Linux Servers Understand the Difference


Linux vs. Windows Hosting

linux-vs-window-300x225As far as prevalence is concerned Linux system has been considered more secure and robust server than Microsoft to choose. In fact both have their own vulnerabilities, which depend over the administration level. The basic difference is the way you get access to backend. Radically, choosing the operating system type on hosting server lies over consideration of some key points:

Commonality:

Linux and Microsoft WindowsThere are some common features does not matter which platform we select for our hosting site. All web servers are configured to support HTML files and JavaScript. It can also include FrontPage which is an extension and provide a set of capabilities that is utilized by a wider range of software. It can be installed on either a Windows or a Linux server.

Both Microsoft and Linux use FTP to access server but Linux allows telnet and SSH access as well. Linux uses CPanel and WHMCS whereas Microsoft uses Plesk.

Key advantage Comparison:

Linux web hosting is referred as LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) which is widely used by webmasters who prefer a flexible environment. It is an open source which allows another open source such as MySQL. It is based on GNU (General Public License). It is most popular as it is inexpensive. It is known for its security and stability.

On the other hand, Windows hosting is used by webmasters who need to design specific dynamic websites and require scripting language such as ASP or ASP.NET. It is used in web application and XML services. Windows is compatible with ColdFusion which is a script language created by Adobe Systems. With the help of Windows developers can easily integrate COM objects with a combination of IIS and ASP.

Top benefits of Linux hosting:

Linux is beneficial in many ways. As it is an open source platform so that can be modified, improved and distributed to the public. It is more flexible so that it can host e-commerce application, blogging websites and multimedia applications. It is less expensive in nature. Linux is generally easier and simpler to use. It comes with preinstalled software that is ready for modification and extension. Linux was designed to support basic web hosting which means users can install PHP, MySQL and Perl script to maximize website productivity and performance.

Top benefits of Windows:

Windows operating system provides lot of benefits. Dedicated server based on Windows will be an excellent hosting platform for any website. This platform is a good option for the use of Visual Basic and DOT net programming. Microsoft access for database functionality is easy to use in windows hosting servers where in much more options for integration between these two. MySQL Server is used in window web hosting which is used to create websites. Microsoft is also compatible with new technology like php and mysql. Microsoft SQL Server is capable of coping with high loads and load spikes very well meaning that it is ideal for use in a situation where your website receives a large amount of traffic.

Comparison Platform:

Linux and windowsReliability: Linux is more reliable. There are good servers without any downtime. Microsoft Windows 2000 is much more stable and reliable than previous versions.

Functionality: Both have different functions in the technology point of view. The technique which one can use on Linux can’t be use on Windows. For example, under Linux for database driven website, one can choose either PHP/MySQL combination whereas on Windows we can use ASP/MS SQL combination.

Security: Linux is safer because it is open source. Open source programming would be more secure than closed source programming. To install Linux one has to create a unique password which is called “root” access password whereas in Windows there is no need of root password.

Price: Linux is an open source (free) so it is easier to maintain Linux server than Windows server for the same level of reliability.

Comparison Chart
Services
Linux
Windows
Database Support
* My SQL
* SQL lite
* SQL Server
* MS-Access
* Sql Server
* Sql Compact
Script Support
* PHP
* Zend Optimizer
* APC
* SSH
* PHP
* ASP.net
* MVC
* Silverlight
CMS
* Drupal
* Joomla
* Magento
* WordPress
* Neucleus
* Drupal
* Joomla
* Umbraco
* WordPress
Data Traffic
Depends on Plan
Depends on Plan

Data TrafficDepends on PlanDepends on Plan

Which one is more secure?

Linux and Windows both have their separate security issues. Both has users of hosting accounts which should periodically change all passwords used for access of server and files. Website account holders should change passwords in the event of any detected threat to their sites or after major modification such as updating a CMS or uploading new software.

Some Common Attacks over Linux:

Unauthorized access: People who shouldn’t use your computer services are able to connect and use them. People outside your company might try to connect to your company or to NFS server.

Denial of service: This cause the service or program to cease functioning or prevent others from making use of the service or program.

Eavesdropping: This is the simplest type of attack. To protect against this type of threat avoid use of broadcast network technologies and enforce the use of data encryption.

