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| Free.fr $20 Dedicated Web Host Server |
| Tuesday, 01 June 2010 12:46 |
 Xavier Niel's 30 euro triple play transformed the European Internet while making him a billionaire. He will do similar when his mobile network is built out, and now is shaking up the hosting market. The going price for a dedicated server is $100-$300/month. Using a low power Dell Fortuna XS11-VX8 the size of a small paperback book, Iliad/Free's Online.net is offering 1 gigabit of connectivity, 160 gigabytes of storage, and a massive amount of bandwidth for streaming video. One server is powerful enough to "handle approximately 900 concurrent 700k video streams off of the same file on a 1Gb LAN," Drew Schulke of Dell emails. It could, for example, stream the meetings of the FCC or France's ARCEP to a large audience, or a Professor's classroom lecture. More typical use, with different viewers watching or downloading different programs, could still support many users. For audio, a bank of five of these boxes could serve as many users as most Paris or New York radio stations typically reach. An enormous number of users could be served static web pages.
Every carrier considered adding hosting service, but nearly none have made any money. Most people will remain well-served by the extremely cheap shared hosting deals. For $9/month at BlueHost I run a dozen domains, some with video, and plenty of traffic. I had no delays even when I was slash-dotted and downtime has been maybe 10 hours in four years. Their tools are much easier to use than learning how to manage a Unix server. But in a video age you need more than that for many sites.
Xavier can do this because he runs the most effective lean operation I've seen in telecom and designed the system with the latest cost-effective technology. Dell says the Fortuna draws between 15 and 29 watts depending on load. That compares to the 50 watts or more of most servers tested by SPECpower.
Adding cooling and overhead, that implies a load of the better part of a kilowatt or more per day. At a very low price of 10 cents/kilowatthour, that's several dollars a month. Add several dollars a month for bandwidth and the facility. Xavi probably got a good deal on the Fortunas, but even at $250/per amortized over 48 months that's another $5.
I'd guess direct costs in the low teens, leaving a slender margin that will require major volume to make money. Iliad/Free "can't make money" on 30 euro/month for triple-play. Their fully-audited statements prove otherwise; they make so much money they pay substantial corporate tax.
Don't bet against Xavier Niel.
Fortuna details and the Iliad press release:
From Drew Schulke at Dell, explaining the capacity measure.
Geek Details:
> - Audio: MPEG-4 22.050 Khz 16 bit mono > - Video: 960 x 720 (4:3) H.264 30 fps, key frame every 30 frames, limit data rate to 700 kbits/sec > - Pre-encoded -- this means that there is no on the fly encoding, this is simply delivering the stream to the network with all consumers viewing the same data stream. > Non-Geek Bottom Line: > So, for the Fortuna server Iliad is deploying, it could handle approximately 900 concurrent 700k video streams off of the same file on a 1Gb LAN.0 It's built around the Via Nano CPU and only requires 20-29 Watts/server at full load (that isn’t a typo), and 15 Watts/server at OS idle. However, what usually catches most customers' attention is the form factor. With a size slightly larger than a 3.5-inch hard drive, Fortuna is a “hot-plug” server with its own dedicated memory, storage, BMC, and dual 1GbE NIC’s. The chassis exists to provide power, cooling, and a mechanism to mount in a rack. This provides unprecedented density – supporting six servers per rack unit (U) or 252 servers in a 42U rack.
The press release
Paris, Tuesday 1 June 2010 Online launches the first dedicated server offering for less than € 15 per month Designed in collaboration with Dell, Online is launching a new generation of Dedibox servers based on innovative equipment architecture, which combine reliability, high performance and low electricity consumption. This ecological server takes no more room than a 3 ½ inch hard drive, with an average electricity consumption of less than 15 W. It is hosted in high density with up to 252 physiques servers per rack. This offer is based on the following configuration: − Dell XS11-VX8 server, − Nano processor U2250 (1x 1.6 GHz), − 2 Go RAM DDR2, − One 160 Go hard drive, − Very high speed 1Gbit/sec internet connection as standard. This server supports 64 bits virtualisation and instructions as standard and meets the new needs of companies and individuals, providing them with the confidentiality, high performance and predictable cost of a true dedicated server at the same price as a virtual server. This dedicated server offering is priced at a record-breaking € 14.99 ex-VAT per month (installation charge: € 39.99 ex-VAT), with no time commitment. In conjunction with this offer, and in partnership with Microsoft, Online includes the Windows Server 2008 R2 Web Edition operating system for only € 2.99 ex-VAT per month. “Hosting solutions are at the core of Microsoft’s strategy. The Dedibox V3 dedicated server offering is perfectly in keeping with this. With the Dedibox V3, combined with Windows Server 2008 R2, customers will benefit from a dedicated hosted web platform, available at very short notice and priced very attractively. This launch comes within the framework of an intended long-term partnership with the Online company", Laurent Schlosser, Telecom, Media and Service Providers Manager, Microsoft France commented. Lastly, bolstered by the success of the “PRO” Dedibox package, Online upgraded its offering, which features a new configuration: − Dell PowerEdge R210 server, − Intel Xeon Nehalem L3426 processor (8x 1.86 GHz), − 8 Go RAM DDR3 ECC, − Storage capacity of 2x 2To on raid 0 / raid 1 hardware, − Very high speed 1Gbit/sec internet connection, − Dell ProSupport manufacturer’s onsite support, − Optional: 24/7 onsite support and access to the IT centre at the unchanged price of € 99.99 ex-VAT per month (installation charge € 39.99 ex-VAT) with no time commitment. About Online Online, a subsidiary of the Iliad Group established in 1998, is specialised in domain name registration under the Bookmyname brand, pooled and dedicated internet hosting with Online.net and Dedibox, web platform facility management under the Iliad-Entreprises brand and lastly, the design, building and operation of IT centres via the Iliad-Datacenter brand. |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 20 June 2010 02:40 |