Say you’ve got an idea for a killer Facebook app. You need to get it out before someone beats you to it. But since you’re gambling your company on it, you’d be well served to consider your options before making a commitment. Among your first options involves creating a development environment. This article will discuss some of the factors around deciding whether to set up your Facebook SDK on a local machine or a VPS.

First, definitions: VPS means Virtual Private Server, while SDK means Software Development Kit. SDK represents a collection of development tools and related resources that publishers of existing applications, like Facebook, make available for use in creating compatible apps.

Virtual Private Server refers to a hosted machine equipped to run server software. Companies have been accessing hosted servers for years; however advancements in virtualization improve the sharing of hosted servers. In this case, each business pays monthly for access to a fully functional and independent partition of a larger machine. Using both resident and shared resources you can load whatever applications you want on the Developer VPS. In practice the end user experience on a VPS remains indistinguishable from that of accessing either a local or hosted dedicated server.

Using your local machine for development has obvious advantages: your company retains complete control over your project. Of course this may also be the major disadvantage, too. Hosting companies invest real dollars to guarantee the security, uptime and accessibility of their servers. Opting for a hosted server enables your business to enjoy the benefits of those investments in bandwidth, security and infrastructure without supporting the expense alone. This drastically reduces the cost of your development project, without exposing your business to greater risk. Further virtualization further reduces your costs by sharing the expense with other users.

You may also want to consider the impact of supporting a development environment on your local machine. Application development makes substantial demands on the resources of the local machine. You may see performance degradation on your local machine as a result of supporting development in addition to your other tasks. Finally building a Developer VPS on a hosted server will enable you to provide distributed access far more easily than on a local machine.

Other resources you may need in your Facebook SDK VPS include the various Facebook SDKs. For example you may intend your app to run under Windows, but you may want to enable it for the iOS or Linux at the same time. You will also want the Visual Studio or some similar development package. You’ll need to have IIS locally, as well as JavaScript to facilitate the creation of the web-based elements of your application. Facebook authentication also calls for ASP.net calls as well, so you’ll need that, too.

In short you’ll need to know exactly where your project will head, so you can anticipate your needs appropriately. That way you can avoid choosing your Facebook SDK VPS poorly.

No related posts.

When you are first getting started with VPS hosting, the cPanel/WHM area can be a bit overwhelming. However, with time and patience, the learning curve will seem less daunting. Some of the first steps that you will need to consider when setting up your cPanel VPS are how to configure client websites, email accounts and additional services.

Typically when you first purchase VPS hosting, you will have access to an area labeled WebHost Manager, which is also known as WHM. This area is the administration area where you will be able to create new accounts for your customers.

To set up a new hosting account for your customer, follow these simple steps:

In the left column of the WHM menu, look for “Create a New Account” and click on that link.

On the “Create a New Account” screen, you will be prompted to enter several pieces of information. The first box is the domain name that the customer has selected to use for his hosting account. The next box is for the customer’s username. A default value will be automatically filled in that is typically the first eight letters of the domain name. This can be left as is, or overwritten with a desired username. The password field will be next. You’ll notice that actually two password fields exist. The same information must be present in both fields. The password should be very strong to deter hackers. If you just cannot think of a strong password, a randomized generator is provided for you. In the email field, insert the customer’s email address. The cPanel/WHM system will email the account information to your customer.

After the “Domain Information” section, the next section is where you will select the options and configurations for your customer. Some cPanel VPS hosting administrators will create pre-configured packages to offer to their customers. If you have done this, you can simply select a package at this point. Otherwise proceed to choosing the options for the customer including how much disk space and bandwidth you will allow them.

There are a few more settings to choose in the “Settings” area, including whether your client will have a dedicated IP address, shell access and other additional features. Generally, granting shell access to users is not recommended since this can pose a security risk.

The “Reseller Settings” section simply indicates whether or not the client will be able to then create additional accounts. By setting a customer as a reseller, they will also have access to their own WHM area, although it will be limited in function. As with the dedicated IP address, most hosts will charge an additional charge to allow a customer to have a reseller account.

