What is Cloud Computing?

You may have heard the term cloud computing or 'the Cloud,' but could you describe what it is? There are so many definitions flying around that you wouldn't be alone if you struggled to define it. Cloud computing is simply a set of pooled computing resources and services delivered over the web. When you diagram the relationships between all the elements it resembles a cloud.

Cloud computing-not to be confused with grid computing, utility computing, or autonomic computing-involves the interaction of several virtualized resources. Cloud Servers connect and share information based on the level of website traffic across the entire network. Cloud computing is often provided "as a service" over the Internet, typically in the form of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), or software as a service (SaaS).

How it works?

Select a Size for Your Cloud Server

Cloud Server sizes are measured by the amount of physical memory reserved for your instance and range from 256 MB up to 30 GB.
NOTE: WINDOWS CLOUD SERVERS CAN NOT BE RESIZED DOWN.

Your Server is Online in Just a Few Minutes

Using our online control panel and API, each Cloud Server can be upgraded or removed as your needs change. You can even manage your Cloud Servers on-the-go via your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android.

Pricing for Cloud Server starts at $10.95 per month or 1.5 per hour plus bandwidth. Since you can pay by the hour, it's really easy and affordable to spin up a new Cloud Server when you need the additional cloud computing power for testing or development-and then simply remove it when you're done. Get our full pricing details.

Rackspace Cloud Load Balancers allow you to quickly load balance multiple Cloud Servers for optimal resource utilization. Learn more about our cloud load balancing solution.

Mix'n Match to Fit Your Needs

Accommodate traffic spikes, test & development needs, and other variable load applications with a mix of Dedicated Servers and Cloud Servers operating seamlessly together. Learn more about hosting options.

Let Us Manage Your Cloud Servers For You

In addition to features that Cloud Servers offers, you can also enjoy a level of managed service. This way you can manage your business, while we manage your cloud. Cloud Servers with a managed service level is ideal for any business or IT department that needs the on-demand availability, flexibility, and scalability of cloud computing, but doesn't have the in-house resources to manage it directly 24x7x365.Learn More

Need Help with Email Deliverability?

Rackspace & SendGrid have teamed up to offer you 40,000 emails per month free, just for being a Rackspace customer. SendGrid is the easy way to manage your transactional and bulk email needs.

Finally, Real SLAs For Cloud Computing

The SLA adopted for Cloud Servers is just as aggressive as the one Rackspace provides for traditional hosted servers. It provides remedies for any downtime event caused by the network, data center infrastructure, the physical host server, or the migration of your instance from one physical host to another (should that be required). Be sure to see our SLA in detail and take a look at how we support Cloud Servers.

Microsoft SQL Server - 2008 R2 Available

Select one of our SQL 2008 R2 images to add a SQL 2008 R2 Standard or Web Edition database to your Windows Cloud Server. With pay as you go pricing, you can spin up a SQL Server instance in just minutes. To find out which SQL edition is right for you.