SoftLayer, Dedicated Server Solutions Firm, Reduces Shipment Waste Quotient

Dallas, Texas - (The Hosting News) - June 4, 2008 - On-demand hosting services and virtual data center provider for the small to medium enterprise (SME), SoftLayer, is receiving its delivery of servers under a new packaging program, designed to reduce packing materials by 80-percent.

The program was created through several months of close collaboration between SoftLayer and its server manufacturer, Supermicro. Joshua Rushe, Vice President of Operations at SoftLayer noted, ''From the shipment of our first server in 2006, SoftLayer has actively recycled all its data center materials. But with our rate of growth, it was essential we do even more. We looked for a way to go beyond recycling and reduce the production of unnecessary material. We hope this program sets a new industry standard that will help reduce the total environmental impact of data centers worldwide.''

SoftLayer's reduced packaging program provides multiple environmental benefits. It eliminates more than 8 pounds of packing material per server, as well as the shipment of user manuals and unnecessary components, thereby greatly reducing the volume of materials produced or recycled. Moreover, these measures reduce the total shipping ''footprint,'' enabling the same sized shipping containers to carry more units and reducing the amount of fuel consumed and carbon emissions produced when shipping.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that recycling one ton of cardboard and paper products leads to saving:

17 trees
3.3 cubic yards of landfill space
360 gallons of water
100 gallons of gasoline
60 pounds of air pollutants
10,401 kilowatts of electricity

The savings from eliminating the initial production of the cardboard is even more dramatic. Based on these figures, SoftLayer's new program will save over 750 trees per year.

Mr. Rushe added, ''We continue working with key partners like Supermicro to create more ways to make data center operations as environmentally efficient as possible.''

Recently, SoftLayer completed the first level of integration between its API and the Plesk utility for managing server infrastructure. As a result of the upgrade, Plesk users may use a single interface to seamlessly access all SoftLayer management tools. Nathan Day, Chief Technology Officer of SoftLayer, presented the new feature at the third annual Parallels Summit in Washington, D.C.

SoftLayer also announced that it had added rackAID to its Preferred Partner Program. rackAID is now a preferred service provider of server management and Plesk expert solutions to SoftLayer. The agreement builds upon the two companies' long-standing referral program. rackAID delivers managed services and support to businesses employing SoftLayer infrastructure for their global IT needs. The company is a specialist in administering and maintaining computing clusters utilizing the Plesk control panel.

Since 2000, rackAID has been a leader in outsourced IT infrastructure management. By delivering cost-effective support solutions, rackAID clients benefit from increased uptime, greater security and the peace of mind that their online operations will run smoothly and efficiently. rackAID provides IT management services for major web hosting control panels and Linux-based servers. It offers a range of services to meet the demands of nearly any hosting project.

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, SoftLayer provides next-generation web hosting and on-demand datacenter services on a global basis from facilities located in Dallas, TX and Seattle, WA. Utilizing proprietary management tools coupled with the industry's first network-within-a-network topology, the company delivers unprecedented power and control to securely manage IT environments while providing unparalleled scalability.

For more information about rackAID, please visit: www.rackaid.com.

To learn more about SoftLayer, please visit: www.softlayer.com.

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