In our continuing efforts toward being the best hosting provider on Earth we are proud to announce new Cloud Hosting pricing! We've cut memory pricing in half, dropped CPU pricing by 20%, and bandwidth pricing by 25%! Gone is the monthly minimum and in its place the most flexible, affordable Cloud Hosting pricing around. It's pay-as-you-go and you can dynamically allocate your resources for the ultimate in Cloud control. With the ability to add CPU, memory, storage and bandwidth at any time you can never run out of resources and you'll only pay for what you use. Now more than ever Steadfast is giving you the options you need, when you need them most. Choose your specs and divide them up between as many virtual machines as you want using our revolutionary and industry leading OnApp Hypervisor. From there you can allocate resources, view statistics and logs, and have full control over your Cloud Hosting environment! Also, using the Steadfast Cloud Control app you can do all of this from anywhere on the planet using your iOS device! Check out our pricing and order today on our Cloud Hosting page and email our Sales Department if you have any questions. Thanks for choosing Steadfast Networks and we'll see you in the Cloud!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/new-cloud-pricing';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We're happy to announce the availability of new Samsung 830 Solid State Drives! The new Samsung 830 SSDs are SATA3 powerhouses of performance and reliability, twice as fast than our previous Intel X25-M and Intel 320 SSD offerings and with 50% faster IO/sec. The Samsung 830 features a 3-core MCX controller, 2x nm Toggle MLC NAND, 256MB SDRAM cache and firmware, all made by Samsung. Having full control of every component, Samsung can ensure their 830s are the height in stability and quality. In benchmarks between the Samsung 830s and Intel 320s there is indisputable evidence that the Samsung outperforms Intel at every level. In compressible sequential read testing, the Samsungs were reading at 360.4 MB/s while the Intels only 222.2 MB/s. In write tests the Samsung 830 clocked an even 400 MB/s write time while Intel only 240 MB/s. We're seeing 16% faster on random reads, 119% faster on random writes, 62% faster on sequential reads, and 56% faster on sequential writes. See this article at Tom's Hardware for those tests and more. Even better? We're able to offer these new Samsung 830 SSDs at outstandingly low prices. Here are our offerings: 64GB Samsung 830 SSD - $20 per month 128GB Samsung 830 SSD - $35 per month 256GB Samsung 830 SSD - $60 per month 512GB Samsung 830 SSD - $100 per month Hardware RAID + SSD Cache - $100 per month The Hardware RAID + SSD cache is a fantastic option for data integrity and continuity of operations. Combining a RAID backup card with an SSD cache you can be sure that data is accessible and fast, plus safe in the event of power loss. It's a zero-maintenance cache protection design using SSD storage instead of the traditional battery backup so that your data stays intact and protected longer. Everything you need to know about RAID can be found in this blog post and if you have any questions, contact sales today! The Samsung 830 SSDs are only available for new orders. To take advantage of these amazing new drives contact [email protected] and inquire today!tweetmeme_url = 'http://stead

A major initiative in 2012 for Steadfast is a focus on local tech and the burgeoning Chicagoland technology scene. It started with the idea that Chicago and really the entire Midwest is fast emerging as a hotbed for developing startups. The term "digital prairie" has gotten bandied about along with the Chicago government's efforts toward growing the South Loop area into a Silicon Alley of sorts. It's attention like this and more that is quickly changing the face of tech startup incubation across the country. No longer are startups heading West to the sunnier patches of California, but instead are occupying lofts in Wicker Park and Bucktown, collaborating locally with other startups in shared spaces and meeting at cafes to discuss their progress and vision. Chicago is the hotspot in the country for startup tech and the everyone is starting to take notice. Just today the Wall Street Journal published this article with undeniable proof that Chicago fosters an amazing atmosphere for startups. It's with that in mind that we're proud to announce our partnership with Built In Chicago, a fantastic local resource for technology enthusiasts, venture capitalists and startup entrepreneurs. At BuiltInChicago.org hundreds of companies are gathering to talk tech and reinforce what everyone suspects: there is power in numbers and we are more stronger as a whole than we could ever be as separate forces. Tremendous resources for growth have emerged over the past few years. From companies like Excelerate Labs where the startups of tomorrow are taught how to succeed to shared workspaces such as TechNexus and 1871 where companies collaborate and grow together, this city is fostering an atmosphere of cooperation and collaboration that is crucial to so many fledgeling tech companies. Steadfast Networks is proud to host BuiltInChicago.org and is working to partner with several other Chicagoland tech companies to assist in any way we can and help solidify Chicago's place in the national technology landscape. We truly can accomplish magni

Contact: Matt Wolff FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. 888-281-9449 Email: [email protected]   STEADFAST NETWORKS PARTNERS WITH SUPPLIES FOR DREAMS TO HELP CHICAGO STUDENTS With their combined efforts more Chicago Public School students will receive help. Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) March 1, 2012 – Steadfast Networks, a provider of Chicago dedicated server hosting, colocation hosting, and cloud hosting service provider is teaming up with Supplies For Dreams, a local nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the educational experience for Chicago Public Schools students. Through both financial and material support, Steadfast Networks will be working to mentor, equip and empower hundreds of students in Supplies for Dreams' programs. "Our web-based platforms are extremely important in connecting with our donors, our partner communities, and advocates of education reform. Without these platforms, we would face considerable fundraising and marketing challenges. We are grateful for Steadfast's support of our organization and endeavors," said Executive Director for Supplies for Dreams Hiro Kawashima. The Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is the 3rd largest public school system in the country and caters to more than 400,000 students in 675 schools. 21,320 teachers serve students from all racial backgrounds including 45% African-American, 41% Latino, 9% White, and 3.6% Asian or Pacific Islander. Leveraging their already existing clients such as The Museum of Science and Industry, the Museum of Broadcast Communications, WBEZ, and Chicago Public Radio Steadfast Networks will be able to expose Chicago Public School students to industries, career options and resources that may have previously been unattainable or unknown. 45% of all CPS students will fail to graduate from high school. That means that 45% of students will drop out and fail to earn a diploma. CPS has been unable to provide most of its students with a realistic path to securing a college education. Currently, 94 out of every 100 students who enroll in CPS will never gr

Go to Reddit and Wikipedia, I'll wait. Not much there, right? That's what our future looks like if the SOPA or PIPA bills get passed Today, January 18th is a Day of Action to oppose SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act and PIPA, the Protect IP Act. These noble intentioned but terribly misguided pieces of legislation will cripple our online rights to free speech and due process. We've posted many times about this, now the Day of Action has arrived and we offer the following recommendations on how you can stand up and fight against these Orwellian bills. 1. Write your representation! With both SOPA in the Senate and PIPA in the House of Representatives it's our obligation to contact the fine people we elected to represent us and tell them how they can oppose this legislation and do what's right. You can find who your elected representative are at whoismyrepresentative.com. We have a sample letter, which we have sent to Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, available for download here. 2. Show our unity! By banding together and sending a clear, concise message that misguided legislation such as SOPA and PIPA cannot and will not be tolerated we can be heard much farther than any one voice could ever be heard. Sites such as SopaStrike.com can show you how to add your name to the list of sites that are standing in protest, some blocking content, others completely denying access as an example of what can happen if draconian laws like SOPA and PIPA are enacted. 3. Spread the word! Tweet, blog, email, write, speak up and tell everyone that will listen why this legislation is dangerous and to take action themselves! It's only through education and action that we can show our government that there are basic rights we are all granted and free speech without fear of censorship and the suspension of due process is standing at the forefront today. Stop SOPA. Stop PIPA. Start talking. Start acting.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/stop-sopa-day-of-action';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source =

