Ike Update: The Planet Up, But Galveston Down

Thousands of web sites hosted at The Planet remained online throughout Hurricane Ike, which battered Houston as it moved inland. Utility power is out in much of the Houston area, but The Planet's two data centers in north Houston switched to generator power without incident and have experienced no service interruptions.

"Operations inside our data centers continue to be normal and without incident," reported Eric Bush, Data Center Supervisor at The Planet, who provided regular storm updates on the company's customer forum. "Ticket volume continues to be normal. Our technicians are working tickets as if it were a normal day."

Local networks didn't fare as well.

There were widespread Internet access outages for Texas residents, with more than 110 networks in Houston experiencing downtime, according to an update from Renesys. "In particular, Galveston, which is historically subject to hurricanes, has largely fallen off the Internet," writes Martin Brown at Rensys. The exception is the Univeristy of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) unit in Galveston, which remained online. "Those hardy souls have won my respect and admiration," Brown notes.

Although it remained online, Galveston officials noted ealier today that UTMB has been flooded by several feet of water in some areas, and is "in no condition to receive critical care patients," providing a reminder that many Galveston residents have much larger problems than not being able to access the Internet.