Top 5 Cloud Storage Service Providers

There continues to be a growing demand for cloud computing services, especially among small business owners seeking reliable web hosting services. With the plethora of cloud providers currently available, for many entrepreneurs looking for a reputable service it’s difficult to choose the best cloud host to accommodate hosting needs. There are five cloud hosting providers, however, leading the industry when it comes to delivering quality hard drives in the cloud on a tight budget.

Amazon Web Services

Despite Amazon’s recent outage, the company continues to offer attractive cloud storage features tailored for small businesses. Amazon is a top choice for small business ventures because customers are not required to purchase hardware. Instead, users pay a small fee each month to access Amazon’s infrastructure in a cloud computing environment.  Customers have the ability to order computing services and storage on an as-needed basis to meet individual hosting needs. Amazon places computing power in the control of the customers as they can add or remove processing power and storage space in real time as well as delivering several layers of security to protect valuable data. Amazon is a great pay-as-you-grow cloud hosting option.

Office 365

Microsoft just recently threw its proverbial hat into the cloud ring introducing Office 365. Small business owners opting for Office 365 have access to all of MS Office’s applications without the need to install the actual software on computers or servers.  Users are granted access to documents, contacts, e-mail, and calendars to devices connected to the Internet. Office 365 is available for a very affordable $6 per month.  It’s best suited for small businesses employing less than 25 employees and don’t have an IT employee on staff.  In addition to the 25 GB mailbox, users benefit from the ability to edit documents and spreadsheets simultaneously.  Additionally, users have access to PC-to-PC audio, instant messaging, and video calls.

Google Apps

Google also offers cloud storage services designed for small business owners. Google is a bit more established than Microsoft, offering cloud apps now for over a year. Google’s cloud services are very similar to Microsoft’s cloud plan.  Users  are granted customized e-mail addresses, calendar, mobile e-mail, IM access, Google Sites, Google Docs, spam filtering, 24/7 customer support and 99.9% guaranteed uptime.  Google’s cloud services are available for an affordable $5 per month.

Apple’s iCloud

Although not currently available as Apple is scheduled to unveil iCloud in Fall 2011.  Apple’s iCloud is best described as “an online hard drive on steroids”.   iCloud will offer users a vast array of features such as storing music, photos, apps, documents and other data online.  Additionally, it will deliver services wireless to laptops, iPad, or smartphones.  Similar to Microsoft and Google, iCloud will grant access to e-mails, calendars, and contacts as well as allowing multiple users to edit documents simultaneously.

Dropbox

Finally, a newcomer to the cloud industry, Dropbox is a cloud storage service provider to watch. Dropbox allows users to store important files on the provider’s secure website, easily accessible via Windows, Linux, Mac, iPad, Android/BlackBerry phones, and iPhone. Other attractive features include the fact the service is free for 2 GB of storage space, $9.99/month for 50 GB of storage, and $19.99/month for 100 GB of storage.  Dropbox also works without the need to be connected to the Internet.  Furthermore, users can opt to transfer part of a huge file or manually set bandwidth limits to prevent crashing servers. Like the previous providers, users can also work simultaneously on documents.

New Hosting and VPS Plans from Host Color

Web hosting provider, HostColor.com, recently announced the launch of its new hosting plans. The provider services thousands of U.S.-based and Canadian-based customers from their data center based out of South Bend, Indiana, 90 miles from Chicago. The company’s recent advertising campaign highlights the free account migration service to all products and services.

Migration Service

This new management service is only available by utilizing the coupon code FREEMIGRATION which applies to cPanel-based shared hosting accounts as well as OpenVZ and Virtuozzo virtual servers. Those without cPanel-based accounts can also receive migration assist at a low cost, one-time fee of $15 which will be applied directly to their accounts.

Host Color has always focused on providing new and current clients with the opportunity to select from a variety of options. Since there are many webmaster who are not satisfied with their current providers and do not have the time or technical expertise to correctly migrate their website to a reliable provider, Host Color is there to assist.

New Data Center

The company recently transitioned into a new data center and developed a fully-redundant network with a 100 percent uptime guarantee. The provider has also recently announced several money-saving opportunities to small business websites, dedicated servers and VPS hosting accounts.

