American Internet Services (AIS) Unveils BusinessCloud1 -- Virtual Data Center Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - Jun 27, 2012) - American Internet Services (AIS), a leading provider of enterprise-class data center, cloud and connectivity services, today announced AIS BusinessCloud1 (BC1) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) based on the widely used VMware software suite with state-of-the-art compute and storage technology featuring Cisco, Dell, Arista and NetApp. AIS removes cost barriers so companies can quickly and efficiently migrate to the cloud by gaining access to compute and storage on demand.

AIS BusinessCloud1 is San Diego's first full-featured VMware-based cloud service. AIS selected VMware for a number of reasons, among them are its widespread adoption, inherent functionality, and its robust ecosystem of support and product development.

AIS BC1 was designed with security, performance, and redundancy in mind:

• No single points of failure (SPoF).
• Integrated VMware network and storage Quality of Service (QoS) feature set to production service standards.
• Network storage is redundant, diversified, and optimized for performance.
• Self-healing systems architecture with automated failover.
• High-speed network access provided via the AIS regional optical and transit network

Some of the ways AIS BusinessCloud1 can be used include:

• As an IT Extension where a direct connection can be added to the company's current VMware infrastructure and then be managed using vCenter.
  
  
• As a Hybrid Cloud Solution providing instant IT scalability with built-in firewalling, a single management console, and complete public / private network isolation.
  
  
• As a Zero CAPEX disaster recovery site that can mirror data between sites with full infrastructure duplication. Companies can leverage the AIS 10GigE transport to the AIS Van Buren Data Center (VBDC) in Phoenix -- considered to be one of the safest locations in the nation in terms of protection from natural disasters.
  
  

"Our customers have been looking for ways to smoothly and cost-effectively migrate to the cloud without the burden and costs associated with implementation," Tim Caulfield, chief executive officer at AIS. "With our BusinessCloud1 service, customers can gain immediate access to and deploy cloud resources that have been built to the highest standards of performance and availability, at an extremely affordable price point."

An IT manager from a leading analytic platform provider was offered an early look at BusinessCloud1. The company had already moved into the cloud to virtualize development servers and for QA testing, but found their hardware needed a technical refresh.

"AIS BusinessCloud1 is a powerful platform that provides us with resources on demand with the right combination of security, connectivity and control," said Matthew Diener. "The tremendous cost savings of nearly $150,000 in capital equipment alone was a huge plus. We also appreciate the point and click simplicity."

AIS BusinessCloud1's Proven Hardware

AIS BusinessCloud1's compute and storage resources are provided in the form of a Virtual Data Center (vDC), which is completely private. From the control portal, customers have full control over all of their resources (network, CPU, RAM, and storage).

The forward-facing part of the BusinessCloud1 service platform (the Network) consists of dual Cisco 6509 switch/routers and dual Arista access switches. These switches provide redundant Internet connectivity for customer vDCs (virtual data centers), or provide private network access to a customer's colocation or corporate site. It is this private and secure connectivity that makes it particularly easy for colocated clients to use AIS BusinessCloud1 services.

The next layer of the service platform is Compute. This layer provides the CPU and RAM for client vDCs. Physically, Compute consists of Dell servers that are packed with fast processors and RAM. Each of these servers is equivalent in power to more than 100 standard servers. These compute platforms use network-attached storage (NAS) for data, instead of a traditional disk drive. Since cloud performance is completely dependent upon data access, each host has dual, redundantly-configured 10Gbps links to the NAS devices.

The last layer of the service platform is storage. This consists of dual NetApp® storage systems that contain two grades of storage: high-performance SAS (for transactional data) and SATA (for standard data storage). The NetApp systems are fully redundant and have additional features to enhance performance and efficiency, such as NetApp Flash Cache and NetApp's proprietary WAFL file system.

Diagnomics, a provider of complete personal genome sequencing and bioinformatics solutions to biomedical researchers, has been working closely with AIS to develop a cloud-based solution for large scale, data intensive genome annotation and storage to help resolve a major bottleneck in life science research.

"The cloud I/O of AIS BusinessCloud1has significantly exceeded our expectations compared to a standard server cluster that is both more expensive to deploy and maintain," said Min Lee, chief executive officer at Diagnomics. "By partnering with AIS, Diagnomics has achieved flexibility that is required so that genome annotation can take the next step towards delivering on the vision of personalized medicine."

Appcara, maker of cloud application lifecycle solutions, including the AppStack® application and portability platform, worked closely with AIS to stress test BusinessCloud1.

"Our AppStack solution enables service providers and enterprise customers to move and manage complex cloud applications throughout their life cycle. That means we have deep first-hand knowledge of a wide variety of public and private clouds, as well as cloud orchestration platforms," said John Yung, founder and CEO of Appcara. "After working closely with AIS to thoroughly test and implement our software and exhaustively stress-test AIS BusinessCloud1, our team at Appcara is quite impressed with the service. It is indeed a viable, enterprise-grade solution for enterprises."

Pricing and Availability
AIS BusinessCloud1 services are available now. AIS pricing is unique and enables companies to have more control over their IT spend in relation to operational needs. There are pricing options for "pay as you go" and for allocated resources; both include real-time support and access to the self-provisioning VMware vCloudDirector portal and API. More information about AIS BusinessCloud1 services can be found at www.americanis.net/AIS-BusinessCloud1.

About American Internet Services
American Internet Services (AIS) is an enterprise-class data center, cloud and managed services company known for its robust network, security and solutions engineering capabilities that help companies get the most out of their information technology initiatives. AIS operates secure, SSAE SOC2 compliant facilities in Los Angeles, San Diego and Phoenix, providing geographical diversity and redundant connectivity to create effective business continuity solutions. Expanding its portfolio into cloud services, AIS provides enterprise-grade, highly scalable Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) alongside traditional managed services (load balancing, security and archiving). By maintaining a focus on leading-edge technologies, AIS has become a recognized leader in delivering cloud strategies for the Bioinformatics and Life Sciences industries. In business for over 20 years, AIS is privately held -- backed by Seaport Capital, Viridian Investments, and DuPont Capital Management. For more information, visit www.americanis.net or call (866) 971-2656.

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