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Archive for the ‘ServePath’ Category

calendar_gogridSometimes it is important to reflect back on activities and achievements of the past year in order to focus on the road ahead. 2009 was a year full of “firsts” and exciting announcements for GoGrid and I thought that I would quickly summarize and highlight a some blog posts of interest.

I have personally enjoyed documenting our achievements, analyzing trends, reviewing opportunities, showcasing new clients and partners as well as musing about Cloud Computing in general. Much of the writing on the GoGrid blog during 2009 was my own, however, the people who have helped provide me inspiration are countless, ranging from those within GoGrid to others creating the cloud community at large.

The journey through 2009 has definitely been an exciting one. Looking back on 2009 should make all users, creators and consumers of the cloud very proud. We have done a tremendous amount in 2009! So without further ado, below are a few selected posts of interest from the GoGrid blog for each month during 2009.

January 2009

February 2009

March 2009

April 2009

May 2009

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

Whew! If you made it all the way to the end of this post, I congratulate you! If you have read all of the linked articles, you deserve an award or are truly a GoGrid Fan (by the way, be sure to become a fan of GoGrid on our Facebook page).

I hope that 2009 was as outstanding for you as it was for us!


SUSF_give_ideas_exlaxThis past Wednesday night, GoGrid was the host of another StartUp SF (along with co-host Microsoft BizSpark of which we are a Hosting Partner). The guest speaker was David Weekly, founder of PBWorks, a client of GoGrid & ServePath. StartUp SF is a regular meetup in San Francisco designed to help young businesses become more successful. Each meetup has a format designed to stimulate, engage and network in a social learning environment. Each event has a guest speaker who talks about expert subject matter and how it relates to helping startups. Also, successful companies showcase their products and services in an interactive manner with product demos occurring throughout the event.

Full details from the 12/02/09 event are on the StartUp SF page.

Below is the video of David’s talk titled “Give Your Ideas Ex-Lax“:

David Weekly (PBWorks) Speaks at StartUp SF v2.2 from HighTechDad on Vimeo.

His presentation is also available on SlideShare and is below:

GoGrid regularly hosts StartUp SF and we look to bring you many more in 2010!


GoGrid, and parent company ServePath, are excited to announce participation in Microsoft’s new WebsiteSpark Program, specifically targeted towards Web Professionals. Using WebsiteSpark, Web Pros can drive new business opportunities through connections with partners and customers around the world.

wnhp-banner-branded

Before jumping into the details and Q&A, if you already know that you want to participate in this program with either GoGrid or ServePath as your Hosting partner, please visit our signup pages on the GoGrid site or ServePath site.

But what does all of this mean? Trust me, I have read through all of the 19 pages of Frequently Asked Questions and Program documentation and it is a bit overwhelming. So, this blog post is really an effort to try to cull out the critical points of importance for you. However, if there are any questions that you do have after reading this, I encourage you to talk to some WebsiteSpark folks or sales reps at GoGrid or ServePath. At a high-level, this is an incredibly helpful program targeted towards Web Professionals.

Probably the best way to approach this is through a series of questions and answers.

What is WebsiteSpark?

Similar to the Microsoft BizSpark program, WebsiteSpark is designed to help small companies ramp up their business, web dev and design capabilities and offerings. Those companies who qualify for WebsiteSpark can add Microsoft product and platform proficiency to their business credentials as well as help create new business opportunities by connecting them with partners (like Web Hosters) and customers via increased visibility.

What is a “Web Pro”?

Web Pro stands for Web Professional. These are individuals or small companies that specialize in web development, web-based Value-Added Providers (VAPs), web-savvy IT generalists, web design or the management or creation of web services.

How do I qualify to participate in WebsiteSpark?

The qualification is fairly simple. First, your business must primarily focus on providing Web development and/or design services or solution to your customers. Second, your company must have 10 or less members (this includes owners, employees and contractors). Those are the “hard” requirements.

