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Frequently Asked Questions?

1Q. What is Load-Balancing and High-Availability?

1A. Load-Balancing is a process and technology that distributes site traffic among several servers using a network-based device. This device processes traffic targeted at a site and redirects that traffic to various servers (nodes) distributing the load across multiple machines creating a vast virtual server. This load balancing process is completely transparent to the end user and there can be anywhere from 2 to hundreds of servers operating behind a single URL. To purchase used Big-IP™ Load-Balancing Hardware at a fraction of the price of new, click here: Used Big-IP™ Hardware.

In summary, a load-balancer will:

Process traffic destined for a site.
Split traffic into individual requests and decides which servers receives those requests.
Maintains a watch on the available servers (nodes), ensuring they are responding to traffic and if they do not, remove them from rotation.
Provides redundancy by employing more than one unit in a a fail over senario (High Availability).
Offers content-aware distribution, by doing things such as processing URLs and routing traffic based on portions of the URL, intercepting cookies, and XML parsing.

See Below for a graphical depiction:

2Q. Is load-balancing different from "clustering"?

2A. Load-Balancing and Clustering are both solutions to the same problem but they go about it somewhat differently. Clustering usually refers to the use of proprietary software to interact at an OS level and is specific to the vendor in question. Since there is a requirement for tight integration between servers, special software is required, and thus the vendor will only support a finite amount of platforms. Thus, in ExpressRacks experience, Network Application devices such as F5 Networks BigIPs™ are preferred over vendor specific proprietary software solutions. Typically, the cost of the network application device is the same if not less than the "clustering" software solution. Additionally, there is less to trouble-shoot with the Load-Balancer than there is with their software counterparts. Similarly, scalability is usually much easier to achieve with a Load-Balancer as all the user must do is add a server, update its content and tell the Load-Balancer of its existence. To purchase used Big-IP™ Load-Balancing Hardware at a fraction of the price of new, click here: Used Big-IP™ Hardware.

3Q. Why is ExpressRacks Products and Services so much lower than its competitors?

3A. There are several reasons. ExpressRacks keeps its overhead low by not overbuying and employing a frugal management team. Additionally, ExpressRacks is willing to accept a lower margin than our competition. All of our services are offered from our company and not outsourced. This means that we supply the service direct to you, not from a subcontractor.

4Q. What type of connections do you have to the internet?

4A. Our back-haul to the internet is a multi-homed connection with Sprint, ELI, and Alter.net. These connections total over 54 Mbps!

5Q. Do you offer Dial-up Internet Access?

5A. No, this service has become obsolete in todays market and it is not currently economically viable.

6Q. Why should we choose you over your competitor?

6A. ExpressRacks has been serving the Internet Community since 1996 and have an almost perfect record for Uptime, Response time, Reliability, and ease of use. We also have a friendly and knowledgeable sales/support team to help you with all your needs. ExpressRacks has a complete product line offering. ExpressRacks has solutions from single dedicated servers all the way up to a complete turn-key Highly-Available Clustered solution. We have over 6 years specialized experience. Plus, with our 99.9% uptime guarantee, how can you go wrong?

Note: BIG-IP™, 3DNS™, Globalsite™ and F5 Networks™ are registered trademarks of F5 Networks, Inc.