Some Common Attacks over windows:

Fake wireless access points: This hack is easier than any other. Anyone using a bit of software and a wireless network card can advertise their computer as an available WAP.

Cookie theft: Browser cookies are wonderful that preserves state when a user navigates a website. Cookie theft has been around since the invention of the web but these days tools make the process as easy as click.

Linux is the platform for the future of computing. More developers and companies are contributing to the advancement of the operating system.

Windows is a proprietary operating system; it has fixed number of web developers and programmers working on improving and extending the code base.

Contributors:

Rajat SudanYeshaswiDeepali Bansal

A Purchasing Guide to Virtual Private Servers


vps

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is a virtual machine which is sold as a service by an Internet Hosting Service. A VPS has its own copy of an operating system which it run so that they can install any software compatible with OS. They are equivalent to a dedicated physical server by functions. Their price is much lower than an equivalent physical server.

VPS Service Providers:

InMotion Hosting, Bluehost, A2Hosting, GoDaddy, Arvixe are few of the renowned vps service hosting providers. They are offering different VPS hosting plan. Some are offering best Vps-1000S. SSD drives are used in this plan which is foundation for data transmission and quick page loading. Some are offering Cloud VPS plan. This plan allows people to increase and decrease the amount of storage, bandwidth, RAM which is according to the business requirement. SSL certificates are provided by some companies to enhance the website security which is helpful in taking payments. Some common features are there which all companies are providing:

  1. Free Technical support 24/7 and 99% uptime.
  2. Free website transfer.
  3. Minimum 30-day money back guarantee.
  4. Full root access.

Get these answered from your hosting provider:-

VPS Hosting plans cover the gap between entry level web hosting plans that offer particular services such as PHP, MySQL with a limited amount of disk space on a shared server and dedicated servers. VPS plans are hosted on FreeBSD or Linux but exist on Windows operating system.

What are the specifications of the host server?

VPS Hosting Server has some specifications which are following:

Software: Vps can be configured with multiple Linux distribution, CentOs-based, Plesk web hosting environment.

Network Connectivity: For network four independent providers are necessary: Level (3), Abovenet networks, Cognet Communications and Tinet.

How many VPS instances are run on the host server that you’ll be on?

Dedicated servers ensure that nobody can share any type of resources with anyone. Anybody can get the full memory, storage, power and network access from its hardware. VPS resource sharing may lead site downtime if demand will be increased according to the capacity.

Resources provided under VPS hosting:

  1. VPS hosting provides independence to one user from other users on the same server. Users have all resources to themselves.
  2. VPS hosting is filling the gap between the dedicated hosting services and shared hosting services. Anyone can connect technically to shared hosting environment but at the same time one enjoy the privacy in a dedicated server.
  3. Vps hosting is providing power and functionality of the dedicated server at lower cost.
  4. User can install any kind of software.

Resource Contention in VPS:

There is a concept of noisy neighbour who is the customer on a server uses his or her share of server resources. Disk IOPS (I/p o/p operations per second) have shared resources in VPS and cloud environment. The customers of VPS can purchase server with IOPS without any investment in a dedicated server. Resource monitoring will be done according to time and will decide predetermined limits past which user will upgrade.

Advantage & Limitations of VPS:-

Many advantages and limitations are there:

  1. Reliability: A good VPS hosting provider has better uptime reliability.
  2. Server security: VPS provider gives assurance of security programs and policies.
  3. Standard top of the line hardware: For a good VPS provider hardware is housed for virtual private space. It includes a dedicated RAM, top-of-the line CPU and a sizeable storage.
  4. Customizability: A good VPS should be easily customized according to the users’ requirements.
  5. Affordability: VPS is hybrid between a dedicated server and a shared server. VPS plan is able to deliver the power of dedicated server as well as shared server on the same.
  6. Individual gateway: It should provide Individual Web, POP, FTP, SMTP gateway and IMAP servers.

What VPS is not/ what vps lacks? :-

The VPS is least concern about hardware. VPS looks like a device with a specific set of hardware. If the VPS hardware fails then this can be difficult to restore as well as require a high per hour “remote hands” fee. User don’t gain root access but the files and scripts are spread across a cluster of machines with automatic scaling.

