In the years since pair Networks was founded, much has changed about the company, and about the entire World Wide Web; However, our mission remains the same as ever -- provide the highest-quality Web hosting services.

A Single Idea

The idea for pair Networks was formed in the summer of 1995. Now-CEO Kevin Martin saw a niche that needed to be filled: a company that focuses exclusively on high-quality, affordable Web hosting. With a 600 square foot office, a single employee, a partial T-1 line and a $10,000 family loan, pair Networks was born, and went online on January 11, 1996.

That first year was an exciting time. All aspects of the company were being created from scratch, company functions and procedures were being developed, and pair Networks' customer base skyrocketed at a rate that surpassed even the most optimistic projections.

pair Networks Moves Up

By the end of its second year, pair Networks had grown to the point that the small office was no longer adequate, and in January 1998 the company moved to a larger facility. The next two years brought even faster growth, and employees hired at an increasing rate -- so much so, that by late 1999 pair Networks had once again outgrown its office and data center space.

In December of 1999, pair Networks completed its second move to a much larger and more scalable location -- the River Park Commons on Pittsburgh's South Side. The company has been in this location for years, and despite non-stop growth, will be able to comfortably expand for quite some time.

What's Changed, and What Hasn't

Many facets of the company have changed. At its inception, pair Networks offered only four accounts: FTP, Basic, Advanced and Webmaster. Those accounts still exist (and at the same price levels), but now more account types and many add-on features are offered.

Nearly all of pair Networks' main systems, such as the billing system, backup-systems, and Account Control Center, were all created in-house, leading to reliance on as few outside vendors as possible.

Where We Are Now

pair Networks has expanded from its humble beginning to truly impressive numbers. The original partial T-1 line has been replaced by three OC-12c circuits and three GigE circuits. The single switch is now a multi-layered redundant local network. And the one 120MHz "powerhouse server" is now hundreds of user servers in constant upgrade rotation. That single employee now works with an entire team of technicians trained to help the company continue to move forward.

pair Networks has continually expanded its scope to handle more of the secondary services related to Web hosting. pairNIC allows greater control over domain name registration services. PitX improves Internet connectivity and performance in our region of the country. Other future projects will further improve performance and reliability for our customers.

The Future: We're Not Stopping

For all that has changed, the center has not budged, and pair Networks remains as committed to offering the highest-quality Web hosting -- as it did from the first day the lights went on in a small office building in Pittsburgh. It is that recognition of what got us here that will keep us here for a long time to come.