Additionally, you must develop and deploy a minimum of one new website using Microsoft tools and servers within 6 months of enrollment. These websites must be logged with Microsoft. Also, you and your business must be enrolled in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN – formerly known as the Microsoft Partner Program).

So I’m interested and I qualify, what do I get by enrolling?

The benefits abound! For starters, you get: New Business Opportunities, Support & Training, and Access to Software & Solutions. Let’s explore these a bit more:

  • New Business Opportunities
    • WebsiteSpark Marketplace – be found by customers by building a web presence to showcase your capabilities, all with a simplified process to connect with qualified customers
    • Partner Recruiting Portal – if you need a partner to compliment or add to your offering or skill set, you can find them within this portal
    • Web App Gallery – find off-the-shelf Web applications and solutions to make your business even better. In the form of a gallery of offerings, you can choose applications that have been designed and built to work within the Microsoft Web platform…all without headaches.
  • Support & Training
    • Receive professional support from Microsoft as well as Network Partners, Hosting Partners and other Web Pros
    • 2 professional support incidents per program membership
    • Free online training
    • Managed newsgroups on the Microsoft Developers Network (MSDN)
  • Access to Software & Solutions
    • Design/Dev/Testing Tools: Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition (3 licenses), Expression Studio 2/3 (1 license), Expression Web 2/3 (2 licenses), Windows Web Server 2008 (3 licenses) and SQL Server 2008 Web (3 licenses)
    • Production & Deployment: Windows Web Server 2008 & SQL Server 2008 Web
    • Special Offers: DotNetPanel control panel to manage web site hosting parameters

What is the cost to join?

There is actually no up-front cost to join WebsiteSpark and receive the benefits. There is a Program Offering Fee of $100 (USD) when your company exits the program. Additionally, if you choose a Hosting  or Network Partner, there may be (reduced) fees associated with using their services.

Ok, that’s cool, but how does GoGrid or ServePath come into the mix?

Obviously, if you are a web application developer or designer, you need to host your or your clients’ apps, services or products somewhere. This is something where WE are experts! If you are looking for the LARGEST Windows Server 2003 and 2008 Cloud Hosting provider out there, then you should choose GoGrid or ServePath as your Hosting Partner within the WebsiteSpark program. If you want to set up a hybrid hosting solution using a combination of cloud and dedicated servers (we call it Cloud Connect) , we are one of the few hosting providers that can do this.

We have put together a robust hosting package, with discounts not available to the general public.There are 3 specific packages available: GoGrid Windows Package, GoGrid/ServePath Hybrid Windows Package and ServePath Windows Package. The details are below:

The GoGrid Windows Package offers not only GoGrid credit towards a new GoGrid account, we also want to help you move your site over to our Cloud and are providing a $100 credit to help you start.

Special Price Normal Price
GoGrid Windows Package $ 99.99/mo +
$ 200 credit
$ 349.98/mo
GoGrid Business Cloud Package $ 99.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
F5 Hardware Load Balancing Service FREE FREE
10 GB Cloud Storage FREE FREE
$100 WebsiteSpark GoGrid Service Credit $100 credit N/A
$100 Professional Services Credit (for migration) $100 credit N/A
Windows Server 2003 or Server 2008 FREE FREE
SQL Server 2008, Web Edition or SQL Server 2005 Standard (WebsiteSpark Startup Program) FREE Web – $99.99/mo
Standard – $249.99/mo
WebsiteSpark Membership FREE FREE

The GoGrid/ServePath Hybrid Windows Package gives you the best of all worlds with the ability to create a hybrid infrastructure environment using both Cloud and Dedicated infrastructures.

