Rackspace Managed Hosting Wins SQL Server Magazine Readers' Choice Award; Managed Hosting Specialist Recognized as Best Database Hosting Service Provider

Business Wire, Sept 13, 2005

SAN ANTONIO -- Rackspace Managed Hosting today announced it was selected as a winner in Penton Media's SQL Server Magazine Readers' Choice Awards as Best Database Hosting Service. Readers' Choice voters recognized the managed hosting specialist for its variety of customizable database-hosting configurations and its excellence in the SQL Server market.

"Recognition from customers in the industry is an honor and is the ultimate 'seal of approval' for the products that won," said Michele Crockett, associate publisher, SQL Server Magazine. "The SQL Server Magazine Readers' Choice Awards were started as a way for readers to choose and recommend the best technology products in the industry. The awards program gives readers the opportunity to voice their opinions and for leading technology companies to receive the recognition they deserve."

Readers were asked to vote on their product preferences in 8 broad technology categories. The ballot included the following categories: Business intelligence products, development tools, disaster prevention/recovery, hardware, security, storage, training and certification, and SQL Server management.

"This is the second time that SQL Server Magazine readers have honored Rackspace for our world-class hosting services -- we were also voted the Readers' Choice Best Hosting Service Provider of 2004," said John Engates, chief technology officer, Rackspace Managed Hosting. "Our database hosting services are second-to-none as they maximize the value customers get out of their SQL Server databases. We're thrilled to see that end-users are recognizing our hosting services as the best among the SQL Server market."

"Few people know more about the best values in SQL Server-related products and services than SQL Server Magazine readers -- the people who actually use the products and buy them on behalf of their organizations," said Dawn Cyr, senior associate editor, SQL Server Magazine, and coordinator of this year's Readers' Choice Awards program. "By voting for their favorite products and services, our readers have recognized excellence in the SQL Server market."

About Rackspace Managed Hosting

Rackspace Managed Hosting(TM) is the fastest growing managed hosting provider for customers of all sizes -- from start-ups to enterprise customers. Founded in 1998, Rackspace has built a world-class service organization based on its philosophy of Fanatical Support(TM). The company offers a wide range of managed services for enterprise hosting platforms and currently hosts 15 percent of the Fortune 100 Companies. For more information, visit www.rackspace.com, or call 800-961-2888.

About the Windows IT Pro Group

The Windows IT Pro Group, the largest independent Windows IT community in the world, includes content from flagship print publication Windows IT Pro, three monthly paid subscription print newsletters, 12 direct-request email newsletters and a web site resource for more than two million IT professionals each month. First published in 1995, Windows IT Pro is the editorial leader in its field and has a paid subscription base of 105,000. The magazine is published in 13 languages and has an international reach in 160 countries.

The franchise also includes SQL Server Magazine, with 30,000 paid subscribers, more than 210,000 web site visitors monthly and two email newsletters sent to more than 130,000 opt-in subscribers. The American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE) named SQL Server Magazine "Magazine of the Year" in the less-than-80,000 circulation category in 2002. The two publications generate nine million page impressions monthly, host 2.5 million unique visitors to their web sites monthly, and have more than one million readers with opt-in subscriptions to their email newsletters. The Windows IT Pro Group is the world's leading producer of custom Roadshows, paid conferences and paid workshops for Windows and SQL Server IT professionals.

For more information visit www.windowsitpro.com/pressroom/, and www.penton.com.