UK-based ElasticHosts today announced the launch of its cloud server services for on-demand burst computing and Web hosting that can be immediately scaled to meet a customer’s changing needs.

Unlike conventional Web hosting — which typically ties customers to a fixed capacity for up to two years — ElasticHosts’ cloud hosting lets users buy only the capacity they need but gives them the option to scale up as soon as necessary. With cloud hosting, capacity is billed on-demand by the hour.

ElasticHosts said its technology also differs from other cloud hosting offerings, as it provides a user-friendly interface that lets customers create and manage their virtual servers from any desktop. The firm says its servers also run any PC operating system, are fully configurable and can accommodate all forms of Web hosting.

“To date, businesses looking for the cost savings and scalability of cloud hosting have had to tackle complex user interfaces and have been limited to a handful of server sizes offered by different vendors,” said Richard Davies, CEO of ElasticHosts. “We have designed ElasticHosts so that it can be used by almost anyone and it allows users to configure their servers specifically to suit their requirements.”

The company offers two independent data centres in Europe that use Peer 1’s high-performance, 10-gigabytes-per-second SuperNetwork infrastructure to support mission-critical hosting that ensures business continuity. It also provides a 100-per cent SLA (service level agreement) with 100x credits for downtime

“I have used many other cloud and virtual server solutions in the past,” said Andrew Fear of Trana eCommerce Ltd, an ElasticHosts customer. “I was beginning to get frustrated with these providers and had been looking for alternatives for a while. Then I found ElasticHosts and I realized that I would be able to add a lot of flexibility for no extra cost. I now have quite a few servers with ElasticHosts. We can buy exactly the capacity that we need today and then scale it when we need more, which is a huge benefit and saves a lot of money.”

To mark its launch, ElasticHosts is offering a free four-day trial to allow businesses to try out cloud hosting for themselves. Full details are available at the company’s Website.

Tags: cloud computing