Earlier this week, Leaseweb USA launched our latest Cloud platform, resulting in a unified portfolio all across Leaseweb’s locations. You can now set up Cloud services in three countries.
History
If you need any number of virtualized servers for separate services, the Leaseweb Virtual Server product will get you started. A free firewall provides extra control and enables an additional layer of security for your applications.
This article will talk a little bit more about the Leaseweb Cloud product, how it helps you build more advanced setups, and using the private network to your advantage.
To recap: Leaseweb Cloud provides cloud instances that are deployed in your own private network. All of your instances are assigned both a publicly reachable IP address, and a fully private one. Access from the public Internet is controlled via an included firewall. You can use the firewall to refuse general access to your infrastructure, but to allow access from specific networks or IP addresses.
The entire infrastructure is invoiced in a transparent monthly billing structure. You can purchase additional data packs to save on data traffic costs for your entire virtual network.
Setting up your infrastructure
Leaseweb Cloud is commonly used to construct scalable tiered applications. For example, a customer might use one of their instances to run a lightweight, public-facing web server with separated database or application layers (using the firewall to restrict server access to the web manager via the Leaseweb Customer Portal).
Building a setup like this is easier than you might think. Just order any number of Leaseweb Cloud instances, specifying your requirements in terms of size, speed and operating system, and Leaseweb will deliver these in a new and unshared private network. After delivery, you can immediately start deploying your applications and databases by accessing your instances on the public IP.
Whenever you need to configure database access on the web server, you can use the private IP to make sure your traffic stays private.
Traffic packs
In the example above – or on any setup using our Cloud product – we do not invoice any of the traffic on the private network, saving on bandwidth costs. All of the public traffic (to and from the Internet) on your infrastructure is measured and displayed in our Customer Portal, so you can keep an eye on the traffic your instances are consuming. To avoid unexpected surcharges, you can configure data traffic notifications to alert you if traffic exceeds a given threshold. We usually advise our customers to purchase a traffic pack along with at least one of their instances. Traffic pack pricing starts at EUR 5/USD 5 per month.
Remember, traffic packs are flexible. When you add instances to your network, you can increase the traffic allotment for all public traffic by purchasing additional traffic packs. We calculate and invoice surcharges by measuring against the total of the traffic packs in your network.
Expanding your infrastructure
Whenever you need more capacity, expanding is easy: just order more Cloud instances on our web site, and we will automatically deliver them into your existing virtual network. Additional instances are usually delivered within minutes, allowing you to scale up rapidly and ensuring you can address your expanding user or customer base instead of worrying about your infrastructure.
Please let us know in the comments if you have any questions or suggestions. We love working with our customers, so any and all feedback is welcome!