Virtual.Offis provides customers with dedicated IBM servers and full administrative access to run whatever applications they choose. Typically, a 2-tier architecture systems consists of a Web front-end and an SQL backend protected by custom firewalls.

Virtual.Offis manages the server hardware and operating system up to an application level.

• a range of models configured to customer requirements
• Intel Pentium/Xeon/Dual Core based servers running Windows or Linux
• Remote console access and Secure file transfer via Tivoli IT Director
• Incorporate Predictive Failure Analysis ® technology which pro-actively notifies technicians of issues with memory, processors, hard drives, fans and power so they can be fixed before they affect performance or interrupt service.
• All servers use dual power supplies and all hard drives use RAID1 (mirror) or RAID5 (stripe) with one hot spare.
• Replacement parts are kept on site in case of hardware failure.
• IBM Blade Centre technology is used to provide high availability, flexibility, scalability and manageability

• The IBM System I  is the most complete and secure integrated business system designed to run thousands of the world's most popular business applications.
• IBM i5/OS
• IBM OS/400
• Linux

Virtual.Offis provides complex hosting solutions that require hardware load balancing or clustering for web servers that run very popular web sites. CISCO Global site selectors (GSS) are provided for customers who want seamless automated failover to a secondary data centre or for geographical load balancing. This is also called multi-homed web sites. It allows traffic to be distributed to a data centre that is geographically closer to the user and provide a better response time. Database mirroring and file synchronisations may also be required by these systems.

All these systems require extensive testing and specific process development for each system.  Virtual.Offis has the specific experience with these systems. Below is an example of complex hosting requiring CISCO load balancing, operating system clustering, database replication and custom firewall.

GEOGRAPHICAL LOAD BALANCING AND DISASTER RECOVERY

All sites have 24 X 7 physical security, dual phase power,UPS, Diesel generators and environment control. Below is an example of complex hosting, requiring two data centres and CISCO GSS for geographical load balancing and automated failover.

Virtual.Offis’ main Internet connections are provided by Verizon, who have a major data centre located in the same building. Taking advantage of their close physical proximity, Virtual.Offis has established a unique arrangement with Verizon by having multiple high speed Fibre connections running directly into the Verizon network.

Virtual.Offis provides Internet access and national private networks over DSL or Wireless networks, VPN, SMS and Fax gateways. Email account management with Anti Virus, Anti SPAM,  content and image controls. Internet via BGP-4 Tier-1 access point service at 3Gbps.

As one of the world’s largest Internet backbone service providers, Verizon also provide Virtual.Offis with multiple levels of redundancy for our Internet connection.  The City West building is also a major hub for the Southern Cross cable, which significantly improves data transfer speeds to the Pacific and USA.

Virtual.Offis operates two Internet links at the second data centre and a Layer 2 wireless network between the data centres.

BANDWIDTH
Bandwidth is a major concern for most customers. Virtual.Offis is one of the first in Australia to offer a truly un-metered or “all you can eat” bandwidth plan at a fixed price (please refer to the DSO for details and conditions).  Our customers have access to a minium of 10Mbps at a fixed price and can upgrade to as much as 100Mbps. This offering has allowed many high traffic customers to move their hosting from America to Australia where our price is now competitive and the response time is about 15 times faster because the server are geographically closer to the users.
Virtual.Offis’ managed bandwidth allocation guarantees customers a minimum level of bandwidth whilst allowing them to take advantage of any spare capacity by allowing data bursting up to 100Mbps. Virtual.Offis typically utilise a mere 5% of its available capacity.

Customers have browser access to live traffic usage reporting. Historical information is available and can be downloaded to Excel for further analysis and capability planning.

NETWORK
The Virtual.Offis network is fully redundant and has been designed to eliminate any single point of failure.  Network connections, firewalls, load balancers, power supplies, backup power systems and all other systems have redundancy – if one ever fails, another is standing by to take over.

Virtual.Offis guarantees 99.9% service availability. Our network infrastructure has been built on ‘best of breed’ hardware and network devices from vendors such as CISCO, Lucent Technologies, Intel and IBM.

Virtual.Offis is keen to establish Hosting partnerships with key integrators, software and application developers. In order to give customers the opportunity to trial our services we are offering selected customers the chance to take advantage of up to 60 days FREE HOSTING with our Incubation Program.

This gives you the opportunity to test our services, provide proof of concept, demonstration and development environments at minimal cost.  Choose from any of the managed System X servers, pay only a set up charge and for the bandwidth you use and take advantage of up to 60 days free hosting.

If at any stage during the 60 days you want to move the server into a live production or a revenue-generating environment, to continue with the service you will need to sign a minimum 12-month contract, subject to acceptance of our Service Order and standard Terms and Conditions.

Should you decide to cancel the hosting service at any stage during the 60 days free hosting period, there are no cancellation fees or obligations to continue, however the set up fee is non-refundable.

Virtual.Offis provides managed security with custom firewall protection behind redundant CISCO firewalls to prevent common attacks such as denial of service and synch attacks, virus scanning and vulnerability management via a secure portal with links to remediation databases. The vulnerability management system is updated daily with the list of the latest vulnerabilities and scans the operating system, applications and databases

Strong security for systems and data is a key benefit associated with outsourcing IT systems and Virtual.Offis has invested heavily in security technology and firewall equipment. Sharing these critical resources means that companies can take advantage of the latest technology that is often prohibitively expensive for a single company to own and operate.Data protection and online security services include:

Jobpac is an innovative, fully integrated business system specifically designed to tackle the unique business requirements of the construction and engineering organisations.

Initially marketed in 1982, Jobpac is used as the core business system in over 75 companies. It is one of the most comprehensive business application systems available for medium to large construction and engineering organisations and is continually upgraded by means of new versions. This ensures that Jobpac retains the industry's highest levels of customer satisfaction.

Virtual.Offis partners with Jobpac to offer this ERP solution as a Application Service Provider (ASP). Making it available to small and large companies on a per seat basis.