Special Price Normal Price
GoGrid / ServePath Hybrid Windows Package $499.96/mo +
$100 credit
$1,499.93/mo
GoGrid Business Cloud Package $ 99.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
$100 WebsiteSpark GoGrid Service Credit $100 credit N/A
GoGrid Cloud Connect (connect GoGrid cloud to dedicated servers) FREE $ 49.99
Cloud Server DMZ FREE $ 49.99
F5 Hardware Load Balancing Service (GoGrid cloud servers only) FREE FREE
10 GB Cloud Storage FREE FREE
UltraPath 2 x Quad core 12GB RAM 5×73 SAS RD5 $ 299.99/mo $ 599.99/mo
SQL Server 2008 Web or SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (WebsiteSpark Startup Program) FREE $499.99/mo
Fortinet HW Firewall w/ VPN & Antivirus $ 49.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery $ 49.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
25 GBs NAS FREE FREE
WebsiteSpark Membership FREE FREE

For those interested in a dedicated hosting plan only, we provide the ServePath Windows Package which has incredibly nice discounts across the board.

Special Price* Normal Price*
ServePath Windows Package $ 799.92/mo $2,259.90/mo
BusinessPath Core 2 Duo 2.13, 4GB RAM 80GB $ 99.99/mo $ 199.99/mo
BusinessPath Core 2 Duo 2.13, 4GB RAM 80GB $ 99.99/mo $ 199.99/mo
Windows Server 2008 Web or Windows Server 2008 or 2003 Standard Ed. (WebsiteSpark Startup Program) (x2 servers) FREE $129.99/mo
UltraPath 2 x Quad core 12GB RAM 5×73 SAS RD5 $ 349.99/mo $ 599.99/mo
SQL Server 2008 Web or SQL Server 2005 Standard Edition (WebsiteSpark Startup Program) FREE $499.99/mo
Private Network $ 24.99/mo $ 49.99/mo
Fortinet HW Firewall w/ VPN & Antivirus $ 39.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery $ 39.99/mo $ 99.99/mo
Add servers to Backup Package (x2) $ 19.99 $ 79.99
SSL VPN Included $ - $ -
Managed Load Balancing Service (x3) $ 124.99/mo $ 299.99/mo
25 GBs NAS FREE FREE
BizSpark Membership FREE FREE
Setup Fee
$399.99 $1,399.99

(*1 year commitment required)

If you are not sure which package is the best for you, be sure to contact a GoGrid or ServePath Sales Representative. They will not only help you through your choices, but also can provide you with a GoGrid trial credit to get you going in the GoGrid Cloud.

Where can I find out more information?

Probably the best way is to talk to a GoGrid or ServePath Sales Representative (as mentioned previously). However, the Microsoft WebsiteSpark site does have a lot of helpful information including a Program Guide (note: direct link to Adobe PDF document). Also, feel free to leave any questions you may have as a comment on this post.

We hope that you sign up with WebsiteSpark with GoGrid/ServePath as your hosting partner. It’s a tremendous program that you would be foolish not to take advantage of.


It’s been a great 1.5 years since we originally launched the GoGrid cloud back in March of 2008. We had several market firsts during that time including:

  • Award-winning Graphical User Interface via any standard, modern web browser
  • Windows Server 2003 in the Cloud
  • Windows Server 2008 in the Cloud
  • API under a Creative Commons Share Alike license to help drive standards in the Cloud
  • $100 credits during the beta period
  • Hybrid Cloud/Dedicated Server Networks via Cloud Connect
  • Microsoft SQL Server Express, Workgroup & Standard as GoGrid images

Out of Beta

During our beta period, we had several thousand customers instantiate a variety of infrastructures within the GoGrid cloud, ranging from simple 1 server implementations to complex hybrid multi-server, load-balance network infrastructures. We also have customers ranging from startups/bootstrappers to SMBs to Education to Government to Enterprise. It is truly astounding to see they different types of complex infrastructures or business solutions that people are coming up with using the GoGrid cloud.

no-beta_crop

GG2_cloud_cdSo today, we officially announced that the core GoGrid infrastructure is out of beta. As a side note, we have always fully honored our Service Level Agreement (SLA) despite the fact that it explicitly says that it does not apply to anything under the “beta” tag. We believed it to be important to our customers to provide as much professional support and peace of mind as possible. We understand that not everybody is used to diving in head first into not only a IT technology shift (of cloud computing) but also putting faith in new products (like GoGrid or EC2 or any other cloud providers). However, the market has validated what we are doing as thought-leaders in cloud computing and we have been receiving great analyst coverage (Gartner Cool Vendor and “Visionary” Magic Quadrant placement).

