REDMOND, Wash., and LOS GATOS, Calif., July 18, 2001 — Namezero, the third-largest domain hosting company in the world, has completed its migration to Microsoft® Windows® 2000-based servers to host its Namezero member domains.The companys move to the Windows 2000 operating system is part of its overall plan to implement Microsoft .NET technologies, Microsoft Corp.s platform for XML-based Web services.
“We are very excited that high-volume domain hosting companies such as Namezero are finding that Windows 2000 Server technology helps them save money and bring more value to their customers,”
said Dwight Krossa, director of emerging markets for Windows .NET Server Marketing at Microsoft.
“We are also very pleased that Namezero is building the foundation to move forward with .NET Web services.”
“By migrating to Windows, we were able to increase the reliability of our domain services while significantly decreasing our costs,”
said Brad Smallwood, vice president of product development at Namezero.
“We are very satisfied with the results.”
By migrating to Windows 2000, Namezero experienced a hardware cost savings as well as a reduction in server quantity and system complexity. Namezero converted its domain name Web server hardware to Windows 2000, which increased its scalability and efficiency. The resulting 93 percent cost savings reduces expenditures for this core business. Furthermore, the company was able to cut in half the number of servers needed for hosting.
“With the Windows 2000 platform, our uptime has been virtually 100 percent,”
Smallwood said.
“The scalability of Windows 2000 has proved to be tremendous it allows us to meet the needs of our more than 1 million members sites with half as many servers, which was a very pleasant surprise.”
Smallwood also mentioned that the migration, performed over a long weekend to minimize customer disruption,
“was seamless, and the load-balancing, security and remote management features were simple to implement.”
The Windows 2000 platform provides a basis for using Microsoft .NET technology, which enables Web hosting businesses to deliver innovative applications, rich content, and secure access to information and services.
“Our migration to Windows 2000 is the foundation for our plans to move our domain name services to a .NET service, adopt Microsoft Passport for authentication and embrace XML,”
said Bruce Keiser, president and CEO of Namezero.
“These .NET directions will allow us to accelerate the move to software as a service and to create compelling user experiences that help drive customers to the software-as-a-service model.”
XML Web services allow applications to communicate and share data over the Internet, regardless of operating system or programming language. The Microsoft .NET Platform includes a comprehensive family of products, built on XML and Internet industry standards, that provide for each aspect of developing, managing, using and experiencing XML Web services. XML Web services will become part of the Microsoft applications, tools and servers already in use today, and will be built into new products.
About Namezero
With more than 2 million domains hosted, Namezero is a leading provider of domain name services for small businesses and individuals seeking to establish a permanent identity on the Web. The company offers domain registration, personalized e-mail, URL forwarding, and domain management services through multiple leading brands including Namezero.com, mydomain.com, namesdirect.com and myInternet.com. Namezero works with VeriSign, Covad, Bigstep, Critical Path, L90 and other leading Internet companies to offer a powerful Web-based communications platform for its growing membership base. Founded in 1999, Namezero is backed by leading venture capital firms including WaldenVC, Whitman Capital, Arcadian Venture Partners and strategic corporate investors. More information can be found at http://www.Namezero.com/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.
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