Better Hosting

• A Managed Service - We can take care of the hardware, hosting, OS patching, and monitoring for you
• Modern High-Spec Hardware - We use enterprise-grade high-capacity servers, SANs and switches
• Proper Hosting Environment - Strong physical security, raised floors, industrial-strength air-conditioning, fast connectivity
• Improved Reliability - Redundancy to eliminate single points of failure. Multiple hosts, data centres, power feeds, network links
• 24/7 UK Support - We're always on duty, ready to spot and fix potential problems.
• Scalability - Just pay for the capacity you need right now and scale up later if you need to

How it Works

• Resilient VMware-Based Platform - Your virtual machines run on a scalable enterprise-grade cloud platform, built using VMware Cloud Director, and hosted across several UK data centres for resilience
• Groups of VMs - You pay for a fixed pool of resources and allocate (and reallocate) these at will to individual VMs. You get a predictable monthly bill, yet still have the freedom to add and resize VMs as needed. There are no bandwidth charges.
• Web-Based Portal - You can directly control your VMs and their resources via a web browser

Uptime & Resilience

• Multiple hosts per Data Centre - If one host dies, there's another one close by ready to take over the workloads
• Multiple Data Centres - If all hosts in a data centre go offline, there's another data centre at the ready to take over
• VMware vMotion - Before patching hosts, we can perform a 'live migration' of VMs to another host, avoiding downtime
• Multiple Power Supplies - Our data centres have multiple power feeds, backup generators, Uninterruptible Power Supplies
• Multiple Connections - Each host has multiple multi-gigabit connections
• Auto-failover - The system detects any host failures and shifts workloads to alternative hosts automatically
• IP Addresses Failover - IP addresses follow your workloads as they move to different hosts and data centres
• Data Replication - All data is stored in multiple data centres using VMware vSAN
• 24/7 Monitoring - Our systems keep an eye on the hosting platform, alerting our 24/7 support team to potential issues

Security

• Physical Security - The data centres we use have man traps to stop tailgating, 24x7 guarding, biometric readers and CCTV
• ISO 27001 Certified Hosting Firm - hSo is independently-audited for compliance with the requirements of ISO 27001 (Information Security Management Systems) standard.
• ISO 27001 Certified Data Centre Operators - Our cloud platforms are hosted in data centres run by ISO 27001 certified operators.
• Cyber Essentials Plus Certified - hSo is certified under the UK Government's Cyber Essentials scheme
• Your Firewall, Your Rules - Your VM groups can have their own virtual firewalls, so you can fully control access to your VMs
• Security Training - All hSo staff undergo regular mandatory IT Security training
• Managed OS Patching Option - If you opt for Managed VMs, we take care of routine patching of Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise, SUSE Linux Enterprise, Ubuntu and CentOS

Hosting Locations

• UK Only (Default) - Your workloads, data storage and offsite data backup are hosted exclusively in the UK, so you don't stray into non-UK courts' legal jurisdictions and non-UK data protection regimes.
• Docklands & Slough - Our standard service hosts your workloads in Equinix data centres LD8 and LD5
• Paris, Frankfurt, Amsterdam - Our dedicated private cloud service can also be hosted in the US and the EU
• Manchester, Reading, Maidenhead, London - Our dedicated private cloud service can also be hosted in over a dozen UK data centres

Dedicated Clouds

• Bespoke, Built To Order - hSo can design & build a bespoke private cloud based to your requirements, on hardware dedicated to your organisation's use
• Not For Everyone - Dedicated clouds aren't cheap, regardless of choice of hosting provider. Most organisations will find our Virtual Private Cloud service to be a budget-compatible alternative. It provides 'private cloud' performance at 'public cloud' prices, reserving dedicated resources for you on hSo's ready-built cloud
• More Hosting Locations - Our cloud platform is hosted in London Docklands and Slough. Dedicated cloud customers can select from many more locations.

Why hSo?

• Experienced - Our hosting platforms are designed and maintained by technical staff with decades of experience
• VMware Based Clouds - We use the most popular, proven, feature-rich virtualisation option to power your cloud
• Collaborative Approach - Our tech experts work closely with you to ensure a simple, smooth migration to your new hosting platform
• Tailored Hosting - We'll create a cloud hosting solution that's tailored to your specific requirements
• Hybrid Cloud Compatible - We're AWS and Microsoft partners so can help integrate these public clouds into your hosting solution.
• Safety & Security - As detailed on the 'Security' and 'Uptime' tabs, we go to great lengths to keep your cloud secure and available
• Capabilities Beyond Hosting - We can deliver connectivity, colocation, data backup, disaster recovery and IT Security services

Next Steps

1. Contact Us - Click the orange button above to let us know how we can contact you. Or call us on 020 7847 4510
2. Initial Discussion - We'll discuss how you're looking to improve your hosting and what your options are
3. Follow-up Discussions - These gradually get more specific, so tend to involve your wider technical team and hSo's Cloud Architect
4. Proposal - Once we understand your requirements, we'll create a bespoke proposal. Depending on your preferences, this could involve hSo's cloud, a dedicated cloud, AWS or Azure
5. Hosting Contract Signed - We document the agreed solution and the migration plan, and arrange for your workloads to be migrated, and if necessary, help virtualise them first
6. Hosting Goes Live - Responsibility for monitoring the service passes to hSo's 24/7 Customer Service Centre. You'll have extensive operational control via an online portal