Conclusion:

Many companies are providing VPS hosting as an extension for web hosting services. A VPS hosting is dynamic means it can be changed at run-time. Additional resource of hardware can be added at run-time.During the server runtime VPS can be moved to other hardware.

Contributors:

Rajat SudanYeshaswiDeepali Bansal

Virtual Private Server (VPS) Solutions


vps hosting

VPS Solution is offering scalability, robustness, power and control. It is more suitable for those organizations which execute customized programs.

Top server solutions provider:-

1&1, Hostpapa, Godaddy are few of the best VPS solutions providers. VPS Solution provides facility to increase and decrease amount of storage which is as per as the business requirement. Companies who are using VPS solutions monitor each and every VPS account to resolve many issues before they affect any website. They also deliver a platform that makes virtual environment effective.

Virtual server schemes:-

Virtual server is a server which shares computer resources and execute power with other virtual servers. Virtual servers have ability to share resources among each other is known as Hypervisor. There are four types of schemas:

  1. Full virtualization: – Hypervisor ensures that each virtual server has its own entity and exact processing power is distributed to each virtual server.
  2. Para Virtualization: – There is less dependency upon the hypervisor to monitor and allocate the proper amount of processing power.
  3. Operating System (OS) Level Virtualization: – There is no need of Hypervisor with this. All virtual servers use same kind of OS. This is also called ‘homogenous virtualization environment’.
  4. LDAP Virtual Directories: – These directories are used to create both Internet and Intranet related applications. This is possible only by sharing useful information. This includes data about employees, services, systems.

Time-sharing model in VPS (use of hypervisor):-

The OS basically shares access to the resources but there is a single machine which is being shared. As the resources are shared under time-sharing model, virtualization is providing a higher level of security as individual virtual servers are isolated from each other. This is important because it allows businesses to run their legal application on older versions of an operating system and can be rebooted independently. Single server is partitioned into multiple computers. The physical server runs a hypervisor which has task of creating, releasing and managing the resources of “guest” operating systems or virtual machines.

Example of VPS servers:-

OpenVZ, Virtuozzo, Xen or KVM, VMware and Hyper-Vs

Virtual private server: a deep insight:

VPS service is designed to be exclusive. Multiple customers are allowed to share the resources of one server, with high degree of security. Customers of VPS have “root” level access. It is quite powerful hosting solution which needs high server resources at lower cost. Each and every virtual server can run its own OS, and each server can be rebooted independently. VPS services are scalable and customizable as per business needs. For Linux OS VPS server is used with APACHE, MySQL, PHP. For Windows VPS server is used with ASP or ASPX pages accessing databases or SQL server database MSAccess.

Types of virtual private server:-

There are three types of VPS hosting:

  1. Unmanaged VPS hosting
  2. Semi managed VPS hosting
  3. Managed VPS hosting

Unmanaged VPS hosting: In this, the whole server administration and the responsibilities of essential configuration and management of VPS are the responsibilities of end users. Users have to gain some knowledge in administration of Linux servers.

Semi managed VPS hosting: Virtual servers include re-installs of the OS and the control panel, adding additional IP addresses, configuring firewall rules, DNS management.

Fully managed VPS hosting: VPS support includes knowledge of everything related to the server such as assisting users with questions and try to overcome VPS related problems maintaining the virtual server’s security.

Advantages of virtual private server:-

  1. VPS provides a complete control of web hosting experience.
  2. It has facility of both Linux and Windows operating systems.
  3. It has maximum uptime for business-critical applications.
  4. It performs well with 99.95% of network availability.
  5. It is flexible to install compatible software and applications.

Why virtual private servers: –

There are 5 reasons why VPS may be the solution:-

  1. Growth Potential : It should be strong by ensuring that the provided site will remain available and ready for business whenever there is an opportunity.
  2. Cost Control : Large businesses have a big budget so there is a need of dedicated server. If cost control is there then VPS would fit in the budget while giving great web hosting services. VPS provides the advantages of dedicated server without making hardware and maintenance costs.
  3. Security : VPS provides an individual IP address and unique –to-user password protected entries. Multilayered protections built into the system makes VPS safer and secure for business hosting.
  4. Support : VPS hosting package comes with support. It provides 24/7/365 support for customers whenever they needed.
  5. Control : VPS provides control over content of site and applications which are running. By logging into admin, one can upload edit content, documents, run new applications and operate business anytime, anywhere.

