The Rackspace Cloud is the cloud hosting division of Rackspace, an industry leader that currently manages over 40,000 servers and devices for customers all over the world.
Cloud hosting is the next iteration of hosting. So, having the leader of managed hosting behind you is not such a bad thing. No doubt we benefit from tons of experience and knowledge, a great network, world-class data centers and the scale and backing of a company like Rackspace.
Truth is we are wholly owned by Rackspace. However, we are structured as a separate team, totally focused on the technologies of the cloud. Rackspace has seeded the division with some of their top technical talent. Success in the cloud is a major priority of the Rackspace mission so we get a lot of attention and help when we need it.
Utter simplicity. Period.
For the first time in the history of web building, there's finally an easy way to run your applications. Code it and load it. The Rackspace Cloud takes care of the rest - monitoring, patching, configuration, security, scaling...
There's nothing else out there like it. Cloud Sites is an advanced, enterprise-level platform that lets you focus on what you're good at: developing in the technology you love. All the headache of server administration is our responsibility.
Nothing as important as your website should be served from a single hard drive, but you'd be surprised by how many web hosts have little more redundancy than a pair of crossed fingers. We're different - and for good reason. The advanced architecture powering our hosting solution uses groups of high-performance, network attached storage devices to reliably serve every web page, image, and email. Inside each storage device, drives are mirrored to each other in a RAID configuration to create a first level of redundancy. And, as a final precautionary measure, all data on the system is automatically backed up on a repeating schedule.
The Rackspace Cloud makes backups of your data on a nightly basis. However, its purpose is for disaster recovery on the server side. If for any reason a storage node on our side were to crash, our backups will be there to replace any lost data. That should give you peace of mind.
With that said, we recommend that you make periodic backups of your site and data to your local computer since we are unable to extract an individual site's data from the nightly backups. If you need a backup of your MySQL or MS SQL databases, they can be exported through our online utilities or by connecting directly to the servers using desktop software.
The Linux side of our platform is built on Debian 4.0 (Etch) and Red Hat Enterprise Server. On the other side of the fence, The Windows platform runs on Windows 2008 and IIS 7.
Shell access is not offered on Cloud Sites based primarily for security reasons. We know that shell access has its benefits and we expect to have some level of access available for our customers at some point in the future. Keep in mind however that many functions typically accessed via shell are possible on the Rackspace Cloud, including cron jobs, file permissions, and unzip.
Finally, if shell access is an immediate need, check out our Cloud Servers offering.
We have included enough resources in the Cloud Sites base package to power most business needs. You get 50GB of high performance storage as well as 500GB of outgoing bandwidth per month (incoming is not included in your calculation). In addition, Cloud Sites uses compute cycles (see below) to monitor your computing usage. You get 10,000 compute cycles per month across all your sites and applications. Unlike many hosters, The Rackspace Cloud will never cut you off for using what we sell you.
While most customers will fall well below the included amount, we have created fair and simple pricing beyond the base amount that means you pay ONLY for what you use and nothing more. There are no onerous penalties for exceeding the included plan amounts. Our price sheet is here for all scaling metrics. The key items include $0.25/GB for outgoing bandwidth, $0.50/GB for storage and $0.01 per compute cycle. For super heavy users over 50 million page views, special pricing may be available.
In truth, there are no limits. We currently have users pushing hundreds of millions of requests on single domains. The most important issue is whether your site will be compatible with the Cloud. Please refer to our technology section to ensure you can run your applications successfully on the Cloud.
Compute cycles measure how much processing time your applications require on the Rackspace Cloud. Using 10,000 compute cycles in a month is roughly equivalent to running a server with a 2.8 GHz modern processor for the same period of time.
Since web applications vary so greatly, it's hard to make a perfect guess. However, there are some guidelines that can help. First, you can think of 10,000 compute cycles as being about the same processing power as you'd get from a decent dedicated server or Amazon EC2 instance. For example 10,000 compute cycles would power:
The compute cycles you use are presented in your control panel in near real time.
Mostly, CPU processing time. However, compute cycles also account for the disk I/O your application's operations consume. For example, a page with heavy database queries will consume more compute cycles in part due to the larger volume of disk I/O it requires.
With our customer support option, time-consuming support calls become a thing of the past. Our services include unlimited 24-hour phone and chat support for $3/month per supported domain. You can choose to have us handle support for some or all your domains - it's entirely up to you.
