Dedicated Web Hosting Firm, The Planet, Acquires Former Rackspace Executive

Houston, Texas - (The Hosting News) - July 31, 2007 - Privately held dedicated web hosting company, The Planet, has appointed two new leaders for its advanced services and core hosting businesses. Jeff Nelson will lead the advanced services business, while Todd Mitchell joins the company to lead the core hosting marketing component.

Both Mr. Nelson and Mr. Mitchell, will report to Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Steve Kahan. With the appointment of these new general managers, the company rounds out its marketing team to address the three pillars of its business: the new Microsoft business team led by General Manager Cody Menard, complemented by Advanced Services General Manager Jeff Nelson and Todd Mitchell, Core Hosting General Manager.

Mr. Kahan explained, ''Through these three businesses, we will build products and services that support the entire range of customers who rely on The Planet for running their IT infrastructures. Whether it's a customer looking for additional managed services; resellers who want to extend their business with core product offerings; or integrators looking to expand their Microsoft solutions, The Planet will span the entire spectrum. This strong trio of managers will help drive all aspects of the business to ensure customer success and drive revenue attainment. They bring deep experience in their respective domains and add significant expertise to the marketing team.''

Mr. Nelson will focus on building products, solutions and services as the company extends its reach into the managed services arena. He joins The Planet from Rackspace, where he spent more than five years during its expansive growth cycle. With Rackspace, Mr. Nelson developed products and services for its managed services portfolio to drive customer satisfaction.

Mr. Nelson's previous experience includes work with Enron Broadband Services and @Home Networks, in security and network engineering roles. He is certified as a New Product Development Professional through the Product Development and Management Association (www.pdma.org). Mr. Nelson earned an M.S. in Technology Management from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a B.A. in literature from the University of Oregon.

Joining the company from shared hosting reseller Site5, Mitchell will develop products, solutions and services for The Planet's resellers and also ensure superior customer experience for its SMB customers. At Site5, he most recently served as president and chief operating officer, helping to drive revenue and expand its customer base. Previous experience includes work with ProNIC Solutions and NDi Media. He attended St. Lawrence College and John Abbott College, both located in Canada.

The Planet's network is designed without single points of failure, which means the network operates with full redundancy for its core routers and distribution switches. The company also offers carrier diversity, with connections to seven Tier-1 telecommunications providers. As a result, customers never face obstacles or suffer from poor peering connections, sub-optimal routing paths, or congested or oversold networks that limit the power, speed and availability of their sites.

Ultimately, The Planet endeavors to provide the following:

High level of network capacity and speed to deliver peak performance
Instant scalability to handle even the largest spikes in network traffic
Parallel, redundant, multi-tiered network routing and switching architecture to assure reliability and stability
Multiple layer network security that prevents Delayed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks from harming businesses
Knowledgeable experts with a passion for excellence and a commitment to operate the best networks in the business

The Planet is a leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 22,000 small and medium size businesses and 2.8 million web sites worldwide, using the best choice of servers, software tools and support, backed by state-of-the-art facilities and network connectivity.

For more information about The Planet, please visit: www.theplanet.com.

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