COMLINK Cloud Technical Specification Guide VIRTUAL PRIVATE SERVERS Updated June 13, 2014 *Subject to Change*
Table of Contents 1-2 Overview of Virtual Private Servers 2-3 Benefits 2 Reduce IT Cost and Complexity 2 Respond Rapidly to Changing Business Requirements 2-3 Other Benefits 3 Features 3 Add-On Features
Technical Specification Guide: COMLINK Virtual Private Servers A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is deployed with virtualization software that divides physical servers into several virtual servers by allocating the physical servers resources, where the users can maintain their own individual accounts. With COMLINK s VPS, physical servers are partitioned into numerous virtual servers and the resources are allocated to customers based on the seven VPS service plans. VPS has become one of the best virtual server hosting tools for small to medium-sized businesses because it successfully bridges the gap between shared hosting and dedicated server hosting. VPS offers a server platform that is far more exclusive than shared hosting, meaning that more resources are available to the user at all times. With a much smaller contention rate than that of shared hosting, the resources of VPS have less of a strain placed on them, allowing optimal performance levels. COMLINK s VPS environments run their own copy of an operating system and customers have administrator-level access to that operating system, so the customer has the ability to install almost any software that runs on their selected OS. The VPS service also provides the option for customers to add on a managed firewall to their VPS service for a low monthly price. VPS provides ideal entry into the hosting world with an unbeatable price-performance ratio, and best of all it is extremely similar to a dedicated server without having to maintain the required physical dedicated hardware. COMLINK s VPS is a primarily self-managed service, which means that it includes regular monitoring and maintenance of the servers and network, including hardware maintenance, replacement, and repair. The NMC and IT Department are responsible for the servers and network. Customers provide the majority of operations and tasks on VPS servers. VPS provides a robust cloud solution that is locally and geographically redundant with a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of one hour. The physical server on which the VPS resides runs VMware hypervisor, which is tasked with creating, releasing, and managing the resources of the guest operating systems/virtual machines. Also, VPS is a dynamic product, meaning that it can be changed at runtime and is often referred to as a cloud server. COMLINK s VPS product family consists of seven pre-configured plan options that reside on our platform and are configured as redundant environments with automatic failover and replication. The seven VPS plans that are offered by COMLINK are pre-configured based on the quantity of dedicated RAM/Memory and paired with virtual CPU s, allowing the customer the ability to choose the quantity of SAN storage they will require, which is configured and sold in 100GB increments up to 20TB. COMLINK s VPS customers can purchase multiple VPS and have each VPS configured based on their individual servers specifications. 1
COMLINK s primarily self-managed VPS services will include one dedicated IP address per server. Additional IPs can be added at an additional monthly recurring cost. Server access to databases will be included based upon the operating system selection. Software licenses ( SPLA ) and additional tools are available at an additional monthly price if needed. The production environment is located in one of COMLINK s Tier III compatible datacenters with local and geographic redundancy with replication and automatic failover between the SAN provided as a standard and the option to add advanced replication between datacenters as an additional monthly charge. COMLINK operates a privately owned fiber network with multiple data centers. COMLINK s VPS takes advantage of this combination using servers, SANs, and firewalls located in our datacenters creating a redundant private Infrastructure-as-a-Service ( IaaS ) model for VARs to competitively resell to customers as well as to be sold as through retail channels. There are many benefits to a Virtual Private Servers. VPS is perfect for businesses looking for more control, flexibility and performance than shared hosting options, but without the investment required for a dedicated server. COMLINK s VPS plans provide a mid-range option for businesses and individuals looking for an economical solution to meet their growing hosting needs. COMLINK has carefully designed multiple VPS configurations to best match the needs of today s expanding business requirements. Benefits In addition to all the benefits a VPS offers, every COMLINK Virtual Private Server solution provides several additional features that give customers added flexibility: Reduce IT Cost and Complexity Consolidate and simplify to reduce hardware, license, and operational costs Secure Maximum returns from IT investments, maximize resource utilization and efficiency Keep IT manageable and organized Measure, enforce, and report policy and regulatory compliance across all computing environments Respond rapidly to changing business requirements Meet today s business requirements with resource requirements, installation, management, etc. Consolidate and simplify infrastructure and operations, while reducing on premise equipment Improve quality of service with scalable infrastructure and higher availability Quickly adapt to new demands Re-allocate resources quickly Respond quickly to competitive initiatives or new customer requirements Other Benefits include VPS is less expensive than fully dedicated servers that use physical servers. VPS plans can be customized to meet the customer s needs, so that they are paying for what they want but do not need to deal with any features they will never need such as additional software, features and maintenance. VPS hosting plans are scalable. For example, a business can create a virtual environment with the minimum amount of resources it needs, and gradually increase to accommodate growing needs. The customer does not have pay for excessive resources that they have not grown into yet. 2
Other Benefits cont. Businesses have a lot more control over their virtual server environments than with a shared hosting plan. Technical support is comparable to shared hosting plans for the majority of issues. Features Instant Provisioning Low Monthly Billing Easy Upgrade or Downgrade Create and Deploy Server Images Unlimited Bandwidth: 10 Mbps Bandwidth Burstable to 100 Mbps Choice of Operating System VPS plans are Equipped with Cloud Features Locally and Geographically Redundant with Replication and Automatic Failover Full Administrative Access Primarily Self-Managed Seven Pre-configured Plans vcpu and RAM are paired together, Storage Options Separate Ability to Customize Storage needs in 100GB Increments up to 20TB DNS Hosting Add-On Features (Additional monthly fee) Managed Firewall and Global/SSL VPN ($50.00 MRC + SSL VPN License $) Remote Server Monitoring (Coming Soon) Migrations (NRC $, depends on time required) Security Monitoring (Coming Soon) SPLA Licenses (MRC License $) DataProtect (MRC License $ + Storage) Backup-as-a-Service (See Backup-as-a-Service Pricing) Additional RAM and vcpu s (RAM and vcpu Cost Above) Additional Storage (Storage Cost above) Additional Bandwidth (MRC $) Advanced Replication: Activation of ACTIVE/ACTIVE datacenter and Disaster Avoidance ($ TBD) Managed VPS Services (Coming Soon) Additional IP Addresses ($1.00 MRC per IP Adress) Additional IP Addresses 3