BlackBox Hosting

BlackBox Hosting Managed Cloud Services

BlackBox Hosting offers bespoke solutions that scale with your needs. Whether you require cloud hosting services (private cloud, fully managed service), backups and disaster recovery (DRaaS / BaaS), consultancy, connectivity or security, our architects will work with you to develop an efficient and better-performing infrastructure.

Features

• Hosted only in Tier 3+ UK Datacentres IPv4 and IPV6
• Performance cloud VMs with high security options
• Secure deep packet inspection IPS IDS AV DLP
• Proactive monitoring platforms provide support 24/7/365 99.999% uptime guarantees
• VMware Cisco 3Par Fortigate Kemp Microsoft Veeam HPE experts
• High bandwidth, low latency connectivity using diverse routing
• Enterprise grade DDOS protection
• Online Service portal for self deployment of complete Virtual services
• 4 hour hardware replacement warranties together with automatic failover technologies
• Pure Storage NVMe with just 1ms latency

Benefits

• ISO27001, ISO9001, ISO20000-1, ISO14001, ISO22301, CSA Star, Cyber Essentials Plus
• 100% Carbon Neutral up to 58% faster than public cloud
• Flexible contracts up to 63% cheaper than public cloud
• Use the latest technologies without the need for capital expenditure
• Forward thinking and innovative team providing a fully managed service
• Resources on demand when required with real time upgrades
• Bespoke solutions for your applications that simply work
• Secure, encrypted connections back to your office using HTTPS, SSL
• Encryption at Rest, NVMe Performance HPE Synergy for power efficiency
• Fast Deployment and technical setup

£55 to £85 a server a month

• Education pricing available
• Free trial available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at Justin.field@blackboxhosting.net. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

776670644564003

Contact

Justin Field
0203 740 7840
Justin.field@blackboxhosting.net

Service scope

• Service constraints: A Planned Maintenance is a pre-planned maintenance to any of the infrastructure relating to the cloud service, which is notified to the Customer 7 days in advance. Planned Maintenance will always occur out of core business hours defined as 08:00 to 20:00, Monday to Friday.
• System requirements: Internet Access

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: Within 1 hour 24/7/365
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 A
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Standard support 08:00 - 18:00 Mon - Friday Included in VM price; Enhanced support 24/7 /365 - £35 per VM per month.; Both support options have a dedicated TAM (technical account manager) with dedicated cloud support engineers.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: At BlackBox Hosting we are committed to working alongside you to deliver a solution that is transparent, scalable and cost-efficient without compromising on quality.; ; Before we begin you will be assigned a dedicated account manager and solution architect. They will meet with you to discuss your requirements.; ; A detailed report will then be provided outlining the overall solution and design followed by a final Q&A session to confirm exactly what is to be deployed.; ; Once agreed, the solution architect will then deploy the cloud resources required. This includes the creation of VMs, storage, networks (virtual routing and VLans), firewalls and load balancers. If data migration is required, we will work with you to identify which method and migration tools will be most suitable.; ; A handover of the network is then completed and signed off by you and your dedicated account manager. This handover session will include access to self-service portals, training, passwords and details of the support process.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: We pride ourselves in the transparency of our services, which include no long-term contracts or penalty fees. The reason you’ll stay with us is because our solutions are the best.; ; In the unlikely event that you do have to leave us, we will work with you to make this process as efficient as possible.; ; Firstly, your account manager will confirm the date that our services will cease and the date of your last invoice. Notice periods vary depending on the scale of the cloud services provided, with the minimum notice period being one month.; ; After the end of service date, all VMs and data will be retained free of charge for one month. During this time, you can request a copy of the VMs and data if required to a device that you provide.; ; After one month has passed the VMs and data will be deleted in accordance with our secure data destruction process.
• End-of-contract process: All cloud services are set at a fixed priced. Consultancy is additional cost.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Using the web interface: VMware Vcloud Director
• Web interface accessibility standard: None or don’t know
• How the web interface is accessible: Full Access to deploy VM and provision VMware Services only.
• Web interface accessibility testing: Tested access on latest version of OS, including Windows 7, 8.1 and windows 10 as well as Latest Mac OS.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Interface with our current and our new ITSM system.
• API automation tools: Other
• Other API automation tools:
  • REST
  • Soap
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: HTML
• Command line interface: No

Scaling

• Scaling available: Yes
• Scaling type: Manual
• Independence of resources: 1-2-1 host VM contention with NVMe Storage
• Usage notifications: Yes
• Usage reporting:
  • Email
  • Other
• Other usage reporting: Emails alerts and during service reviews

Analytics

• Infrastructure or application metrics: Yes
• Metrics types:
  • CPU
  • Disk
  • HTTP request and response status
  • Memory
  • Network
  • Number of active instances
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Conforms to BS7858:2019
• Government security clearance: Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: ‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: VM Encryption available.
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Backup and recovery

• Backup and recovery: Yes
• What’s backed up:
  • GRT, File Virtual Machines and Databases
  • 3-2-1 Backup service, to disk, tape and offsite.
  • SAN Storage replication also available over encrypted links
  • SRM
• Backup controls: Schedules can be set as per customer requirements, as well DR replica with replication and or SRM.
• Datacentre setup:
  • Multiple datacentres with disaster recovery
  • Multiple datacentres
• Scheduling backups: Supplier controls the whole backup schedule
• Backup recovery: Users contact the support team

