SoftLayer Offers Mix-and-Match Servers, Storage and Clouds

By Geoff Spick | Published May 12, 2009

SoftLayer (news, site) offers a range of server-based systems from plain storage to dedicated multi-processor servers. Now, it adds a CloudLayer to offer a wide-ranging cloud package to the enterprise.

CloudLayer

SoftLayer has been racking hardware together in secure locations across America since 2005 for remote access by enterprise users. This is increasingly thought of as "the Cloud" and SoftLayer has picked the snappy title, CloudLayer for its range of new services to ensure CIOs know exactly what it is selling.

CloudLayer is built on Citrix XenServer technology and consists of storage, computing and content delivery. Customers can store images of their chosen OS and applications and access them from KVM clients, portable devices or other systems.

Also supported are Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V and Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, allowing users to mix and match dedicated servers and cloud computing resources. Heavy data loads can be run on cloud or dedicated servers, and content for customers can be spread among the nodes of the content delivery network for speedy delivery.

CloudLayer's storage options cater for all devices

This smorgasbord of cloud capabilities comes with the brave claim of being up and running in just five minutes. CloudLayer is available with such consumer-friendly plans as hourly or monthly billing, making it look just like a phone contract (something that would be ideal for start-ups or rapidly growing organizations). It successfully turns the huge processing power — hiding in the background — into just another commodity.

Storage, Bandwidth and Processing Power Galore

Highly scalable, clients can get as much storage, bandwidth and processing power as required from SoftLayer. Besides operating as stand-alone solutions, every CloudLayer service can interface with SoftLayer’s dedicated servers and automated services to create a fully integrated system.

The CDN feature of CloudLayer is ideal for companies with heavy video streaming demands and all storage is redundant and secured.

Computing costs go from US$ 99 for a single core, 1GB RAM and 100GB of storage to US$ 299 for eight cores, 8GB RAM and 100GB storage. Plain storage goes from just US$ 10 for 50GB.

With SoftLayer also offering reselling services and a huge range of system solutions and services, CloudLayer brings the company bang into the cloud revolution with compelling and uncomplicated offerings that could do a lot to strip the mystery out of the area.