  Contact: Matt Wolff Tel. 888-281-9449 Email: [email protected]   STEADFAST NETWORKS RELEASES IOS APP "CLOUD CONTROLLER"Gives customers unprecedented control over their servers from anywhere.   Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) December 28, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a provider of Chicago dedicated server hosting, colocation hosting, and cloud hosting service provider has released a mobile application that allows clients to control their cloud hosted servers. Cloud Controller, available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, gives users access to a wide array of information about their servers as well as the ability to provision new servers within their cloud environment. As a leading edge Chicago dedicated server company, Steadfast Networks saw the need for giving clients unparalleled mobile access and teamed up with OnApp to develop their Cloud Controller iOS App."This is a tremendous asset for our clients," says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks, "We wanted to give our clients mobile access to pertinent information and control over their servers while maintaining the high level of quality they've come to expect from Steadfast Networks and our Cloud Controller app does exactly that." As businesses worldwide become increasingly mobile the significance of mobile applications that provide a comparable level of control as sitting at a desk becomes glaringly obvious. A recent study published by market research firm Gartner states mobile application marketplaces are forecasted to reach 17.7 billion downloads this year. The figure is a 117 percent increase over the estimated 8.2 billion downloads Gartner counted for 2010. The Steadfast Networks Cloud Controller app is available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and an HD version is available for the iPad. Cloud Controller can be found in Apple's iTunes Store and is free of charge to download, install and use. Customers interested in learning more about Steadfast Networks, the Steadfast Cloud Platform or Steadfast Chicago dedicated servers are encouraged to visit http://www

We're excited to announce the first in a line of upcoming changes to our website! Thanks in part to feedback from clients and staff, we're endeavoring to make Steadfast.net more user friendly and accessible. We've assembled a laundry list of improvements and requests and are implementing, starting with easier to use navigation and homepage design. The drop down menu should help you find what you're looking for faster and easier than ever! We're open to your feedback and comments - what do you think?  tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/general/change-is-good-change-is';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

  At Steadfast Networks we understand all too well how important it is to keep our rights to free speech and expression. As I type this the final revisions to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are being penned and it's due to go in front of the US House of Representatives within two days. Opposition to this bill have come from every bastion of free speech on the Internet from Facebook to Google, Yahoo to Twitter. Leaders of tech industry and great minds from many fields are speaking out against the greatest threat to our online right to free expression to ever exist. It's important for you to oppose this legislation with us, and here's why: It will not end with the Internet. Under the guise of stopping online piracy, SOPA will give governmental agencies and copyright holders unprecedented power to limit what you can and cannot access on the Internet. On even the slightest suspicion of copyright or intellectual property infringement an order can come down the wire to limit access to a suspected site up to and including cutting off its ability to generate revenue, barring search engines from listing it, shutting off DNS for the domain or just plain out and out removing it from a server. This applies to any subdomains that may not even be related to the site in question and because SOPA doesn't differentiate subdomains, the potential for collateral damage is mind-bogglingly large. SOPA is dangerous legislation introduced by people who do not grasp technology or the effects their hazardous bill will have. It will make service providers think twice about the hassle of hosting controversial clients. It will open up the floodgates on frivolous lawsuits and impact how venture capital providers fund startups. The one thing it will likely do absolutely nothing to stop is online piracy, its so-called intended target. And once in place, it isn't a stretch to see controlling interests move to apply it to media. Books. Art. Public speech. Claiming copyright infringement they could shut down avenues of free speech that form th

Greetings! In our unending quest to provide the best service possible we are proud to announce NEW SALES HOURS! Starting immediately you can reach our sales staff from 8AM until midnight, Monday through Friday! With these extended hours you're never more than a call, email or chat away from expert answers to all your sales-related queries. As a reminder, here's how to contact us: Via phone at 888.281.9449, option 2 Via email at [email protected] Via Skype at steadfastnetworks And with the holidays fast approaching Steadfast Networks will be available the following hours to allow our dedicated, brilliant staff time to enjoy time with their family and loved ones: 8AM - 4PM for December 22nd and 23rd Closed December 26th 8AM - 4PM for December 27th and 28th All other days this holiday season we'll be open our usual 8AM - 12AM. We look forward to talking to you and have a wonderful holiday season!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/holiday-hours-and-new-sales';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

November 16th is American Censorship Day. It's a day of protest and in opposition to to H.R. 3261, the "Stop Online Piracy Act." At Steadfast Networks we oppose Internet piracy in any form. We comply with any legitimate takedown requests that we receive and do not tolerate our network being used for illegal purposes. We're sure the spirit of H.R. 3261 is true and if its language and proposals were in line with that we would stand firm behind it. However that's not the reality of the bill. In reality this bill can and will be used to cripple free speech on the Internet through granting totalitarian rule to governmental agencies giving them the unprecedented ability to remove and restrict access to free speech without any need for proof that a law is being broken. At present if a client has content on their website that another organization feels infringes on their intellectual property there is a process that the organization follows which results in the disputed content either being removed, or not removed depending on the evidence presented. That much isn't slated to change, however what H.R. 3261 introduces is the ability for government agencies to go so far as to not only force that client's web host to take the site down, but also to prevent that site's owners from conducting business - actually removing their ability to process credit cards and advertising can be cut off. In essence without any proof whatsoever, a small business can be completely and totally destroyed if there is a dispute over what it features on its website. Please see this video to see how this legislation can cripple free speech and the Internet. Steadfast Networks cannot and will not stay quiet in the face of legislation that stands in stark contrast to its fundamental and core belief that free speech is what makes our nation great. We ask you to stand with us against H.R. 3261 and keep free speech alive on the Internet. For more information, please visit http://americancensorship.org/ and unite with Steadfast Networks and thousands of

Contact: Matt Wolff FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. 888-281-9449 Email: [email protected] STEADFAST NETWORKS GIVES BACK THIS HOLIDAY SEASON! Awarding a $1,000 service credit per week to technology companies. Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) November 7, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a provider of Chicago dedicated server hosting, colocation hosting, and cloud hosting service provider has announced a sweepstakes designed to reward innovation and foster growth in the startup tech community. Entitled, "Steadfast Gives Back" the contest will solicit submissions from technology startups and nonprofits that would benefit from Steadfast Networks's reliable, flexible hosting environment but have not been able to because of expenses, the downturned economy or other hardships. Organizations interested in entering can do so via Steadfast Networks' social media initiatives on Facebook and Twitter. They can be found at http://www.facebook.com/steadfastnetworks and http://www.twitter.com/steadfastnet respectively. Submissions should be messaged directly to Steadfast Networks who will then review submissions and begin awarding credits on Cyber Monday, November 28th. "This is the latest in our ongoing commitment to giving back to the groups that work so hard to push the envelope of progress in technology," says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks, "$1,000 toward Steadfast Networks wide array of services will go a long way for so many companies and we're very glad we can help this holiday season." Small business (those with 500 employees or less) account for around 50 percent of the employment opportunities in the U.S (57.4 million jobs), and firms with 100 employees or less employed 41 million people. During the 2000-2001 fiscal year––the last year statistics were measured––more than 1 million new jobs were created by small businesses. They represent 99.7 percent of all employers and employ half of all private sector employees. Steadfast Networks recognizes the importance of small businesses, startup companies and nonprofits and the m

Managing your Steadfast Networks Cloud Server? There's an App for that! Who's that cloud service provider with a BRAND NEW iOS APP? That would be us. We're happy to announce the release of the Steadfast Cloud Controller! It's a feat of engineering and dedication that we're very proud of. What our App does is allow you to control your Cloud server from anywhere in the world. Here's a brief list of overview features: Overview of your entire Cloud installation giving disk usage, memory usage and recent log activity. Virtual Machine control allowing you to startup and shutdown specific VMs in your Cloud. The ability to configure and create new VMs in your Cloud At the VM level in the App here's a small list of features: Start/stop and configure the VM. See VM info such as memory, CPU and disk size. View logs of recent VM activity Attach and view storage and disks See networking statistics and much, much more. Check out the below screenshots and go download it today!                       Thanks for reading and downloading and we'll see you all in the cloud!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/carry-us-in-your-pocket';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

