Rackspace has two virtual server hosting solutions based on virtualisation technology - Private Cloud or Public Cloud. Your needs as a business will determine which of these solutions is best for you.

Private Cloud

Our Private Cloud solution is a dedicated hosting environment using VMware virtualisation technology to provide a flexible yet secure and reliable virtual hosting solution.

A dedicated Private Cloud is provided on an infrastructure that is designed and built exclusively for you. This means that the solution can be built using the traditional security armoury of firewalls, private networks, server hardening etc. As a dedicated infrastructure you can also subscribe to any of the optional security services such as DDoS prevention, Intrusion Detection etc.

Private clouds can also be combined with a broad range of storage options (DAS, NAS, shared and dedicated SAN); many different data protection options (on-site and off-site backups, data replication); and a broad range of management and monitoring tools.

The virtualisation technology makes it possible to very easily assign more system resources to applications and services that are most in demand. At the same time, the physical constraints of the host environment will still limit bursting to the capacity of the dedicated environment. This makes Private Cloud ideal for seasonal environments that require security, but by the same token these solutions will not work well with the very spikiest requirements.

Start a live chat to find out what solution is best for you.

Public Cloud

Our public cloud solution is based on a shared infrastructure and uses Xen and Xen Server virtualisation technology.

Public cloud is a shared virtual server hosting environment that is open by design, providing a much lower price entry point (solutions start from 1p per hour). It's also provided with an Application Programming Interface (API) which enables common functions to be automated. This is most powerful when used to automate provisioning of virtual resources to accommodate increased demand. When the demand dies down, the same APIs enable resources to be deleted automatically. And when resources are deleted, you stop paying for them.

Available in a range of sizes, each Cloud Server gives you full root access and a wide choice of Linux distributions or Windows operating systems. Your costs will depend on how large a server you buy, how much bandwidth you use and how many hours you keep your Cloud Servers live. Cloud Servers are scalable in minutes and are ideal to cope with traffic spikes or test and development needs, plus you only pay for what you use.

Find out more about our public cloud servers.