.INFO Promotion

One promotion is on .INFO domain name extensions and .INFO domain-based websites. The price of these domain names has decreased to $6.97 per year. Current owners of .INFO websites have been awarded coupon code, INFOWEBSITE, which gives them a 22 percent discount when signing up for a shared hosting plan at the provider. This promotion is scheduled to end September 30^th, 2011.

SUMMERTIME Coupon Code

Those who do not require the migration of an account will be given savings on their monthly hosting bill. Host Color is providing 25 percent off their bill with the coupon code SUMMERTIME when signing up with any shared hosting package. This code is scheduled to expire at the end of August 2011.

Host Color Company Information

Founded in 2000, Host Color is a web hosting provider incorporated in Delaware. The company boasts a fully-redundant network with a 100 percent SLA uptime guarantee. Host Color hosts thousands of small business and personal clients in their data center based out of South Bend, Indiana.

With so much competition in the web hosting industry, Host Color is offering deals and specials that are refreshing to consumers. Perhaps the extensive advertising and great deals will entice customers to switch to Host Color.

The Buzz Surrounding FireHost

For web developers and business owners looking to launch a serious web presence, then FireHost delivers a variety of secure cloud hosting platforms that don’t disappoint clients. The cloud hosting provider provides robust and reliable services without compromising quality. FireHost excels at offering enterprise security, managed support, and scalability and individual control. In addition to providing secure cloud server hosting, FireHost also delivers PCI 2.0 Compliant Cloud Hosting, HIPAA Compliant Cloud Hosting and High Traffic Cloud Hosting.

Secure Cloud Hosting

FireHost leads the industry when it comes to offering users a robust and flexible cloud hosting infrastructure. The company goes the extra mile when providing enterprise security which includes web application protection, real-time blocked hacking reports with origin mapping, HIPPA and PCI complainant, and SSL VPN access for enhanced secured cloud server management.

FireHost’s Managed Support includes 24/7/365 customer support via phone, ticket or live chat, daily backup snapshots with 30-day retention, monitoring of servers and applications with immediate action when necessary, and an impressive SLA guarantee promising 100% uptime which includes network and infrastructure.

Furthermore, FireHost offers users independent scalable resources including memory (up to 84 GB), storage (up to 3 storage tiers available including SATA,SAS, and SSD), and processors (up to 8 processor cores). Detailed hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and annual server performance is also available.

PCI 2.0 Compliant Cloud Hosting

FireHost’s PCI 2.0 Compliant Cloud Hosting is an ideal solution for e-commerce ventures allowing business owners to spend more time focusing on expanding customer bases rather than exhausting valuable resources on administrative aspects of running a business.  Supported operating systems include 64-bit Windows Server 2008 and 64-bit Linux.  The PCI DSS Ready Plan offers users log management, vulnerability monitoring, antivirus protection, managed SSL Service, 1 Gps public& private network, two-factor authentication, and application & DB server isolation.

Managed security includes such features as redundant firewall protection, web application protection, and DoS/DDoS mitigation, monitored intrusion detection, managed 30 days backup snapshots,  proactive OS security patches and VPN/SSL server management.  The PCI DSS Ready Plan is designed for those serious about e-commerce growth starting at $845/month with no setup fees or contract required.

HIPPA Cloud Hosting

FireHost’s HIPPA Ready Plan is very similar to the PCI Compliant Ready Plan when considering features and monthly service fees of $845; however, it’s designed more so for healthcare organizations. Regardless of the organization size, FireHost strives to protect sensitive patient and healthcare provider information. In addition to offering the same features and cloud hosting services, the plan also supports 64-bit Windows Server 2008 and 64-bit Linux operating systems.

High Traffic Cloud Hosting

If there’s one area of expertise FireHost is known for is high traffic hosting solutions.  Business owners with large e-commerce sites can truly appreciate a hosting provider that insulates online ventures from being attacked, thus ultimately going offline for indefinite periods of time. The High Traffic Plan offers users an array of features including multiple load balanced servers, available terabytes of storage, redundant enterprise-grade power infrastructure, full root-level access, 24/7/365 monitoring and response, and up to 8 processors/server, and 84 GB of memory/server.  The managed security features include the same as in the other cloud hosting plans.  The High Traffic hosting plan is available for business owners of any size; however, it’s best suited for mid-to-large size online ventures starting at $655/month.