The economy has been tough on everyone over the past couple years, but it now seems to have claimed a victim in the hosting industry. From everything I can tell, on September 27 Caronet (Carolina Internet, Ltd), a Charlotte, North Carolina based Cloud, Managed Hosting, and Colocation provider, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Federal Bankruptcy Court, Western District of North Carolina (Case 11-32461). This was discovered in a suit to protect their assets from TW Telecom Holdings, Inc. of which you can see the full documentation here. This issue appears to have stemmed from a $3.2 million judgement against them from tw telecom (TW Telecom Holdings, Inc). While this is a shock to the industry, I want to assure our own customers that while the last couple years have not been as good as expected due to the economy, we still saw strong revenue growth (20%+ annually) and have continued expanding on strong financial footing. Steadfast Networks has been on the Inc 5000 listing of fastest growing companies each of the past 4 years and has continued with growth/expansion plans, including multiple acquisitions. We have been privately owned, under the same management, since 1998 and have never carried any significant debt. Overall, we are in a very strong position and the future is looking even brighter. In 2011, we are already seeing growth levels like they were before the recession, with ever better revenue and margin numbers each and every month. Now, I do not want to encourage Caronet customers to make emotional decisions and immediately jump ship, as companies can come out of Chapter 11 better and stronger. I also understand this is a time that you do not want to base your business on an uncertainty, so we are happy to help any affected customers with emergency/backup plans to assure you're ready for any circumstances. We do offer similar Cloud Hosting, Managed Dedicated Server, and Colocation services as Caronet, but our main goal is to assure this situation does not serve as

Today we have added a new 10 GigE circuit to a new carrier, Tinet (formerly Tiscali International Network then acquired by Neutral Tandem in October of 2010) out of our Chicago facilities. This immediately expands the quality of our network by adding an additional Tier 1 carrier that can help expand our reach into Europe. Tinet has a strong history dating back to 1998 and having been founded in Italy has a very strong European presence and backbone. In addition, since being acquired by Neutral Tandem, a Chicago based company, they have also made a commitment to domestic expansion. Overall, we feel this is a very good fit into our current network blend as we already have connectivity to NTT, the largest telecommunications company in Asia, Level3, the world's largest Internet backbone (by number of users/routes), and nLayer, a very strong and nimble Tier 2 player.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/networking/new-carrier-tinet';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Steadfast Networks is pleased to announce the immediate availability of CentOS 6.0 as a supported operating system for our dedicated server and cloud offerings. We will offer continuous support for the CentOS 6 series for the entire 7 year life-cycle typical of Enterprise Linux distributions. All supported control panels: cPanel, InterWorx, DirectAdmin, and Parallels Plesk Panel are immediately and fully supported under CentOS 6. We will continue to support CentOS 5 installations as well for the duration of its life-cycle. When CentOS 6.0 was released in July 2011, we chose to delay supporting the platform due to the lack of security updates following the release of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.1 in May. Internally, we continued to test and evaluate the release, waiting for CentOS 6.1 or some other way to obtain these security updates quickly. CentOS has now deployed a new "yum" package repository called "Continuous Release" which allows CentOS 6.0 users to obtain updates for security and stability from the upcoming 6.1 release. This package set is enabled and included by default in all our installations. CentOS version 6 is based on the packages of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 and includes many benefits over previous editions in the CentOS line: The fourth extended filesystem (ext4) is now the default filesystem upon installation. Compared to ext3, this filesystem is faster, more reliable, and scales to much larger volumes up to a maximum potential of 1 exabyte. The Linux kernel has been updated to version 2.6.32 which includes many optimizations and improvements that should increase overall performance and stability while adding support for newer hardware and storage technology. Virtualization using KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machines) is now supported in addition to Xen. KVM is integrated tightly into the kernel and can deliver better performance and reliability for virtualization. Many core packages and utilities have been updated to newer versions, allowing CentOS 6 to better meet dependencies of mo

On August 25, 2011 we upgraded the Steadfast Cloud Platform to version 2.2 of OnApp. With this new version two new major features were introduced; VM Auto-Scaling and Load Balancing. What is VM Auto-Scaling VM Auto-Scaling is an important feature of instant expandability in the cloud. It allows your VM to dynamically adjust your resource needs without having to log in and make the change by hand. This is important because often times you may not be immediately available to make a change; vacations, sleep, movie theaters or even something as simple as driving your car could leave you without internet and as such the ability to make the changes necessary to keep your infrastructure online. How can I enable and configure VM Auto-Scaling on my VMs? VM resources are scaled based on rules you specify. For example, you can set up a rule that will add 1000MB of memory to a VM if RAM usage has been above 90% for the last 10 minutes - but add no more than 5000MB in total in 24 hours. To configure auto-scaling: 1. Go to your Control Panel’s Virtual Machines menu. 2. Click the label of the appropriate VM. 3. On the page that follows, click the auto-scaling tab. 4. Add auto-scaling rules, explained below: • If RAM usage exceeds  X% for a specific time period, add Y MB – but no more than Z MB in a 24 hour period. • If CPU usage exceeds X % for a specific time period, add Y% - but no more than Z% in a 24 hour period. • If disk usage exceeds X % for a specific time period, add Y GB - but no more than Z GB in a 24 hour period. 5. Click Apply. To delete an auto-scaling rule: 1. Go to your Control Panel’s Virtual Machines menu. 2. Click the label of the appropriate VM. 3. On the page that follows, click the auto-scaling tab. 4. Click Delete. This will delete all auto-scaling rules What is Load Balancing? Load Balancing allows for you to spread connections for various applications between multiple VM’s. This allows you to add additional infrastructure redundancy and capacity between VM’s on different Hypervisors. How can I enab

Steadfast Networks is proud to sponsor the Overnight Web Site Challenge, an event that matches about a hundred web developers with 10 non-profit organizations in the Chicago area.  This event is being held this Saturday starting at 8 AM (going on for 24 hours) at Resolution Digital Studios here in Chicago.  Our contribution is providing free hosting on our Cloud Platform for a minimum of one year.  We feel this will give the developers all the resources they need to quickly deploy comprehensive web sites that will truly benefit these non-profit organizations. We'd like to thank the developers who are freely giving their time as well as the other sponsors of this event. The non-profits being benefited by this event are: A Safe Haven Foundation, Crossroads Adoption Services, Hemophilia Foundation of Illinois, Instituto del Progreso Latino, Kids Have Hope, Midwest Young Artists, Near Northwest Arts Council, Northwestern University Settlement Association, Peace Care, and Southwest Chicago Pads.  You can read all about these organizations here. We hope to see you there!  We'll try to have a member of our team there as much as possible to assure everyone gets as much use as possible out of our Cloud Platform, but it isn't all work, as we hope to enjoy the surrounding festivities.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/marketing/this-saturday-overnight-web-site';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Steadfast Networks, a leading provider of public cloud hosting, announces SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits of server security and reliability. Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) August 2, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a Chicago-based dedicated server hosting, colocation hosting, and cloud hosting service provider, today announced SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits are completed on its public cloud services. The Steadfast Cloud Platform was recently launched and has quickly grown in reputation, with this new level of external auditing marking the next step in the development of the service.   “When the Steadfast Cloud Platform started gaining attention, we were all extremely proud at what we have achieved with our cloud hosting services,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We worked to develop a cloud hosting solution that was reliable and secure with even the most important of our customers’ data. We have been determined to prove to the world just how outstanding our cloud platform is, and this new audit certifies us as compliant with the latest SOC 2 and SOC 3 standards.”   Service Organization Control Reports 2 and 3 (SOC 2 and SOC 3 respectively) were issued by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) earlier this year, designed to supersede the previous guidelines established by SAS 70 auditing. SOC 2 and SOC 3 audits both allow third party auditors to investigate the claims made by Steadfast Networks as to the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of their systems. These guidelines have been put in place to ultimately empower consumers, reassuring them that service providers can deliver on the promises they make. By successfully attaining SOC 2 and SOC 3 compliance, the Steadfast Cloud Platform leads the way among similar solutions and, at the time of this release, is truly unique among public cloud hosting services.   “I’m not aware of any other public cloud systems with a SOC 2 or SOC 3 audit,” says Zimmerman. “At Steadfast, we conceived our entire cloud service wi

