Some of this week`s biggest Web hosting news came from developers of Web hosting software, who announced specific new involvement with Web hosting providers, both big and small.

On Thursday, Web hosting software developer SWsoft announced that Go Daddy, one of the world`s largest and fastest growing providers of Web hosting, would deploy SWsoft`s Virtuozzo and Plesk products to power its new line of Windows virtual dedicated servers. Go Daddy will use Virtuozzo for Windows 3.0 for server virtualization and Plesk for Windows 7.5 as its control panel software. The two solutions are tightly integrated.

Earlier in the week, SWsoft announced that it had achieved growth of more than 160 percent during 2005. The company says it opened new offices in Japan, China and the UK last year, doubling its staff to more than 600. SWsoft plans to double that number again in 2006, focusing on adding to its UK-based staff. The company said its customer count passed 10,000 in 2005, with SWsoft solutions now powering more than 120,000 servers and 10,000 more being added each month.

Competing Web hosting software developer Ensim announced on Wednesday that Singaporean Web host ReadySpace had chosen to support its dedicated hosting offerings by deploying the Ensim Pro platform. ReadySpace says it needed a fully automated system to meet the growing demands of its customer base. Ensim Pro provides provisioning, configuration and management for shared, dedicated and reseller hosting on both Windows and Linux.

Along with the announcements from software providers, there were several reports this week of Web hosting firms opening, or planning, new data center facilities.

On Monday, colocation provider ColoSpace announced that it had its fifth data center in the state of Massachusetts. The facility, located in Rockland, will serve customers south of Boston, along with Boston-based disaster recovery customers and managed hosting customers from around the country. The company says it has upgraded the facility to meet current industry requirements and future demand for cooling and power.

Also on Monday, reports said technology giant Hewlett-Packard was considering Austin, Texas as the location for two new data center facilities. Austin is reportedly one of four central Texas locations being considered by the company. HP representatives are said to have met with the City of Austin, Travis County, the Austin and Round Rock school districts and the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce. Each of the two proposed facilities would be approximately 200,000 square feet.

At the INFOMART facility in Dallas, Texas, AT&T will conduct a network disaster recovery exercise from February 8 to 15, the company announced on Wednesday. The exercise is one of several conducted each year, says AT&T, but the February project will be the largest to date. The company will use 43 self-contained trucks to test its ability to support enterprise customers in the event of a disaster. The company says it has invested more than 0 million in its disaster recovery program, which includes a team of managers, engineers and technicians, as well as a fleet of more than 150 self-contained equipment trailers and support vehicles.

This week`s biggest Web hosting news was undoubtedly SWsoft`s deal with Go Daddy - a big deal that followed a big year for SWsoft. And the company has plans to continue its successes with significant growth in 2006.

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Colocation and managed services provider ColoSpace announced on Monday that it had opened a new data center in Rockland, Massachusetts, its fifth facility in the state. The facility will serve customers south of Boston, as well as disaster recovery customers in Boston and other managed hosting customers around the country. ColoSpace says customers will be able to avoid fighting for Boston traffic and benefit from the availability of a blended bandwidth option. Wayne Sawchuk, CEO of ColoSpace, says ColoSpace will also have a competitive advantage in cooling and power, having upgraded the facility to meet current industry requirements and future demand. The facility, which was 20 percent leased prior to opening, was previously home to the American Automobile Association of New England. "Two years ago we began our survey process to determine if a need existed in this part of the state," says Sawchuk. "The data was astounding especially for organizations that dreaded driving to Boston and wanted a local alternative for their business. As a result we had companies waiting to move in day one."

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The Home Secretary, Charles Clarke MP, made a clear commitment last week to continue a close dialogue with the Internet industry concerning the transposition of the data retention directive into UK law. The announcement was made at The Internet Services Providers` Association`s 10th Annual Parliamentary Advisory Forum.

"I want to say clearly and publicly that I want to work with industry on this legislation, and hear industry`s major concerns," says Clarke. "Working with Industry is central to how the Home Office operates."

UK Internet trade association ISPA gathered leading representatives from government, law enforcement and the Internet industry to discuss the likely influence of the data retention directive at the Houses of Parliament.

The UK implemented a voluntary code of practice for the retention of communications data in 2003 under the Anti-Terrorism Crime and Security Act. The administration will require ISPs to keep certain subscriber data for up to 12 months.

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