OVH
Encyclopedia
OVH is a privately owned web hosting service
company in France
that provides dedicated servers, mutual hosting, domain names and VOIP telephony services. The company is a Société par actions simplifiée
under French law and its headquarters are in Roubaix
in northern France. OVH was created in 1998 by Octave Klaba, at the time a third year student at ICAM
in Lille
.
The company has six datacentres housing more than 80,000 machines. The company offers localized services in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom
and Finland.
It will be soon be expanding its services to the United States of America and Canada
. The company has deployed IPv6
.
In 2009 it was classed as the 6th largest host of servers on the internet and the largest in Europe.
(FDLR), a Hutu rebel force, until September 2009 when a German reporter asked it why it was hosting the site..
installed itself on the servers of OVH in France. France's Industry Minister Eric Besson
said in a letter to the CGIET technology agency, that WikiLeaks "violates the secret of diplomatic relations and puts people protected by diplomatic secret in danger" and was therefore "not acceptable" that the site was hosted on servers based in France. The minister asked for measures to bar WikiLeaks from France. In response, OVH referred the topic in emergency to a judge in order to get a clear and definitive answer about whether hosting WikiLeaks is legal.
On December 6, 2010, the judge decided that there was no need for OVH to cease hosting Wikileaks. The case was rejected on the grounds that such a case required an adversarial hearing.
OVH managing director Octave Klaba commented that: "OVH is neither for nor against this site. We neither asked to host this site nor not to host it. Now it's with us, we will fulfil the contract."
Web hosting service
A web hosting service is a type of Internet hosting service that allows individuals and organizations to make their own website accessible via the World Wide Web. Web hosts are companies that provide space on a server they own or lease for use by their clients as well as providing Internet...
company in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
that provides dedicated servers, mutual hosting, domain names and VOIP telephony services. The company is a Société par actions simplifiée
Société par actions simplifiée
Société par actions simplifiée is the first hybrid law enacted under French law and based on common law principles rather than civil. It is similar to a limited liability company under United States law, as the Delaware limited liability company was the model used by the French Government...
under French law and its headquarters are in Roubaix
Roubaix
Roubaix is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located between the cities of Lille and Tourcoing.The Gare de Roubaix railway station offers connections to Lille, Tourcoing, Antwerp, Ostend and Paris.-Culture:...
in northern France. OVH was created in 1998 by Octave Klaba, at the time a third year student at ICAM
ICAM
ICAM is short for "I couldn't agree more" - also see list of internet slangIt may also refer to:* Integrated Computer-Aided Manufacturing* Intercellular adhesion molecule* Institute for Complex Adaptive Matter...
in Lille
Lille
Lille is a city in northern France . It is the principal city of the Lille Métropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille. Lille is situated on the Deûle River, near France's border with Belgium...
.
The company has six datacentres housing more than 80,000 machines. The company offers localized services in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Ireland, United Kingdom
and Finland.
It will be soon be expanding its services to the United States of America and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The company has deployed IPv6
IPv6 deployment
Internet Protocol Version 6 is the next generation of the Internet Protocol that is currently in various stages of deployment on the Internet...
.
In 2009 it was classed as the 6th largest host of servers on the internet and the largest in Europe.
FDLR
OVH hosted a website of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of RwandaDemocratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda
The Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda is the primary remnant Rwandan Hutu Power rebel group in the east of the of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is often referred to as simply the FDLR after its original French name: the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda...
(FDLR), a Hutu rebel force, until September 2009 when a German reporter asked it why it was hosting the site..
WikiLeaks
In December 2010 WikiLeaksWikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
installed itself on the servers of OVH in France. France's Industry Minister Eric Besson
Éric Besson
Éric Besson is a French politician and Minister of Industry, Energy and the Digital economy under the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, Christine Lagarde...
said in a letter to the CGIET technology agency, that WikiLeaks "violates the secret of diplomatic relations and puts people protected by diplomatic secret in danger" and was therefore "not acceptable" that the site was hosted on servers based in France. The minister asked for measures to bar WikiLeaks from France. In response, OVH referred the topic in emergency to a judge in order to get a clear and definitive answer about whether hosting WikiLeaks is legal.
On December 6, 2010, the judge decided that there was no need for OVH to cease hosting Wikileaks. The case was rejected on the grounds that such a case required an adversarial hearing.
OVH managing director Octave Klaba commented that: "OVH is neither for nor against this site. We neither asked to host this site nor not to host it. Now it's with us, we will fulfil the contract."