Advanced Networking Options

Virtual Rack

       Our Virtual Rack option allows your multiple server environment to operate as a single network, with unlimited free data transfer between the servers and a single bandwidth metering point between your private VLAN and the Internet.

       All servers within your Virtual Rack environment will be connected to 1Gbps switch ports. All of our quad-core and larger servers come with 1Gbps network interfaces to take full advantage of the 1Gbps switch ports.

       All servers within your Virtual Rack environment will also be powered by web-enabled, switched power outlets. This allows for instant self-service server reboots, if a server should need it. Of course you can always contact us to help with any "system down" or hardware issue.

       With the Virtual Rack solution, you choose your dedicated Internet bandwidth amount "a la carte", for all of the servers combined. Bandwidth between your servers is not counted toward this, only bandwidth passing into and out of your Virtual Rack environment.

       Any server hosted with M5Hosting may be added to your Virtual Rack. However, if you add previously existing servers to your Virtual Rack, we may need to move one or more of them to one of our specially equiped racks for you to take full advantage of gigabit switchports and switched power outlets. There is no practical limit to the number of servers in your Virtual Rack. The number is not limited to the physical dimensions of a rack.

       The Virtual Rack Option has been priced at $25/month for each server in your Virtual Rack, but is being introduced at no cost when you buy 10Mbps or more of our Bandwidth A La Carte.

Private VLAN

       Normally all data that passes through the single switchport to which each server is connected will count toward the bandwidth allocation for that particular server. The advantage to this is that it is an easy and reliable way to track bandwidth for a single server. The disadvantage to this is that data sent between multiple hosted servers is counted the same as data sent to or from the Internet, even though it is local. Even worse, it's counted twice: in on one server and out on the other.

       We can configure a "Private VLAN" providing unmetered and unlimited traffic between your servers. Each server will have its second network interface connected to this private VLAN. Each interface connected to this private VLAN will be assigned a private IP address (also known as an RFC 1918 address). You can send data between your servers via this second network interface by using the private IP address range for traffic between servers. Any traffic sent through this private VLAN is not counted toward your billed bandwidth allocation. The Internet-facing interface of each server is billed as usual, and there will be no change in the price or limits of the bandwidth. This is recommended for customers who will use less than the included bandwidth per server if the private data transfer is not counted.

       To order Private VLAN, all of your servers must have two network interfaces. Our quad-core and larger servers all have two gigabit network interfaces. Our dual-core servers do not, but dual-core servers can be used with our "Virtual Rack" option.

       The Private VLAN option is priced at $15/month for each server interface, and a one time setup charge of $15 for each server.

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