We recently held a giveaway for an iPad and the winner was a long time customer, Intelligent Computing Solutions. They have been a customer since 2005, so along with the iPad I'm also putting them in the customer spotlight here on our blog. Intelligent Computing Solutions is a DeKalb, IL based provider of fixed wireless broadband, VoIP, and many other business services. They started providing fixed wireless broadband services in 2004 because of a local lack of broadband availability in the area, especially in rural areas. Most of their growth (organic as well as acquisitions) has been in providing ISP services. Regarding their relationship with Steadfast Networks, Mike Hammett of ICS says, "We moved our servers to Steadfast in 2005 from another provider that just wasn’t making the grade. Steadfast’s network has provided us great performance for our VoIP services. Upcoming fiber deals will permit us to purchase bandwidth in 350 E. Cermak and Steadfast is on our short list of providers to work with, despite the hundreds of networks available. Steadfast support has been excellent over the years as well. When unfortunate package dependencies rendered one of our servers useless, they were quick to identify the problem and provide guidance on how to remedy the situation. We hope our relationship with Steadfast continues to evolve while both companies grow and provide ever increasing services.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/customer-spotlight-intelligent-computing-solutions';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) July 20, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a Chicago-based dedicated server hosting and colocation services specialist, today announced that its state-of-the-art data centers in Chicago and New York have successfully completed an SSAE 16 audit, marking the company’s ongoing commitment to secure and highly redundant hosting. These data centers at 725 S Wells and 350 E Cermak in Chicago and 121 Varick in New York City are among the first to achieve SSAE 16 compliancy and, by meeting with this new standard of data management and storage, Steadfast is giving customers the assurance they need to win larger contracts and increase revenue. “We are extremely happy to have completed this recent third-party audit,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We have always focused our resources on giving our customers the standards of security they require in all of our policies and procedures, so this SSAE 16 audit was treated as a matter of priority. Now, we are pleased to be one of the first SSAE 16 compliant data center facilities in the USA, giving every one of our clients the confidence to attract new customers.” Outlined by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) 16 became effective on June 15th 2011, effectively superseding the auditing standard outlined by SAS 70. The new auditing protocol sets a standard for data redundancy, network security, and the reliability of data access, all of which are checked and tested by an external third-party auditing expert. Essentially, SSAE 16 holds businesses accountable for their service claims and compliance can only be certified if stringent service quality standards are met. Steadfast Networks is the first data center operator within Chicago to achieve SSAE 16 compliance, identifying it as a market leader at the forefront of new developments within the web hosting industry. “We worked to make sure that, as soon as SSAE 16 came into effect, we were already n

I was reading this article at Data Center Knowledge, one of my favorite blogs for keeping up on changes and news in the industry, and I was thinking I should write a blog article to detail our outlook on some of the same topics. I agree whole-heartedly with Duke Skarda, the chief technology officer at SoftLayer, who said, “I think dedicated hosting will continue to grow. A lot of people tell us that it won’t. If you go back 5 or 6 years in the hosting industry, people thought shared hosting was going to disappear as well. It’s done nothing but continue to grow, even as the other options have grown along with it. I don’t think dedicated is going anywhere.” In addition, we have had many people come to us asking if our business model is out of date since, as the article addresses, "Some cloud enthusiasts would have you believe that cloud services are reducing the need for data centers. In fact, the opposite is true – the growth of the cloud boosts business for providers of colocation and wholesale data center services." What IS "the cloud"? Much of the confusion comes from the use of the term "cloud" as it is one term that means many things. To consumers it generally just means "the Internet" or "data centers" as with products such as iCloud or "cloud" software like SalesForce, you're simply taking data or software you would normally keep locally and making it globally accessible over the Internet. For us, and companies like us, this is a great thing as it is actually creating more demand as more and more things are being put into data centers. Next, you have the "cloud" as it applies to developers, start-ups, and small-medium business which is a scalable and flexible infrastructure, such as our cloud services and Amazon Web Services. Now that we have that defined, we'll be referencing the second, the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). So how does "the cloud" actually affect everything? First of all, virtualization, in the form of Virtual Private Servers (VPS) or Virtual machines (VM) has been around f

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 22, 2011 - Steadfast Networks, a Chicago-based hosting provider specializing in dedicated server hosting and colocation services, today announced a range of managed colocation solutions to complement their existing line of colocated hosting solutions. Available in their flagship Chicago data centers at 350 E Cermak and 725 S Wells, Steadfast’s selection of comprehensive colocation management services is a highly adaptable addition to their already successful hosting services, which marks the next step in the evolution of colocation hosting services. “Our popular selection of colocated hosting services already gives businesses the chance to house their own hardware within professional enterprise-grade facilities,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We understand that customers are looking for the management services available with a dedicated server. Now, with this new range of colocation plus solutions, our experienced staff can provide expert management for Chicago colocated systems.” Currently, Steadfast Networks is a market leader in colocated hosting with facilities available in Chicago and New York. With a 100% network uptime service level agreement, fully redundant data centers and a wide array of traditional carrier or Ethernet connectivity options, businesses worldwide enjoy the use of carefully controlled facilities to house their IT infrastructures. An unmanaged colocation solution requires a great deal of technical expertise, with all hardware and software operations left in the hands of the business. Steadfast Networks’ new managed colocation hosting solutions allow businesses to concentrate their resources on other aspects of operations, with assurance that expert data center technicians are handling aspects of technical management. “We could not be happier with our managed server hosting at Steadfast,” says Steven Beasley, Director of Digital Media at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. “They answer tickets quicker than anyone, guarantee fantastic upti

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) June 22, 2011 - Steadfast Networks, a Chicago-based hosting provider specializing in dedicated server hosting and colocation services, today announced a range of managed colocation solutions to complement their existing line of colocated hosting solutions. Available in their flagship Chicago data centers at 350 E Cermak and 725 S Wells, Steadfast’s selection of comprehensive colocation management services is a highly adaptable addition to their already successful hosting services, which marks the next step in the evolution of colocation hosting services. “Our popular selection of colocated hosting services already gives businesses the chance to house their own hardware within professional enterprise-grade facilities,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We understand that customers are looking for the management services available with a dedicated server. Now, with this new range of colocation plus solutions, our experienced staff can provide expert management for Chicago colocated systems.” Currently, Steadfast Networks is a market leader in colocated hosting with facilities available in Chicago and New York. With a 100% network uptime service level agreement, fully redundant data centers and a wide array of traditional carrier or Ethernet connectivity options, businesses worldwide enjoy the use of carefully controlled facilities to house their IT infrastructures. An unmanaged colocation solution requires a great deal of technical expertise, with all hardware and software operations left in the hands of the business. Steadfast Networks’ new managed colocation hosting solutions allow businesses to concentrate their resources on other aspects of operations, with assurance that expert data center technicians are handling aspects of technical management. “We could not be happier with our managed server hosting at Steadfast,” says Steven Beasley, Director of Digital Media at Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry. “They answer tickets quicker than anyone, guarantee fantastic upti

