How to deal with the crash of enterprise server hosting system?

In early July, FileBlaze, headquartered in San Francisco, USA, officially went online, providing users with large file transfer and preview services - such as sending 10,000 songs via email without any errors and in just a few seconds. At the time, FileBlaze already had 75,000 loyal customers, including senior executives from NBC Universal and some Grammy Award winners.

But the second week was a disaster. The server hosting provider they chose - which was supposed to be responsible for server management and provide stable servers and technical support - suffered a system crash, affecting thousands of user files. What's worse, the backup work that the other party had promised was not in place. "Poof, the files were gone with no explanation or solution because there was a very small addendum in the contract saying they were not responsible for file backups," said Chuck Baker, founder and CEO of FileBlaze. "We were saving 70% on hosting costs each month, but it looked like they were cutting corners and exaggerating when selling."

Make-up: Baker sent out a notice and apology letter before most users noticed anything was wrong. The letter also listed what to do if they were affected. Fortunately, users were very sympathetic, and as a result, the website's traffic hit a new peak. To avoid any unexpected damage to user interests, Baker immediately began looking for other cloud hosting service providers, including AT&T's Synaptic Compute, Amazon's EC2, and Verizon's Terremark service. Finally, he decided to skip the middleman altogether.

"Even though our business is file transfer, not storage, I decided to just go to the data center and get my own servers so that this wouldn't happen again," Baker said. "When we first started, we had to work with vendors, but now that I have the resources, this is the best option."

The result: After a few months of getting the system up and running, and an upfront payment, Fileblaze can now provide users with a more secure system environment to ensure the safety of the files they send. Fileblaze is expected to have 500,000 users by the end of this year. In the long run, the new system can also help the company save 65% of its monthly server hosting costs, and Baker can also rent out excess server space to other companies, increasing revenue while helping other companies avoid the tragedy that happened to him.

Another option: David Strom, a St. Louis-based IT expert and business editor at ReadWriteWeb, said Baker's troubles were to be expected. "Hosted providers are helpful for business owners who don't want to run their own IT departments, but there are no rules or even codified agreements about what responsibilities a hosted provider should assume. These providers range in size from small to large, and the fees range from $10 per month to several hundred dollars." To avoid unpleasant surprises, Systrom offers four suggestions:

1. Ask for some good recommendations from peers of similar size to you.

2. Check the qualifications and pay attention to the response speed of the other party when you call.

3. Ask what kind of disaster recovery and post-disaster business continuity mechanisms the other party has adopted - you can even consider asking the other party to do a fake disaster drill and see the backup and recovery process with your own eyes.

4. Look for a hosting provider that is not too far away and that you can drive to at any time.