At Snowtoad Solutions, we offer a wide range of ‘off the shelf’ hosting packages to suit most people. Whether you are after a small personal site or something a little bigger, we have a package for you and if we don’t, we can customise any of our packages to accommodate your needs.

Want to know a little bit more about our setup before you dive in and make a purchase. Well, here is a whole load of information for you to sink your teeth into. However, if this really doesn’t interest you, then rest assured that our systems are state-of-the-art, secure and reliable meaning that you won’t have to worry about a thing.

The Servers

We use only Dell servers in our web hosting platform. Utilising state-of-the-art technology we operate a web hosting platform that is second to none.

Our platform is designed in such a way that if any server fails another server automatically takes over that server's workload without delay. For example, if one of our mail servers breaks down another server automatically comes online, with all the correct configuration, and takes over the work of the failed server. During this period no email is lost.

As well as this, all data is stored in two large network disk arrays. Data is automatically synchronised between the arrays so that in the event of an array failing the remaining array continues to serve data to the servers with no downtime.

The Infrastructure

The following diagram represents the web hosting infrastructure used at Snowtoad Solutions.

The Spec

Our current server specification is:

• Dual Intel Xeon Processor 3.4GHz with 2MB Cache
• 8 GB RAM
• Dual 136 GB SCSI Drive (for the operating system)
• RAID Mirroring (for the operating system)
• Dual Power Supplies
• Dual Gigabit Network Adapters

The Network

Our network operates on industry-leading network equipment from Cisco Systems. All our switches and routers are developed by Cisco. Our network is based on gigabit technology, which means that it runs at a speed of 1000 Mb per second - most web hosting networks are limited to 100 Mb per second.

On top of that, it also utilises 100% CAT6 network cable, which contains four pairs of copper wire and, unlike CAT5, uses all four pairs. CAT6 supports Gigabit (1000 Mbps) Ethernet and supports communications at more than twice the speed of CAT5e, which is the other popular standard for Gigabit Ethernet cabling.

The Systems

Redhat is the leading provider of Linux open source software. For many years now Redhat Linux has been the number one choice for web hosting companies, not just because of Redhat's amazing scalability but also because of its track record as the most stable operating system available in the market today.

Our systems utilise the latest Redhat server technology to allow our servers to be continually up to date with Redhat system & security patches.

Unlike many of our competitors we run Redhat Enterprise Linux, the most stable release of Redhat Linux available and the only version that keeps completely up to date with security patches.

The Connection

Snowtoad Solutions operates a multi-homed network using BGP4 technology. Simply put, we have multiple connections to the Internet with different backbone providers, should any connection fail our other connections automatically take all the traffic. Not only does this mean that we are very unlikely to lose connectivity to the Internet, but it also means that traffic moving to and from our network can choose from a range of paths to get to its final destination. This means that we have been able to configure the network always to take the fastest paths.

The Facilities

Our data centre offers a secure, resilient environment for our web hosting platform. Based in a secure facility the data centre is built to an N+1 specification, so that if any particular service fails - e.g. electricity or air conditioning - another backup service automatically takes over the failed service's job.

The Power

Dual power feeds enter the building at different points and Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) ensure that all power to the server area is clean and spike free. In the event of a power outage the UPS can take the entire data centre load for up to five minutes. However within 20 seconds our redundant generators are able to indefinitely take on the entire data centre load.

The Security

The data centre is manned 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so that if anything goes wrong engineers can respond quickly and effectively to the problem.

Access to our data centre is via a master access list using Smart Card authentication. Access to the data centre is by authorisation only.

CCTV operates throughout the facility.

The Heat

The temperature of the data centre is kept at a steady 20°C to allow optimum equipment performance.

Our fire detection system monitors the room for any sign of fire and allows operators to respond to such a situation using a variety of fire suppression techniques.