Progressive Media Group (PMG) is one of the worlds leading media, information and communications groups.
The company has expanded considerably to offer numerous diverse online services and websites, many of which represent a new breed of publication by being solely online.
Having built much of their business through acquisition, PMG turned to Sleek to help them consolidate services within the UK under one manageable contract.
The introduction to Sleek Networks came from another customer who recommended Sleek as their preferred hosting provider for complex and bespoke high availability solutions.
The customer had recently purchased a large web farm and database cluster and was impressed with how Sleek seamlessly managed the build and migration process.Customer Quote
We had a whole estate of inherited suppliers and infrastructure, no single consistent SLA, no single point of contact. Sleek were recommended and have consistently delivered above and beyond the terms of our contract with them.
Nick Brailey, Chief Operating Officer
The enterprise solution architecture was enabled using Brocade ADX’s for load balancing, Cisco Firewalls in the security layer and several NetApp SAN’s for enterprise class storage consolidation. Dedicated web and database servers based around HP Proliant hardware are complemented by a dedicated virtualization platform which enables the platform to be quickly scaled horizontally as demand for services increase. During the transition, PMG administration staff took the opportunity to upgrade to newer operating systems and roll-out new applications which delivered a more secure and better performing solution overall.
Nick Williams, Operations Director at Sleek said,
PMG are typical of the type of customer that our services are designed for. Their requirement was quite complex and it required a team of experienced Internet architects to translate their requirements into a fully functional design that carefully considered and allowed for legacy services to be seamlessly migrated. Most Hosting providers operate within the strict confines of their product sets but Sleek prides itself on being flexible and knowledgeable enough to design tailor made solutions for our customers.
The hosting platform that Sleek implemented underpins a number of high profile websites including The New Statesmen. These sites demand maximum exposure and availability and must be able to cope with a high number of simultaneous connections and secure transactions.
Nick Williams continues,
“When you are asked to design infrastructure that enables the websites operated by PMG we have a personal stake in ensuring that the website remains available regardless of the demand placed upon it. Our company is very much in the public eye with these type of solutions so it’s imperative that we deliver the right design and that it’s underpinned with reliable hardware and network infrastructure. We are delighted to be in a position of trust with PMG and the preferred supplier to their popular brands.”
