Considerations for Your Website as Your Business Grows

It is the dream of most business owners and entrepreneurs that their business will grow over time and become a success. In the growth process, your business and web hosting needs may change. These changes can be a challenge to manage. Often expanding operations or venturing into new avenues of business is a matter of taking advantage of opportunities. Sometimes you can plan carefully and structure the timing; however, more often business find themselves thrown headlong into a situation where they suddenly have a rush of business and have to figure out a way of handling it. Planning the structure of your website and hosting package can help you cope with the changes as they happen.

Start with the Basics

As a start-up business, one of your priorities is keeping efficiency up and costs low. Your best option is to select a shared hosting package with a reputable service provider. Do an online search for different hosting providers. Read the customer reviews and find out what type of products they have to offer. It is not recommended that you select a free hosting package. Often these have limited customer service and support and they don't allow you upgrade when needed. A good hosting provider should have entry-level packages as well as more advanced packages that you can migrate to when needed.

Key Things to Look for in a Hosting Package

One of the most important aspects of a hosting package is the customer support that is offered. A quick phone call to the support desk will quickly show how knowledgeable the support staff are. They should be able to provide you with technical information and advice regarding your web hosting package. You should then consider upgrade options. How easy is it for you to migrate from a basic starter package to a more advanced hosting option? Are there penalties involved? Are there different hosting requirements that you will need to incorporate into the design of your website? Do you have to use specific scripts? The last consideration is website security. Even on a basic hosting package, you will want to know that a level of security is maintained on the server.

When Do You Consider Upgrading?

One of the factors that determines what type of hosting package you choose is the amount of data or bandwidth that you require. Starting out, your website will probably be quite small. Unless you are going straight into e-commerce, it will probably be just a corporate or marketing-type website that profiles your company. As your business grows, you may want to add features such as a blog, forum, chat facility or various article posts. These features usually add quite significantly to the data requirements of your website. You may then need to upgrade to a larger package that can accommodate these features. If you decide to launch a full scale e-commerce site, you will probably have specific hosting requirements. Many web hosting providers have detailed e-commerce hosting packages available for businesses. If your business gets to the size where you want to have a dedicated server then you want to be with a hosting provider that can facilitate the transition without there being too much disruption to the uptime of your website.  You may consider a dedicated server when you have specific hosting requirements. When you want greater control over your website and server or want to use specific scripts, a dedicated server is a good choice. You may also decide that you want improved security for your website that you can only get from a dedicated server. You can then upgrade your hosting package as needed.

Must Have Features for All Levels of Hosting

A website is only effective if it can be accessed by customers. This means that it needs to enjoy a 99 percent uptime on the server. Generally, a dedicated server will be more stable as it only hosts one client; however, many shared hosting providers pride themselves on quality site maintenance ensuring maximum server uptime. Security is another important consideration. Once again, a dedicated server is more secure than a shared server and this is one of the reasons that businesses often choose to upgrade. Even at a basic level though, your hosting provider should have anti-virus software in place on the website to protect the websites that it hosts. Security is one of the most important aspects of website hosting. A third feature is adequate customer support.  If there is a problem with your website, you want to be able to find a solution quickly and easily.
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OzeVision Web Hosting Offers 1-Click Installation For WordPress WordPress is one of the most popular advanced blogging softwares in the world and OzeVision Web Hosting is offering free 1-click installation and hosting for WordPress upon purchase of a regular web hosting account.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA, January 03, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- WordPress is one of the most popular advanced blogging softwares in the world and OzeVision Web Hosting is offering free 1-click installation and hosting for WordPress through its specialised subsidiary WebHostingForWP.com upon purchase of a regular web hosting account. Unlike many other WordPress hosting companies that require you to first buy a hosting account and then go to your Hosting Control Panel to install WordPress, OzeVision Web Hosting allows you to choose WordPress for fully automated installation while purchasing web hosting for WordPress. As a result, your WordPress is installed fully automated with default settings as soon as you complete purchase of your hosting account and your website goes live instantly! Of course, if you don't want that then you can skip installation at this point and install WordPress later on from your Hosting Control Panel using the old fashion way but even then it takes only a couple of clicks.

"You can install WordPress in any folder on your website or use it as the actual website since it is a unique and sophisticated publishing platform. Its greatest advantage is that it is the result of the feedback and the creative work of a huge community of users, you can say that it has been developed for the users by the users" says Khalid M. Syed, Director of OzeVision Web Hosting.

WordPress is a splendid blogging software that is rich in useful features. You will be able to utilize a variety of user-friendly turn-key templates provided free with your account. The ease with which the admin panel allows you to create categories, change the appearance, etc. as well as install different plugins is impressive. WordPress also allows multi-file uploading, cookie encryption and salted passwords. It provides built-in galleries, a customizable dashboard and a media library.

