IronScale Debuts Automated Managed Servers

Is there such a thing as fully automated managed hosting? "Managed" hosting usually means a provider is managing servers for a customer, providing advanced features like security, monitoring, load balancing and backup management.

StrataScale Inc. says it has automated many of these features in IronScale, a new service powered by an online provisioning system. IronScale differs from many recent cloud hosting offerings in that each customer gets their own server, rather than resources running atop a virtualized platform. It's essentially a dedicated server with a supercharged control panel that adds managed hosting features.

StrataScale is a subsidiary of RagingWire Enterprise Solutions, a Sacramento-based colocation and managed hosting specialist. RagingWire sees opportunity in managed hosting, and its market analysis found enterprises want on-demand provisioning, but don't want to share resources. "We sat down and said 'let's build a better mousetrap," said Doug Adams, the vice president of sales and marketing for StrataScale.

IronScale offers the benefits of both physical and virtual infrastructures, automating the provisioning and management of servers, security, storage, and networks. IronScale lets users dynamically increase capacity or storage, along with many other features typically associated with fully managed hosting.

"This is not a virtualized grid," said Adams. "It's a physical server. We offer a layer of control that no one else offers. We think it's a game changer."

IronScale “delivers the security and reliability of a dedicated physical infrastructure with the flexibility and ease of a virtual environment,” said Yatish Mishra, president of StrataScale. “For businesses looking to streamline their managed server environments and achieve greater efficiencies and a strong competitive advantage, IronScale is the ideal choice.”

IronScale offers three levels of servers on "enterprise-class" hardware.

Customers can add and upgrade servers through the online management system. load balancing and auto-failover to a backup servers are available as optional features for an additional fee.

IronScale says that its team of 30 developers is continuing to enhance the offering, with more features to come - including virtualization. "We're not virtualization bigots," said Adams. "We offer virtualization, and will eventually offer it with this product."