Conclusion

The buzz surrounding FireHost shouldn’t be ignored as it’s one of the leading scalable high-end cloud hosting providers that meets a wide range of needs. Whether looking for a reliable and robust cloud platform to support an e-commerce site, a healthcare organization in need of a secure hosting solution to protect patient information or dynamic hosting services to support heavy website traffic, FireHost accommodates individual hosting needs with a personal and professional quintessence.

Indexing Flash Websites by Search Engines

A web design and advertising company PizzazzWeb recently released their pioneering content management system for Flash-based websites. The system makes it easy for users to create, organize, manage and publish content for a Flash site. At the same time, the system makes the content readable by search engine indexing bots.

Statement from the CEO of PizzazzWeb

The CEO of PizzazzWeb recently stated that Flash offers an interactive experience allowing online companies to present their products and services in a unique fashion. This is specifically the point of search engine optimization and online branding. Most business websites contain a Flash banner that allows the visitor to interact directly with the website.

An Overview of the CMS

The new solution for the web provides the usual content to search bots while making it easy for webmasters to add new pages, menus, videos, pictures, search engine optimization and text. In the past, Flash websites have been hampered by search directors as a result of their inability to read the content.

No Technical Knowledge Required

PizzazzWeb CMS is revolutionary because the content provider does not need to be familiar with Flash, CSS or HTML to successfully create and publish information. Any reliable web host can handle this kind a website. Therefore, the provider can focus solely on SEO strategy and optimizing the content for search engine web bots to index the information and determine relevance.

Developing in Flash

Once a website is developed in Flash, the content management system handles all other aspects. However, for organizations to take advantage of the system, the site must be developed utilizing Flash components created by PizzazzWeb. This indicates that users cannot create their own content and install the system. The user must update content from media to text and then the content management system forms the changes and makes them readable to the crawling bot.

Using the Wizard

Luckily, there is a wizard that walks users through all aspects of the system. Also, all updates can be completed using the wizard. Other topics covered by the help is a walkthrough of the entire updating process, creating and deleting pages, changing a line of text and much more. Also, all functions can be accomplished utilizing menus and property panels.

This is an amazing new tool that is certain to assist many webmasters with creating incredible-looking websites that are also recognized by major search engines. In the near future, look for many new Flash-based websites, that are appealing and fully interactive, to appear in search engine results.

Top WordPress Hosting Sites Announced

BestWPTricks is a website that presents some of the top tricks and tips for using the WordPress software. Visitors can find information regarding the installation and configuration of WordPress, how to make money with your blog and how to utilize the thousands of WordPress plug-ins, themes and widgets. One of the most common questions asked by visitors is, “Who is the best WordPress web hosting provider?”

Best Three WordPress Hosts

As a result of this question, BestWPTricks has combined their knowledge of the system with information from providers. The top three WordPress hosts are iPage, BlueHost and GoDaddy. Each company is reputable in the hosting industry because they provide the best tools and features for business and personal websites. Also, each of the three offers affordable plans allowing anyone to put a website on the Internet.

Advantages of the Best Hosts

Using the best WordPress hosts gives users a variety of templates, tools, plug-ins and themes to easily create and maintain a professional website. Also, they provide excellent customer support for any inquiries regarding the blogging software.

iPage Web Hosting

iPage is the industry-leader in web hosting because they provide unlimited disk space, bandwidth, domain names, MySQL databases and more. The company is currently servicing over one million domains across six global locations with over 800 employees. WordPress hosting is one their best features.

The iPage hosting team realizes exactly what is required for the installation and configuration of a WordPress website which is why they have developed a step-by-step video tutorial to cover the basics.

BlueHost Web Hosting

BlueHost has been one of the top web hosting providers since 1996. BlueHost offers a one-click installation of WordPress in addition to blogging support to assist webmasters with the migration of their blog. Given the company’s experience, they have plenty of tools and resources to assist users with their website.