To our valued VPS clients, We here at Steadfast Networks are very pleased to share with you some exciting news! This week we have launched a powerful new cloud hosting solution, the Steadfast Cloud Platform (http://steadfast.net/services/cloud.php). Part of this great news is we would like to reward you, our loyal customer, with $60 in free account credit just for signing up. You can sign up at https://manage.steadfast.net/order/?form_id=62 . This limited time offer expires 07/07/11. Important: To get the credit, simply email [email protected] with your old and new account information. This news directly impacts your current VPS service with us because this platform has replaced our previous VPS product line. We feel that the new features and benefits of the Steadfast Cloud Platform will greatly enhance our customer’s experience and provide rock solid foundation from which to grow on. Customers will now have a more affordable, customizable, secure, and reliable solution for their virtual hosting needs. As part of transition to cloud virtualization we will be requiring all customers to migrate off the current platform within the next 6 months. The Steadfast Cloud Platform offers all the major strengths of deploying your applications ‘in the cloud’, with the attractive ability to instantly increase or decrease your allocated system resources at any time. With this new service, we are able to provide a reliable cloud hosting solution that scales all the way from hobbyists to enterprise-grade solutions. The Steadfast Cloud Platform is a carbon neutral platform that comprises of Xen virtual machines utilizing the OnApp platform. These virtual machines allow us to install isolated operating systems on shared hardware. Operating systems for a number of accounts are installed on the same physical machine, but function completely independently. In practice, this means that we can offer remarkably secure cloud hosting solutions at a surprisingly competitive price. The Steadfast Cloud Platform provides you with the

To our valued VPS clients, We here at Steadfast Networks are very pleased to share with you some exciting news! This week we have launched a powerful new cloud hosting solution, the Steadfast Cloud Platform (http://steadfast.net/services/cloud.php). Part of this great news is we would like to reward you, our loyal customer, with $60 in free account credit just for signing up. You can sign up at https://manage.steadfast.net/order/?form_id=62 . This limited time offer expires 07/07/11. Important: To get the credit, simply email [email protected] with your old and new account information. This news directly impacts your current VPS service with us because this platform has replaced our previous VPS product line. We feel that the new features and benefits of the Steadfast Cloud Platform will greatly enhance our customer’s experience and provide rock solid foundation from which to grow on. Customers will now have a more affordable, customizable, secure, and reliable solution for their virtual hosting needs. As part of transition to cloud virtualization we will be requiring all customers to migrate off the current platform within the next 6 months. The Steadfast Cloud Platform offers all the major strengths of deploying your applications ‘in the cloud’, with the attractive ability to instantly increase or decrease your allocated system resources at any time. With this new service, we are able to provide a reliable cloud hosting solution that scales all the way from hobbyists to enterprise-grade solutions. The Steadfast Cloud Platform is a carbon neutral platform that comprises of Xen virtual machines utilizing the OnApp platform. These virtual machines allow us to install isolated operating systems on shared hardware. Operating systems for a number of accounts are installed on the same physical machine, but function completely independently. In practice, this means that we can offer remarkably secure cloud hosting solutions at a surprisingly competitive price. The Steadfast Cloud Platform provides you with the

Steadfast Networks, a highly experienced web hosting company, launches a highly customizable cloud hosting solution as the Steadfast Cloud Platform. Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) June 6, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a leading Chicago-based hosting provider specializing in colocation services and dedicated server hosting, announced today their powerful new cloud hosting solution, the Steadfast Cloud Platform. This highly customizable cloud platform service offers all the major strengths of deploying your applications “in the cloud,” with the attractive ability to instantly increase or decrease your allocated system resources at any time. “Everybody here at Steadfast Networks is incredibly proud to finally offer the Steadfast Cloud Platform to the industry,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We understand that our customers need the flexibility of cloud hosting with the control of dedicated hardware. With this new service, we are able to provide a reliable cloud hosting solution that scales all the way from hobbyists to enterprise-grade solutions.” The Steadfast Cloud Platform utilizes Xen-based Virtual Machines utilizing the OnApp platform to offer a completely isolated operating system you can use to run your business, be it cloud web hosting for your online presence, software development, or running applications. These Virtual Machines are highly secure, and the cloud hosting service offered by Steadfast offers allocated system resources of 500mhz CPU and 512MB RAM on each Virtual Machine as a starting point. But as businesses grow and their demand for hardware power fluctuates, customers can effortlessly increase the resources on their Virtual Machine, or add more VMs with their own custom specification. Whether customers are looking to run VMs as a private network for internal use, as a public network for web hosting and application deployment, or as part of an existing dedicated server or colocation system, Steadfast Networks is committed to providing unrivalled flexibility with how businesses u

Steadfast Networks, a highly experienced web hosting company, launches a highly customizable cloud hosting solution as the Steadfast Cloud Platform. Chicago, IL (PRESS RELEASE) June 6, 2011 – Steadfast Networks, a leading Chicago-based hosting provider specializing in colocation services and dedicated server hosting, announced today their powerful new cloud hosting solution, the Steadfast Cloud Platform. This highly customizable cloud platform service offers all the major strengths of deploying your applications “in the cloud,” with the attractive ability to instantly increase or decrease your allocated system resources at any time. “Everybody here at Steadfast Networks is incredibly proud to finally offer the Steadfast Cloud Platform to the industry,” says Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. “We understand that our customers need the flexibility of cloud hosting with the control of dedicated hardware. With this new service, we are able to provide a reliable cloud hosting solution that scales all the way from hobbyists to enterprise-grade solutions.” The Steadfast Cloud Platform utilizes Xen-based Virtual Machines utilizing the OnApp platform to offer a completely isolated operating system you can use to run your business, be it cloud web hosting for your online presence, software development, or running applications. These Virtual Machines are highly secure, and the cloud hosting service offered by Steadfast offers allocated system resources of 500mhz CPU and 512MB RAM on each Virtual Machine as a starting point. But as businesses grow and their demand for hardware power fluctuates, customers can effortlessly increase the resources on their Virtual Machine, or add more VMs with their own custom specification. Whether customers are looking to run VMs as a private network for internal use, as a public network for web hosting and application deployment, or as part of an existing dedicated server or colocation system, Steadfast Networks is committed to providing unrivalled flexibility with how businesses u

