Dedicated ServersJust thought I’d do a quick blog as it’s been a couple of weeks since we secured the new hosting deal with the data centre and things have worked out really well. Since closing the deal, we’ve deployed several Linux servers at the data centre, each hosting our clients special requirements such as online databases, high-dependency web applications and DNS.

The servers each run CentOS - one of my favorite Linux OSs for its stability and scalability. We’ve made sure each server has 4 processors (AMD Quadcore 9500), 2GB Ram minimum (plenty for Linux) and at least 2 hard drives configured in a mirrored Raid array. If one hard disk fails, the other can immediately take over and our Service Level Agreement with the data centre means that the failed drive will be replaced within 30 minutes. If both hard drives fail at once, which is highly unlikely - 0.0004%, all data is backed up every evening, and data periodically is uploaded to another RatwareUK secure server at a different geographic location. We’ve got eveything covered and we are passing on all the benefits to our customers!

The datacentre and RatwareUK co-manage the servers and have set up IP tables, anti-virus, ssh hardening and the centre runs daily security audits for us. The datacentre also offers excellent internet connectivity to our servers. They are now supplied by Tier-1 bandwidth providers and are just 1 hop away from 4,500+ networks. These new servers are fast and secure!

Finally, we have complete root access over the servers here in Wigan and have added them to our Pro-Active monitoring service. This means that, if the server stops responding, a service fails or there is a security alert - we’ll be advised within 60 seconds.

We are currently in the process of migrating data from our old hosting servers to the new ones. The new hosting servers are the pride of the company this month. At RatwareUK we like a good solution. For more information, please contact us.