iomart Hosting Launches Racks 4 Acres Campaign to Support Rainforest Preservation

Cloud Hosting to aid Cloud Forests

LONDON, September 13, 2010 - iomart Hosting, one of Europe's leading providers of managed hosting
(www.iomarthosting.com/managed-hosting) and cloud computer services,
is launching a campaign to sustain up to 1,000 acres of cloud rainforest in
the Neblina Reserve in Ecuador.

Through the 'Racks 4 Acres' (
www.iomarthosting.com/info-centre/green-hosting/racks4acres)
initiative, in conjunction with Rainforest Concern and supported by Green IT
magazine, iomart Hosting will sponsor an acre of cloud rainforest for every
additional megawatt of power that is consumed from September this year within
its five UK data centres. This is expected to equate to at least 500 acres,
which is the equivalent of 500 football pitches.

Cloud forests make up less than 2.5 per cent of the world's tropical
forests but are home to a disproportionately large number of the world's
species. They include all the forests in the humid tropics that are
frequently covered in clouds or mists and so, in addition to rainfall,
capture water droplets that condense on the vegetation.

The Neblina Reserve in the Choco-Andean Forest Corridor occupies the area
between the Paso Alto Mountain Range and Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve
and will keep these areas connected and protect flora and fauna. The reserve
also helps to establish 36 community reserves, which are owned and managed by
the local community.

Phil Worms, director marketing of iomart Hosting, explained:

"As a managed hosting company and data centre owner, we are acutely aware
of the effects that our day to day operations have in terms of a producing a
sizeable carbon footprint. We are constantly doing everything that we can to
mitigate this impact - from the implementation of cold aisle containment
through to pursuit of renewable energy supplies - but given that these things
take time; we've also wanted a project that would deliver rather more
immediate benefits to our environment.

"Research shows that you can make a more significant impact on the
environment by preserving mature habitats, rather than simply planting new
trees, in terms of protecting existing eco systems and retaining locked in
carbon. We, therefore, specifically asked that our acres are predominantly in
the Neblina Reserve because of the synergy between cloud computing and cloud
hosting (www.iomarthosting.com/cloud-hosting).

"We're not attempting to take any form of moral high ground with this
campaign. We know, as do many of our customers, that reducing costs and
improving operational efficiency are critical objectives for any organisation
at any time. We strongly believe that cloud computing and virtualisation have
a major role to play in helping organisations minimise their CO2 emissions by
reducing their power consumption, and we think that this campaign will help
us get this message across."

The campaign also allows iomart Hosting's customers to directly offset
their own IT equipment's carbon emissions, via iomart's Customer Control
Panel, through participation in Rainforest Concern's Forest Credits
Programme.

Peter Bennett, Director of Rainforest Concern (
www.rainforestconcern.org/), said: "The world's tropical rainforests
are the richest and most diverse habitats on Earth and are some of the most
endangered. Whilst their plight has been well documented over the past few
years, we are still witnessing wholesale destruction on a daily basis.
Projects like the Racks 4 Acres have an important role to play in
highlighting the threats faced by rainforests and hopefully will inspire
other people and organisations to support our efforts to protect them. We all
benefit from every acre of rainforest saved wherever we live in the world.

"I am delighted that the campaign will support the Neblina Reserve in the
Choco-Andean Forest Corridor as this is a true, community-based conservation
and eco-tourism effort, which is playing a vital role in sustaining the
conservation of Ecuador. It proves what can be done when people are prepared
to work together and tackle issues head on.

"What appealed to me about the Racks 4 Acres campaign is how simple it is
in its approach. The correlation between power consumption, carbon emissions
and conservation is a vital element in the bigger climate change debate and
this campaign makes that point effectively."

Myriam Calderon, respected Ecuadorian academic and author on
environmental, heritage and cultural anthropology topics, stated:

"Our country welcomes any initiative undertaken by foreign organisations;
private or governmental, willing to support Ecuador and its amazing
biodiversity, in order to safeguard the lungs of the planet.

"The importance and relevance of sharing the responsibility of the
protection of our most precious resources, regardless of location, is indeed
a global problem. The Choco-Andean Forest Corridor project and community is
as vital for countries as far and away as the United Kingdom as it is for the
Andean corridor and Ecuador itself.

"Speaking as an Ecuadorian, and an environmental advocate, we welcome the
support given by iomart Hosting with its Racks 4 Acres campaign. We
particularly hope that this campaign will generate vital awareness of the
need to protect the Cloud Forest, and that this may lead to a wider
understanding of the environmental issues that we face today."

Notes for editors

1) iomart Hosting is one of the UK's leading providers of
hosting services. From a single server through to private cloud networks,
iomart Hosting specialises in the delivery and management of
mission-critical hosting services, enabling customers to reduce the
costs, complexity and risks associated with maintaining their own web and
online applications. By physically owning and managing its own network
infrastructure, including five state-of-the-art data centres in the UK,
it offers world-beating levels of service to its customers.

2) For more information visit www.iomarthosting.com and
www.rainforestconcern.org

3) Rainforest Concern is a British based conservation charity
established to protect threatened natural habitats, particularly
rainforests and the biodiversity they contain, together with the people
who still depend on them for their survival.

Rainforest Facts:

    - Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth, except
      Antarctica.
    - Covering less than 8% of the Earth's total surface area, the world's
      rainforests are home to 50% of the planet's plants and animals.
    - Experts estimate that 137 plant, animal and insect species are lost
      every single day due to rainforest deforestation
    - 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rainforest ingredients
    - Over 2,000 tropical forest plants have been identified as having
      anti-cancer properties
    - Quinine, the cure for malaria, is extracted from the bark of an
      Ecuadorian cloud forest tree species (Cinchona spp.)
    - One-fifth of the world's fresh water is in the Amazon Basin.
    - One and one-half acres of rainforest are lost every second
    - More than 56,000 square miles of natural rain forest are lost each
      year.
    - One hectare (2.47 acres) may contain over 750 types of trees and 1500
      species of higher plants

    Contacts
    Press Officer
    iomart Hosting Press Office
    Tel: +44(0)141-931-6400
    Email: marketing@iomart.com
    Address: Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus, Glasgow, G20 0SP

Contacts: Press Officer, iomart Hosting Press Office, Tel: +44(0)141-931-6400, Email: marketing at iomart.com, Address: Lister Pavilion, Kelvin Campus, Glasgow, G20 0SP