We're about to jump onto the cloud bandwagon with everyone else, but unlike everyone else, we're doing things differently with the Steadfast Cloud Platform. Instead of saying that the cloud is the solution for everything, we're focusing on the idea of a "Hybrid Cloud" where you can use virtual machines on a private or public cloud, dedicated servers, and colocation all combined into a common solution. Yes, you'll be able to use our high speed internal network from your dedicated servers to the virtual machines on our cloud platform. if you have a colocated environment with your own firewall, VLANs, and/or routing you don't need to buy extra hardware to grow quickly, you can just add virtual machines as needed. Overall, we're building on the idea of providing a true enterprise solution (redundant netApp SAN, fully redundant Cisco architecture) with the utmost in flexibility. Starting at just $20 a month you'll have access to just a huge amount of on-demand resources, with all resources being billed for hourly, thus you only pay for exactly what you need. You can read a lot more about our Cloud Platform here: http://steadfast.net/services/cloud.php In general, it is Xen based virtualization (KVM and/or VMWare options likely coming in the future) that utilizes OnApp to develop a highly elastic, high availability, on-demand cloud platform. This product should be released in the coming weeks, but until then feel free to ask us all the questions you may have about this new offering via Facebook and Twitter/@steadfastnet. The Cloud is Here!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/customers/coming-soon-steadfast-cloud-platform';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We're about to jump onto the cloud bandwagon with everyone else, but unlike everyone else, we're doing things differently with the Steadfast Cloud Platform. Instead of saying that the cloud is the solution for everything, we're focusing on the idea of a "Hybrid Cloud" where you can use virtual machines on a private or public cloud, dedicated servers, and colocation all combined into a common solution. Yes, you'll be able to use our high speed internal network from your dedicated servers to the virtual machines on our cloud platform. if you have a colocated environment with your own firewall, VLANs, and/or routing you don't need to buy extra hardware to grow quickly, you can just add virtual machines as needed. Overall, we're building on the idea of providing a true enterprise solution (redundant netApp SAN, fully redundant Cisco architecture) with the utmost in flexibility. Starting at just $20 a month you'll have access to just a huge amount of on-demand resources, with all resources being billed for hourly, thus you only pay for exactly what you need. You can read a lot more about our Cloud Platform here: http://steadfast.net/services/cloud.php In general, it is Xen based virtualization (KVM and/or VMWare options likely coming in the future) that utilizes OnApp to develop a highly elastic, high availability, on-demand cloud platform. This product should be released in the coming weeks, but until then feel free to ask us all the questions you may have about this new offering via Facebook and Twitter/@steadfastnet. The Cloud is Here!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/05/26/coming-soon-steadfast-cloud-platform';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We're looking to get more involved with social media and looking to get a better dialogue going with our customers. This company is based on long term relationships and we want to be able to expand those relationships through Twitter (@steadfastnet) and Facebook. Before we start our campaigns to share more information and get more involved, we first want a good base of followers. To help get these followers, we know there are plenty of Steadfast fans out there, we're going to offer a free iPad to a random follower or fan once we get a combined total of 500 Twitter http://www.twitter.com/steadfastnet followers or people who like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/steadfastnetworks. As I write this, we're over halfway there, with 81 Facebook like and 264 Twitter followers. Every Like and Follower counts as a separate entry into the drawing, so Like us AND Follow us, we'll also get there faster if everyone tells their friends. :-) Now, this is just the beginning. We're planning continued monthly giveaways for people asking us the best questions, making the best suggestions, etc. We're committed to making this work, we're giving you guys a free iPad! Not just that, we're committed to spending the time communicating with our fans so that everyone can be more familiar with our company as a whole. Note: This would be for a 16GB original Wi-Fi iPad, though if you're an existing customer or we reach this goal faster than expected we'd be happy to throw in some free upgrades! Also, employees or relatives of employees of Steadfast are NOT eligible (I know that question will come up in the office!).tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/marketing/follow-us-on-twitter-like';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We're looking to get more involved with social media and looking to get a better dialogue going with our customers. This company is based on long term relationships and we want to be able to expand those relationships through Twitter (@steadfastnet) and Facebook. Before we start our campaigns to share more information and get more involved, we first want a good base of followers. To help get these followers, we know there are plenty of Steadfast fans out there, we're going to offer a free iPad to a random follower or fan once we get a combined total of 500 Twitter http://www.twitter.com/steadfastnet followers or people who like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/steadfastnetworks. As I write this, we're over halfway there, with 81 Facebook like and 264 Twitter followers. Every Like and Follower counts as a separate entry into the drawing, so Like us AND Follow us, we'll also get there faster if everyone tells their friends. :-) Now, this is just the beginning. We're planning continued monthly giveaways for people asking us the best questions, making the best suggestions, etc. We're committed to making this work, we're giving you guys a free iPad! Not just that, we're committed to spending the time communicating with our fans so that everyone can be more familiar with our company as a whole. Note: This would be for a 16GB original Wi-Fi iPad, though if you're an existing customer or we reach this goal faster than expected we'd be happy to throw in some free upgrades! Also, employees or relatives of employees of Steadfast are NOT eligible (I know that question will come up in the office!).tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/05/09/follow-us-on-twitter-like';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We are proud to be sponsors of the Chicago Overnight Website Challenge, an event organized by interactive development firm The Nerdery, where volunteers form teams of 8-10 web pros that show up not knowing what nonprofit they’ll serve, pro bono, for 24 hours. Previously volunteers have freely given over $1.5 million worth of professional web development services to 57 nonprofit organizations. This a good start, but as long as there are good nonprofits with bad (or no) websites they will rally the community to deliver. They are actively looking for web developers looking to donate their time and sharpen their skills by helping out worthy organizations and for organizations needing new web sites. Please apply for either spot right on their web site. Steadfast Networks is donating a free Virtual Machine (our new Enterprise VM services will be out shortly) to every participating non-profit, now do your part!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/general/steadfast-sponsors-the-chicago-overnight';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We are proud to be sponsors of the Chicago Overnight Website Challenge, an event organized by interactive development firm The Nerdery, where volunteers form teams of 8-10 web pros that show up not knowing what nonprofit they’ll serve, pro bono, for 24 hours. Previously volunteers have freely given over $1.5 million worth of professional web development services to 57 nonprofit organizations. This a good start, but as long as there are good nonprofits with bad (or no) websites they will rally the community to deliver. They are actively looking for web developers looking to donate their time and sharpen their skills by helping out worthy organizations and for organizations needing new web sites. Please apply for either spot right on their web site. Steadfast Networks is donating a free Virtual Machine (our new Enterprise VM services will be out shortly) to every participating non-profit, now do your part!tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/05/04/steadfast-sponsors-the-chicago-overnight';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Steadfast Networks was featured in today's Chicago Sun Times and is the lead story of the business section - http://www.suntimes.com/business/4373615-420/lack-of-natural-disasters-helps-make-chicago-keeper-of-web-based-data.html Yep, I'm the featured picture for the article, but at least the data center looks good behind me. :-)tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/marketing/steadfast-featured-in-chicago-sun';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Steadfast Networks was featured in today's Chicago Sun Times and is the lead story of the business section - http://www.suntimes.com/business/4373615-420/lack-of-natural-disasters-helps-make-chicago-keeper-of-web-based-data.html Yep, I'm the featured picture for the article, but at least the data center looks good behind me. :-)tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/03/19/steadfast-featured-in-chicago-sun';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We've got our brand new NetApp SAN in place and have been putting it through it's paces. Overall, it will allow us to offer high speed (15k RPM SAS drives + 1TB of solid state cache) and high availability (2N head-end redundancy + N+2 drive redundancy) storage to our dedicated and colocation customers, while also forming the backbone of our new cloud and backup services. Right now, things are still early, but I want to give everyone a heads-up that these services will start coming available over the coming weeks. I should have more news on the new offerings and pricing in the next week or so. Right now, we're hoping to provide iSCSI and NFS options in the $0.30 per GB range, with no extra bandwidth or utilization fees for use on our own network.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/03/14/new-netapp-san';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We are announcing that we have added two new account managers over recent weeks, Andy Salazar and Jacob Wall. They both bring extensive industry experience along with them and we're happy to have them on board. With these additions, we'll be expanding our sales hours and increasing our presence on live chat starting Monday. The sales hours will now be 8AM - 7PM Central, Monday through Friday, which assures we cover the 9-5 work hours coast-to-coast. We should also have quicker sales responses on nights and weekends. Live chat will also be available during those times, and as you can see, we've already updated our live chat software (check the bottom right of this page), which should provide a better user experience as it is more responsive and not in a separate pop-up window. For us, the operator interface is also a significant improvement. To note, our billing hours have been reduced to 9AM - 5PM Monday through Friday.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/02/04/new-account-managers-extended-sales';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We got through the 3rd worst snowstorm in Chicago history unscathed. Over 20 inches of snow with 70 mph wind gusts and everything is back to normal the day after. It was the first time in over 10 years Chicago Public Schools had a snow day, but here at Steadfast it was business as usual. Us Chicagoans know snow, but it was still quite an event. I believe this story sums it all up pretty well: http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/your-doubting-thomas/2011/02/snowmageddon-2011-chicagoans-can-handle-a-little-or-a-lot-of-snow.html We maintained full operations and had 24/7 on-site staffing through the whole thing. I would like to give a big thank you for the staff members who put up with the cold, wind, and snow to get to work, assuring all of our customers kept the same level of service they've been accustomed to. This specifically includes Andrew, Steve, Kevin, Ray, Jeremy, Sean, Matthew, Mike, Cody, and Marc. Some of them have interesting stories, needing to dig their car out of piles of snow in the road multiple times on a single trip, having police officers assist with pushing their car up an off ramp, walking through snow banks as tall as themselves, and the picture below of a city bus that got stuck in the snow. It wasn't easy, but they did what they needed to do to assure all our customers were taken care of. Again, thank you to our dedicated staff. Your hard work and effort is greatly appreciated! Update: Here is a picture from in front of our 725 S Wells facility. And a big thank you to Marc for those last two pictures.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2011/02/03/snowmageddon-2011';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 31, 2011 (PRNewswire) -- Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR), a global datacenter provider, has completed a new Turn-Key Datacenter® lease agreement with Steadfast Networks that expands Steadfast's footprint in Digital Realty Trust's 350 E. Cermak Road property. Through this lease agreement, Steadfast Networks will expand IT infrastructure to meet growing demand for its managed dedicated datacenter services, collocation services, and IT services for financial services and trading companies. In total, Steadfast Networks now has more than 1.3 MW of power and more than 17,000 square feet of datacenter space in 350 E. Cermak as well as a significant amount of office space for its corporate operations. "This datacenter expansion enables Steadfast to provide our customers with a complete suite of services, including managed services, hardware, IT consulting, network services, space/power, monitoring, on-site staffing and more. We offer companies in the financial services and trading industry a compelling value proposition: our services decrease their capital expenditures while also reducing the workload of their internal IT teams, whether they work with Steadfast just on specific projects or outsource their entire IT department to our team," said Karl Zimmerman, Founder and CEO of Steadfast Networks. "We are very pleased to expand our relationship with Steadfast Networks and support the growth of its business," said Brent Behrman, Senior Vice President, Sales of Digital Realty Trust. "Our Turn-Key Datacenters feature state-of-the-art, raised floor datacenter space that adheres to the highest engineering design standards with the most reliable components available. We are committed to meeting the technical specifications of our customers such as Steadfast Networks by providing a secure, reliable and cost effective datacenter facility." Each Digital Realty Trust Turn-Key Datacenter facility is physically secure and features a state-of-the-art power and cooling architecture that has been optimize

