by Joe Gleinser
15. April 2010 16:43
I've often called out Google and other cloud computing vendors that promise cost savings. The truth is that the SMB market makes better decisions with their IT dollars than larger businesses. The often touted savings just don't exist! Cloud computing is new-enough and its vendors proud-enough that most offerings have a very large margin priced in. Enter SoftLayer. SoftLayer delivers a range of managed hosting options as wells as CloudLayer. CloudLayer is a virtualized, highly available infrastructure priced to compete with on-premise solutions in the SMB space.
Unlike other cloud infrastructure providers, SoftLayer features technology frequently found in the SMB. They utilize Fortinet, Dell's Equallogic and Citrix's Xen Server. You'll also find SuperMicro servers and Array Networks load balancers. A powerful web interface enables rapid provisioning and easy management across SoftLayer's three data centers. Pricing for their Public Cloud option starts at only $99 per month for 1 Core + 1GB RAM + 100GB Storage. Bandwidth is included up to 2TB of outbound traffic while inbound and server-to-server is not metered.
SoftLayer data centers are SAS 70 Type II certified and feature bandwidth or peering with many of the top telecoms. They claim 20,000 servers and more than 5700 customers. In a market dominated by enterprise focused companies, it is exciting to see a cloud solution priced for the SMB. I'm planning a trip to Dallas for the tour shortly and an extensive evaluation. I'll fill in more details when available.