Once you have activated support for a given domain, that customer can then select to enter live chat directly from his or her control panel. He will also be given a local and toll-free number in which he can call to speak directly with our support team. Live chat and phone support are both available 24x7.
The Rackspace Cloud support is staffed 24x7x365. Chat or call us anytime and talk to a real human being at our headquarters in San Antonio, Texas.
The Rackspace Cloud has a team of dedicated support and billing specialists, ready and willing to tackle any account related questions your client's can throw at them. And remember, the support team that will help troubleshoot your issues is the same team dedicated to helping your clients as well.
If asked, our support team will respond that we work for you (that's the truth, isn't it?!). We avoid the whole "outsourced support" line that can end up sounding so lame to your clients. But never fear, if there's something the support team can't answer - perhaps something regarding one of your other designs or development projects with that client - we can and will pass along your contact information (but of course, this choice is completely up to you!).
The support team has been trained to answer phone calls and live chats with "Web Hosting Technical Support, this is [Rep's Name]. How can I help you?" This is the standard white-label greeting that gives your client the impression that the entire support team works directly for your company.
The Rackspace Cloud support team prides itself on getting things done. That means we'll do whatever it takes to resolve your client's issue. Sure, most of the time your clients will be calling in with a question, but if need be, our support reps won't hesitate to pick up the phone to call them back. Of course there's no extra charge for outgoing calls, anywhere in the world.
We know how frustrating it can be to try and receive support from someone you can barely understand halfway around the world. You want to be able to offer something better for your clients, and Mosso | The Rackspace Cloud is the answer. Our entire technical support team is located in-house (in San Antonio, Texas, to be precise); we refuse to offshore any portion of support. By closely monitoring service interactions, we can ensure your clients will receive a worthwhile interaction every time. And our team is structured to promote cooperation to resolve your customers' issues quickly. Our support technicians sit right next to our admins who manage the hosting clusters and our developers who write the application. If there is a problem, this cross functional team can quickly huddle to solve the issue.
The Rackspace Cloud's support team will assist you and your clients with all aspects of the control panel, general connectivity issues (I.E. web, mail, webmail, ftp, and database) and basic website troubleshooting concerns. The support team members, however, are unable to assist in the installation of paid, open source, or custom code (PHP, ASP, .NET, etc.). With that said, our support team will do everything they can to help point you or your client in the right direction if you need help installing a particular script.
Our technical support team is staffed around the clock to ensure fast resolution of all customer issues. Whether your customers call in on our toll free support number or they chat live with us from their control panel, they should expect to interact with a live person within 60 seconds.
For a small fee (the greater of $2.00 or 4% of the transaction), we'll handle customer billing for some, or all, of your clients. You pick who you'd like us to bill, how much you'd like to charge, and we'll collect the fees and make an ACH deposit each month into your bank account.
Assuming your client(s) are activated for billing services, we will charge your client the recurring fee amount every month on the anniversary date of their original sign up. No additional action by you is required.
You can easily enable or disable client billing on a site by site basis through your control panel. If you have any questions or are confused on the exact process of doing this, feel free to call the support team at 1-877-934-0407.
Ultimately, it's your responsibility to provide all of the required information to enable the Rackspace Cloud to bill your client(s), including the amount to be charged and obtaining authorization from each client specifically allowing the Rackspace Cloud to charge their credit card.
The Rackspace Cloud will provide support to you and your clients on client-related billing issues. Our billing support includes answering basic billing questions, processing refunds and service credits, and updating credit card information. Remember that you are ultimately responsible for the accuracy and completeness of your client's credit card information. The Rackspace Cloud will not bill your clients until it has complete, consistent, and verifiable credit card and related information. To speak with a member of our billing team, please call 1-877-934-0410.
Since the Rackspace Cloud will be billing and collecting from your clients on your behalf, you will receive from the Rackspace Cloud the total funds we have collected by electronic funds transfer. (Note: While we can help you bill clients almost anywhere in the world, the Rackspace Cloud billing service currently requires a U.S. bank account to receive funds.)
Generally the proceeds from the initial charge of a credit card will be held for 60 days, and subsequent charges will be held for 30 days. If total collected proceeds are less than $50.00 the Rackspace Cloud may hold the proceeds and include them on the following month's remittance to you.
Yes, client billing is completely customizable. If you'd like to create a plan where you bill your customers on a 6 month term, you can do that. If you'd prefer they pay for a year in advance, you can do that. It's up to you! You can also adjust all of their invoices which gives you the flexibility to offer discounts whenever you see fit.
