How Brinkster’s Cloud IaaS and Proprietary Datacenter Hardware are Powering the Web Apps of SMBs and Enterprise-Level Businesses Worldwide

Brinkster Powers The Web Apps Of Modern Businesses

TL; DR: Since its inception almost two decades ago, Brinkster has delivered effective Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) solutions to more than 50,000 customers in 175 countries around the globe. Having partnered with cutting-edge tech companies, such as Cisco and Arista, for core networking equipment and 10GB switches for protection, Brinkster provides top-tier, enterprise-class connectivity and performance to modern organizations seeking to swiftly deliver web apps to market. With its forward-focused technology, Brinkster helps businesses organize IT infrastructure through innovative solutions, including cloud storage, VMware servers, SolidFire integration, and feature-packed hosting plans — all while maintaining an environmentally conscious approach to its carbon footprint.

Brinkster was founded nearly 20 years ago as a basic shared and dedicated hosting provider. However, through careful observation of shifting industry trends, the company quickly reinvented itself to offer new ways to help customers more efficiently deliver web applications to market.

By anticipating and understanding the larger role the cloud was playing for the central IT teams of modern enterprises, the team at Brinkster knew it could leverage the multitier data storage it already had in place to ease cost and operational burdens for customers.

Brinkster logo and images depicting cloud, dedicated server, and shared hosting services

Brinkster offers a range of hosting solutions businesses can leverage to bring apps to market faster and profitably.

This allowed businesses to avoid costly expenditures on branded storage platforms and leverage a solution tailored to their specific needs.

“Brinkster’s one-on-one approach to understanding every customer’s unique architecture allows our customers’ applications to experience a predictable performance in the cloud,” Nathaniel Kemberling, Brinkster’s CTO, said in a case study.

Brinkster has also been able to set itself apart with its hands-on support, cloud environments backed by a high-performance guarantee, and by providing exceptional managed hosting for the mid-enterprise customer. However, it’s Brinkster’s mastery of cutting-edge technologies, such as cloud storage, VMware servers, and SolidFire integration, that has organizations — from SMBs to enterprises — turning to the company in droves to help maximize efficiencies and positively impact bottom lines.

Scalable, Customizable, and Secure Pay-as-You-Go Cloud Infrastructure

The concept of cloud computing has undergone many renditions over the years. From grid and utility computing to application service provision (ASP) and then Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), the idea of a global network appears to be here to stay.

The notion of a cloud network was initiated in the 1960s by J.C.R. Licklider, who was also responsible for enabling the development of the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET). Before it was known as the cloud, Licklider dubbed the concept the “intergalactic computer network.” His innovative vision conceptualized the prospect of everyone around the world having access to programs and data from anywhere at any time.

But it would still be some time before the internet could offer enough bandwidth to support true cloud computing. This problem was finally solved in the 1990s, and now many enjoy the benefits of cloud computing, including increased storage, flexibility, and lower costs for their personal and business needs. And companies like Brinkster help make this a reality.

“Roughly 95% of applications will run on cloud infrastructure in the next 10 years,” Nathaniel said. “And SolidFire gives us a way to cost-effectively provide the control and performance essential to deliver a better and more consistent experience to our customers.”

Brinkster offers a unique approach when it comes to customized cloud environments, which ensures that each customer application has its own level of guaranteed performance.

The company works with the industry market leader in virtualization, VMware, which gives clients the ability to create cloud environments that are private, secure, have increased datacenter efficiency, and business agility. VMWare’s out-of-the-box solution offers a complete software stack and IP to get a business up and running. The platform also provides the vCloud Architecture Toolkit, which includes handy implementing guides with enterprise production and support for service providers.

Brinkster’s vCloud Connector eases the on-boarding workload and management process. By allowing a reliable transfer of workload and data across private cloud and vCloud services, clients can rest easy their data won’t be lost or compromised.

“Installing and setting up the solution was a breeze and took no time at all,” said Brinkster customer Vince Kent, Director of IT Services for Trans-West. “The solution is performing exactly as expected, and I would not hesitate to add additional resources.”

Across all of its cloud services, compatibility and interoperability are a must for its customers. VMWare supports both new and existing applications and operates across public and private accounts, allowing Brinkster to leverage open standards and interfaces.

