ServInt
Encyclopedia
The ServInt Corporation is a provider of managed virtual private server
s, dedicated
web hosting services and open proxies
, based in McLean, Virginia
, United States
.
ServInt provides hosting services to tens of thousands of sites all over the world.
. ServInt grew and became known as one of the first web-hosting companies to offer a managed, dedicated server solution. It went on to build a private network that came close to achieving Tier 1
status, lacking only domestic Sprint
peering.
In subsequent years leading to the Dot Com bust
in 2000 ServInt invested heavily in a large-scale, transnational content distribution network. While ambitious, the collapse of the bubble caused interest in the network to wane. The spiraling costs of the network coupled with the sheer number of ServInt clients folding from the collapse forced ServInt to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in February, 2001.
ServInt emerged from bankruptcy protection a few months later, and refocused its staff and resources towards managed web hosting. Since 2002, the company has focused on providing enterprise-level Virtual Private Server (VPS)
and Dedicated server options to its customers from its data centers in Virginia
and Washington, DC. ServInt has maintained a competitive presence in hosting since their re-emergence.
In December Netcraft reported that ServInt hosts Wikileaks.
ServInt's use of social media and focus on ethical competition was widely acknowledged as a boon for the company. Author and social media blogger Shel Israel referred to Caldwell's message as "lethal generosity". The incident also spurred an ongoing conversation about the validity and ethics behind "rescue" marketing.
, just outside the District of Columbia. Its primary data center is located in the District of Columbia.
On November 10, 2009 ServInt opened a new datacenter in Los Angeles, California
.
Virtual private server
Virtual private server is a term used by internet hosting services to refer to a virtual machine. The term is used for emphasizing that the virtual machine, although running in software on the same physical computer as other customers' virtual machines, is functionally equivalent to a separate...
s, dedicated
Dedicated hosting service
A dedicated hosting service, dedicated server, or managed hosting service is a type of Internet hosting in which the client leases an entire server not shared with anyone. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as organizations have full control over the server, including choice of operating...
web hosting services and open proxies
Open proxy
An open proxy is a proxy server that is accessible by any Internet user. Generally, a proxy server allows users within a network group to store and forward Internet services such as DNS or web pages to reduce and control the bandwidth used by the group...
, based in McLean, Virginia
McLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
ServInt provides hosting services to tens of thousands of sites all over the world.
History
ServInt was founded by Reed J. Caldwell in 1995. When it moved out of a college dorm in 1995, the company had one employee, a $10,000 family loan, some student credit cards, and a single Pentium-90 Web server running Linux 1.2.9Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. ServInt grew and became known as one of the first web-hosting companies to offer a managed, dedicated server solution. It went on to build a private network that came close to achieving Tier 1
Tier 1 network
A tier 1 network is an Internet Protocol network that participates in the Internet solely via settlement-free interconnection, also known as settlement-free peering.-Definition:...
status, lacking only domestic Sprint
Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel Corporation is an American telecommunications company based in Overland Park, Kansas. The company owns and operates Sprint, the third largest wireless telecommunications network in the United States, with 53.4 million customers, behind Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility...
peering.
In subsequent years leading to the Dot Com bust
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
in 2000 ServInt invested heavily in a large-scale, transnational content distribution network. While ambitious, the collapse of the bubble caused interest in the network to wane. The spiraling costs of the network coupled with the sheer number of ServInt clients folding from the collapse forced ServInt to file Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in February, 2001.
ServInt emerged from bankruptcy protection a few months later, and refocused its staff and resources towards managed web hosting. Since 2002, the company has focused on providing enterprise-level Virtual Private Server (VPS)
Virtual private server
Virtual private server is a term used by internet hosting services to refer to a virtual machine. The term is used for emphasizing that the virtual machine, although running in software on the same physical computer as other customers' virtual machines, is functionally equivalent to a separate...
and Dedicated server options to its customers from its data centers in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
and Washington, DC. ServInt has maintained a competitive presence in hosting since their re-emergence.
In December Netcraft reported that ServInt hosts Wikileaks.
Social media outreach
On July 7, 2009, competitor Rackspace experienced the first in a series of outages that caused a firestorm across the web. On July 8, ServInt's CEO, Reed Caldwell, posted a defense of Rackspace's handling of the outages on the ServInt Source, the company's corporate blog. The defense was a response to what Caldwell felt was "disingenuous poaching" on the part of a rival webhost, OnlineTech. Though the host was not mentioned by name in the post, the backlash was tangible, and OnlineTech's CEO Yan Ness issued a personal response .ServInt's use of social media and focus on ethical competition was widely acknowledged as a boon for the company. Author and social media blogger Shel Israel referred to Caldwell's message as "lethal generosity". The incident also spurred an ongoing conversation about the validity and ethics behind "rescue" marketing.
Locations
ServInt's corporate offices are located in McLean, VirginiaMcLean, Virginia
McLean is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County in Northern Virginia. The community had a total population of 48,115 as of the 2010 census....
, just outside the District of Columbia. Its primary data center is located in the District of Columbia.
On November 10, 2009 ServInt opened a new datacenter in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.