Written by: Lynn Cadet
Edited by: Lillian Castro
TL; DR: Sharktech provides reliable, scalable, and redundant cloud infrastructure built for SMBs and MSPs. The hosting provider distinguishes itself from competitors with its flexible, manageable, and affordable cloud platform that includes stellar customer support. Businesses don’t have to go about cloud adoption alone. Sharktech makes it easy to leverage all the powerful capabilities of the cloud. We spoke with Tim Timrawi, CEO and Founder of Sharktech, about how its cloud solution solves common pain points and the new features on the way.
Businesses migrate to the cloud for a reason. And it’s not because business owners want to hop on the bandwagon for the newest, shiniest object on the market. Cloud hosting gives users something they can’t find anywhere else: scalability and redundancy. This tale of cloud adoption is one the folks at Sharktech know well.
Long before cloud hosting came into the picture, Sharktech became the first hosting company to provide DDoS Protection as a service. Founded in 2002 by Tim Timrawi, Sharktech has expanded its lineup over the past twenty years from dedicated servers to bare metal servers. Solving industry issues is part of Sharktech’s DNA and they soon set their sights on the cloud
The idea materialized after Sharktech’s venture into bare metal servers. Even with the accessibility and customization of bare metal, every hardware system fails and traditional hardware setups are difficult to scale. The Sharktech team realized they needed to offer something beyond their typical hardware systems
“Four years ago, we partnered with Virtuozzo, an OpenStack solution provider,” Timrawi said. “We developed and designed our own cloud solution system that provides redundancy, scalability, and ease of management down to the network layer to the customer,” said Tim Timrawi, CEO and Founder of Sharktech.
Creating its cloud solution on an industry-standard platform allowed Sharktech to provide ample resources and power while eliminating complex server management and scalability issues.
Solving Pain Points Hyperscalers Can’t
In 2002, Tim founded Sharktech which became the first hosting company to provide DDoS-filtered IPs at a low price. Solving industry issues is part of Sharktech’s DNA. And it continues to solve problems for SMBs and MSPs with its cloud solution — but not without proper due diligence.
“We benefited from not being early adopters of the cloud solution. We looked at the misgivings of others and used them to our advantage. That way, we can provide our customers a scalable, redundant, manageable solution on a cost-effective level,” said Tim.
The Sharktech team did extensive research to ensure it created a solution that solved the pain points that other platforms had. For instance, Sharktech’s prices are 20% of what users would find with hyperscalers. The web host’s ability to remain agile in the face of competition also comes down to its differentiators.
“When we started our research into our cloud solution platform, it was clear to us that it must be OpenStack-based. This allowed us to collaborate with other hosting providers and allowed the customer to feel that they were not being locked in a system exclusive to Sharktech,” Timrawi said.
This was not the only concern Sharktech addressed after doing extensive research to solve the pain points that other cloud platforms faced.
“We benefited from not being early adopters of the cloud solution. We looked at the misgivings of others and used them to our advantage. That way, we can provide our customers a scalable, redundant, manageable solution on a cost-effective level,” Timrawi said.
By adopting this small efficiency mentality, Sharktech’s prices are 20% of what users would find with big-name hyperscalers. The web host’s ability to remain agile in the face of competition also comes down to its differentiators, such as simplifying the experience.
“We looked at the complexity of the systems from the consumer’s perspective,” Timrawi said. “AWS, for example, you kind of need a rocket science degree to understand the billing system and how to use the resources. For us, we wanted to offer a feature-rich solution that gives our customers clarity in billing and easy access to support.”
Meeting Customer Demands for Gaming and Faster Service
Sharktech developed its platform to help SMBs and MSPs find the right solutions to their needs. This way, smaller companies don’t have to depend on large hyperscalers that don’t have services tailored or built to their expectations or enough support to get them through the transition.
“You will not get much attention, customization, or account management from hyperscalers. We are able to provide a more personalized solution to our customers and are ready to assist them along the way,” Timrawi said.
Cloud computing allows users to have resources instantly compared to the traditional on-premises server system, which can take up to months to set up. Companies also get the security of redundancy, so if a server fails, they will have a backup take over in no time.
In addition to its cloud offerings, Sharktech has also met customer demands in another industry: gaming. Its edge computing allows customers and game studios to create dependable hosting systems. It currently offers custom game servers for Battlefield, ARK, Minecraft, Rust, Grand Theft Auto, and CS GO. Low latency is a significant priority for Sharktech, especially when enhancing the gaming experience. They utilize their decades long experience in network management, peer with local eyeball networks, and use real-time intelligent routing protocols to optimize communications.
“We’re trying to leverage our contact and customers to create a direct exchange in Las Vegas, a nonprofit Internet exchange. Then we will be bringing Sharktech to Las Vegas to help create a better low-latency infrastructure here in Las Vegas,” said Tim.
The team is currently working on improving network connectivity in its Los Angeles point-of-presence (PoP) region by launching its Las Vegas data center. As for additional PoPs, Sharktech will focus on the geographical radius to determine new locations that can provide the most balanced latency for customers.
On Deck: New Features To Further Bolster Its Cloud Lineup
Sharktech developed its platform to help SMBs and MSPs find the right solutions to their needs. This way, smaller companies don’t have to depend on large hyperscalers that don’t have services tailored or built to their expectations.
The Sharktech team makes conscious efforts to assist businesses along their journey. “You will not get much attention, customization, or account management from hyperscalers. We’re providing a level of separate service to the small-medium segment of the market that nobody else does,” said Tim.
Sharktech has built a comprehensive platform that includes Cloud Hosting (Public and Private), VPS, Bare-Metal Servers, CDN, Object Storage (S3), and Acronis Backup and Cyber Protection. Its 2024 road map shows plans to build on that success. Timrawi told us the team has Application as a Service coming down the pipeline soon for customers as well as helping to establish a nonprofit Internet exchange in Las Vegas.
“We are working on providing instantly deployed bare-metal servers, where the servers can deploy to the customer within an hour. We are also planning on providing a more stream-lined GPU servers solution, which is definitely the future,” Timrawi said.
As for the exchange, Timrawi said it will allow for the city’s tech community to collaborate for a better network infrastructure and will coincide with Sharktech expanding its services to Las Vegas, where the company is headquartered.
Even with everything on deck, Sharktech’s mission remains to help SMBs and MSPs find the solutions they need. “We’re not just trying to compete with hyperscalers. We created this cloud solution for small and medium enterprises and MSPs specifically because we believe in our ability to provide a better solution. This level of service we are providing is why we stand out,” Timrawi said.