My name is Ryan Hayes and I am Director of Business Development at Steadfast Networks. In an earlier post Karl mentioned the launch of Steadfast Financial Networks. We've received some questions in response to a recent New York Times article on high-frequency trading, so I'd like to take some time to discuss computers and finance in general, Steadfast's involvement with the financial industry, and explain what this acquisition means for our business overall. Computers and finance have a long history going back to at least the 1970s when the New York Stock Exchange introduced a computerized ordering system to speed up execution and meet the demands of increased exchange volume. The 1980s saw a large growth in computerized trading, with many of the algorithmic trading and cash management strategies like those of Ed Seykota being among the most successful. The 1990s and 2000s saw an explosion in computer-based trading with firms like Renaissance Technologies taking in billions of dollars a year. It's clear that computers in finance are here to stay. And while there are critics of the effect that computerized trading has had on the volatility of stock markets and market stability, it's difficult to deny that they've been a net benefit to the industry and to the economy at large: not only increasing profit potential, but also increasing available liquidity on the markets and allowing orderly, error-free processing of trillions of dollars worth of transactions that we see on modern equities and commodities exchanges and which contribute to the overall functioning of our economy. Our involvement with financial firms, and in particular with high-speed trading started in the late 2000s when we noticed increased demand for our colocation offerings from financial firms. Since this demand has kept up and experiencing first hand the frequent complexity of working with third parties, we decided to supplement our existing offering with trading-specific services including market data, consulting, and expanded colocation and IP

We've decided it was about time to revamp our drive offerings as our solid state drives have proven to be extremely popular, while others have fallen out of favor. I'll start with the bad news, we're no longer offering 150GB or 300GB 10k RPM SATA drives (Raptors) due to low demand and poor reliability. We are still offering the 74GB drives, but only for as long as we have them in stock. If you're currently using these drives, don't worry, we still have spares around in case of a drive failure. Then, on the plus side, we are now offering larger 600GB 15k RPM SAS (SA-SCSI) drives and 2TB SATA drives to keep up with the changes there, but the main additions are the new lines of solid state drives (SSD), focusing on having some more affordable options. We're still sticking solely with Intel drives, as we've been extremely happy with their performance and reliability. We've tested various other brands, and none of the others we've tested seem to be ready for a server environment like the Intel drives are. The new Intel SSD offerings are from the Intel X25-M and X25-V series, which are basically the same, an Intel X25-V 40GB drive for only $15 a month (making it a free upgrade option as a primary drive on most of our servers) and the Intel X25-M 160GB drive at $50 per month, allowing you to have more SSD capacity at a reasonable price point. These MLC based drives still perform very well, but not quite to the extent of the SLC Intel X25-E drives we've been offering. On reads you should see similar performance, but the X25-E will have over twice the write performance, which is critical in heavy write environments, which can be the case with many databases. In addition, the lifespan of the X25-E is significantly longer (~70 years with 100GB in writes per day) due to the SLC technology and enterprise nature of the drive, while the X25-M and X25-V (5+ years in same scenario) should still have ample lifespans in most environments, it can still be an additional concern. If you're interested in more data on these S

You've probably heard of IPv6 by now if you're watching Internet technology at all, but even with new urgency to its deployment, there aren't many people saying much about it. There's a big problem with that. Over a decade ago, Internet architects realized that the current Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) used for identifying systems on the Internet was limited. With the massive expansion of the Internet in the 1990s, the number of addresses available would simply run out in the not-too-distant future. To deal with this problem, they developed and standardized a replacement known as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)... in 1998. Where IPv4 provided 32-bit addresses, which amount to 2^32 or about 4.3 billion unique numbers, IPv6 was designed with 128-bit addresses, or about 340 undecillion (that's 36 zeroes) unique numbers. The problem? IPv6 was seen as unnecessary by the vast majority of the network operators at the time. A relatively small portion of the IPv4 address space was allocated in 1998 and there was a lot of reserved address space that could still be used if needed, so there was almost no movement whatsoever on implementing IPv6. This trend continued through the early 2000s. Organizations like the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and American Registry for Internet Numbers, the institutions responsible for keeping track of assignments of IP addresses, had run the numbers and projected that less than a decade remained before the IPv4 space would fill up. They began programs to try to educate network operators accordingly. With few using IPv6, software developers saw little benefit in IPv6 implementation, so IPv4-only software continued to be prevalent. Years passed with little change until very recently. In the past few years, an increasing number of software vendors and network operators have gotten the message. Many providers began to investigate IPv6 internally and some started upgrading their infrastructure to support IPv6. Most operating systems and a lot of open source so

Now that we have updated our PBX system, we have integrated our PBX with Skype. Just download Skype, if you don't have it already, and call our username steadfastnetworks, you can click our username there to add us to your contact list, and you can call us, from anywhere in the world, at no charge. This should be quite convenient to our international users who no longer need to make an international call to reach us, but it will also help those of you who simply prefer to use Skype instead of the phone. Now you really have no excuse to contact us when you have any questions for us! If you have any issues with Skype please contact our network operations department, [email protected], with the report. You can then still use our ticket system, email, or our standard phone numbers for submitting a ticket. tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/12/17/steadfast-now-on-skype';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

I am proud to announce that Steadfast Networks is now a part of the Illinois Technology Association. The Illinois Technology Association (ITA) is a driving force behind the growth of Illinois' vibrant technology industry. ITA’s agenda is simple – grow technology companies by fostering deep collaboration among the diverse industry all in support of developing the ecosystem necessary to foster the success of member companies. All the while tirelessly advocating for the industry to raise the awareness of Illinois as a leading technology community. ITA's philanthropic arm, the Illinois Technology Foundation, is earnestly involved in the Chicago Academy for Advanced Technology (CAAT). The CAAT is a Chicago high school, run in collaboration with the Center for Polytechnical Education, the City of Chicago, private sector leaders, and entrepreneurs. ITA mentors students in the program through an established program providing a minimum of monthly meetings and guidance. The students, who have shown an interest and ability in technology, are supported and encouraged to continue their education in technology, building the future of the technology industry leadership in Illinois. Overall, we feel our membership in this organization will help in improve the IT environment in Illinois and innovation throughout Illinois through fostering entrepreneurship and helping to develop our next generation of IT workers. We are proud to help with these types of activities and are happy to be a more active member of the Illinois IT community.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/11/11/steadfast-networks-joins-the-illinois-technology-association';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';script<script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/butt