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: External Network/Internet ; External network is the communication between our internal network and the Internet. ; Our SLA excludes end customer Internet connections and their respective provider networks, as these are the exclusive remit of the respective end user connectivity provider. ; SLA: 100% excluding Maintenance windows. ; Credits: 10% of Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) for the service affected in the relevant month (maximum 50% of the MRC in case of multiple events) ; ; Internal Network ; The internal network includes cables, switches, routers and firewalls within our network perimeter. ; It does not cover any other reason for communication difficulties, e.g. an incorrect configuration at a server level or a firewall restriction. ; SLA: 100% excluding Maintenance windows. ; ; Credits: 10% of Monthly Recurring Charge (MRC) for the service affected in the relevant month (maximum 50% of the MRC in case of multiple events) ; ; Virtual Private Server (VPS) ; This comprises all the physical hardware required within our cloud platform. These include: ;  Switches ;  Physical hosts ;  Firewalls ;  Storage fabric ; ; SLA: 99.99% excluding Maintenance windows. ; ; Credits: 10% of Monthly Recurring Charge for the Service affected in the relevant month (subject to a maximum of 50% in any calendar month)
• Approach to resilience: Available on request
• Outage reporting: Email alerts, SMS Alerts Available.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Out of band management is deployed as well as IP restrictions and firewall control.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
• Devices users manage the service through:
  • Dedicated device on a segregated network (providers own provision)
  • Dedicated device over multiple services or networks
  • Any device but through a bastion host (a bastion host is a server that provides access to a private network from an external network such as the internet)
  • Directly from any device which may also be used for normal business (for example web browsing or viewing external email)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: BSI
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 26/04/2022
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: Anything not listed on our statement of applicability. Our statement covers us for the provision of Cloud Hosting, Managed Service, Disaster Recovery Backup and Consulting Services.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: Yes
• CSA STAR accreditation date: 12/05/2021
• CSA STAR certification level: Level 2: CSA STAR Attestation
• What the CSA STAR doesn’t cover: The CSA Star certificate covers the provision of cloud hosting (private cloud, managed hosting and co-location) and consulting services, including network design and planning, in association with our ISO 27001 certificate.
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: GDPR compliant, CSA Star Level 2, ISO 27001, and Cyber Essentials Plus Certified.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: The Change Management process owner will assign the CR to a team member with the relevant skillset to perform the assessment and evaluate the potential risks of making the change. ; ; If the Change Request isn’t clear at this stage the assignee will need to retrieve more relevant information until the Change Request and likely implications are clear.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: The security team monitor all cyber related threats.; ; Critical Security Patches are applied as soon as possible. ; ; Various news and vendor channels are used to get information on potential threats.
• Protective monitoring type: Undisclosed
• Protective monitoring approach: Network, firewall and compute security products are used to monitor identify potential compromises.; ; As soon as a threat is detect the customer is notified.; ; All security incidents are responded to immediately regardless or support level.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: ITIL and ISO 20000 Framework in place for service management. Common events are flagged and reported by the service management software.; ; User report incidents, via web portal email or telephone.; ; Reports are reviewed weekly in Management Review Meetings and can also be scheduled as per customer requirements.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Separation between users

• Virtualisation technology used to keep applications and users sharing the same infrastructure apart: Yes
• Who implements virtualisation: Supplier
• Virtualisation technologies used: VMware
• How shared infrastructure is kept separate: Separate VLANs, VRF's and Firewalls.

Energy efficiency

• Energy-efficient datacentres: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Covid-19 recovery
  • Tackling economic inequality
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  BlackBox Hosting is committed to sustainability. Our data centers are powered entirely by renewable energy sources, ensuring that our operations have minimal impact on the environment. Our certification as a carbon-neutral company underscores our dedication. We are also proud to hold ISO 14001 certification, demonstrating our commitment to environmental management and continual improvement in reducing our environmental impact.

  Covid-19 recovery

  BlackBox Hosting has played a vital role in supporting organisations' remote working initiatives, ensuring business continuity and resilience during these challenging times. We have provided scalable cloud hosting solutions, secure connectivity options, and robust disaster recovery services to help businesses adapt to remote work requirements swiftly and effectively. By enabling seamless remote operations, we contribute to the economic recovery efforts and help organisations of all sizes navigate the challenges posed by the pandemic.

  Tackling economic inequality

  We are committed to tackling economic inequality by creating employment opportunities. We also offer flexible contracts and affordable solutions that enable organisations of all sizes to access advanced cloud hosting services, leveling the playing field in a largely monopolized industry.

  Equal opportunity

  We believe in providing equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of their background or circumstances. We are committed to diversity and inclusion in our workforce and supply chain, ensuring fair treatment and opportunities for all employees and partners. We strive to create a workplace and business environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to succeed.

  Wellbeing

  We deeply care for our employees' wellbeing and prioritise creating a supportive work environment. Our high retention rates reflect our commitment to fostering a culture where employees feel valued and supported. We offer flexible work arrangements to promote a healthy work-life balance. Our inclusive work environment encourages open communication, social connection, and opportunities for professional growth. Through recognition and rewards for achievements, we ensure our employees feel appreciated and motivated. We believe that investing in employee wellbeing is essential for a thriving workforce and overall success.

Pricing

• Price: £55 to £85 a server a month
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: Yes
• Description of free trial: We offer a complete ‘trial before you buy’ service with the following benefits:; ; Complete environment testing from connectivity to firewalls and VMs; Trials are available for 30 days; longer periods can be discussed; ; Available to new and existing customers; Seamless transition from trial to production environments

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at Justin.field@blackboxhosting.net. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.