This interview was originally published on January 28, 2020
Since 1996, eApps® Hosting has evolved into a premier provider of managed application hosting services. We spoke with their president, Richard Lingsch, about their managed hosting plans, powerful web administration tools, and how, over the years, their technical skills have expanded to cover various leading programming technologies, frameworks, and widely used Content Management Systems.
Tell us a little about eApps Hosting and its evolution.
It doesn’t seem that long ago that we installed a Lotus Domino web server in a closet of our Class A office space and began selling hosting services for Domino web applications! Looking back, however, it has been quite a journey since becoming a service provider back in March of 1996. We still focus on web application hosting and now offer other advanced services, including geo-spanning HA configurations.
In your opinion, what are some of the crucial factors to consider when selecting a hosting provider? Why do users choose eApps Hosting?
It was clear from the beginning that to compete with the big players, we needed to provide a higher level of technical support. These days, however, it takes more than that. We must be able to help our customers architect a solution using multiple software components and virtualization to achieve a high performance, secure, and reliable topology for their critical applications.
Please tell us about your two platforms Virtual Cloud Server (VCS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS). How are they different, and what are the advantages of one over the other?
The Virtual Cloud Server (VCS) platform has been our flagship offering since 2004. It provides a “Swiss army knife” virtual server that is custom sized and can handle many needs.
The Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a unique offering with advanced tools to support developers and seamless autoscaling to support computing on demand.
With all the knowledge we have gained over the years, we are now launching a Private Virtual Cloud (PvC) service. This next-generation service allows customers to choose and adjust the computing resources they need. Our Create-a-Cloud ® concept gives our customers a “virtual data center” with the required resources and network isolation to easily manage their services. With PvC, the customer’s private VXLANs span physical data centers and are ideally suited for mission-critical applications requiring high availability and disaster recovery.
Can users register, purchase, and transfer domains through eApps?
Yes, we sell domains with the personal service touch.
Do you offer SSL certificates?
Yes, we offer a full range of SSL certificates. All SSLs purchased from eApps include free installation on eApps servers.
What management services are included with your plans and which are available as addons?
All our services include an excellent base level of managed services. An upgrade option for fully managed services contains a bundle of our most popular services such as First Responder for monitor alerts, managed backups, and more.
Are backup, recovery, or storage options available?
Yes, we offer enterprise-grade backup services. Also, our PvC platform customers can allocate fast SSD block storage.
How do you monitor server uptime and resources?
We provide monitoring services through one of our partners. Basic uptime and resource monitoring are included at no charge. More sophisticated monitoring options, including a First Responder service that sends the alarms to our Support department, are also available.
What is your “Geo Cloud Load Balancer” solution?
We partner with a leading player in Cloud Load Balancing and Security services. For true high availability, it is essential that the load balancing function reside outside of the data center where the application services are running. We span the application across physical data centers, using advanced real-time data synchronization technologies. The cloud load balancer will detect if any application services are unavailable and adjust the traffic accordingly.
Are migration services available?
Yes, we are experts at migration and are even approached by other hosting companies to assist with large migration projects. For new customers, we scope out the migration requirements and often offer the service at no charge, depending on the complexity and size of the customer.
What professional services can you provide for customers who want to be “hands-off”?
We offer a complete set of managed service options. Probably the only service we don’t automatically do is software updates as that can break a customer’s application, so it requires customer coordination. We are working on an advanced upgrade service, where updates are performed in the customer’s test environment before updating the production environment.
What other services do you offer?
We stick to our knitting and focus only on managed application hosting services, including consultation and application architecture services.
How are your servers secured against hackers and other cyber threats?
I could tell you the details, but then I would be compromising our security! We are continuously working to keep the bad guys out and the good guys safe. Our approach includes measures at multiple levels, from the server to the gateway firewall.
What support is available to your customers?
We offer 24/7 support from skilled system administrators by phone, including VoIP, email, and chat.
What new features can we expect to see in 2020?
Our Private Virtual Cloud (PvC) service is operational and being used for production purposes by some of our most advanced customers. We will officially launch this service by the end of Q1 2020.
Has eApps Hosting won any awards in the hosting industry?
Yes, for two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, we have won first place in Find Best Hosts’ Reader’s Choice Award, a unique award that recognizes the achievements of web hosting providers throughout the year. We were also one of the top 3 winners of HostReview’s Best Managed Hosting Service for 2019.
Gail is a Technical Editor and Interviewer for Website Planet. Her first PC was a TRS-80 which required a cassette tape to boot up. Producing websites, emails, and banners combines her love for design, technology, and of course, writing.
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