting with the exception that you own the servers.

Colocation -- Unmanaged vs. Managed
You may choose to have your servers unmanaged or managed. Using unmanaged collocation, you are responsible for the maintenance, monitoring, and upgrades of your system. Alternatively you can have Binary Net staff manage your server for you. We would be responsible for general maintenance and monitoring. This can include setting up your customer’s accounts and e-mail. In effect we would manage many of your IT needs. Which one is the right choice for your business will depend on your companies needs.

If your IT staff wants to manage your servers we will provide escorted access anytime during regular business hours and when called or scheduled after hours. Managed colocation is normally best for companies that want our staff to install updates, monitor the hardware, and bandwidth use to maximize uptime. Unmanaged colocation is less expensive and when a problem occurs you can either have your IT staff repair it or pay the Binary staff on a time and materials basis to troubleshoot and repair problems.

Leased Server
This is a colocated server in our vault that only the customer has access to use. This provides greater flexibility, power, and the administration can be handled by the customer or outsourced to Binary staff. In this hosting, we build the server and lease it to the customer. Hardware management and monitoring are Binary staff responsibility. Customer may handle upgrades and software installs or can outsource this service to Binary.

Web Site Hosting

There are two hosting methods and they each have their own unique advantages.

Virtual or Shared Hosting
A server is partitioned among many, typically hundreds, of customers and normally houses their web site and email. They share the connection to the internet as well as applications, bandwidth, processor speed, hard drive, and data transfer. The hosting provider owns and controls this server, so the customers have little flexibility regarding applications or configuration.

Should you upgrade from Virtual Hosting to a Colocated Server(Colocation)?
Virtual hosting is an inexpensive way to gain access to the internet if you have relatively few pages viewed on your web site or files downloaded. However, it is very easy to outgrow virtual hosting. Some reasons why you should consider upgrading:

Your service needs custom applications.

Size and volume of your site have out grown the shared environment.

More specialized support is required.

Your company wants to host multiple sites in a specialized environment to increase your profits.

If your company meets any of these it is probably time to seriously consider migrating to a dedicated hosting.

UNIX Hosting

UNIX hosting is used where reliability, security and high-performance are critical. UNIX hosting providers tend to be more technically oriented and most of the systems are custom designed. For many companies that use UNIX as their operating system of choice the hardest decision is whether to maintain the system internally or outsource it to a UNIX hosting provider.

UNIX Hosting Benefits
For most companies outsourcing their UNIX hosting needs is an economic decision as the hosting provider supports multiple customers so they are less expensive than doing it internally and they have the redundant power, Internet and climate control capabilities to prevent costly downtime.

MySQL Hosting

MySQL is a database software program that supports the Structured Query Language (SQL) , but adds its own unique extensions to create a unique SQL server language. MySQL is typically used with Linux or UNIX operating systems. MySQL hosting is where a database server that uses MySQL is located off site at a hosting company. The hosting company provides access to the Internet and leases the use of the MySQL server.

MySQL Hosting Support
The Internet has substantially increased the demand for MySQL hosting as more companies look to make their databases available to customers, vendors and employees. This also requires that the MySQL server be available 24/7 so the choice of MySQL hosting provider is critical as well.

MySQL Hosting Issues
It is very important you get the database server configured correctly the first time. This configuration will determine how well the database performs, how easy it will be to increase the throughput, and how easy it will be to back-up. To achieve this your MySQL hosting provider must be familiar with the requirements of MySQL. Many hosting providers are familiar with web hosting, but have little experience with MySQL hosting, particularly in complex clusters. A database is much more dynamic than a web site, so your MySQL hosting provider must be technically skilled.

Windows Hosting

Windows hosting uses Microsoft windows server operating system. This option is used when the customer wants to use applications that require Windows such as Microsoft SQL, .Net Framework/ASP, or Frontpage extensions.

The drawbacks are that because of its popularity Windows is more vulnerable to attacks from external sources and needs to be updated frequently to patch vulnerable areas.

Monitoring

Basic Monitoring -- Ping, Port & URL
Basic level of monitoring tells if something is available or not. Ping monitoring says if an IP address is alive, port monitoring says if a specific port at an IP address is reachable, and URL monitoring says if a specific web site page is alive. These do not measure performance, but can tell if something needs to be fixed. Basic monitoring provides no advance warning, so the corrective actions they initiate will be reactive in nature.

Server Performance Monitoring
The methodology to perform this monitoring depends on the operating system on the server. The items being monitored would include such things as CPU usage, server load, disk utilization, memory usage, and data about the log files. This monitoring can provide advance warning about upcoming system problems if the thresholds for the alerts are set properly. For example, if the upper alert level for disk usage is set at 85% or 90% you would be able to take action prior to the disk becoming full.

Bandwidth Monitoring
The high cost of telecom pipelines makes bandwidth monitoring a necessity. It provides a way to optimize the size of your telecom pipelines, identify bottlenecks, capacity plan, verify bills, and eliminate illegal usage. Graphs of bandwidth use are available upon request.