We allow your clients to pay using Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
Simply check the "Bill client for this site" box when you set your client's website up. It's as easy that. Sure, you can customize exactly how much they're charged for each line item, but that's up to you. Activation's a snap.
You are responsible for specifying tax rates that apply to charges provided to the Rackspace Cloud, tracking those taxes collected and reporting and remitting all collected taxes to the appropriate taxing authorities.
"Web Hosting Billing Systems" will appear on your client's credit card.
If your business accepts credit cards, whether over the internet or on paper, then PCI applies to your business. The general rule states that if you process, store or transmit cardholder data then you must adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard v1.2 (PCI DSS v1.2).
Depending on the number of transactions performed annually, Merchants and Service Providers must conduct quarterly vulnerability scans and either fill out a Self Assessment Questionnaire or have a Qualified Security Assessor audit the business entity against the PCI DSS.
Visit Visa’s website below to learn more about the various Merchant and Service Provider levels.
http://usa.visa.com/merchants/risk_management/cisp_overview.html
Next, go to the PCI Security Standards Council website at: https://www.pcisecuritystandards.org/saq/instructions_dss.shtml#navigating
On this page you will find the self assessment questionnaires. There are five self assessment questionnaires on this page so make sure you determine which questionnaire applies to your business.
Yes, please refer to the API instructions document first. If you have further questions, please contact a the Rackspace Cloud Support representative.
Contact your acquiring bank or payment processor to determine their expectations for your business.
If you choose not to comply with the PCI DSS then you risk:
The Rackspace Cloud and client control panels were both developed by the the Rackspace Cloud team to take advantage of all the performance features of Cloud Sites. This allows us a great deal of flexibility to make improvements in all pieces of the interface.
The short answer is “No.” Switching control panel software can be a hassle. They all seem to do virtually the same thing, but in just different enough ways to leave you dazed and confused. The Rackspace Cloud's management software is different because it focuses on tasks like creating websites, databases and email accounts rather than server administration. If you want to use one of those control panels, check out our CloudServers offer which allows you to install any software you choose.
Although your control panel shares the same look and feel as your client's panel, there are several differences built around the additional features and functionality of your account. Your view is focused around managing your clients (for example, their account and billing information), while the client's view is focused on adding email addresses, databases, and domain name pointers. The client interface is built to empower clients to add and change functionality as it pertains to their website.
Nope, that's the beauty of our proprietary control panel software - it's built in house and designed specifically for managing your applications that are deployed across the Rackspace Cloud's data centers and clustered servers.
The Rackspace Cloud's all about making your life easier. One way we do that is handling all of the IP address hassles behind the scenes. Cloud Sites actually hosts your website on multiple IP addresses on multiple servers - so you don't have one unique IP address tied to your website. This logic is built right into our load balancing layer and ensures that if a server with a particular IP address fails, any one of the other servers is able to serve out your website content.
The Rackspace Cloud's got you covered! You bring the sites and we'll handle the IP space.
That's another great thing about Cloud Sites... you have the flexibility to do most things you would do on a dedicated server. If you'd like to run your own DNS, go right ahead. But know that it is recommended to use the built-in DNS on your the Rackspace Cloud account. If you decide to go it alone you'll be missing out on the unlimited access to Cloud Sites' clustered, geographical redundant domain name system, which is all included in your account. Plus, DNS is easy to configure on the Rackspace Cloud using our intuitive web interface.
Our name servers are dns1.stabletransit.com and dns2.stabletransit.com. They are intentionally "white label" - so your clients don't have to know that you're outsourcing their hosting, unless you want them to. We also offer private label name servers.
The Rackspace Cloud runs a customized mail environment with one of the best webmail interfaces on the planet. (It's a modern ajax-powered application, so you can drag and drop to your heart's content. It works so well that some people use it as their primary means of checking email.) There's even a mobile view formatted for cell phones and PDAs. Finally, you can check mail in desktop clients using standard IMAP or POP protocols.
Antivirus protection is set up and enabled for all of your email accounts. Our email gateways filter incoming e-mail into two stages using two different software technologies. The software will automatically delete any suspected virus, and then deliver the message. Virus definitions are rapidly synced with the latest updates, and we have the capacity to handle large virus outbreaks without slowing down email delivery.