GoDaddy Web Hosting

GoDaddy offers almost every web hosting product imaginable, including WordPress. They also provide development services which will help webmasters create everything from a small, personal site to a large, corporate destination. Selecting to install a WordPress blog of develop a WordPress website is one of the many free hosting options available.

With the size and popularity of WordPress software, most major hosting providers offer an easy-install plug-in. However, the aforementioned three web hosts go above any beyond the norm by offering support, themes, plug-ins and tools to easily create a website with WordPress.

WebHostingGeeks Ratings

As of August 31, 2011 we have the following user ratings for the above web hosting companies:

• iPage — 4.05 out of 5, based on 409 reviews
• Bluehost — 3.03 out of 5, based on 382 reviews
• GoDaddy — 2.42 out of 5, based on 175 reviews

Our most recommended WordPress web hosting provider — WebHostingHub, with customer rating of 4.70 out 5, based on 79 reviews.

Improvements with Sitefinity 4.2 – Is it Now Read for Prime Time?

Telerik recently announced the release of Sitefinity 4.2 which is focused on content and commerce as opposed to customer experience. Modern content management systems have mastered the art of usability and user experience. Now, software designers are focusing on content within the system and ecommerce.

At the beginning of 2011, Telerik released the latest version of their content management system, Sitefinity 4.0 which was a major update for the product. It focused on user experience by adding several improvements such as a new SDK and integration with Windows Workflow Foundation (WWF). At the time, Telerik also confirmed that they were in the process of including ecommerce functionality.
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Data Centers Still Running Following East Coast Earthquake

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake began in Virginia and shook the entire east coast on Tuesday, August 23^rd around 2pm. Despite the shaking and aftershocks, most data centers have reported to be operational according to Twitter. Most web hosting providers and data center operators post status updates via the social networking service.

Data Center Preparedness

Buildings in Boston, Washington, New York City and Philadelphia were evacuated immediately following the earthquake. Also, a Virginia-based nuclear power plant initially lost power but continues to operate on reserves. This large quake (by east coast standards) has brought an interesting question to the table, how should data centers equip themselves to manage natural disasters?

HostGator Slow Speeds

Earthquakes can occur at any time in almost any region regardless of the location of a data center facility. Therefore it is critical for data centers to be prepared for every natural disaster imaginable. Following the quake, it was reported that the data center for HostGator experienced disruptions which resulted in slower-than-normal connection speeds.

Other Data Center Reports

Also, Hosting.com reported that it felt the earthquake at its location in D.C. but all equipment is online and functional. Additionally, another hosting provider, PEER 1, tweeted that the data center had not been affected by the earthquake. Furthermore, ServInt, Carpathia Hosting and ICANN tweeted that their services were functioning the same as prior to the quake and all employees are unharmed and accounted for.

In another tweet from Windows and Android phone development community XDA Developers, they stated that their systems could be slow for several hours as a result of the earthquake but several data centers would be shut down. However, the company did not specify which data centers went offline. Additionally, PAETEC, Contact Solutions, Razor Serves and Amazon Virginia also announced that they continue to be operational.

Data Centers Operational

Like all earthquakes this was an unexpected hit against the Eastern portion of the United States. Luckily no major damage or injuries were reported. The ground simply rumbled for several seconds and then stopped. Once evacuations were cleared, business continued in major cities and remained operational.

This natural disaster proves that data center across the east coast are ready for anything Mother Nature throws at them. With upcoming Hurricane Irene in the next several days, the data centers across the east coast will certainly have another chance to prove their durability and preparedness.

Additional Branding Woes in the Domain Name Game

Canadian companies were recently warned that the new domain name rules effective in 2012 could significantly harm their businesses. Therefore, those companies must defend their brands which will certainly cost a pretty penny. Due to the cost, the new naming rules will discourage most cybersquatters who can significantly harm a brand resulting in companies spending a large amount of money attract customers to different domains.

Deep Pockets Required

However, by catering to the new naming conventions, companies will be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars per application per domain name. Therefore, this could also become tremendously expensive.

ICANN’s Decision

In June 2011, ICANN decided that beginning in 2012, websites will no longer be limited only to the existing 22 endings like .com, .org and .net or the 250 country-specific domains like .ca and .fr. Instead, the organization will be permitting an unlimited number of extensions such as .books, .facebook, .coke and .car.

