EDS has established itself as the Cadillac of managed Web hosting service providers. Its service isn't inexpensive, but the company guarantees a smoother ride with fewer bumps than its competitors do. EDS' proposal provides the most comprehensive solution. It reflects substantial attention to client requirements, which are addressed fully with best-of-breed technologies. The vendor does not compromise to win the bid.
EDS offers Romao Vineyards a dual-site, geographically load-balanced solution from facilities in Sacramento, Calif., and Plano, Texas. The solution's network components include redundant OC-12 Internet access on-ramps at each site and redundant, load-balanced Cisco Systems-switched internal networks within each facility. Dedicated frame relay circuits interconnect Plano, Sacramento and the Romao Vineyards home office. Two additional frame relay circuits provide conduits for database replication and transaction processing between sites. These circuits are sized at T3 bandwidth.
The two hosting facilities are identical, with the security and high-availability provisions EDS delivers to all its clients. VLANs (virtual LANs) provide isolated environments for Web application processing, database replication processes and back-end home-office connections. This architecture enables the isolation of key processes if security breaches are detected. EDS uses Compaq Computer Corp. servers for hosting HP Bluestone applications and servers; Sun Microsystems platforms host the Oracle database components.
In its response, EDS tries to ratchet down Romao's requirements for master/master database synchronization to make them more consistent with technical realities. The company proposes a plausible alternative in which redo logs would be transmitted periodically from one site to the other. Such an asynchronous approach strikes the best balance between the disaster tolerance and the performance of the hosted databases.
EDS' firm position against exposing hosting platform security to potential threats posed by external site monitoring and management consoles also runs afoul of Romao's requirements. But the company argues persuasively that it is the only sound strategy given the vulnerability of Web-facing hosting environments to cybercrime. We agree.
Implementation of EDS' solution costs $105,000, and recurring monthly fees for services are about $70,000. Implementation costs can be spread out through a phased plan that enables one site to be brought online and to begin servicing the customer before the second site is provisioned and activated. If the solution is brought up all at once, EDS estimates that Romao Vineyards will be operating as a full-fledged e-business within 98 days. EDS prefers a three-year engagement (about $2.6 million) and offers a comprehensive SLA with a 99.95 percent uptime guarantee.
EDS offers mechanisms for continuous client feedback and for management oversight of support-team performance. Comments, concerns and issues, entered via a Web-based tool, update a dashboard service application that support personnel and senior management follow closely. The dashboard ensures prompt attention and problem resolution.
EDS Hosting Services, Electronic Data Systems, (888) 889-1392, (972) 605-6000. www.eds.com/webhosting or info@eds.com
Xand Corp.
Xand is a small shop whose personalized service has earned the company an excellent reputation among specialized Web development houses with Fortune 1,000 clientele. Xand delivers a strong outsourcing solution that dares to deviate from the RFI. While Xand defines the most comprehensive networking infrastructure, it presses for a single- rather than dual-site solution to meet Anthony Romao's requirements without devastating his wallet. The company is clearly looking for long-term clients to whom it can offer its services as a valued partner rather than as a commodity vendor.
Xand develops managed hosting solutions for small and midsize organizations with a decidedly slide-rule and pocket-protector approach. Solid engineering and commitment to cost-efficiency make Xand short on words, long on facts and longer on results.
Xand's response is bold and opinionated. The company fires a shot across the bow, noting that Romao's business plan lacks some detail, and explains, "the solution being sought is overly complex and extremely costly for a new e-venture."
From there, Xand explains how it would deliver a fault-tolerant primary location with a fully functional backup location that features automatic failover and fallback capabilities. The solution is designed to support hot/hot operation if the business economics ever require it.
Xand's primary data center, in Westchester County, N.Y., would field multiple IBM Linux Web servers, clustered Sun application and database servers, Cisco load-balancing, and redundant Intel NetStructure SSL Accelerators to support the solution. Xand would use its own network-attached storage products for data sharing and to mitigate Romao's storage expense. This hosting platform could be scaled within 15 minutes as better information about transaction volumes were obtained, according to Xand.
The data center is built around a Gigabit Ethernet Layer 3 backbone with Fast Ethernet to servers. Cisco routers are used on the backbone's edges to provide connectivity between the data center and Tier 1 ISPs provisioned by Xand, a New York-certified CLEC, for Internet connectivity.
Like EDS, Xand says an archived redo file transfer between sites is the best approach, given "known issues when recovering data from a master/master replicated Oracle environment." The vendor adds that, while Oracle claimed to have resolved these issues, Xand is not willing to commit to such a strategy until the product is released and field-proven.
On the other hand, Xand parts with EDS in remote management and security. Given the company's roots in ISP-based collocation services, Xand is happy to extend management and security monitoring instrumentation to the customer. Still, the vendor limits the activities of third-party monitors to the simulation of "typical user traffic through the publicly available ports." The response glosses over the potential security threat represented by these windows on the hosting environment.
Xand's solution entails a three-year equipment lease of $26,600 per month and a fee for managed hosting of $35,190 per month for a three-year contract. Other costs include a setup fee of $68,700 and about $17,000 per month in computing costs. At these rates, a three-year Xand contract would run about $2.9 million. Xand guarantees availability at 99.5 percent uptime.
Managed Application Infrastructure Provider, Xand Corp., (914) 592-8282; fax (914) 592-3482. www.xand.com or sales@xand.com
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