PHP 5.3.24 is primarily a bug fix release and we do not anticipate any compatibility issues for customers.  During the upgrade process server loads may spike but no service outages or downtime is expected.

More information on PHP 5.3.24 can be found at: http://php.net/archive/2013.php#id2013-04-11-2

Varial’s Apollo server was targeted by this attack yesterday morning which caused high server loads and performance degradation throughout most of the day.  The attack ceased in the evening as we were investigating the problem but resumed again early this morning.  Soon after our Luna server began to be targeted by this attack as well.

Upon discovering the source of this problem we have taken action to mitigate this attack by temporarily disabling WordPress logins to ensure the security of our client’s accounts and to maintain the performance and reliability of our servers.

If you require access to your WordPress administrative area today, please contact our Support department for more details.

This attack is not limited to Varial and is affecting web hosts worldwide.  This post will be updated with more information when available.

Update #1: We have restored access to WordPress logins this morning in favour of an alternate mitigation tactic. The attack has currently ceased but logins may need to be disabled again if the attack returns in a different form.

Update #2: In light of this attack we recommend that all WordPress users change their admin password to a complex value. We also suggest installing a plugin that limits login attempts such as: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/limit-login-attempts/

Services may be unavailable for extended periods as we investigate and perform maintenance to resolve this issue.

We will continue to monitor the reliability of this server and will post updates in this article as maintenance begins.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

Update #1: At roughly 8pm CST we were able to dramatically reduce the server load on Apollo bringing it back to normal ranges. We will continue with our planned maintenance and investigation at 10pm to ensure the continued performance and reliability of the server.

Update #2: Maintenance was completed at 11:30pm without any additional service interruption or performance degradation. Server load has remained consistently low since the issue was resolved earlier tonight. We will continue to closely monitor the server to ensure peak performance and reliability and would like to thank all of our customers hosted on this server for their patience today.

Update #3: Performance issues experienced were found to be the result of an on-going, highly-distrubted brute force attack against global WordPress installations.  Please see http://blog.varialtechnologies.com/2013/04/12/brute-force-attack-affecting-global-wordpress-installations/ for more information.

For customers residing in British Columbia, the 12% HST rate will be replaced by a 5% GST tax rate.
For customers residing in Prince Edward Island, the 5% GST rate will be replaced by a 14% HST tax rate.

Changes will be applied to invoices generated on or after April 1, 2013.

If you encounter any new errors on your website, your PHP code may not be compatible with PHP 5.3.  You may rectify this by changing your PHP version back to 5.2 or by updating your PHP code to be PHP 5.3 compliant.

If you wish to change back to PHP 5.2 you may do so by logging into your cPanel and clicking on the “Select PHP Version” icon under the Software/Services heading. Next, select PHP 5.2 and click on the “Set as current” button.  Finally, click the “Use Defaults” button to select our recommended PHP modules and then hit “Save”.

Since PHP 5.2 has been discontinued, we strongly recommend that you update your PHP code to be 5.3 complaint.  We suggest that you start by upgrading all 3rd party applications (including all addons/plugins) installed into your account to their latest available versions.  If you have custom PHP code, more information on the changes between PHP 5.2 and 5.3 can be found at http://www.php.net/migration53.

If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact our Support department.

While PHP 5.3 has been stable and available for some time now, we have delayed its upgrade due to many incompatibilities introduced between the versions. Now that most popular web applications have been updated to address changes introduced in PHP 5.3 we feel that it is now safe to upgrade all servers to this new version.

Rather than forcing all clients to use PHP 5.3, we have deployed a tool called PHP Selector which is available in your cPanel which allows customers to choose between using PHP 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 which we have been testing in public beta since November.

If you have concerns about your website being compatible with PHP 5.3, you can test it now by logging into your cPanel, clicking on the “Select PHP Version” icon, and changing your PHP version to 5.3. If you discover any issues, simply select PHP 5.2 from the list to remain at this version even after our global upgrade on April 1st. If you are adventurous you can even upgrade to PHP 5.4 to be at the cutting edge of PHP development!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our Support department for assistance!

Happy New Year! May 2013 bring you happiness and prosperity!

2012 was a great year for our company and we’d like to thank you for your continued support and share with you some of our highlights from the past year:

- Like each year before it, 2012 was our most successful year that saw a significant increase in sales and revenue. Our continued growth led us to expand into a larger office in The Two Twenty that we happily now call home.

- In March our music blog Ominocity celebrated it’s first anniversary with a website redesign and by hosting an indie music festival called OMFEST. The event drew near capacity crowds and was a heck of a time! We didn’t stop there, Ominocity also hosted a patio party to coincide with the MoSo music festival and tech conference, booked 16 acts to perform outside of our office during Park(ing) Day, sponsored two CFCR FM-Phasis concerts and even hosted a pub crawl. Ominocity concluded its year by being voted as the “Best Website/Blog” in Planet S Magazine’s “Best of Saskatoon” reader’s poll.

- Our hosting company also saw some love when it was selected as a “Top Pick Web Host” by WebHostingSearch.com for providing the best web hosting services in Canada. We had quite a busy month of October when we acquired the hosting customers of CJamesRun and Boxy Web Solutions. We also introduced a major change to our hosting infrastructure with the launch of PHP Selector which is now in public beta and allows customers to choose between using PHP 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4.

- We got a lot of practice public speaking when we spoke at a WordPress Saskatoon Meetup, a Saskatchewan Professional Marketing Association event, and at BarCamp Saskatoon. We also gave back to our community by being a repeat sponsor of the Halifax Pop Explosion music festival and tech conference and BarCamp Saskatoon.

2012 was a huge year but we have many exciting things planned for 2013! A big hug and thank you for all your support!

No need to wake up at ungodly hours of the morning to queue in line for discounted electronics or fight off a mother of 12 for the last “Tickle Me Elmo” doll, get your Black Friday deals from the safety and comfort of your home with the return of Varial’s 50% off web hosting deal.

Order a web hosting plan using the coupon code “BLACKFRIDAY” and get 50% OFF your hosting fee on your first invoice.  This promotion applies to all available billing cycles so if you decide to pay monthly, you will get 50% off your first month, however if you decide on an annual, biennual, or triennual billing cycle, you can get up to 50% off your first 3 years of service!

CLICK HERE TO ORDER NOW!

* Offer is valid from Friday, November 23rd to Monday, November 26th, 2012 and applies to new orders only.

We’ve delayed upgrading our native installation of PHP from 5.2 in order to provide a solution that will work for all customers.  Users with older, legacy scripts can stick to PHP 5.2 while those wanting to take advantage of newer technologies can change to PHP 5.3 or 5.4 using our new PHP Selector feature which has now been released in public beta.

Please note that PHP Selector is not feature complete and limited support is available for it at this time.  All users are configured to use our native installation of PHP (5.2) unless they manually change to PHP 5.3 or 5.4 from their cPanels.  At this time PHP Selector is recommended only for advanced users.  Once PHP Selector has been released as a stable product we will provide full support and documentation on this highly requested feature.

Once stable, we intend to upgrade our native installation of PHP to 5.3 across all servers and make PHP 5.2 and 5.4 optional choices available through PHP Selector.  Considerable notice will be provided to customers before making this change.

Click on ‘Select PHP Version’ in your cPanel to change between PHP 5.2, 5.3 and 5.4!

Select your desired PHP version and enable any additional PHP modules you may require.