Hetzner, SA`s largest specialist Web hosting company, announced today it has opened a data centre in Gallo Manor, Johannesburg, following the successful running of its data centre in Cape Town, which currently services well over 32 000 domains.
According to industry opinion formers, the current utilisation of data centres is approximately 10% - an estimation that indicates an opportunity for further growth in the hosting market.
Hans Wencke, managing director of Hetzner, says the company opened its Cape Town data centre in early 2002 in anticipation of an increasing demand for Hetzner`s hosting products.
"Since we started the business in 1999, we have consistently focused on growing our shared hosting clientele and have seen our market share grow steadily to a point where we are now leading the pack.
"In recent years we have seen a growing demand for cost-effective and reliable dedicated and co-location hosting. With the opening of our data centre in Johannesburg, we are making provision to meet this increased demand and are confident that the Johannesburg SMME and mid-corporate market will benefit from our data centre facilities and proven customer service," comments Wencke.
Hetzner`s latest data centre was developed according to strict standards and includes the following features:
* Full, 100Mb fibre connection via UUNET`s network backbone with a second redundant fibre connection to cater for the unlikely event that a cable is compromised.
* Air-conditioning banks to sufficiently cool the internal environment with additional redundancy should a unit fail.
* Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) installed as well as a dedicated diesel power generator in case of a power outage.
* Fire control equipment with an automated fire suppression system.
* 24-hour security and monitoring facilities (video surveillance, biometric access) with the main entrance manned 24/7 by security guards.
* Both the UPS and servers are monitored 24/7/365 with notification by e-mail and SMS to more than one support staff member.
Hetzner remains focused on developing and maintaining best practices in data centre management: "When owning and managing a data centre, it`s important to ensure there are efficient organisational and administrative procedures in place to maintain the integrity and functionality of the hosted computer environment," comments Wencke.
"At Hetzner we always look for ways that we can achieve optimum network performance, reliability and customer satisfaction at a reasonable cost. Although our data centre may be modest, we have an excellent performance history, with our network uptime exceeding 99.9% for the past four years. We take down time seriously and have the expertise and sense of urgency to ensure that when a problem occurs, it is dealt with in a matter of minutes.
"Wherever possible, we pass on cost saving benefits to our customers. In the area of bandwidth costs, we`ve been able to purchase our bandwidth requirements in bulk, offering our dedicated and co-location customers traffic prices as low as R0.09 per Megabyte."
Discussing the benefits for businesses opting to use data centre facilities, Wencke comments: "Deciding to outsource hosting services allows businesses to connect to customers, suppliers and employees with an immediate, high-quality service. They are able to devote less time and fewer resources to managing infrastructure, permitting them to place more focus on their own business processes.
"Our customers have the added advantage of being able to leverage the IT skills of Hetzner`s technical staff, which means they don`t have to increase their own human capital to maintain Internet infrastructure, enabling their company to gain speed to market and a competitive advantage."
Hetzner`s Gallo Manor data centre is looking to capitalise on the dedicated co-location^1 and root server^2 clientele in the Gauteng region, who would benefit from Hetzner`s reliable and trusted network and hosting facilities which is now available on their doorstep.
"We`ve had customers on our waiting list for a couple of months in anticipation of the opening of our Gallo Manor data centre. It`s an exciting time for us and we remain confident that we can meet the needs of our customers; providing a dependable service at a reasonable cost," concludes Wencke.
Share
This is when the customer supplies his own server and has it physically reside within the Web hosting provider`s secure data centre facility (he `rents` space in a data centre). The customer will assemble his own server and configure the system to meet his own specific requirements.
Root server^2 hosting: This is when the Web hosting provider supplies a standardised hardware platform together with an operating platform. The customer would be responsible for uploading and managing the software.
Hetzner
Hetzner is a leading player in the South African Web hosting environment. Established in 1999, the company has grown in stature and expertise, currently servicing over 32 000 active domains. It was founded with the vision of providing reliable and robust Web hosting solutions coupled with outstanding customer support to the SMME and mid-corporate markets.
By consistently delivering exemplary customer service and cost-effective shared and dedicated hosting packages, Hetzner has grown its market share to exceed 16%, making it the largest company to specialise in Web hosting in SA.
Hetzner is financially stable and has been profitable since 2000, with profits continually reinvested into the further growth of the business. Through its affiliation with German-based Hetzner Online AG, the company also benefits from shared systems and skills expertise.
Hetzner has been named a Top 300 National Company for the second consecutive year by Top Companies Publishing (PTY) Ltd in association with the Department of Trade and Industry. The company has also been named a top ICTe (Information, Communication, Technology and Electronics) company for the period 2003/04 and 2005/06 by the Corporate Research Foundation.
Additional information is available at www.hetzner.co.za.
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