JavaPipe: Flexible Hosting Solutions Optimized for Java Developers and Backed By Lightning-Fast Customer Support

TL; DR: Founded in 2001, JavaPipe is a web host backed by experts specializing in Java. Headquartered in Salt Lake City with datacenters in America and Europe, JavaPipe delivers a comprehensive set of solutions, including DDoS protection, to ensure secure, high-performing, and reliable user experiences. With a focus on prompt customer support and a new WordPress hosting option powered by LiteSpeed, JavaPipe continues to deliver flexible hosting solutions for developers worldwide.

The internet gave John Larsen a voice — and he used that voice to knock down barriers to business ownership.

John, who is deaf, began dabbling in web development and hosting in the early 2000s after being laid off from a previous job. The effort proved fruitful, and John started to earn recurring income. “The internet helped level the playing field for me,” he said. “I ended up with a career in the tech industry.”

The design and development markets were becoming increasingly saturated, so John moved primarily into hosting. But that arena wasn’t sparsely populated, either.

“I needed to stand out somehow, you know, be unique in some way,” John said. “I researched Tomcat-based Java hosting and decided to write a platform to support Java developers because it was almost nonexistent at the time.”

Thus, JavaPipe was born.

Today, John and his tightknit team work around the clock to serve nearly 600 customers out of a network of datacenters in Amsterdam, Bucharest, and Chicago. The company’s unique, cloud-based Java hosting provides users the easy management inherent in a shared environment plus the control and resources of a dedicated server. Effective and customizable DDoS mitigation solutions keep customers secure, and the company’s new WordPress hosting service offers speed, performance, and scalability.

We sat down with John using his Sorenson Video Relay Service — complete with two-way video, ASL interpretation, and Voice Carry Over (VCO) technology — to discuss these solutions and more.

JavaPipe provides a flexible, customized solution tailored to Java developers looking to create secure, easy-to-maintain sites that are consistent across multiple platforms.

John said that many Java web hosts offer shared Java Virtual Machine (JVM) hosting, in which a single instance of Tomcat is split among several clients. While shared options are often less expensive, they typically lack the tools business-grade customers need because all clients use the same installation of the program. That means single users are unable to run specialized frameworks, view server logs, and restart the Tomcat web container.

JavaPipe, on the other hand, delivers fully managed hosting plans with the security, uptime, and bandwidth customers need plus private Tomcat instances for each user.

“For Java developers, and anyone hosting Java-based websites, the flexibility of the TomCat setup is our #1 benefit,” John said. “It’s not a shared Tomcat environment — each customer gets a full installation and complete control to run any framework and Java program.”

John said JavaPipe provides further web-based control through Interworx.com’s SiteWorx control panel, which is used to manage applications like email accounts, FTP, and databases. JavaPipe built a plugin for SiteWorx call Tomcat Control to provide tools that allow customers to stop and start their container as well as upload applications through the web graphical interface.

In addition, John said JavaPipe delivers a fast and reliable experience — especially when compared to free Java hosts. Customers working with free hosts may find themselves in constant competition for bandwidth while experiencing slow sites and server crashes. In addition to limited bandwidth, John said free providers often limit storage space, forcing users to upgrade to paid plans. With long-term solutions companies can grow into — rather than out of — JavaPipe’s approach is the opposite.

“You’re better off working with a trustworthy paid hosting service from the beginning,” John said.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, in which hackers overwhelm a network with an excess of traffic, are becoming increasingly commonplace. Unfortunately, new methods are also making them more powerful.

In February of 2018, GitHub survived a 1.35Tbps DDoS attack, one of the largest recorded. A mere four days later, Arbor Networks reported that a similar attack on an undisclosed U.S.-based company topped that record at 1.7Tbps.

It goes without saying that DDoS protection has become a crucial service in today’s security-minded environment, and JavaPipe has taken measures to protect sites and applications against such attacks remotely.

The company’s DDoS mitigation system, for example, protects hosting platforms by scrubbing all attack traffic before forwarding clean traffic to the server. John said this ensures not only the safety of the site owner but also its visitors. “We’re very focused on DDoS protection, especially in Europe,” John said. “Our DDoS mitigation hardware works very well, and that’s why it’s been so popular.”

JavaPipe’s DDoS migration solutions allow users to protect an unlimited number of domains. However, customers don’t need to host their site through the company to leverage its threat mitigation services. Instead, they have the option to point their domain to a secure IP provided by JavaPipe. Traffic is then guided through JavaPipe’s flood defense layers to block suspicious DDoS activity before forwarding clean traffic to the user’s public IP address through a web-based reverse proxy.

John told us JavaPipe recently began offering speedy new managed WordPress hosting services. “Our WordPress hosting services use LiteSpeed web servers, which are much faster than we are able to get with Apache,” he said. “We’re always trying new things to make our customers’ lives easier and stay relevant.”

The company also employs SSD storage solutions on all WordPress packages to ensure fast data retrieval and better overall performance. And, since better performance means lower bounce rates, JavaPipe customers provide better user experiences and higher conversion rates.

According to the JavaPipe website: “You could have the most compelling content and the most aesthetically pleasing site design on the web, but if you’re not delivering on performance, users won’t stick around, and they won’t convert.”

JavaPipe’s WordPress packages also come with cutting-edge security features, including DDoS protection with load balancing technology; unlimited, automatically renewing SSL certificates; and automated daily backups.

John told us he intended to automate as many security features as possible — which makes sense, considering his technical experience. In addition to manning JavaPipe, John works as a full-time automation developer; a role he said translates nicely into his job at the hosting company. “It gives me a playground I can explore, so it works both ways,” John said.

The importance of customer service in any industry cannot be overstated, but in the ever-saturated hosting market, it’s even more vital. John works seven days a week to keep customers satisfied — though he gives full credit to his devoted, around-the-clock staff. “I’ve had the same employees for the last 10 years,” he said. “They’re really loyal, and we trust each other.”

The team prides itself on its non-scripted, expert support. “We answer questions promptly, often within 15 minutes, but always in less than two hours,” John said. “We aren’t the type of company that would make people wait 24 hours to get a reply.”

John told us the company’s passion is to continually improve its service, features, and uptime. “There’s a trend of big hosting companies eating up small companies, so it’s just a matter of trying to stay viable and do the right thing for our customers,” he said.

Considering his track record overcoming obstacles, we have a feeling John will do quite well.