Our “What’s New” page on the GoGrid site outlines a few of the key features and enhancements that were part of the catalyst for removing the beta label including:

  • MyGSI – an easy and semi-automated process for creating, editing, deploying, and managing a repository of Golden Images. (Details on this blog post.)
  • Faster Server Deployments – Linux deployments average < 2 minutes; Windows in < 5 minutes (depending on overall system load)
  • 99.99% uptime achieved since the beginning of Q2 2009

Webinars

We will be hosting 2 webinars to further introduce you to the new MyGSI feature.

  • Wednesday, August 19th @ 2pm PST – Register
  • Thursday, August 20th @ 10am PST – Register

Please register and bring your questions about MyGSI, GoGrid or Cloud Computing in general.

Press Release

The following press release was issued today about GoGrid leaving beta.

GoGrid Officially Comes Out of Beta with Performance and Feature Enhancements

New features, infrastructure refinements and cloud computing thought-leadership propel GoGrid to new heights, leaving the “beta” tag far behind.

San Francisco, CA August 19, 2009—Today GoGrid, the Cloud Computing service from ServePath, officially announced that its core cloud computing infrastructure hosting product is out of beta. GoGrid version 2.0 was released on August 6th, 2009, which included the important MyGSI feature that gives users the ability to create personal server images for rapid server cloning or parking.

With over a year and a half of innovation, development and engineering refinements, coupled with thousands of live customers running both Windows and Linux server infrastructure, GoGrid is clearly a leader within the cloud infrastructure hosting marketplace. Recently positioned in the “visionary” quadrant by a leading analyst firm, GoGrid enables IT professionals to have an alternative to costly dedicated, colocated or private datacenters by hosting that infrastructure in the GoGrid cloud.

Some notable points of GoGrid 2.0 and GoGrid in general:

  • Ability to create, save, store and deploy custom server images (MyGSIs) – NEW
  • 99.99% uptime achieved since the start of Q2 2009 – NEW
  • Dramatic reduction in server deployment times – NEW
  • Award-winning management web portal – NEW UI enhancements
  • Programmatic control using REST-like API under Creative Commons Share Alike license – UPDATED
  • Windows Server 2008 & 2003 – UPDATED
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 & 5.1 – UPDATED
  • CentOS Linux 4.4, 4.5 & 5.1 – UPDATED
  • PHP 5, mySQL 5, PostgreSQL 8.1.1, Apache 2.2 – UPDATED
  • IIS 6 & 7, ASP.NET – UPDATED
  • Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Express, Workgroup & Standard – UPDATED
  • Persistent storage on all GoGrid Cloud Storage
  • Cloud Storage with 10 GB free
  • Free f5 load balancing
  • Cloud Connect feature to privately link the GoGrid cloud to dedicated or colocated environments within ServePath for hybrid infrastructure
  • Free, static, contiguous blocks of public IP addresses
  • Public and private networking within GoGrid Cloud
  • Free 24/7/365 support

“Coming out of beta is an important achievement for GoGrid,” said John Keagy, CEO and Co-Founder of GoGrid and ServePath. “This notable event further affirms our commitment to providing our customers with an enterprise-ready product, complete with the product and support infrastructure that our customers demand.”

GoGrid Version 2.0, complete with the new MyGSI functionality, is currently available to all GoGrid customers, and also includes a number of feature enhancements as well as improved server deployment speeds. Details of these and other new features in this important release can be found at the GoGrid’s What’s New page, the GoGrid blog, the GoGrid Wiki and GoGrid User Forums. For details or to sign up for GoGrid Cloud Hosting, please contact a Sales Representative at: www.GoGrid.com.