A bridge from shared to dedicated:

VPS run on a shared piece of hardware. A multicore host is configured to provide dedicated pools of memory which are shred, single or multiple cores and hard disk storage. Some hosts provide a selection of GNU/Linux OS, some offer Windows server in one or more forms. The storage of VPS is constant. It means if virtual machine or hardware crashes or loses power, it would resume back after rebooting except hard drive failures.

VPS or cloud: similarity and differences :

Similarities: Though both are not similar but still Cloud hosting has some commonality to VPS hosting in several ways. There may be minimum or maximum server size configuration. They both are running as a virtual server in an environment. Price service is associated with the machine and the resources like CPU RAM which are guaranteed to be available.

Differences:

  1. VPS is less expensive than cloud servers.
  2. VPS has less server power than cloud.
  3. If a physical server fails VPS can be rebooted without affecting other VPSs on shared server, while cloud servers are migrated to another physical server.

Contributors:

Rajat SudanYeshaswiDeepali Bansal

Using Unmanaged Host Services


It is less expensive than managed hosting so if it is compatible with the server than it can be easily used. To use this hosting client must have some responsibilities regarding the server. It requires technical knowledge and time to maintain and configure the server. If UNIX knowledge of anybody is limited then this hosting cannot be used.

Technical Specification:

Unmanaged Server may be the best if technical requirement of running server has applications that are not supported by current server; user has more control over configuration. Users are only responsible for management of hardware and software both. These all conditions make unmanaged hosting more flexible.

Things to keep in concern:

  1. Security : One should be concerned about that firewall locked down and there should be a strong root password.
  2. Backups : User has to backup their file on regular basis in case of hard drive crashes.
  3. Disaster Recovery : There should be an arrangement if host is unavailable due to an extended power outage at natural disaster.
  4. Monitoring : User has to monitor if server is down in his/her absence so, there should be proper arrangement for this.
  5. Patches and maintenance : One should know about new patch available for OS and apply some maintenance tasks for this.

VPS can be managed by VirtualMin web server control panel. VirtualMin has 2 types of license one is professional which user has to buy and another is GPL license which is free. Some features of virtualmin are:

  1. It is based on open source web-based systems management GUI which is Webmin and is an interface for system administration, for UNIX, LINUX.
  2. While using Virtualmin one can manage virtual domains, mailboxes, databases, application.

Providers of unmanaged hosting:

InMotion hosting, Acenet, HostGator, SingleHop, 1&1 are few of the best unmanaged hosting providers. They are providing Fast and Easy Setup, Full WHM/cPanel, Free Data Migration. The price ranges vary from $69 to $297 on hosting plans of different companies.

Unmanaged hosting:

Unmanaged hosting could be the right option for medium sized businesses. In this hosting, the host is responsible for the availability of the server. For unmanaged hosting one should be familiar with OS and server software which is in use. It is better alternative as anybody can self manage which includes full range control. In this hosting, with the exception of initial of OS installation, the user is responsible for upgrades, installation of software and maintenance. It provides maximum flexibility as per the users’ requirement. Users have no shared resources as it provides unlimited resources based on users’ needs.

Managed vs. unmanaged:

  1. Unmanaged hosting services could be the right option for medium sized businesses while managed hosting services is the right option for large sized businesses as they save time and energy in the long run.
  2. Unmanaged hosting is less expensive than managed hosting because technical support and assistance is involved in the package which makes managed services more costly.
  3. In Unmanaged hosting users are responsible for every aspect of maintaining the server while in managed hosting user would ensure all the techniques of keeping servers up to date and running smoothly.

Pros and cons:

Pros:

  1. In Unmanaged server, users need not to pay huge monthly bill to host the website on a high performed web server.
  2. There is full control over unmanaged hosting, so one can decide OS according to the requirement.
  3. By using an unmanaged server, one has to make sure that no illegal sites will use resources from one’s host. This will secure the website.

