Chris Allen

Update: Generator Maintenance

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Hi everyone, just a quick update to let you know what’s been going on around HA Hosting recently.

 

Regular Maintenance

As many of you probably know, we have a generator on-site that automatically starts as a form of redundancy if the main power and UPS fail. Luckily, we rarely ever have to use it – but better safe than sorry!
To make sure it stays in top condition for when/if we need it, we make sure to have it has regular maintenance. Last week it was due for one of its twice a year maintenance, so we had an engineer come visit and take a look at it.

Fortunately, there were no issues to report (that’s what we like to hear) and the whole review and minor service only took the engineer just under a couple of hours. Between the regular maintenance and our regular tests, the generator is usually always in great working condition.

Engineer performing generator maintenance

Updates In-Bound

This is just one of the regular tasks that happen at HA Hosting to make sure we keep our redundancy and services up as much as physically possible!
Keep an eye out for more updates on things we’re getting up to here. We’ll be putting out more of these small update-style blogs so you can stay informed about the work we de in the background.

Update: New Client Portal

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Update: New Client Portal

 

New Client Portal

You may remember that just before Christmas about the move from WHMCS to HostBill.

Following on from that, we now have another new move that will affect how you interact and use the client portal. Previously the client portal you had access and used was through WHMCS, and since the migration, we’ve been preparing to swap this to solely HostBill too.

The biggest change here is of course where the Portal is located. We’ve had a warning with a hyperlink on the log-in page for the WHMCS portal, which will take you to the new HostBill portal. If you want to visit the new portal now, click here.

This will be the client portal you need to use going forward.

 

Password Reset

Following this changeover, for security reasons, you will need to reset your password for your client portal account. You can do this by clicking ‘Forgot Your Password?’.

Your ‘current’ password will no longer work, so if you can’t log-in and you’ve not reset your password, this is why.

We have added a message at the top of the new client portal log-in page, which will prompt you to reset your password on your first log-in. After you have reset your password, you can continue to use the client portal for whatever you need to.

 

Support

We aren’t expecting any errors with log-ins, but if you still can’t access the client portal after resetting your password, please get in touch with support. Our guys will do their best to get you up and running as normal, as quick as they can!

To contact support, please email: [email protected]

 

Further Updates

As we update and change things in the future, we’ll keep every updated about what happens and when. We’ll be letting you know by email, but a good way to keep up to date is by following us on social media or checking our blog for updates. We keep these channels updated with the latest updates from HA Hosting.

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Christmas & New Year 2019

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Hi everyone! It’s that time of year again where the Christmas and New Year holidays are almost upon us!

 

Like most people, we’ll be busy relaxing and enjoying ourselves over the Christmas period with some well-earned time off from the office! We hope you have some nice plans made over the next week or so.

 

Christmas/New Year’s Availability

As you can sort of expect, we do have some days over the next couple of weeks where no-one is in the office. During these days there will be no regular services or support available. If you desperately need us, we are available for emergency infrastructure support. However, unless your services included this, you will be subjected to an out of hours charge.

 

Fingers crossed nothing has a meltdown over these days so both you and our tech guys can have a relaxing, stress-free Christmas!

 

Here are our office hours for the next couple weeks over the Christmas/New Year Period:

 

Monday 23rd December – Sunday 29th December

    • Monday 23rd December – Normal office hours 8 am – 6 pm. Escorted access hours until 5 pm
    • Tuesday 24th December – Half day 8 am – 2 pm No escorted access/Emergency infrastructure support only after 2 pm
    • Wednesday 25th December – No escorted access / Emergency infrastructure support only
    • Thursday 26th December – No escorted access / Emergency infrastructure support only
    • Friday 27th December – Normal office hours 8 am – 6 pm. Escorted access hours until 5 pm
    • Saturday 28th December – Emergency access/support only
  • Sunday 29th December – Emergency access/support only

 

Monday 30th December – Friday 3rd January

  • Monday 30th December – Normal office hours 8 am – 6 pm. Escorted access hours until 5 pm
  • Tuesday 31st December – Half day 8 am – 2 pm No escorted access/ Emergency infrastructure support only after 2 pm
  • Wednesday 1st January – No escorted access / Emergency infrastructure support only
  • Thursday 2nd January – Normal office hours 8 am – 6 pm. Escorted access hours until 5 pm
  • Friday 3rd January – Normal office hours 8 am – 6 pm. Escorted access hours until 5 pm

If you need emergency support call 0114 2280022, option 2.
Remember, you will be charged an Out of Hours callout if the issue is not data centre infrastructure related.

  • Customers with 24/7 access continue as normal.
  • Customers with 24/7 x 365 support can continue to contact us as normal, simply call the usual number, option 2.

 

Have a Great Christmas!

With all the official business out of the way, we hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year! We look forward to being back and helping however we can in January!

With thanks and a Merry Christmas!
The HA Hosting Team

What Size Colocation Rack Do I Need? UK Buyer Guide

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Picking the right size rack for your colocation deployment looks simple (more servers means a bigger rack) but the real constraints are kilowatts of power and units of vertical space, in that order. This guide walks you through sizing properly so you do not over-buy or run out a year in.

The three things that determine rack size

Power draw (kW). Modern dense servers can pull 400W to 800W under load. Eight 1U servers at 600W each is 4.8 kW, already pushing a quarter rack envelope. Power is usually the binding constraint, not U.

Rack units (U). 1U servers fit eight to twelve in a quarter rack, depending on cable management and switches. If your hardware is taller (2U, 4U) or includes storage shelves, U becomes the constraint.

