German web hoster and cloud service provider
Ionos SE ([iː'ɔnɔs]; proper spelling IONOS), headquartered in Montabaur, is a German Internet service provider that became known primarily for its web hosting, domain and cloud computing products. The company is part of the United Internet Group.
The Internet access business (DSL and mobile communications) was spun off into 1&1 Telecommunication.
History
In 2000, the company changed its name to United Internet and moved its product business to 1&1 Internet AG. In the same year, 1&1 began operating in the United Kingdom, and three years later began serving United States customers. One of the company's biggest North American data centers is located in Lenexa, Kansas, which houses more than 40,000 servers.[2]
In 2018, 1&1 merged with cloud infrastructure specialists ProfitBricks (founded by Achim Weiss) and rebranded as 1&1 Ionos. The rebrand involved a name change and a slightly redesigned Web site, but the service offerings and prices initially stayed the same. However, 1&1 Ionos introduced some new services the following year, including a personal consultant service for customers.[3] As of September 2019, 1&1 Ionos held second place in a ranking of the market share of global Web hosting providers.[4] In August 2021, the company changed its legal name in the United States to IONOS Inc.[5]
Weiss described the reasons for the rebrand, stating:
"As this new company is more than just a hosting provider, we have opted for a new name — and IONOS fits perfectly. It is inspired by the ionosphere; the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere that contains a high concentration of ions and free electrons. It is inspiring to look at, whether viewing from down on Earth, or up in outer space and is, of course, situated in the clouds."[6]
— Achim Weiss
Eco-friendly efforts
Ionos uses sustainable methods to reduce carbon emissions, including using 100% renewable energy in data centers and administrative buildings in the UK and Germany. The carbon is offset in other locations worldwide with green certificates or by using local renewable sources.[7][8] In October 2022, IONOS opened a data center in Worcester, UK with photovoltaic panels on the roof covering up to 10% of the site's energy use.[9]
Server outages
In April 2019, customers in the United Kingdom complained of lengthy server outages due to a malfunctioning uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which resulted in Web sites being offline. Call center staff could also not answer customer questions due to support tools not functioning properly. Ionos eventually fixed and addressed the issue, stating: "For when such cases occur, we have UPS systems and emergency power generators that ensure power supply is uninterrupted during an emergency. One of the five UPS systems in the affected data center suffered a technical malfunction, which meant several servers suffered a temporary loss of power and had to be restarted. As file systems had to be repaired after the power failure, some servers were not immediately available again. We're continuing to look into the cause of the error of the affected UPS system, however, all UPS systems are working properly again."[10]