Cons:

  1. Unmanaged hosting needs some extra time per month to manage extra work on server.
  2. There is requirement to keep backups as most of settings and configurations are DIY in this hosting, so there is a chance for some failures.
  3. There is no technical support for applications provided in this hosting.

Co-Located Web Hosting


Colocation Hosting

Colocation refers to the professional data center facility in which a business can rent space for servers and other computing hardware. Generally it provides building, cooling, power, bandwidth, lower latency, specialist services and systems, constant security and a whole host of additional advantages. It maintains flexibility and control of owning server reduce risk and minimize capital & operating costs incurred when hosting in-house. As technology has become a part of human life as well as for industry.

Colocation: A Flexible Solution

Colocation service provides a cost-effective way to hosting securely your mission critical IT infrastructure with providing reliable and flexible Internet access for Internet or Intranet services. With colocation customer can own the server and rent required physical space to house it within a data center. Space is divided as in racks and cabinets. A rack is a horizontally standardized frame for mounting equipment and hardware. Rack is measured in rack units (U) where one rack unit is 1.75 inches. A 47U is often called cabinet.

Housing hardware gives access to higher levels of bandwidth than normal office server room and at a much lower cost. Colocation allows customers to benefit from economies of scale which would not be available with an in-house option. Flexibility is a major element in colocation which allows clients to personalize their plans that which aspect will fulfill their particular requirement.

Some Key Points to Assess Before Collocating

At some point, probably you think how much energy you want to rent a data center. Maybe hiring an off-premise facility to house your data center just makes more sense. That’s all what colocation required. So how do start the colocation options? We have following essential tools to help you

1) Know why you’re Colocating

There is a lot of reason, but you probably have a limited number of items that design your enterprise.

  • Cost save from eliminating onsite facility
  • Availability, reliability and enhancements
  • Improved disaster recovery
  • Efficient process to reach regulatory compliance
  • Add flexibility for future growth
  • Improved security.

Once you get to know about collection of pertinent data, specification on the current workload, costs, employee level, problems and strength. Create a checklist about present and feasible future components.

2) Location, Location, Colocation

Colocation is an extension of your work place. You are responsible for what you are setting up, maintaining hardware and software. It means you have own IT team which will visit and schedule plan to deal with unanticipated emergencies. If you are maintaining single office it could be across street or across the country.

Whatever the reasons, it is all about the colocation of your server. The best colocation providers offer locations to serve you present and as your business develop in future. You can expand your data center globally to mitigate risks of your current location. Risks will be like geological instability, power disaster or unequal network access.

3) Let’s Get Colocation Center

Now you get to know that what facilities you want for your colocation center. your check list might include some highlights:

  • Colocation look: it should be new, clean, solid and smooth- running and more attractive infrastructure.
  • Your server execute by themselves most of time. Ideally, the colocation company’s internal staff is granted access only when and where necessary.
  • Verify the infrastructure, with long and short-term backup power, cooling and the quality of power density for the facility’s potential capacity.
  • How accessible is the facility for delivering and removing equipment? When you will do installation and upgrades. It will become hectic or painful processes at the time. A efficient shipping series, protected storage and large elevators will increase team’s productivity when the time comes.

There is some more key point to be considered before locating your data center like:

  • Colocation center must provide stability.
  • They must fulfill the requirement of compliance and security because nothing more important than company’s private data.
  • Disaster prevention and recovery are great reason to colocate. Keep in mind that colocation center has planned for the worst and consider full remote mirroring to streamline disaster recovery.
  • Customized Services should be serve individually that can make your colocation implementation perfect and worthy.
  • It should connect to multiple carrier networks at facility with optimized connection points and excellent network management.
  • You can be great on-ramp if you plan correctly. you want to move some of your data operations to the cloud, you can move for an efficient migration.
  • Always take a key concern for expand data center to help in business grow.

Since you wish to run your colocated center “hands off” then there is no substitute.