The WYSWYG (what you see is what you get) text editor is really handy and some of the plug-in upgrades allow you to publish photos all by yourself, and even embed YouTube videos. You have the ability to add tags for each post allowing the visitors to find similar posts. WordPress allows you to create new categories even while you are posting and also to add one and the same post to multiple categories at the same time.

Your best wordpress hosting experience awaits you at OzeVision Web Hosting!

OzeVision Web Hosting provides web hosting and domain registration. For any enquiries please visit http://www.OzeVisionWebhosting.com and use the "Contact Us" form. (WordPress is a registered trademark of Automattic Inc. OzeVisionWebHosting.com or WebHostingForWP.com are not affiliated with or sponsored by Automattic or WordPress).

Is SPAM Dead?

Commtouch recently released an interesting study denoting a 30% decline in SPAM activity in Q4.  With the improvements (and proliferation) of consumer SPAM detection tools, as well as the blacklisting of IP space by organizations like  Spamhaus and SpamCop, I believe that SPAM may be starting a much-welcomed death spiral.  Don’t get me wrong SPAM will always be around, but I think it will be much less prolific in the future.  SPAM has been a problem for the web hosting industry since the beginning, in recent years the growth of SPAM has reached epidemic status.  While SPAM is inconvenient for consumers, it’s expensive for web hosting companies and IT departments.  According to Ferris Research the worldwide cost of SPAM was $130B in 2009 (the bulk of this number is lost productivity).  Roughly 15% of these costs are the IT costs associated with fighting SPAM.  That’s $19.5 billion dollars spent annually by hosting companies and IT departments to combat SPAM.  Less SPAM is a welcomed and financially positive trend for the web hosting industry. 
The real question is why is SPAM dying now?  I believe the “death” of SPAM can be attributed to three main factors.  First IPv4 space is more valuable than ever, the few rogue hosting companies that specialize in SPAM have been cut off from getting additional inventory and the inventory they have is effectively sullied by its past activity.  Second, increased regulatory pressure and criminal prosecution have taken some of the large players out of the industry.  Finally, the vast majority of spammers are doing this to make a profit; increasingly these profits are no longer easily achieved.  Think about it… with today’s technology we no longer see SPAM in our inbox, the few that do get through are almost completely ineffective, where’s the profit in that?  I believe spammers are largely moving to other more profitable nefarious activities, which will present a new set of challenges for the web hosting industry.

Happy New Year!!!

Honda loses 5 million Customer Records

You’d think with the recent spate of DDoS attacks, site bugs and information leaks, companies would be more inclined to keep a watchful eye on their client’s personal data. However, once again, a big name has found itself the victim of data theft.

Car manufacturer Honda announced this week that they’ve had the data of over 2 million customers stolen from their servers. The info included e-mail addresses, login names and vehicle identification numbers and despite the fact another 3 million e-mail addresses of Acura car owners was also taken, Honda is assuring its customers that no financial information was taken.

Although Honda cannot say who is behind the theft, it has been suggested that it could be connected to the recent break of Silverpop Systems, the car companies’ e-mail marketing firm.

The Silverpop breach is thought to have affected over 100 companies, including McDonalds, America’s biggest drugstore chain Walgreens, online art community deviantART.com, Salesforce.com, IBM''s Coremetrics division or Adobe''s Omniture business unit. Of those companies that have commented on the situation, all have stated that the data loss has not come from their own servers and has in fact been a result of an error on Silverpop’s part.

Whether Honda is connected to the breach is still unsure, although for now they have issued a warning to all of their customers urging them to "be cautious of unsolicited emails requesting personal information. Often, these communications can look official. Be cautious of unsolicited emails requesting personal information."

IPad 2 Rumours Revealed!

With the anticipated release of the IPad 2 just a couple of months away, the buzz surrounding the potential features of the device is hotting up.

A couple of weeks ago, we reported that the rumoured features of the second g generation IPad were a Face Time camera, gyroscope, a thinner form, a better display and a USB connector. Now, however, the list has become a great deal longer so we’ve had a look at the most interesting rumours.

Wide-Range Speakers

Japanese blog Mac Otakara were among the first to report that the new IPad would have wider speakers for a longer range of sound projection. We expect this (supposed) improvement has come as a result of the poor sounds on the IPad which has 2 internal speakers that only push out mono sound.

