Hybrid Hosting Adds to Cloud Options

Question: What do you get when you cross old-fashioned off-site hosting with virtualized servers and cloud computing?

Answer: Hybrid hosting.

Oh, and hybrid hosting can be part of your hybrid cloud. Got that?…


One thing that Internet Evolution’s recent 7 Days of Executive Education series on cloud computing revealed (see archived sessions) was the variety of choices available. From simple hosted applications to a mix of Saas (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), and IaaS (infrastructure as a service), there are nearly too many for customers to pick from.

Hybrid hosting typifies what I’m talking about. At face value, it’s not clear what’s being offered. Collocated hardware? Collaboration apps on a network? Hybrid cloud apps on hosted servers?

It seems hybrid hosting is a mix of all these things. Here’s how it’s described by Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX) in a recent SEC filing:

We are a pioneer in an emerging category, hybrid hosting, which combines the benefits of both traditional dedicated hosting and cloud computing.

Rackspace isn’t just blowing billows of marketing smoke. At least one industry observer, the author Christopher Barnatt, defines hybrid hosting (see video below) as a subset of IaaS in which "a mix of physical servers and virtual server instances are rented on demand in an effort to reduce cost and further increase flexibility."

Barnatt says Rackspace, Amazon (with its EC2 offering), and GoGrid Cloud Hosting all offer hybrid hosting services.

A range of startups also claim to be hybrid hosting providers, including SingleHop, Voxel Dot Net Inc. , and ViaWest Inc. Other firms, such as Enteracloud, don’t specifically refer to hybrid hosting, though they offer IaaS services that meet Barnatt’s definition.

Hybrid hosting is usually part of a roster of services that rely on traditional physical hosting. Providers typically offer connectivity, storage, and physical computer space. The twist is the ability to place virtual server instances on demand to run on this infrastructure. Virtual server instances also can be run on the customer’s computers.

There are several advantages to hybrid hosting, according to the providers. GoGrid, for instance, claims to allow users to accommodate traffic spikes on their sites by ordering extra virtual servers. "When demand recedes, delete the servers and only pay for the resources consumed," its online brochure says. Hybrid hosting also allows enterprises to put some office apps in the cloud while retaining physical control over apps they deem too secure or sensitive to host on outside facilities.

Some providers tout the ability to provide superior application performance through load balancing, or management of virtual servers. They also say managing virtual servers is easy, even through a browser. The Website platform service provider SubHub, for instance, says it’s using Voxel’s hybrid hosting API to manage virtual server instances on demand through a browser. This makes it easier to manage traffic spikes, SubHub says.

Hybrid hosting providers appear to differ in the kind of software they offer. Some provide APIs, while others may offer only a handful of specific off-the-shelf apps running on their networks. Like other cloud offerings, marketing plays a role in how services and solutions are presented — and what they really contain.