Our advanced email platform utilizes multiple levels of anti-spam protection. The spam filtering system protects your mailbox by gathering real-time spam intelligence from a number of sources and then actively using this intelligence to block spam. Tens of thousands of recent spam email characteristics are tracked, which alone identify the majority of spam. In addition, a number of third-party spam databases, several DNS checks, and several message-formatting tests are used when analyzing every email that comes in.
Also, you and your customers can control personal safe lists and blacklists to further keep your inboxes clean. Safe lists allow certain senders (email addresses, domains, or mail server IP addresses) to bypass the anti-spam system. Conversely, blacklists allow customers to block mail from certain senders. Customers can also control what to do with spam once it has been identified.
We aggregate all of this data into a collection of several thousand constantly improving spam tests, which are performed on every email that enters the email hosting system. The results of these tests are combined together to identify almost all spam with virtually zero false-positives.
Nope. We prefer to think of your account as a blank canvas for you and your customers to install the scripts and programs you need. We do have some cool new features in the works - of which all the details can't be made public just yet - that will make setting up some of the more popular Web applications quick and easy.
Just about any Web application should run well on our clusters as long as the script meets standard server requirements. Generally, you just load an application onto Cloud Sites and it should run unmodified. If you have questions about a specific application, just ask.
Any sort of web creation tool is outside our sweet spot - so the Rackspace Cloud will leave that to the talented professionals who do web design for a living.
Mosso | The Rackspace Cloud now supports .NET 2.0, .NET 3, and .NET 3.5 frameworks.
You are welcome to install any shopping carts or other web applications you'd like to your hosting account. SSL services are now available. For a small additional monthly fee, you can enable SSL on as many of your sites as you'd like.
Although we currently do not offer streaming video to our customers, this is one of the major development projects we're working to roll out. Stay in touch and we'll let you know when our streaming media offering is ready for prime time.
Unlike most discount hosting offerings, the Rackspace Cloud's support team is instantly available 24x7 through online chat and by phone. And our unique team approach means that our support technicians sit right next to the admins who manage the hosting clusters and the developers who write the application. That means they can always get you the urgent help you need and make sure your suggestions are heard.
As a customer of the Rackspace Cloud, you have our full attention. Not only will you have a dedicated Account Manager who's only a phone call away, you can call or chat with any member of our support team 24x7. You are not limited to the amount of time you can spend with the support team and you have a host of different ways to contact us. We're here via live chat, phone, user forums, and an ever-growing knowledgebase - all of which is included in the price of your account!
The Rackspace Cloud's support team will assist you with all aspects of the control panel, general connectivity issues (i.e. web, mail, webmail, ftp, and database) and basic website troubleshooting concerns. The support team members, however, will be unable to assist you in the installation of paid, open source, or custom code (PHP, ASP, .NET, etc.). With that said, if you contact our support team they will do everything they can to point you in the right direction if you need help installing a particular script.
We're staffed 24x7, so no matter when you're in jam, there will be a friendly the Rackspace Cloud support representative ready to assist you.
Yes, the Rackspace Cloud was created by industry veterans specifically for web designers and developers. We're all about building the designer and developer community - and what better way to spread the love than to offer some very active member forums. New users are always encouraged to post comments, questions, and feedback. What's more, we take your feedback so seriously that your feature requests help guide our development path.
The Rackspace Cloud bills you every 30 days based on the day you sign up for the service. Your credit card will be charged for your monthly hosting fee on the first day your account becomes active. After 30 days have gone by you will be billed again for the next month of service. The exact charge will be based on recurring charges in addition to whatever additional fees you have incurred during that previous month.
You will see “The Hosting System” on your credit card statement.
At this time, the Rackspace Cloud only accepts credit card payments. We allow payment by Visa, MasterCard, or American Express.
To close your account, please contact your account manager by dialing 1-877-934-0407 and pressing option three. Your account manager will then be able to guide you through the cancellation process.
Yes, the Rackspace Cloud has a great referral program available. If someone you refer to the Rackspace Cloud hosts with us for 31 days (past their first billing cycle), we will either credit your account $100 or cut you a check for the same. Your program registration occurs with your first referral - just call in or email affiliates@rackspacecloud.com and ask for Chad Keck. We'll give you a code for your referrals to enter upon sign-up. To sweeten the deal, we'll give the referral a $25 rebate on their first month of service as well. Just remember, they must enter the referral code when signing up. There is no limit on how much you can earn!
We currently only offer month-to-month billing terms only. We earn your business every month.
