C I Host Celebrates Grand Opening of Its Chicago Internet Data Center

BEDFORD, TX - On August 15, 2003 C I Host, its customers, city officials and the local press will celebrate the grand opening of C I Host's first Internet Data Center (IDC) in Illinois. The facility is located in downtown Chicago.

The center, which officially opened for business March 1, provides Web hosting services essential for businesses that rely on the Internet to reach customers. The 10,000 square foot facility is part of the continuing expansion of C I Host's network of state-of-the-art IDCs designed to support complex Web hosting services.

"The opening of C I Host's Internet Data Center in Chicago makes a positive statement about C I Host's commitment to the technology community and ability to meet the requirements that companies need in a high-tech economy,' said Christopher Faulkner, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The residents of Chicago, who are primarily employed in the technology and telecommunications industries, will greatly benefit from having access to this type of facility, not only from an employment aspect but also from a business usage standpoint.'

Chicago area IDC customers will have access to C I Host's full portfolio of managed hosting services, including application, database, hardware and operating system management, storage services, managed security and firewall services, and professional services.

"The IDC is a hub of the networked economy,' said David Brann, C I Host Chief Network Architect. "More and more companies realize they have to adapt to new business models driven by the Internet if they are to survive. C I Host can help businesses successfully navigate these transitions.'

Over the past year, a time when many Web hosting firms were forced to shut down due to the troubled economy, C I Host has continued to grow, now topping 200,000 clients. As the demand for its services have increased, it has been forced to ramp up its business even more quickly than predicted, Faulkner said.

The Chicago area is a prime location for a world-class Web hosting company such as C I Host due to the area's diverse mix of business and industry - from the financial and entertainment centers in downtown Chicago to the high tech corridor in Du Page County and the globally recognized retail area in Schaumburg. For more information about C I Host Internet Data Centers and other IP services, visit www.cihost.com

—About C I Host—

C I Host (www.cihost.com), is a Web hosting and Internet solutions provider, domain name registrar (DNR) and application service provider (ASP) serving over 190,000 individual consumers and businesses in 182 countries worldwide.

C I Host creates business-class Web hosting solutions for the small- and medium-enterprise (SME) market, with the broadest portfolio of managed hosting and value-added services in the industry. C I Host is accredited by ICANN to register domain names.

C I Host is HIPAA-compliant and has passed the SAS70 audit.

C I Host has been ranked #1 in speed by the Adoloma Web Hosting Guide. C I Host has been consistently ranked among the Top 5 Web hosting companies out of 16,000 around the globe by c|net's Ultimate Web Host List, HostPulse, WebHostsOnline.com and HostChart.com.

C I Host offers turn-key services ranging from initial domain name registration to custom dedicated servers for e-commerce on today's Web. The company offers innovative packages and services to the Internet community.

C I Host operates three diverse data centers across the United States, with its main facility and Network Operations Center in Bedford, Texas. C I Host also has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and London.

All telco-grade, tier-1 data centers are wholly owned and operated by C I Host and consist of redundant diesel generator backups and a temperature-controlled secure environment with fully redundant UPS capability. All server hardware is fully tested and configured for optimal performance. Daily Web server backups and full fire protection guard against any data loss. To deliver speed and reliability, C I Host's servers are connected to two OC-12 fiber connections, five DS-3 and two OC-3 lines from five diverse Internet backbones for a total of more than 2,000 Megabits of available bandwidth.

###

Editorial Contact:

Nancy St. Pierre
C I Host
(888) 868-9931 x 7006
nancys@cihost.com
http://www.cihost.com