Mar
15
- Chris Thomas
- 15/Mar/2010 18:24
In 1998 a newly formed company took the then huge step of deciding to colocate a web server with one of the biggest network providers in the UK, PIPEX. With only 2 employees, but already boasting an impressive client list that included Thomas Cook, the company installed what was at the time a massively powerful server in Canary Wharf.
That DELL PowerEdge server ran without fault for over 10 years!
Our hats off to DELL for astonishing build quality, but more impressively reliability. Not a single hard drive, processor, power supply or network interface failed during that time. The server was the cornerstone of VSI-thinking customer web hosting for 4 years before a second server was installed. Now a whole rack in Canary Wharf hosts a variety of servers, and the final customer was removed from PIPEX 1, as it was named, late last year.
Credit also goes to PIPEX, or Vialtus as the comapny is now named, because on internal inspection of the server there was no dust within the case. The server is located in a minutely controlled environment in Canary Wharf, and even running your finger over internal components there was no contamination what so ever.
PIPEX 1 returned to the VSI-thinking office over 10 years after it was first set up and received a round of applause and a gold carriage clock as a long term service award. After setting such an example we hope the server hosting this blog will last as long and stand the test of time with as much reliability.
On behalf of VSI-thinking and all our customers, thank you DELL and Vialtus.