If your current hosting company doesn't own their own datacentre, you're at a distinct disadvantage. Many new generation hosting companies are little more than a home office, one phone line and a solitary server in a largely empty, unmanned datacentre. With large telco companies owning empty datacentres there is a glut of datacentre space out there just waiting for a server to be installed, usually at an unsustainably low price and, thereby, a new hosting company is born. If your hosting company uses some one else's datacentre then they are probably a new player. What this generally means is that they have little investment in hardware, often limited technical expertise, and tenuous control over the longevity of their startup business. Many hope to grow, but when all you have to differentiate yourself on is price, there is often no margin for technical support, let alone sustainable growth. If your internet presence and email is important to your business then you can't afford to run it on a server in a unmanned, unmonitored datacenter with an underfunded entity.

At WebHost Internet Datacentre's form the core of our business , that's why ours are 100% owned and operated by WebHost and staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. WebHost provides a world-class infrastructure here in Australia necessary to maintain your dedicated Web servers 24x, and, while other providers are closing their data centers, we are continuing to add to ours! The WebHost network has been engineered from the ground up in our own datacentres to accommodate the high-availability demands of the Internet's most popular websites. The datacentres, and our network, have been optimized for outsourcing webservers. Being physically based in Brisbane Australia we are ideally placed to service Australian customers looking for a reliable Australian point of presence. Basically, the WebHost network provides the security, reliability, performance and scalability your business demands. By partnering with WebHost for your mission-critical Internet operations, you can focus your time and resources on your core business.

Location Brisbane, Queensland, is an ideal location for our primary data center because of the absence of natural disasters and the close proximity to peering points for Asia and the US. Additionally, Webhost owns its datacentre premises outright and, being geographically located on the Brisbane metro power grid with multiple carrier fiber runs right outside the front door, this make the WebHost Brisbane data centers the perfect location for your mission-critical data.

Physical Security The datacentre is physically isolated from everyone but WebHost's technicians. Public and customer access is strictly forbidden because our datacentre is not open to the public. You can rest assured that only a handful of highly trained WebHost technicians will be allowed within close physical proximity to your server. Access to the data center floor is restricted to those holding passcards. Furthermore, access to the datacentre is restricted by Biometric scanners. The datacentre is under 24/7 video surveillance internally and externally and the whole facility is monitored by Chubb security for external physical breaches.

Uninterruptible Conditioned Power Power systems in WebHost's datacentre are designed to run uninterrupted even in the unlikely event of a total power outage. All servers are fed with conditioned UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) power that will run if utility power fails. The UPS power subsystem is N+1 redundant with instantaneous fail over in case the primary UPS fails.

Backup Power In the event of an extended power outage, a diesel generator can run indefinitely. The generator is regularly tested to ensure that it will continue to function in the event of an emergency. When the power is restored, the generators continue to operate until mains power has stabilised.

Raised Access Flooring The data centre features a tiled, raised steel and concrete access floor. This allows us to manage the mass of wires and ensures there are no accidental disruptions. It also provides electrical grounding which helps to maintain a static-free environment and ensures cool air flow to the servers.

A Precision Environment Webhost's datacentre is meticulously clean. All air is circulated and filtered every 45 seconds to remove dust and contaminants. Liebert environment control systems ensure the data centre is kept at a constant temperature. The data center's Liebert HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) system is N+1 redundant to ensure that - even in the event of an entire HVAC system failure - there is a backup system on standby to take over. These systems regulate both room temperature and humidity to ensure a cool, static-free environment. We maintain 20 degrees Celsius with 50% humidity all year round.

Fire Detection and Suppression An advanced fire-suppression system is in place to prevent any fire from spreading in the unlikely event that one would start. All cables to servers and routing equipment are securely tied down, and cable runs are positioned under floor on raised cabling grids.The temperature, humidity and airflow in the datacentre are under constant monitoring.

Backups and off site data storeage Webhost uses IBM automated tape libraries to provide complete backup coverage for both data centres. These offer native data transfer rates of up to 40MB/sec and support a wide variety of platforms, including IBM AIX, OS/390, OS/400, VSE/ESA, z/OS and z/VM operating systems; Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows NT and Windows Server 2003 operating systems; and Linux, HP-UX and Sun Solaris operating systems. All backup units are automated for minimal human intervention. WebHost maintains reciprocal daily offsite backups to our remote datacentre. In the event of total loss of DC1, DC2 has the capacity to restore all services that have been backed up.

CISCO Powered Network The WebHost DSA IP network features dedicated, redundant backbone network that connect the datacentre using multiple high-speed lines. The WebHost Network virtually eliminates the risk of a single point of failure. Within our network we only use CISCO equipment. Within the datacentre WebHost has implemented a LAN architecture that scales to meet, and usually exceeds, customers' demand for bandwidth requirements. In fact, the WebHost architecture scales in anticipation of customer demand by employing powerful routers that run at gigabit speeds.

Connectivity Webhost utilizes connections to multiple backbones to ensure that data reaches the end-user in the fastest, most efficient manner possible. The connecting trunks are a combination of Fibre Optic, Copper and Laser line of sight connections. These services are a mixture of Layer1 (dedicated cable we lease off Telstra that carries only our data) to Layer 3.

BGP4 Network Diversity Routing Border Gateway Protocol is the inter domain routing protocol designed for the global Internet. WebHost runs the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP4) for best case routing. Webhost runs a Cisco Powered Network and our entirely switched network employs Cisco enterprise class routers. The BGP4 protocol is a standard that allows for the routing of packets of information sent out from the WebHost network. Each packet of information is evaluated and sent over the best route possible. Because of our redundant network architecture, packets may be sent via alternative routes even if they are being delivered to the same end user. Should one of our providers fail, packets leaving our network are automatically redirected through another route via a different provider.

Bandwidth Utilization The WebHost network has plenty of excess capacity, even during peak times. This allows for us to accommodate even the largest spikes in traffic that are often associated with the most popular Web sites. We are always adding network connectivity and new routes in an effort to make sure content is delivered to your users as efficiently as possible. A low bandwidth utilization also allows for maximum uptime, even if one of our providers has an outage. Just another reason to outsource your hosting to WebHost.

Guaranteed Packet Delivery WebHost pays our transit IP providers to make sure that packets of information are delivered to the end users. This offers significant advantages over simply peering with the major backbones. Peering agreements rarely include Service Level Agreements (SLA's) so no one is accountable for lost packets at congested exchange points. Because WebHost actually has SLA's with all our transit IP providers we are able to guarantee that all packets will leave our network at full speed.

Network Providers We work closely with leading telecommunications companies to build and maintain our world-class network. By monitoring our network and our carrier connections we can see trends developing ahead of time and take steps to keep in sync with demand. Such recent trends include the widespread deployment of end user ADSL, the emergence of Streaming Video, the development of VOIP, the need for customers to have offsite backups and the increased need for security. Keeping up with global trends puts your hosting ahead of the rest.

Monitoring Additionally, all Network Operation Centers use industry-standard SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) and provide round-the-clock monitoring of all hardware, including routers, switches, UPS systems, and servers. The Network Operation Centers also monitors power, environmental factors (such as temperature and humidity), generator status, and network connectivity. All critical services/ports are monitored, including FTP, HTTP, SMTP, HTTPS, SSH and POP3.