One of Brinkster’s more successful interfaces is its Hosted Desktop. As a fully managed solution, customers have access to a complete Windows environment, loaded with both MS apps and optional custom or traditional Windows applications provided by Brinkster or the customer. Brinkster’s Hosted Desktop performs like a physical desktop but replaces the need to be connected to an office or home PC. Customers can access their data with any cloud-ready device at anytime and from any place.

Feature-Packed Shared Hosting to Help SMBs Drive Revenue

Brinkster offers customers three tiers of shared hosting . The range of plans was created to respond to the needs of different types of businesses. Startups and SMBs can begin building online presence through Brinkster’s entry-level package. And, when they begin to scale, migration to a higher tier of shared hosting or even moving to a more robust solution, such as cloud or dedicated server hosting, is made simple.

Photo of a server stack and text stating reasons to choose Brinkster for hosting

Brinkster’s shared hosting plans are an ideal entry point for emerging web-based businesses to build online presence.

Priding itself on being a one-stop-shop for its customers, Brinkster also offers domain name and email services. A domain name can be purchased om three easy steps and paired with a hosting package. Also available are multiple levels of hosted email services — with Brinkster’s premiere package featuring Cloudmark spam/phishing/virus filtering, all-in-one attack protection, and cloud infrastructure with a mailbox size of 50GB.

Brinkster boasts a 100% uptime promise, which is backed by an ironclad tech support network ready to solve issues should they arise. And, with a 100% anytime money-back guarantee, businesses that make the move to Brinkster don’t have much to lose.

SolidFire: The Fuel That Drives High Performance

In the past, companies tried to boost performance by employing common methods such as adding extra disks to migrating customers. Although these techniques had small gains, backend performance variability was still an issue.

To combat these “noisy neighbor” application issues, Brinkster implemented SolidFire as a new and more stable form of SSD storage.

“As the cloud becomes the home for more true tier 1 applications, having solutions like SolidFire on the backend is essential,” Nathaniel said. “It’s the only way we will guarantee the enterprise-class level of service that our customers expect from a top cloud services provider.”

According to Nathaniel, nearly all applications will be running in the cloud within the next decade, and SolidFire gives Brinkster a way to deliver the control and performance necessary for consistent customer experiences.

Collage of the Brinkster and SolidFire logos

SSD storage through SolidFire guarantees optimal IOPS modern organizations rely on to power their web applications.

SolidFire allows managers to separately provision the storage performance (IOPS) and capacity (GBs) necessary, which enhances individual one-on-one approaches to each of their customer’s needs. Historically, managers didn’t feel comfortable with offering SLAs for QoS or guaranteed IOPS. SolidFire eliminates this problem by “giving executives the confidence to field a completely tunable, performance-based SLA that aligns with their current strategy,” according to Nathaniel.

“Customer retention can be improved by eliminating unpredictable storage performance and ensuring high-availability services,” Nathaniel said. “With SolidFire, tier 1 applications can now be offered cost-effectively in a cloud environment.”

Brinkster found partnering with different legacy SAN vendors proved to be cost prohibitive when trying to help companies scale infrastructure. As a result of integrating the SolidFire storage platform, Brinkster now utilizes a modular design that enables affordable scaling in 1U increments to correspond with customer demand.

A Corporate Social Responsibility to Leave No Footprints

As a major player in the datacenter space, Brinkster knows the importance of taking care of customers. That’s why the company is dedicated to surveying its impact on the world with a corporate social responsibility initiative that seeks to decrease its carbon footprint.

To achieve the lowest possible ecological imprint, Brinkster adjusted its operations to include more green energy sources. Thanks to its virtualization initiative, Brinkster has managed to reduce its energy consumption by 75% and purchases an increasing number of renewable energy credits for wind power sustainability each year.

Brinkster’s commitment to give back to the community and underserved populations is reflected in its culture and business practices. The company donates 1% of its revenue to charities and nonprofits, including Feed the Children, Save the Children, American Red Cross, EHC Africa, and the EWK Foundation. In addition, Brinkster’s nonprofit web hosting network offers discounted hosting to humanitarian organizations around the world.

Brinkster is making waves as a reliable hosting company with services that are helping modern businesses turn profits in the online space. And all signs point to the company continuing to do so for decades to come.

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