The agency claims that this decision will unleash the global human imagination, creating new opportunities for firms to greatly expand their online presence. Also, they stated that a demanding application mixed with high registration fees will filter out the abusers of the naming system.

Opposition to the Change

However, since that time, the advertising segment has opposed the move. In the United States, the Association of National Advertisers and the Interactive Advertising Bureau warned the amount of damage this change can cause on brand owners. United States advocacy groups have cooled down but the battle has shifted to Canadian companies. Reports state that only those firms with deep pockets will be able to defend their brands, take legal action and monitor new registrations.

Focusing on Generic Domain Names

While the cost and application are supposed to deter abuses, many individuals are positioning themselves to scoop up generic domain names like .beer and .chocolate. This could result in significant financial and legal battles not to mention major headaches for companies in those industries. Canadian companies could be hit hard since most are not large enough to take legal action and find protection.

Every day a new report is issued describing how unsatisfied entire industries are with the new naming conventions. Although the point of the change in extensions is a good idea, there are too many loose ends that could cause major problems for many online companies. This in turn could affect the global economy considerably.

New Cloud Security Platform

StillSecure is a leading security service provider that recently announced the launch of its newest security software suite that manages the security offerings of multiple tenants at once. This release comes only a few short weeks following the launch of its enhanced version of its Network Access Control solution titled, Safe Access.

Recent Release of the Multi-Tenant Solution

With the new multi-tenant solution, all Still Secure managed services are operational and available. The service is specifically designed to increase acceptance from hosting, cloud, telecommunication providers and data centers. To include the new option, StillSecure had to expand its virtual and physical deployment methods.

Developing New Strategies

In the software the high availability hardware appliance permits providers to develop an economies of scale strategy as a result of the ability to host many customers on a single platform. The StillSecure services included in the multi-tenant platform are intrusion detection/prevention, WAF, VPN, managed firewall and many other options.

Advantages

The best aspect of the new software is that all client’s managed security service can be customized to accommodate their needs. Additionally, customer data is always physically separate from other tenants to ensure security and confidentiality.

Overall this solution results in a more cost-effective method of deploying security to its customers, especially those who operate with cloud computing. Also, the software permits service provides to establish customers without the typically lengthy hardware procurement.

Statement from the CTO

The Chief Technology Officer at StillSecure recently stated that the company always meets the requirements of their customers by expanding their ability to provide managed security services. The company further recognizes that different clients have different requirements and believe that through the multi-tenant deployment model, the company can address an increasingly important and growing marketplace.

Furthermore, StillSecure believes that the option to adopt the new software will be an excellent decision for many web hosting and cloud hosting providers as price point and customer density are tremendously critical. Security Analysts and Engineers at StillSecure fully support the multi-tenant solution. These employees work in the company’s Security Operations Centers and manage the networks around the clock.

This new multi-tenant security service is another excellent step for improving efficiency, decreasing costs and increasing the robustness of cloud-based computing. With each little step toward full protection, customers contemplating the switch to cloud computing will feel much more at ease and eventually change plans to a cloud hosting package.

Weebly’s New Designer Platform

Weebly is an online startup business that delivers website building tools which are intuitive and not difficult to learn. The company recently expanded their offerings with a new designer platform to assist with web designers in improving efficiency by creating sites quicker while managing additional clients and maintaining their own branding. The Weebly Designer Platform is an integrated content management system that includes website design, client management and hosting.

Ease of Use

Therefore, website owners with little web design experience will be able to login to the platform and begin building websites immediately. The new software provides a variety of advantages over using WordPress such as the branding of the content management system utilizing company logos, colors and sounds. The system also does not require separate hosting so clients will be able to spend their money on an excellent designer.

The Basic Monthly Hosting Plan

The basic hosting plan for the new platform begins at $7.95 per month and includes 15 web pages, unlimited bandwidth and 500 Mb of storage space. Positive reviews have spread across the Internet stating that the system is much more intuitive than WordPress, Joomla, or even Drupal. Also, clients can login and make major changes without the need for extensive technical knowledge.