Here are some best colocation providers: Equinix, Hurricane Electric, Liquidweb, Peer1, PhoenixNap, Rackspace, Savvis, Singlehop, Softlayer and Verizon Terremark

Advantages of Colocation

  1. Great benefit of colocation is the cost for bandwidth.
  2. It has outage protection. Customers pay for power generators and backup power to protect against the power disaster.
  3. If machine is too slow or doesn’t have enough memory, it can be simply upgrade the server. There is no need to wait for provider to get around upgrading it.
  4. No need to rely on hosting provider to install the software or tools. Users can simple install software by themselves.
  5. Colocation providers include additional security for server. Your machine is stored and maintained in a secured infrastructure.
  6. Most colocation offers a service where they will manage and maintain your server for an extra cost. This is useful if you don’t have IT team or your office is located far from the provider.

Disadvantages of Colocation

As every factor has some merits and demerit list. So colocation has also some disadvantages:

  1. Colocation providers can be hard to find. It is very easy when one near to your home or office. But it become more difficult when you live in big city with large network hub then you won’t find more colocation option.
  2. Colocation can be more expensive than basic Web hosting. You have to maintain and manage servers yourself, so when server requires for updating, firstly you have to buy that hardware and install it.
  3. Physical access to your server would be difficult because you have to travel at your colocation provider’s location if you move out from the area where you located your server. Either you move your servers to new provider or leave them there as you contracted before.

Colocation Way to Go

Colocation is good option for a small business who wants to get web presence but don’t want to invest in the infrastructure, and at the same time want a dedicated web server. If you are maintaining a large company with high bandwidth requirement or looking for secure hosting solutions such as corporate mailing plans, application hosting, secured FTP access and other mission web server based solutions, collocating server is the best option.

Unrestricted Dedicated Server


Choosing the right web server will be one of the most important decisions you will ever make with your online business. Why? Because the web server you choose will literally make or break your online business.

Two types of servers are Virtual Web Hosting and Virtual Private Servers.

Virtual Hosting
Virtual Hosting is also known as Shared Web Hosting, where you are sharing the physical server and a single set of software applications with other users. Advantage to Virtual Hosting is that you have a powerful, reliable, and professionally managed server without having to have advanced technical skills, making it ideal for an individual, small business, or even a beginner webmaster.

The disadvantage of Virtual Hosting is that you are sharing the server with other users, which are configured and controlled by an administrator, not you. So basically you have your hands tied behind your back, because you have to contact the administrator every time you have to adjust or change your configuration settings Virtual Private Servers

A Virtual Private Server is a single server that is partitioned at the root into multiple dedicated servers. This allows you to share the cost of the network connectivity, hardware, and system maintenance with other hosting customers, while maintaining your flexibility and freedom.

The real advantage of Virtual Private Servers is that they allow you to have complete control and they have the security advantages of a dedicated server at the fraction of the cost. You have access to the virtual root, Telnet, web configuration files, and full CGI-BIN access. I can’t forget to mention that you also have access to your password, aliases file, and send mail configuration file.
There is one disadvantage with Virtual Private Servers, you need to have some program knowledge to control and configure the settings. Which one is right for you? Well, that all depends on you and the size of your network.

If you have or plan on having just one web site and have absolutely no programming knowledge, then Virtual Hosting is the recommended and economical way for you to go.

If you have a larger network that requires multiple web sites and you have some programming knowledge, then a Virtual Private Server is ideal for you. You can host up to 50 web sites on a Virtual Private Server account, instead of having multiple Virtual Hosting accounts, which is not as economical.

When it comes time to get a web server, make sure that the server fits your needs and that it supports the essential software for a prosperous online business.

Managed Windows Hosting


If we concerned about dedicated hosting then the thing comes in our mind a reliable fully flashed server only for us and when it comes to the security and flexibility of hosting services, managed dedicated web hosting is something you really need. You can host multiple websites, run huge online business and perform your marketing programs without looking aside technical issues and staff with managed dedicated server hosting by cpwebhosting.
We also offers various business strategy plans for dedicated hosting like we offer managed web site hosting services for the clients worldwide with the most innovative features and resources. You can’t go wrong while choosing cpwebhosting as your managed dedicated web hosting provider as our team of highly educated professionals will monitor all the server’s operations and help with all technical issues that may arise with your managed dedicated server hosting account.
This act can enhance your work ability and reliability for us,so you can join us and feel the reality.

Managed Hosting


Managed hosting services are type of web hosting where the hosting supplier takes care of fundamental software and settings. Managed hosting is an extension of dedicated hosting where the required hardware is acknowledged by the hosting provider. It is most appropriate when anyone need powerful hosting without taking any pain about the routine maintenance and management tasks.