Flatter

There have also been rumours that the new IPad will be around 3mm thinner than the 1st generation, with a flat back. To us, this sounds just like a giant Iphone 4 - which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing, if the IPad hadn’t already been slated for just being a giant Iphone, without actually being a phone. It comes as no surprise given the success of the Iphone 4’s slender shape. Let’s just hope you’ll be able to hold the IPad 2 in your left hand without losing signal…

Smaller

Along with the width rumours comes the size rumours. Not only has it been reported that there could be a 7” IPad 2 built more for of an ebook purpose, it has also been suggested that Apple could be introducing a 5.6”, for which reasons we’re not quite sure… other than making a giant Iphone…

USB & SD Card slots

One of the first rumours to emerge about the IPad 2 was that it would have not one, but two USB ports but, once again, we’re not quite sure why. The IPad, and in fact tablet computers in general, were developed to be wireless. The IPad specifically is designed to be “on hand” and on the go, it prints wirelessly, you can play music through separate speakers wirelessly, email, internet, share photos; everything you do on a computer, you can do on the IPad wirelessly. It seems like a bit of a step back to put two USB ports in, especially if Apple are making the device slimmer. Why do you need a USB if you’ve already made a device that can do everything? We don’t see this happening.
The SD card is still very much in the rumour stage. The only reason this has come to light is because supposed IPad 2 cases were found online that suggest an SD card sized space. However, most speculation suggests this additional slot in the case is for the supposed bigger speakers.

Non-Smudge Screen & Gyroscope

There are rumours that as well as having a non-smudge screen, the IPad 2 will feature a three-axis gyroscope like the IPhone 4. Although a gyroscope wasn’t featured in the original IPad its thought that the ever growing presence of Apps based around tilting and changing orientations has encouraged Apple to invest in the technology.

Front & Back Facing Camera

With the introduction of Apples video calling service FaceTime and with software like Skype attracting millions of users, it is a strong possibility that Apple have introduced a front facing camera on the new IPad. The supposed IPad 2 cases that have been found online also have a suspicious front camera sized slot which has thrown a lot of weight behind the rumours. Its in no way surprising Apple have decided to do this, FaceTime alone is reason enough, and since Apple have announced the IPad 2 will follow more in the footsteps of the Macbook, they’ve essentially just added on a webcam.

3 Versions?

This rumour appeared after AllThingsDigital analyst Brian Blair said that both GSM and CDMA networks would be supported by the IPad 2, enabling it to get online anywhere in the world. This encouraged the rumour that on top of the separate Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi 3G IPad 2’s, there will also be a third that will support Wi-Fi and CDMA. Theres no indication how significantly the additional CDMA technology will affect the price of a new IPad, however, its more than likely that its happening anyway.

Dual Core Processor &More Memory

With the Iphone 4 (512mb) already having twice the memory of the 1st generation IPad (256mb) its no surprise that this has been circulating as a strong possibility.

However, the Dual Core Processor rumour is still very much a shaky one. It began after Ashok Kumar, an analyst at Rodman & Renshaw, suggested that “A key component upgrade across [the Iphone and IPad devices] will be a dual-core processor featuring a pair of 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 cores." Apple have neither confirmed nor denied the use of a dual core processor, however, the technology is already present in the LG Optimus 2X Android smart phone and we certainly cant see Apple being out done by Android.

Baring in mind that all of these points are rumours and Apple haven’t confirmed them or released an official spec, which makes a 2011 1st quarter release seem quite unlikely. Its unclear how all of these changes will affect the price of the IPad, although if they can shift it at anywhere near the same price and speed the original IPad is selling at, we’ll definitely be seeing an IPad 3 in 2012.

At It Again - SoftLayer trying to shut down Wikileaks Mirrors

We reported last week that, after some significant pressure from upstream provider SoftLayer.com, hosting provider SiteGround.com had suspended the account of a user who was mirroring some of the 250,000 leaked CableGate documents.
 This week it was announced that SiteGround had suspended at least another two sites for the same reasons. Mark McCoy, one user whose mirror was cut off, posted the messages he received from SiteGround and SoftLayer in which he was told his account would be suspended in order to “prevent any further issues caused by the illegal activity”.

The post also provides the message that SoftLayer had sent to SiteGround to instigate the removal of McCoy’s mirror, claiming it was a TOS (terms of service)/AUP (acceptable use policy) violation and that SoftLayer “require a resolution to this matter within 4 hours”.

Despite McCoy arguing that his site contained no virus or malware and was therefore in no way violating any TOS or AUP, SiteGround told him that as the request came from their data centre (SoftLayer) they were “forced to comply” otherwise they risked having the entire server unplugged.

It can only be assumed that, as with the first mirror suspension, SoftLayer have taken action in order to prevent an attack on McCoy’s site, thus keeping their own servers safe from threat. Whether it is their place or not, is yet to be determined. Mark McCoy is resolute that the site does not violate any terms and condition and has stated that if his site is suspended again (he has reposted the material) he will take the case to a civil court for breach of contract.