Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Managed Hosting and Services : Looking for managed hosting provider in US

[charcoll]

Ok, we're looking into migrating hosting providers soon and exploring some options.

we have 8 servers, a load balancer, firewall, and SAN. Bandwidth is about 4TB/month. We are looking for something in the $15,000 per month range. Let me know if more info is needed.

Who should I consider and who should I avoid?

Thanks!

[dkitchen]

Do you have any specific locations for servers in mind?

What is it you'll be hosting? Managed hosting is quite application specific if you want high quality. Be wary of any provider that instantly jumps the gun and says they can do it without knowing a lot about your requirements first.

Judging by your budget, you'll be expecting those servers to be pretty high specification am I correct?

Dan

[charcoll]

In the Washington, D.C. area would be preferred (Dulles or Herndon VA would work too), but this is not a requirement.

The web apps are based on .Net 2.0 (Windows Server 2003) with a SQL Server 2005 database backend. An Active Directory domain is also a requirement. We also have some reporting tools that will be accessed by users from HQ. A high speed VPN connection is a necessity.

As for the hardware, there will be some sort of clustering for the database servers be it an MSFT hardware cluster or a SQL Server 2005 mirroring (which is similar to a software based clustering). I assume most managed host providers offer a SAN installation. Right now this is a requirement for our SQL database enviroment (live and data warehouse db's) as hosting the database on fixed disk is not the current config.

The web servers will be load balanced but likely not clustered (these are issues still in planning). In general, we'll need 2 or 3 64-bit boxes and the rest 32-bit. We're not sure if they'll be AMD or Intel (I assume the provider could provide both options - we're opened to suggestions).


Thanks

[charcoll]

Any suggestions?<br>

[erigid]

How many DCs for AD, SQL servers and web servers do you require for your cluster? What specs does each server need to have? How much storage does your SAN require and what is it attached to? Are you using any Cisco equipment for your VPN/firewall?

Can you elaborate a little on "The web servers will be load balanced but likely not clustered" since I am not sure what is the difference between the two in this scenario. 4TB/mo wouldn't be a problem for most providers.

[rcnzagi]

Originally Posted by charcoll

Ok, we're looking into migrating hosting providers soon and exploring some options.

we have 8 servers, a load balancer, firewall, and SAN. Bandwidth is about 4TB/month. We are looking for something in the $15,000 per month range. Let me know if more info is needed.

Who should I consider and who should I avoid?

Thanks!

You said you're looking to change hosting providers, can you let us know what you are currently unhappy with, that would help guide you in a better direction.

Additionally, $15,000 seems a little high for a project this size unless you have a very large SAN array.

If you could answer some of Dan's questions that would go a long way in helping you find a new happy home.

[tulix]

Originally Posted by charcoll

Ok, we're looking into migrating hosting providers soon and exploring some options.

we have 8 servers, a load balancer, firewall, and SAN. Bandwidth is about 4TB/month. We are looking for something in the $15,000 per month range. Let me know if more info is needed.

Who should I consider and who should I avoid?

Thanks!

Several questions:
1. are you looking for colo or dedicated (whther your servers or not)
2. what are specifications of the servers - cpu/ram/disk/raid
3. your networ gear or DC's
4. if DC's what specifications for the network gear.
5. Do you own the seftware licences or expecting DC to provide that to you?
6. bandwidth - 4TB - burstable to 100 Mb/s? May be 1000 Mb/s ?
7. how soon would you like to move?
8. Who will be responsible for the migration, you?

<<snipped>>

[High Mbps Guy]

Try InfoRelay (www.inforelay.com) -- Rusty500 is one of their reps on this board.

They have two data centers in the Washington, DC/Northern VA area. One might actually be in DC, but I can't remember.

They also have some high-end SAN stuff as far as remember, as well as load balancing... I had them quote me on a project similar to yours, and I currently host almost all of my high-bandwidth stuff with them.

Excellent service for the past several years... stable company, great support, and a great network.

I don't need managed hosting for much, but I am now working for a client who was hosted at RackSpace. They ended up moving to InfoRelay... saving a bunch of money and getting better support/management.

If you don't need managed, you can definitely save money by going to someone like EV1, but I would strongly suggest InfoRelay for high-bandwidth or clustered/managed applications.

Feel free to PM me with any questions.

[UltraDNS]

What exactly do you service as your customer base? Is a content solution going to be able to facilitate your needs for your customer base? Do you have e-commerce and customers looking to be up all the time?

PM me for more info...i am in the NOVA area...quick question

[jax113]

lunapages that company is good