How To Run An Ultravm Cloud Server

Transcription

1 It s like a dedicated server. But different. Turing House, Archway, Manchester, M15 5RL tel: fax: e: [email protected]

2 Meet UltraVM. It s quite different. Forget what you know about dedicated servers. UltraVM addresses all the shortcomings that you re used to, saves you money, and is better for the environment. Quite impressive really. What is it? It s an alternative to a dedicated server. It appears just like a dedicated server and has a full operating system to which you ll have root/administrator access. However the hardware on which it runs is virtualised. As you ll see if you read on, this brings a number of benefits. How can it be so reliable? We use the latest virtualisation software to abstract your UltraVM Cloud Server from the hardware that it sits on. The storage is centralised in a highly available Storage Area Network (SAN) device. This not only makes it a lot quicker, but also means that you re no longer reliant on the physical machine on which your UltraVM Cloud Server runs. Our UltraVM cluster controller watches all running Cloud servers day and night, and if it detects a failure of any critical hardware, it ll automatically move the onto spare hardware. Most of the time you won t even notice this, and our engineers would simply replace the failed hardware. We re so confident that it works we guarantee that the virtual hardware availability of your UltraVM Cloud Server won t drop below 99.95% of the month. How is it cheaper than a real dedicated server? Most dedicated servers are vastly under-used. In tests across our datacentre we ve found that at any given time, about 75% of our hardware is being used at less than 25% of its maximum capacity. That s a big waste of energy and money. By pooling both backend storage and frontend servers we can cut hardware costs dramatically, and pass that saving on to you. Because you re guaranteed the memory (RAM) and storage space that you ve ordered, and guaranteed a share of CPU time, you re never going to find your UltraVM Cloud Server clutching for resources. Is there a green benefit? There certainly is. Overall we reckon an UltraVM Cloud Server uses approximately one-eighth of the power of a modern similarly specified physical dedicated server. Combined with the energy reduction procedures we re putting in place across our datacentres, it adds up to a real difference. We re specifically encouraging customers with older dedicated servers which are quite slow by today s standards to consider switching to an UltraVM Cloud Server, not only saving money, but increasing potential reliability and speed in one go.

3 Flexibility and Scalability Whether you re looking for a single UltraVM Cloud Server, or you want a cluster with dedicated hardware where you can create your own Cloud servers, we have solutions available. We can also add UltraLoad Load Balancing, off-site backup space, anti-spam filtering or server management just like we would to a physical dedicated server. All UltraVM come behind our Enterprise Class UltraFire Firewalls for your protection, with our unique web-based interface to set up your rules. So what does a cluster look like, hardware-wise? Not that you need to worry about it, but on paper, it looks a little bit like the diagram to the right. In reality it looks like several cabinets in our datacentres full of servers. You will see that physical cluster machines (where your UltraVM Cloud Server lives) are uplinked to two frontend switches, and also two backend switches on the storage network. These double uplinks are purely for redundancy. Your data sits on a highly fault-tolerant Storage Area Network (SAN) device. www. Cloud Machines Shared Storage (SAN)

4 What if something goes wrong with the hardware? This diagram shows what happens in the unlikely event of a hardware failure (and it is unlikely as the physical machines have dual power supplies, hot-swap hard drives, and are fed by two independent power feeds from two separate UPS devices in our datacentre). If a disk fails in the storage device, again, it s no sweat. Whilst our technicians are alerted, one of the dedicated hot spare disks automatically drops in place, and keeps things running. Our technicians will then replace the failed disk. The same thing goes if a power supply or controller fails in the storage device. Everything that s critical has at least one hot-standby backup part. www. HARDWARE FAILURE automatically restarted on alternate modes. Shared Storage (SAN) What about upgrading my UltraVM Cloud Machine? With physical servers, we d have had to shut down your machine whilst an engineer puts more memory into it, or even more disruptive, move your data over to a bigger machine because you ve outgrown the capabilities of your current server. With UltraVM things are much easier. After ordering the upgrade (be that more memory, more CPU cores, or more disk space), we simply schedule a convenient time to make a change on our cluster controller. After this, we simply reboot your machine so that the operating system can recognise the additional resources. The best thing is that additional capacity can be brought online almost instantly, rather than waiting until an agreed out-of-hours time to schedule the hardware upgrade.

5 How do I control my UltraVM Cloud Machine? If you have physical dedicated servers already, you ll probably be familiar with our remote reboot switches and KVM over IP. Both of these give you access to your machine remotely. The UltraVM controller, through its web interface, gives you instant access to the same features. You can start, stop, or reboot your UltraVM Cloud Server, or view its console output. This means you can troubleshoot any OS issues causing it to not boot, or to repair incorrect network settings. Through the same interface you can also view the disk space and cloud network cards allocated to your UltraVM Cloud Server. How do I get an UltraVM Cloud Machine? You can customise and order your UltraVM Cloud Server online at It ll be online within 4 business hours from your order. For your convenience, there are no lengthy contracts, you can take a server for as little as 30 days. You can also upgrade your server s hardware specification within 4 business hours. We re different. In a really over-crowded industry, we feel that what sets Melbourne apart from our competitors, is the fact we care about our customers, we look after our staff, and we provide an incredibly high level of service at an affordable price. Hear it for yourself. We ve commissioned some short videos featuring some of our customers talking about their experiences with Melbourne. Watch them now at To learn more, give us a call on: Turing House, Archway, Manchester, M15 5RL tel: fax: e: [email protected]