Cloud Files is a low-cost, Internet-based, infinite-sized, redundant storage offering from the Rackspace Cloud. Cloud Files allows users to store/retrieve files via a simple Web Service (ReST: Representational State Transfer) or our file manager application in the control panel. Files can range in size from a few bytes up to 5 Gigabytes and your storage grows or shrinks based on your usage. Add as much or as little as you want without worrying about over-buying/under-utilizing or running out of space. With Cloud Files, you pay for what you use and how much you use is up to you.
Developers interested in using Cloud Files should be familiar with any of the following: ReSTful web-services, Python, PHP, Java, Ruby, or C#/.NET. If you are not a developer, but are still interested in the storage benefits of Cloud Files, you should consider using the File Manager interface within the Mosso | The Rackspace Cloud Control Panel. It provides an easy web-based interface for uploading/downloading content to Cloud Files.
Cloud Files can be an excellent storage solution for a number of reasons and is well suited for a number of applications:
There are some applications for which Cloud Files is not an ideal solution, these include:
Pricing for Cloud Files is broken down to storage usage, data transfer, and requests.
Storage:
Data Transfer:
Requests:
Other CDN costs:
There sure is an SLA. Click here to read the Cloud Files SLA.
You can create a new account simply by visiting www.rackspacecloud.com and selecting the "Cloud Files" product. If you are a Cloud Sites customer, you will automatically have access to Cloud Files.
Imagine being able to provision a server in minutes. To upgrade it automatically. To bring servers up and down as needed. This is the idea behind Cloud Servers. Totally customizable, each Cloud Server gives you full root access to the Linux distribution of your choice. You pay depending on how large a server you buy.
Based on Xen Virtualization technology, Cloud Servers brings the power of the cloud to the traditional server hosting based model. Just like a dedicated server, your Cloud Server provides total flexibility for you to run anything you want from a Java website to a Ruby on Rails application.
We bill hourly because it allows us to cater to both your usual 24x7 server customer and also to the developer who may only need a server for a couple days. For those that would only need the server for a couple days, they would only pay for the time the server is deployed, based on number of hours.
We show the monthly charge just for the clients who keep their servers running for an entire month. This makes it easier for those to translate what the hourly cost would come out too in terms of a monthly equivalent.
Currently the server would either be running or you would have to delete it altogether. There is no "suspension" mode where you are not charged while not receiving traffic to the server.
We currently only offer Linux at the moment, but we are hard at work on our windows offering. We hope to launch a windows cloud servers offering around end of year. Don't need RDP access to the server?...check out cloud sites which is available now.
Right now we don't have details on the pricing for windows cloud servers or the licensing that will be offered in addition to Windows.
With our Cloud Servers you can deploy one in a few minutes vs. waiting for a physical server deployment. You can also resize the plan and bring up multiple Cloud Servers quickly and easily for much less money. Dedicated servers usually involve contracts and setup fees while they take time to alter the RAM, etc.
Short answer, no. Cloud servers can be resized to a different plan through our control panel, all the way up to 15.5GB of RAM. Most common VPS offerings only offer the equivalent of 128MB up to 512MB RAM at most. With most VPS, you are not guaranteed the resources that you are paying for so other customer could be infringing on your allotment. We not only guarantee you will have the resources you are paying for when you need them, but you can also burst while additional resources are available.
Yes, you will get a private IP for each cloud server that offers free bandwidth between them.
Currently our Linux distributions are a base install of the OS. You have SSH access so you can install anything you need after the base installation, including a control panel such as Plesk
You can login to the control panel and "resize" the server. It usually takes a few minutes, depending on the amount of data you have stored. If the resources you need are not available in that server, it will migrate all your data, including operating system and IP address, to another server in our environment.
Each cloud server has 2 quad core processors that are at least 2Ghz+. The 256MB plan will get 1/64 of the CPU allocation, the 512MB plan will get 1/32 of the CPU allocation, and the 1GB plan will get 1/16 of the CPU allocation. The 2GB plan will get 1/ 8 CPU, the 4GB plan will get 1/4, the 8GB plan will get 1/2, and the 15.5GB plan will get all CPU allocation in the server.
At this time, you would have to upgrade the RAM in order to get more storage and vice versa.
Cloud files is not block level storage, so it cannot be mounted. Customers do use cloud files to offload static files, such as media files for example. Typically media files do not change and will not need to be written too as a database would.
We are working on this, however, right now you would have to pick from our linux distributions and would not be able to export an image.
We currently have cloud servers in the US only, we are hoping to be in the UK in the first half of 2010.
