- 16
- cores, 32 threads, one server-class AMD EPYC processor
- 256 GB
- of memory, so busy sites never wait on disk
- 4 TB
- of NVMe solid-state storage, no spinning disks
- 1 min
- between checks on every public page and service we run
What is in the box.
Server-class parts, a current operating system and a software stack we keep patched.
Compute
One AMD EPYC processor with 16 cores and 32 threads. The hosting VM gets 16 of those threads to itself, and the host keeps headroom so a busy neighbour cannot starve your site.
Memory
256 GB in the host, 64 GB dedicated to the hosting VM. Databases and PHP stay in memory instead of touching disk, with Redis on hand for sites that cache.
Storage
4 TB of NVMe solid-state storage. The hosting VM lives on a 1 TB volume with room to grow, and backups are copied off the machine every day.
Network
10 Gbps links to the host and between the virtual machines. Public traffic arrives through Cloudflare, which keeps the origin quiet even when a site is busy.
Software
Ubuntu LTS on the hosting VM with Apache and HTTP/2, PHP 8.3, MariaDB and Redis. A server-side malware scanner and firewall run alongside, and ALCO applies the updates.
Isolation
Every client has its own hosting account: separate system user, files, databases and certificates. Dedicated virtual machines are available for clients who need their own operating system.
What it means for you.
Specs are only interesting for what they let us promise.
- SpeedPages are built from memory and solid-state storage, then cached at Cloudflare's edge close to your visitors. Most page views never reach the server at all.
- IsolationYour account is yours. Another client's plugin, traffic spike or mistake cannot read your files or your database.
- Backups you can get backThree copies a day, one of them off the machine. Ask the help desk for a file, a database or a whole site and we restore it.
- Checked every minuteEvery public page and service we run is checked once a minute. Two failed checks in a row confirm an interruption, and it shows on the status page as it happens.
- 24/7 help deskA person answers, including holidays. Open a request in myALCO, email, or call.
- A public status pageThe same checks we watch are published at alcohq.com/status, with up to 30 days of history. No hidden outages.
How Cloudflare ties in.
Every site and application ALCO hosts sits behind Cloudflare Enterprise. Here is what that means on a normal page view.
- 1
The edge answers first
A visitor connects to the nearest Cloudflare location, which terminates TLS and serves cached pages and files on the spot. Most visits end here, fast, without a round trip to the server.
- 2
The firewall screens the rest
Anything not in the cache passes the web application firewall and DDoS protection first. Bots, injection attempts and floods are stopped at the edge, so the server only sees traffic worth answering.
- 3
The server builds the page
What remains reaches the ALCO server. PHP and the database build the page, hand it back, and Cloudflare keeps a copy for the next visitor.
The ten-minute HTML cacheCloudflare keeps a finished copy of each public page for about ten minutes and serves it to everyone in that window. A change you publish can take up to ten minutes to show for every visitor; images, styles and scripts are cached longer and refreshed by version. Signed-in areas such as myALCO are never cached.
Honest answers.
Where is my data?
On the ALCO server described above, in a data center in the United States, inside your own hosting account. Cloudflare keeps short-lived cached copies of your public pages at its edge locations, and the off-site backup copy lives in ALCO's own cloud storage. We do not say publicly where the server is.
Who can access it?
ALCO's own team, with named accounts and two-step sign-in, and only when your work needs it. Cloudflare handles your traffic in transit, not your stored files. Clients see their own account and nothing else.
How are backups restored?
Ask the help desk, in myALCO or by phone, for a file, a folder, a database or the whole site, and tell us the date. We restore from the nightly set, the daily database dump or the off-site copy, whichever fits, and confirm with you before anything overwrites a live site.
What happens if the host fails?
Everything above lives on one physical server, so a hardware failure takes the sites with it until it is repaired or replaced. That is why the backups leave the machine every day and why the status page tells you what we know as we know it. Restoring from the off-site copy to replacement hardware is a rebuild, not a flip of a switch, and we would rather tell you that here than find out together.
Is the server shared with other clients?
Yes, on the hosting VM, with each client in its own isolated account. Clients with their own compliance or performance needs can have a dedicated virtual machine on the same host.
Can I see uptime?
Yes. The status page shows every check we run, once a minute, with up to 30 days of history. It is measured, not promised, and we do not carry forward numbers we did not record.
- New · Our work
See the sites we have built.
A newspaper rebuilt headless, a parts storefront, two Boise nonprofits and our own site. Every screenshot is the full page, scrolling live.
Browse our work - New · Headless CMS
Your site, managed by your AI.
WordPress in the back, a hand-built front end in the front, and an MCP server Claude or ChatGPT can connect to. Tell it what to change.
See how it works - The client area
Everything ALCO does for you, in one place.
Requests, your team, invoices, documents, shared credentials and sign-in security. One sign-in, any device. Take the tour.
Tour myALCO
Clients we’ve worked with
We’ve worked with businesses, nonprofits and community organizations on managed hosting, website development and everyday IT support. These are some of the current and past clients we’ve supported, each with different systems, priorities and people. Explore their stories to see what working with ALCO looks like.