I did an interview several days ago with Ken Hess of The Frugal Tech Show to be featured in one of his Podcasts. I had a good time, though I started out a bit nervous. Hopefully I don't sound too stupid, it was my first public interview in awhile, the last being at HostingCon. Now, if anyone thinks I'd be a good interview subject, feel free to contact our sales department by emailing [email protected] and we can set something up. To listen to my interview specifically you can go here: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/frugaltechshow/2010/10/29/karl-zimmerman-of-steadfast-networkstweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/11/01/the-frugal-tech-show-features-steadfast-networks';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

I am proud to announce that we're now launching Steadfast Financial Networks at SteadfastFN.com. As our financial/trading customer base has been growing we decided it was a good decision to acquire RadiusIT, who had become a consulting partner of ours over the years. RadiusIT brings decades of experience in the financial network consulting business, which we can combine with our proximity colocation facilities, 24/7 on-site staff, and nationwide network to offer an end-to-end IT solution to financial and trading firms. If you're interested in any of these financial network services, such as network consulting, market feed data, proximity colocation, or in-depth 24/7 monitoring please contact us.tweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/11/01/steadfast-financial-networks-launched';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

We have been offering them for a bit now as customer orders, but they're now a standard product offering, the Xeon X5660 2.8Ghz six core processor in a dual processor configuration. These servers come with 12GB of RAM and 2x 500GB hard drives (using our current RAID special) for $599.95 a month. This can serve as a great option to those currently running their Xeon 5520's to the max or simply need some additional headroom as it'll get you ~25% more processing power per core and 50% more cores for a nearly 90% performance improvement, assuming what you're doing can take full advantage of the additional cores. With this offering, you can get nearly twice the processing power and twice the RAM for just a 50% higher cost for the base system. These servers can be ordered via our usual dedicated server page: http://steadfast.net/services/dedicated.basic.phptweetmeme_url = 'http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/10/21/new-12-core-server-offering-xeon-x5660';tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly';tweetmeme_source = 'steadfastnet';tweetmeme_style = 'compact';Original post blogged on b2evolution.

Steadfast Networks is happy to announce our new line of Managed Network Security services. These services are all monitored 24/7/365 from a SAS70 Type II certified Security Operations Center (SOC) and allow you to easily become compliant with regulations such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, and FISMA. Many people overlook various aspects of a complete security solution, such as keeping IDS/IPS rules up-to-date or daily monitoring of server and firewall logs. What good is a hardware firewall if you're not familiar with the rules that need to be in place and don't have the time to monitor it closely? A single item forgotten from a compliance checklist can easily equate to fines and lost business/reputation. Together with our security specialists we can assure that you're meeting all the compliance requirements and are operating as secure of a network as-is possible. The new product offerings include a managed firewall, managed intrusion prevention and detection (IDS/IPS), managed VPN, vulnerability scanning, log monitoring/management, email security (spam and virus scanning), and general security and regulatory compliance consulting. The most affordable solution is our email security service, which is only $5 a month per domain, but you can also get a complete suite of managed firewall, IDS/IPS, and VPN for $650 a month. That bundled service is enough to meet the requirements for a vast majority of our customers and can cover an almost unlimited number of systems. These managed security services can be added on to existing dedicated server and colocation packages, but you may need to make various network changes, including potential IP renumbering. If you're looking to start a new service, please make sure you contact our sales department with your security needs.<a href="http://steadfast.net/blog/index.php/2010/09/22/new-managed-network-security-services"

Chicago, IL Aug. 30, 2010 -- Steadfast Networks, a leading Chicago based data center and dedicated server hosting provider, announced today its #1359 ranking on the Inc. 5000 list, a list published by Inc. Magazine featuring America’s fastest-growing private companies. The Inc. 5000 list ranks private companies according to highest growth in terms of revenue over a three-year period, from 2006 – 2009. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America’s independent-minded entrepreneurs. Music website Pandora, convenience store chain 7-Eleven, Brooklyn Brewery, and Radio Flyer, maker of the iconic children’s red wagon, are among the other prominent brands featured on this year’s list. “The leaders of the companies on this year’s Inc. 5000 have figured out how to grow their businesses during the longest recession since the Great Depression,” said Inc. president Bob LaPointe. “The 2010 Inc. 5000 showcases a particularly hardy group of entrepreneurs.” "Since our inception in 1998, we have always focused on providing the best service possible for the price," said Karl Zimmerman, CEO of Steadfast Networks. "At Steadfast Networks, our focus has always been based on value; not providing the cheapest service, but providing a high quality dedicated server hosting service where customers can feel appreciated at a reasonable rate. This model has allowed us to keep up consistent growth even during this tough economic times" Over the past three years, 2006-2009, Steadfast Networks has maintained 215% growth. This is the third year in a row that Steadfast Networks has been on the Inc. 5000 list, having been ranked 370 in 2008 and 630 in 2009. This continued growth has been sustained organically, with no outside investment, while continuing to improve the service offerings and level of service provided to their customers,

I'm sure at least some of you noticed the announcement this morning that we're going to be replacing our core routers. I figured it was worth a blog post to detail these changes and what they mean for you. First of all, we've been using Cisco 6500 routers with the SUP720-3BXL management cards at our core, which handles all BGP with our carriers and peers as well as some customer VLANs, for many years now. These routers have worked out great and have served us well, but we're reaching the end of their useful lives for us, at least here in Chicago. There have been some incidents causing higher CPU usage levels than we'd like to see and some bugs on the BGP side, with the large number of sessions we have setup for peering and the like, and that had led us on the initial search for a replacement. It was clear the 6500 platform would not last us much longer as core routers in Chicago. Our primary concern in looking for a new router was the processing and throughput capacity along with the density of 10 GigE ports and "future proofing." In the end, we selected the Brocade (formerly Foundry) MLXe-16, the newest member of the MLX family that isn't planned for official release until mid-September. It takes less of a footprint and less power than the CIsco 6500's, but gives us a significantly improved platform. We had also considered Juniper, and we love the Juniper OS, but we simply couldn't get the density and capacity we wanted. Here is a comparison. Cisco 6500 Processing for up to 400 Million Packets per Second 640 Gbit/sec of throughput 40 Gigabit backplane capacity per module Up to 32 full line speed 10 Gigabit circuits No support for 40 GigE or 100 GigE Brocade MLXe-16 Processing for up to 4 Billion Packets per Second Over 6 Tbit/sec of throughput 240 Gbit/sec backplane capacity per module Up to 128 line spee

We've had our PXE boot system for doing automated installs for awhile now and I'm sure many of you with IPMI on your systems have seen this setup when you reboot your systems. Well, now we have full documentation for using our PXE system here: https://support.steadfast.net/index.php?_m=knowledgebase&_a=viewarticle&kbarticleid=60 This means if you need a reinstall of your OS you can perform it yourself, assuming you have IPMI or KVM over IP, which most systems come with now. In addition, it gives you access to all sorts of other diagnostics tools, such as disk utilities, rescue images, R1soft Bare Metal Restore, memtest, and many more. These tools can come in handy to help you restore your own system or fix an error you made without even needing to contact our support staff. We're giving you the control, but if you still need our help we're here for you 24/7! If you have any questions on using the PXE system or feel there needs to be some clarification in the documentation please contact our support staff.Original post blogged on b2evolution.