Cloud services and migration
Plan, migrate and manage cloud workloads so your data is secure, accessible from anywhere and hosted where it should be.
Managed IT & Support
Data centre and hosting
Where your servers, applications and websites run affects their performance, security and cost. We help organizations choose suitable data centre and hosting providers, set environments up properly and manage them afterwards, without tying you to a single platform.
Who this service is for
A good fit if
- You run servers in a back office or closet and want them in a proper data centre environment.
- Your applications or websites are hosted with a provider nobody on your team knows how to manage.
- You need to compare hosting providers on cost, location, support and security.
- Your hosting must be in Canada for contractual or regulatory reasons.
- You want someone to patch, monitor and back up hosted servers for you.
Another approach may suit you better if
- You need a highly customized, cloud-native platform designed from the ground up. Our AWS engineering service is a better fit.
- You only need a simple personal website with bundled hosting and no management.
- You need physical rack space brokered for a large hardware estate. A specialist colocation broker may suit better.
What this service is
Data centre and hosting services cover where your servers, applications and websites physically and virtually run, and how that environment is set up and cared for. Options range from shared web hosting for a simple site, to virtual private servers, to full infrastructure in a public cloud region.
Promatics does not own data centres. We work with established providers, choose the right one for each workload and manage the environment on your behalf, as a project or as part of managed IT services.
Hosting providers we work with
- Amazon Web Services (AWS). Broad infrastructure and managed services, with Canadian regions in Montréal and Calgary. See AWS deployment and cloud engineering.
- Microsoft Azure. A good fit alongside Microsoft 365 and Windows workloads, with Canadian regions in Toronto and Québec City.
- Google Cloud. Strong data and analytics services, with Canadian regions in Montréal and Toronto.
- DigitalOcean. Simple, predictable virtual servers and managed databases for smaller applications.
- Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode). Cost-conscious virtual servers with straightforward management.
- Bluehost. Shared hosting for small websites that do not need a dedicated server.
We choose based on the workload, not on any commercial arrangement. Mentioning a provider does not imply any partnership or reseller arrangement.
Choosing a hosting approach
The right choice depends on a few practical questions:
- Performance. How much computing power, memory and storage does the workload need, and how busy does it get?
- Location. Does data need to stay in Canada? Which region is closest to your users?
- Availability. How much downtime can you tolerate, and is redundancy across zones worth the cost?
- Security. Which services must be reachable from the internet, and how is administrative access protected?
- Cost. What will it cost each month in CAD, including storage, bandwidth and backups?
- Skills. Who will manage it, and how easily could another provider take it over?
For a deeper look at moving workloads to the cloud, see cloud services and migration.
Moving servers out of the office
Many organizations still run a server in a back room with limited cooling, no backup power and little physical security. Moving it to a data centre or cloud region usually improves reliability and makes remote access easier. Before a move, we check whether the application vendor supports the new environment, whether licences transfer, how much bandwidth users will need to reach it and what the monthly cost will be compared with replacing the hardware. Where keeping a server on site still makes sense, we say so and help you protect it properly.
Managing hosted environments
A hosted server needs the same care as one in your office. We patch operating systems, monitor availability and performance, manage firewall rules, renew domain names and SSL certificates, and back up data with off-site copies. Our backup and disaster recovery service covers restore testing and recovery planning for hosted systems.
Where you handle personal information, hosting choices relate to your obligations under PIPEDA and provincial privacy laws. We explain the technical side; this is not legal advice.
What is included
The exact list is agreed in writing for each project. These are the usual deliverables and the usual boundaries.
Typical deliverables
- A hosting review of current servers, applications, websites, providers and costs.
- A provider and location recommendation, with estimates in CAD.
- Environment setup, including virtual servers, networking, firewall rules and access controls.
- Migration of servers, applications or websites to the new hosting environment.
- Operating system patching, monitoring and alerting.
- Backups, with off-site copies and test restores.
- Domain name and SSL certificate management for hosted services.
- Documentation of the environment, credentials handling and support contacts.
Not included unless agreed separately
- Hosting, data centre and cloud provider charges, billed by the provider.
- Application development or changes to the software you host.
- Software licences for operating systems, databases or control panels.
- Physical hardware purchases, unless quoted separately.
What we will need from you
Most delays in this kind of work come from access and decisions, not from the technical build. Knowing these early keeps the project predictable.
- Administrative access to current servers, hosting accounts and DNS.
- Contact with your application vendors to confirm supported hosting configurations.
- Decisions on data location, budget and acceptable maintenance windows.
- A named contact who can approve changes and provider sign-ups.
Delivery
How the work is delivered
Each stage ends with something you can review before the next one starts.
Review
We inventory what you host today, where it runs, what it costs and what problems you have.
Output: Hosting review.
Recommend
We compare suitable providers and locations against your needs and propose an approach.
Output: Recommendation and cost estimate in CAD.
Build and migrate
We set up the new environment, move workloads in planned windows and test before cut-over.
Output: Working hosting environment and test results.
Manage
We patch, monitor, back up and support the environment, and review costs and capacity regularly.
Output: Regular reports and updated documentation.
Testing and handover
- Administrative access uses named accounts and multi-factor authentication.
- Firewall rules expose only the services that need to be public.
- Backups are configured and a test restore is completed before go-live.
- Monitoring alerts reach a named person for every hosted service.
- Accounts with hosting providers are held in your organization's name, so you keep control.
What affects the cost
We do not publish package prices. Each estimate is based on an agreed scope, in Canadian dollars, with taxes shown separately. These are the things that move the number most:
- The number and size of servers, applications and websites.
- Performance, storage and bandwidth requirements.
- Redundancy and availability requirements.
- Data location and security requirements.
- The level of ongoing management you want.
Questions buyers usually ask
Which hosting providers do you work with?
We work with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean and Akamai Cloud (formerly Linode), and with shared hosting providers such as Bluehost for simple websites. Naming these providers does not imply any partnership or reseller arrangement with them.
Can our hosting be in Canada?
AWS, Azure and Google Cloud have Canadian regions, and some smaller providers also offer Canadian locations. Hosting in Canada supports data residency, but support and backup processes may involve other countries, so we check each service and document where data is stored.
Whose name are the hosting accounts in?
Yours. We recommend that hosting and domain accounts belong to your organization, with our access granted through named administrative accounts. That keeps you in control if you ever change providers.
Is hosting included in managed IT services?
Management of hosted servers can be included in a managed IT services agreement. The provider's own hosting charges are billed separately, either directly to you or passed through at cost as agreed.
Related
AWS deployment and cloud engineering
Secure, well-architected AWS environments in Canadian regions, built as code, with clear shared-responsibility boundaries and cost controls from day one.
Backup and disaster recovery
Protect your data with tested backups and a written recovery plan, so an outage, ransomware attack or mistake does not stop your organization.
Not sure where your systems should run?
Tell us what you host today and what matters most, such as cost, location or performance. We will reply to arrange a conversation.