Growth runway. If you expect to double headcount and infrastructure in two years, plan for it in the rack size now. Migrating from quarter to half rack is straightforward but it is still planned downtime you do not need.

The four sizes and what they suit

Single server colocation (1U to 4U)

One or two servers, no concrete plan to add more. Pay-as-you-go feel, lowest entry cost. Power and bandwidth are included up to standard limits, no rack of your own. Suits side projects, single production apps, small consultancies. From £52.50 per month. See Single Server Colocation.

Quarter rack (typically 10U to 12U, up to 2.5 kW)

Three to eight 1U servers, your own switch, your own PDUs, room to add a couple more. Most common starting size for a growing business. Quarter rack is the break-even point versus running multiple single-server contracts. From £162.50 per month. See Quarter Rack Colocation.

Half rack (typically 21U to 24U, up to 5 kW)

Six to fifteen 1U servers, or a mix of compute and storage. Heavier workloads, mid-sized teams, organisations with multiple application stacks to host. Quarter to half rack is the upgrade most customers do once their kW headroom runs out. See Half Rack Colocation.

Full rack (typically 45U, up to 8 kW or more)

Twenty-plus servers, multiple top-of-rack switches, dedicated storage shelves, the works. The right answer for serious production workloads, hyper-converged clusters, dense compute. See Full Rack Colocation.

How to size your deployment

Step 1: List your hardware

Server model, U count per box, rated power draw per box (read the PSU rating, multiply by typical utilisation around 70%), plus any networking, PDU and KVM gear.

Step 2: Sum the U

Add up the U for every device that will live in the rack, including switches and patch panels. Add 2U to 3U for blanking panels, cable management and future spares. That is your real U requirement.

Step 3: Sum the kW

Sum the typical power draw of every device. Add 20% headroom for spikes. Compare to the rack’s kW envelope.

Step 4: Pick by whichever runs out first

If U fits but kW does not, you need a bigger rack or a less dense workload. If kW fits but U does not, you need a bigger rack or 1U replacements for 2U boxes. If both fit comfortably, you have the right size.

Step 5: Check growth runway

If you will fill more than 60% of either U or kW on day one, look at the next size up. The marginal cost is usually worth the operational headroom.

Common sizing mistakes

  • Sizing by U only. The most common mistake. Eight 1U servers does not always fit a quarter rack if the servers are power-hungry.
  • Ignoring switches and patch panels. These eat U without anyone noticing until install day.
  • No growth plan. A perfectly-sized rack on day one is a too-small rack in 18 months.
  • Forgetting blanking panels. Every empty U needs one for cooling. Plan for them in the U budget.

Get a proper quote

Send us your hardware list and we will size the right rack and quote it. Our UK Server Colocation covers single server through full rack, all in our ISO 27001 Sheffield data centre, all UK-managed.

Richard Joins The HA Hosting Team

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HA Hosting Welcomes Richard to the Team

 

Recently we’ve had a new member join the HA Hosting Team as our new Technical Team Leader. We’d like to officially introduce Richard to you all – I’m sure you’ll join us in giving him a warm welcome!

Some of you might have already had the chance to chat to Richard, as he’s been here for a little while now. He’s already been making a big impact around here, improving a lot of our current systems with his expertise!

Richard joins the team

We got Richard to write out a brief introduction to himself:

 

Hi, my name is Richard and I have started here over at HA Hosting as the new Technical Team Leader.

I’ve been in the IT “Game” for nearly 20 years and have come in to organise and streamline the support department and fingers crossed get you all some nice shiny new products to play with! I have a long VOIP background and this will allow us to roll out some cutting-edge SIP products.

In what little spare time, I have left I enjoy hiking and camping with the family and like us all, a few scoops down the local~!

Richard Hiking

(Richard in his element, hiking!)

We’re looking forward to seeing what the future holds for HA Hosting with Richard onboard! We’re sure our progression will be exciting!

Of course, we’ll keep you up to date as and when anything exciting happens!

Moving From WHMCS to HostBill

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Always Looking to Improve

Because we’re always looking for the next best “thing” for our customers, we’re currently migrating our Client Management System away from WHMCS to HostBill.

Once complete, HostBill will replace a number of different control panels and will give a more seamless customer experience. This includes DNS and rDNS, Web Hosting & Email, Exchange, and Virtual (Cloud) Servers.

HostBill will also replace WHMCS for billing, support tickets, and user/contact management.

And yes, access to the console of Virtual Servers IS FINALLY HERE!

 

Pardon Our Dust

During a part of the migration, some “welcome” emails and some historical emails have accidentally sneaked out to a few customers. As you can imagine this lead to a handful of confused support tickets.

We’re sorry for any confusion caused if you’ve any of these unwanted emails from us.

facepalm meme

We will be running both systems in parallel until January 2020, which we’re then hoping to be 100% on HostBill. In the meantime, if you get an email from us you’re not expecting, just let us know and we’ll confirm if any action is needed.

 

Migration Details

  • Customers who pay by Credit/Debit card will be the first to be fully migrated from the 2nd December
  • Direct Debit and PayPal customers shortly after
  • BACS customers before the end of December.

 

Historical access to invoices and old tickets will be retained online until December 2020 via WHMCS. If you need an older invoice after this you’ll have to get in touch with us and we’ll find them for you.

These changes should make things easier overall for both you and us!

If you have any questions about the migration or have received a confusing email from us, just give us a shout and we’ll see how we can help.

 

Thanks,

The HA Hosting Team