Website Builder Features

The website builder has a variety of features to assist new users with creating and launching a website. Included in the software are over 100 professional themes for website customization, easy blogging, audio and video players, a form builder, detailed traffic statistics, photo galleries, free and paid domain hosting and no forced advertising.

Weebly Company Information

Based out of San Francisco, California, Weebly was founded in 2006 as an effort to assist individuals with putting their information onto the Internet quickly and easily. The company currently helps over 7 million website owners to create personal sites and establish web presences for artistic portfolios, businesses, weddings, churches, classrooms and much more.

Shortly after its founding, Weebly joined a seed funding program entitled, “Y Combinator” which allowed the team to work full-time and significantly improve the software. That same year, the company was ranked as one of the 50 Best Websites of 2007 by TIME.

Weebly looks as if it is going to give WordPress and Drupal a run for their money with easy-to-use tools and web hosting all in one place. Weebly is at the forefront of innovation and advanced technology with their new, yet simple content management system software.

What Small Business Owners Should Know About Cloud Hosting

Although there continues to be a lot of buzz surrounding the benefits of cloud hosting, Amazon’s recent cloud outage rattled nerves and left many business owners that depend on cloud hosting platforms to support online ventures very apprehensive.  With popular sites such as Reddit, Quora and HootSuite being knocked offline during the cloud outage, Amazon definitely suffered the consequences of the unpredictable outage, however was able to recover.  It’s vital for businesses depending on cloud hosting services such as those offered by Amazon to take a pragmatic stance and understand the cons of cloud hosting that are intertwined with the pros.

Attentiveness to Cloud Hosting

While many in the web hosting industry swear that cloud hosting is the next best thing since sliced bread, the simple truth is that the hosting environment isn’t fail proof.  Although cloud hosting tends to be more reliable and offer impeccable redundancy rates, business owners need to take into consideration that it’s not an immaculate hosting solution.

In the case of Amazon’s cloud outage, business owners utilizing the cloud services failed to take advantage of the provider’s geographic redundancy, which otherwise would have prevented valuable downtime as a direct result from Amazon’s outage.   It’s essential for business owners opting for cloud services to always remain attentive to new and existing features offered by the provider as well as monitoring network uptime to prepare contingency plans if the server(s) goes down.

 Ensuring Compliance

Cloud hosting providers are not exempt from adhering to specific compliance requirements.  This is especially true for those businesses that handle sensitive data such as credit card information, medical records, or financial transactions.  Providers are entirely responsible for the unambiguous regulations that govern specific data.  For example, a cloud provider hosting confidential software should have the appropriate certification verifying their respective systems meet the necessary requirements.  Ensuring compliance isn’t option; it’s mandatory.

Criteria Checklist

It’s particularly important for small business owners to create a checklist of specific criteria that their cloud hosting provider should meet.  Such criteria should be based on server reliability, security, and compliance.  Also, it’s imperative to have a contingency plan devised in the event of an unforeseeable outage.  Developing a backup plan is vital for those sites that depend on online sales as a source of income.  For business owners considering moving physical infrastructure to a cloud platform, it’s recommended to opt for a provider with more than one data center in the case of natural disaster as well as human error.

Negotiating Service Agreements

As tantalizing as it may sound, cloud providers can’t guarantee that their service won’t go down at any given time.  Usually such alluring appeals are found nestled deep within the service agreement detailing the provider’s level of service.  Many business owners are duped into signing the agreement under the terms of minimal penalties applicable for downtime on behalf of the provider.  This means a server could be down for an indefinite amount of time with no reimbursement of lost sales; therefore, it’s essential to negotiate the terms of the agreement to allow for credit or free service if the provider fails to deliver hosting services for an extended amount of time.  Remember to get it in writing; otherwise it’s a lost cause.

Predicted Market Saturation

As with the infinite number of shared hosting providers saturating the market and devouring competition, expect the same growth forecast among cloud providers.  With the growing number of cloud providers, choosing one that best accommodates hosting needs is becoming more difficult with all of the available choices.

Small business owners should do their homework before selecting a cloud provider to secure a host that meets, or exceeds, all of the criteria on their checklists to ensure the best cloud services to meet a diverse array of needs.