About GoGridhttp://www.GoGrid.com
GoGrid is a leading Cloud Infrastructure Hosting provider that delivers true “Control in the Cloud™”. GoGrid enables system administrators, developers, IT professionals and SaaS (Software as a Service) vendors to create, deploy, and control load balanced cloud servers and complex hosted virtual server networks with full root access and administrative server control. GoGrid server instances maintain the industry standard specifications with no requirement to learn and adapt to proprietary standards. Bringing up servers and server networks takes minutes via a unique web control panel or GoGrid’s award winning API. GoGrid delivers portal controlled servers for Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, SQL Server, and ASP.NET. GoGrid also hosts multiple open-source server operating systems including several Linux operating systems (Red Hat Enterprise and CentOS) and supports application environments like Ruby on Rails. Free f5 hardware load balancing and other features are included to give users the control of a familiar datacenter environment with the flexibility and immediate scalability of the cloud, a “cloudcenter.” GoGrid won LinuxWorld Expo’s 2008 Best of Show award.

About ServePathhttp://www.servepath.com
ServePath, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, is the leading managed and dedicated hosted server provider, delivering custom solutions and managed services to businesses that require powerful Internet hosting platforms for their production environments. Thousands of companies worldwide look to ServePath for its reliability, customization, and speed. ServePath has a Keynote-rated A+ network and guarantees uptime with a 10,000% guaranteed™ Service Level Agreement. The employee-owned company has been in business for nine years and operates its own San Francisco data center and is SAS70 Type II certified. ServePath uniquely delivers server infrastructures optimized for complex databases with cloud front-ends and application servers with Cloud Connect.

The full press release is also available online.

Moving Forward

We have many exciting new features and enhancements coming. Unfortunately I can’t go into the details because it would spoil the surprise! But stay tuned, subscribe to our blog feed, follow us on Twitter and become a fan of the new GoGrid Facebook Fan Page!


CloudWorld Expo 2009 kicks off this week in San Francisco, and GoGrid is an exhibitor. Come visit us at booth #525 and see first hand our exciting new release of GoGrid 2.0 (which you can read about here). This show was previously known as LinuxWorld. Last year, we (GoGrid) won Best of Show and the year before that, our parent company, ServePath, won the Best Grid Solution Product Excellence Award.

cloudworld_expo_2009

We will be giving out high-value credits ($100 and up) for GoGrid at the booth so you are encouraged to drop by and meet with us. Do note that the Exhibit Hall is only open between the following hours:

Wednesday August 12, 2009
12:00 PM 1:15 PM
4:30 PM 6:30 PM

Thursday August 13, 2009
12:00 PM 1:15 PM
4:00 PM 6:00 PM

However, we will be at the booth during the various speaking times so if you do not want to hear a speaker, stick around after the Expo Hall “closes” for more personal time with us.

Speaker

Also, GoGrid CEO and Co-Founder, John Keagy, will be presentingHow To Get Started in the Cloud” which is on Wednesday, August 12th from 2:00-2:45pm. (Note: John’s presentation is under the Cloud Platform section but GoGrid is Cloud Infrastructure.)

Here is the abstract from John’s presentation:

The Cloud Computing phenomenon is happening NOW – it’s a reality and can provide more flexibility for your web hosting – faster, easier and at a lower cost. Companies do not need to own their own server hardware or network infrastructure anymore. The ease of scaling up or out when the need arises, the speed which new web applications can be designed, prototyped, tested, and deployed, and the inherent cost savings (CapEx to OpEx) are truly attractive. Cloud Computing is not just a buzz term we are hearing more and more, but the next wave of hosting infrastructure. As the Cloud continues to gain acceptance, developers, designers, sysadmins and IT professionals need to understand the advantages, best practices and how to get started using Cloud Computing.

In this session, John Keagy, founder and CEO of GoGrid will discuss:

  • What is Cloud Computing – The Cloud Pyramid
  • The Benefits of Cloud Computing & Hybrid Hosting
  • What can Cloud Computing do for me and my business
  • The Competitive Landscape & Key Differentiators
  • Cost Savings of Cloud Computing – pay only for what you need
  • How to determine when to utilize Cloud Computing
  • How should you get started using the Cloud?
  • How to identify what to put in the cloud first

We hope to see you at CloudWorld!