Shared hosting at the highest level

Shared Hosting

In business IT, everything revolves around availability and performance. Your site must be accessible and able to process requests quickly. You can only be sure of this if all components of the process function properly; the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That is why BIT applies the same high-quality standards to all aspects of shared hosting. To ensure this, BIT’s shared hosting platforms are regularly audited by an external, specialized information security company.

Our fail-safe hosting platform is designed to guarantee continuous high availability. A site is not tied to a specific server; a redundant set of load balancers distributes incoming requests across active servers to ensure an even workload. The load balancers not only check if the servers are still active but also monitor their response times and adjust the request allocation accordingly. Thanks to this load balancing, servers can be added or removed for maintenance immediately, without affecting the availability of your site(s). The hosting platform has servers in both of our data centers—in two geographically separate locations—further enhancing availability.

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Load-Balanced Servers

BIT’s shared hosting platform consists of numerous servers hosted in two geographically separated data centers behind a set of redundant load balancers. Each server in the cluster serves your website, ensuring that the failure of a single server is automatically compensated for by the other servers. In addition to the spare capacity that is always available, the systems are designed to add extra capacity to the cluster within minutes. This allows the platform to easily handle peaks in usage.

State-of-the-Art Storage

As a storage solution, we use the open-source product Ceph for extremely reliable data storage: three Ceph replicas, two of which are in geographically separate data centers. The web servers are connected to this via a dedicated storage network. Everything about the Ceph storage system is designed for robust data storage and fast recovery in the unlikely event of a failure. The system is fully redundant; the failure of a power supply or hard drive does not result in data loss. If a replica is unexpectedly unavailable, the equipment in the other data centers automatically takes over.

Linux

BIT provides web spaces on its Linux platform with an Apache web server, including support for PHP, Zend Framework, Sendmail, and ImageMagick.

The platform supports Server Aliases/Host Headers, allowing multiple websites to be placed within a single web space. Customers have access to complete logs of their web spaces. Additionally, web statistics are offered, ensuring that data is not sent to external parties.

Databases

Most CMS systems use an SQL database. BIT provides MySQL databases with shared web hosting. We use dedicated SQL servers for this.

SLA

A service of the highest quality requires an exceptionally sharp SLA. At BIT, we don’t just say what we do; we also do what we say. That’s why we have no hesitation in putting our commitments in writing. For shared web hosting, we guarantee 99.99% availability per month. If your web space has been unavailable for more than 4 minutes and 19 seconds in a single month, it means we haven’t done our job properly, and you are entitled to compensation from BIT.

SSL/TLS

When using BIT’s shared hosting service, you can rely on a secure connection. At BIT, we use modern internet standards such as TLS, HSTS, DNSSEC, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and DANE TLSA to prevent forms of cybercrime like spam, phishing, or malware.

This service includes HTTPS by default, a domain-validated SSL certificate, and SSL offloading.

Load-Balanced Shared Web Hosting Factsheet

Want to Learn More About Shared Hosting?

Would you like to learn more about Shared Hosting or request a free tour of our data centers? Contact us via sales@bit.nl or +31 318 648 688.