Costing to Managed Hosting:

Moving data to managed server hosting takes time and resources as moving from one hosting provider to another. Some tasks may take longer like user may need to request a reboot of server. The upfront costs of managed server hosting is much lower than in-house server whereas ongoing costs are constant. There is a limitation of software in managed server hosting so user has to choose the software according to the requirements of the server which is right for the long-term.

Some top managed hosting provider companies are:-

  • GoDaddy
  • LiquidWeb
  • SingleHop
  • Inmotionhosting
  • 100tb

Managed hosting provider:

Managed hosting provider is very important to business. There are no official guidelines for managed hosting provider as each offers different packages at different prices, with different levels of security and support. User need to know what level of support can expect from managed hosting provider. These are as follows:-

  1. What support has to be offered?
  2. Who should take responsibility for backups?
  3. What is hardware replacement policy of this hosting?
  4. Will they provide support for the software?
  5. Who restores the data and gets the server running correctly?
  6. Whose responsibility is there to reinstall all the software?

How does it benefit your customer?

There are some points on which managed server provide benefit to the customer:-

  1. Customer support: It should provide 24/7 technical support with their core focus being hosting.
  2. Better cost profile: There should be moving costs from capital to operational budget for economies of scale.
  3. Control: There should be full control over IT solutions to be maintained.
  4. Reduced risk: Business data centers should be more secure with full redundancy. It provides managed security offerings including load balancer, intrusion detection and prevention, platform monitoring and management.

Who should take Managed Hosting?

Users need to look for industry and business related qualifications to choose managed hosting provider which are as follows:

  1. ISO27001 Information Security Management.
  2. ISO20001 IT Service Management.
  3. ISO9001 Quality Management Certification: It explains quality throughout the business.

User also wants to see some specific software and security qualifications such as:-

MCSE, RHCE, LPIC, Ethical Hacker

What Managed hosting includes ? 

Managed Hosting includes the following:

  1. Server Monitoring: This is the process of scanning the servers in search of any potential failures; these failures can be removed before they convert into major disruption.
  2. Security: This includes virus scanning, firewall configuration and OS updates in addition of data centre security measures.
  3. Full Back-up & storage: A company losing data can cause a loss of money, time and customer trust. All reliable and personal information is stored securely.
  4. Server Configuration & Maintenance: Managed hosting providers offer expert staff to ensure that hosting solution is configured to meet the customer’s requirement.

Some Risks:

There are some risks using managed server hosting:-

  1. Sensitive data:  Although hosts guarantee safety of data on user’s site, but they cannot guarantee about their employee violation of trust and access sensitive material.
  2. Fraud: There have been cases of customer’s bills with hidden charges by hosting providers. User should take time to research of hosting provider before signing a contract.

Contributors:

Rajat SudanYeshaswiDeepali Bansal

All about Managed hosting


Managed Hosting bridges the gap between the ease-of-use of standard webhosting services to co-location. Managed Hosting is essentially a service where you have complete administrative abilities over a system provided by your internet service provider, but they set it up, provide the computer to your specifications, and keep it up to date.
Web hosts have been offering dedicated servers for a while now, however, because dedicated servers can be difficult to operate technically, there has been a demand for web hosts to provide extra services such as: reporting and monitoring; managed load balancing; managed security; managed storage; and, managed databases. These extra services are referred to as ‘managed hosting’.
Managed hosting is ideal for the new online businesses person, looking to build a large online business, and wanting to avoid the extra time and resources spent in-house on managing their dedicated servers. In-turn, managed web hosting has provided a profitable outcome to many online businesses by preventing a waste of valuable resources spent on high skilled employees; months of staff training; and, costs of hardware and software.

What should I look for in a managed hosting provider?

When choosing a managed hosting provider it is a good idea that your host provides the following qualities:

Reliable and fast support a good way to find out the response rate and the quality of the services offered by a web host is to send them an email before you sign up with them. If you receive a good response from your web host then this should give you a good indication of the services they are offering.

