(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- This Week's biggest news from the Web hosting business included the acquisition of a very significant service provider, as well as new data center announcements from some major operators, including Google.

Domain registrar Network Solutions announced on Wednesday that private equity firm General Atlantic had completed an agreement to acquire Network Solutions from Najafi Companies, formerly known as Pivotal Private Equity. Network Solutions chairman and CEO Champ Mitchell says the company's current management team will continue to guide the company. Network Solutions was acquired by Najafi, from VeriSign, in November of 2003.

While the acquisition might have been this week's most significant story, most of this week's most compelling news related to data centers.

Last Friday, search engine giant Google offered details on two South Carolina properties it had been considering as the locations for building large data center facilities. Reports said a property in Berkeley County was sold for $17 million in December by a company later linked to Google. Google also confirmed that it had proposed a data center layout in Blythewood. According to representatives, the company expects to invest at least $600 million and create 400 jobs if it settles in Berkeley County.

On Monday, data center operator Digital Realty Trust announced it had acquired Unit 9, Blanchardstown Corporate Park in Dublin, Ireland for 36.3 million euros. The property includes a 120,000 square-foot data center that is currently 90 percent leased. The company also announced that it had received approval to start construction on a new 120,000 square-foot data center on land it acquired in Dublin in early 2006 in the Clonshaugh Industrial Estate.

Also on Monday, Canadian data center operator and Web host Q9 Networks announced it had opened a new data center facility in Toronto, Ontario. The $20 million facility has a capacity for 1,000 cabinets, and is the first of three major Q9 expansions to open. The company is building a second data center in Calgary and an expansion of its Brampton, Ontario data center. Q9 says the expansions will give it a total capacity equivalent to more than 7,500 cabinets.

Along with the data center and acquisition news, this week saw two software providers of particular significance to the Web hosting business announced plans to provide educational programs.

On Saturday, control panel provider cPanel announced it will host its second annual training seminar in downtown Houston, Texas from May 30 to June 1. The seminar will provide technical details about cPanel and offer an open dialogue with cPanel tech support and developers. The seminar will be held at the Westin Oaks at the Galleria in Houston. An opening reception will take place on Wednesday evening, followed by two days of training, tips, tricks and discussions about the control panel software.

And on Tuesday, Microsoft announced that it had introduced the first Microsoft Certified Professional exam for IT and hosting professionals, enabling them to gain Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist status in configuring and managing Windows Server 2003 hosted environments. Microsoft says the exam, ?70-50 1 TS: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Hosted Environments, Configuring and Managing,? is designed to provide a reliable measurement of technical proficiency and expertise in using Windows Server 2003 to provide hosted services.

While this week's news was filled with big announcements, it is the educational offerings that will likely have the most ongoing interest for the industry, as Web hosts look to upgrade their cPanel or Windows Server expertise.