Freedom its important to have as much freedom as possible and having the ability to choose from a wide range of services is essential. With managed hosting you might decide that you don’t require firewall support, its important that your web host will provide you with the option of selecting exactly what you need and what you don’t need. Also having the ability to pay monthly is a huge advantage. It will be less of a drain on your budget and you can avoid any expensive yearly contracts.

Fast and reliable connection You should find out exactly what sort of connection the web host has to the Internet. By asking the web host they should be able to send you their network and connectivity details, you might even be able to find this out on their web site. Also find out where the web hosts Network Operations Center (NOC) is located, it is an advantage for the web host to have its NOC located in the USA as the USA has the fastest and most reliable internet connection in the world.

Competitiveness When searching for a managed hosting provider it is important to do your research. Each web host will be offering different managed hosting services all at different rates, you might find that one web host may offer one attractive managed hosting service while another doesn’t. However, as many more web hosts are beginning to offer managed hosting, a new competitive market is developing and the prices for managed hosting are becoming much more affordable with many more services being offered.

Clustered Dedicated Servers a healthy approach


Clustered Dedicated Servers share the processing power with many servers in real time. Theses servers overcome the limitations of one physical server. This is also known as Grid web hosting technology. The advantage of these servers is that if one server has some threat then the other servers are available to share the load. Every server cluster which is setup for clients is customized to their requirements. Basically cluster is an arrangement of normal servers; if user rent more than two servers then they will configure a private VLAN to provide secure gigabit communication between the servers.

Company
iWeb
LiquiedWeb
100TB
SingleHop
Interserver
Uptime
92.10%
99.06%
98%
99.14%
100%
Hosted Site
220659
126355
135534
41323
468206
Cost
$79/mo
$179/mo
$139/mo
$159/mo
$59/mo

There are some top best clustered dedicated server providers:-

Core benefits:

Some benefits are there for clustered dedicated server:-

  1. Redundancy and Reliability: Different configurations in cluster server can give the user active or passive features in case of failure of one server. Passive feature involves running applications having redundant dedicated servers. Active configuration involves two-server sets run applications or services and takes data from common database in case of system failure.
  2. Load Balancing: To configure the server for maximum speed and performance when there is a lot of traffic might requires splitting traffic and functions among servers. Clustering allows anyone to improve services, operations and detect cyber attacks before downtime.
  3. High availability: Clustering reduces system failure and vulnerability. Implementation of databases, web servers, dual load balancers prevent downtime, cyber attacks and natural disasters.

Types of server clusters:

There are three different types of server clusters:-

  1. Single Quorum device cluster: It is also called the standard quorum cluster. There are multiple nodes with one or more which are also called cluster storage and it has also a connection device which is called bus.
  2. Majority node set cluster: In this type of cluster, each node maintains its own copy of the cluster configuration data. The resource keeps configuration data which is compatible across the nodes.
  3. Local Quorum Cluster: It is also called single node cluster which has single node and is used for testing.

The node configuration can be categorized into following models:

  1. Active/Passive: This configuration requires most extra hardware. It provides a fully redundant instance of every node.
  2. N+1: This refers to clusters that have multiple services running simultaneously. It provides a single extra node which is brought online to take over the role of failure node.
  3. N+M: It is used in cases where a single cluster is managing many services having one dedicated failover node.
  4. N-to-1: It allows the failover standby node to become the active one temporarily, until and unless original node can be restored.
  5. N-to-N: N to N clusters redistribute the services, instances or connections from the failure node among the active nodes and eliminate the need for ‘standby’ node.

Node Reliability:

The techniques which make shared infrastructure as reliable:

  1. Disk mirroring: It prevents internal disk failure to avoid system crashes. For example: Distributed Replicated Block Device.
  2. Redundant network connections: It prevents network outages from interface failures, single cable and switch or network.
  3. Redundant electrical power: It inputs to different circuits protected by uninterruptible power supply units which prevents from loss of power to the system.

Fail-over Strategies:

Systems that handle failures have different strategies to cure:

  1. Fail Fast: It is the attempt to cure failures if the first node cannot be reached.
  2. On Fail, Try One-Next Available: It means the system tries one host which is most accessible or available.
  3. On Fail, Try All: It means the system tries all existing, available nodes.

Contributors:

Rajat SudanYeshaswiDeepali Bansal