Finally near the end of the page is an area for “DNS Settings”. The best selection for this is to choose “Overwrite any existing DNS zones”. DNS zones can be quite confusing at times, and this is a safe choice in most situations.

The final area to make a selection is the “Mail Routing Settings” area. Typically letting the server automatically detect configuration is the best choice for this option.

At last, click the “Create” button and the server will now configure the customer’s hosting account and email the account information to them. Setting up a hosting account within your cPanel VPS is not really that difficult, as you can see.

Related posts:

1. Making Money Online With Reseller VPS
2. What is FTP VPS?
3. iPhone 3G and myhosting.com Email Integration Options incl. Free Exchange Account

Are you looking for some inside, up to date, must have information about web servers for your VPS hosting? Knowing what is available before you make your final decision about which server you choose for your business website can give you a real advantage. Here is a comprehensive overview and report about VPS hosting and Web servers.

A VPS Web server acts as a stand-alone server, complete with its own users, IP addresses, memory, root access, and configuration files. The size of these virtual servers can be adjusted much more easily than physical servers, making them a versatile asset for any company or group using them. Today, there are three top Web servers for VPS hosting that are leading the way for others.

Apache

Apache happens to be one of the most powerful development platforms for Linux VPS, along with its community project Tomcat. Linux continues to be one of the most popular development OS because of the numerous free and open source (FOSS) options available for users. Along with Apache, a Linux virtual private server can become a powerful tool for businesses and groups. The greatest benefit of Apache is that it allows users to manipulate certain plug-ins and functions without affecting the local server. Apache is meant to run on a Java VPS and provides users with a clean environment with which to work on. It also allows users to both test and break any Java applications, all while not affecting the local server. Numerous people can work on testing within an Apache server and even if it crashes, it does not affect anyone else on the VPS. Additionally, users can commence testing from any computer, making an Apache VPS mobile and easily accessible.

IIS7 & IIS7.5

This is a VPS Web server that is included with Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2. One of the advantages of the IIS7/7.5 over Apache is that it works with all Microsoft operating systems while Apache may have problems with some Microsoft OS configurations. One of the new changes that Windows made to the IIS7.5 is the addition of the Best Practice Analyzer feature. You can run this feature with the virtual private server to get the best practices for security and performance. This can mean a fast, more improved website and overall functionality of any programming being done using the VPS system. Other added features in addition to the security and diagnostic testing include request filtering to block harmful requests and administrative tools and tasks.

nginx

This VPS option is becoming increasingly popular for its versatility and portability. Ngnix works virtually across all OS and platforms, making it one of the most adaptable of the VPS options. This virtual private server uses a scalable architecture that allows users to expand as necessary. Although it uses a small memory, it is extremely predictable. It can scale from small VPS to larger sizes as needed and users can depend on its high performance to deliver every time. Like Apache and IIS7/7.5, it too comes loaded with features.

No related posts.

The invention of the computer brought much good and innovation; however, there are always those that like to go against the grain – cue the computer hacker! Below is a list of some of the most notorious computer hacks and hackers in history; men that have used the power of the computer to wreak havoc in one way or another.

#1
THE HACKER: Onel de Guzman
THE HACK: The ILOVEYOU computer worm distributed through e-mail
THE RESULT: More than 50 million reported infections across the world with billions of dollars in damage and overwritten files.

On May 4, 2000 much of the world woke to an e-mail in their inbox with the subject line “ILOVEYOU: A Love Letter for You.” What looked innocent enough was actually an extremely malicious computer worm, created by Onel de Guzman, that when opened, would ransack your system, overwriting important files on workstations and accessible servers.

Worse yet, the worm would send a copy of itself to the first 50 contacts in the victims address book, which allowed the worm to spread across the entire world in just one day, infecting more than 50 million computers in total, including units within the pentagon and CIA.

Although ILOVEYOU caused approximately $5.5 billion in damages, because it was written specifically for Outlook, the damages were only incurred by those running Microsoft Windows operating system – imagine the damage if the worm could affect other operating systems!

IMAGE SOURCE: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P6lBSQGjLa4/TarmDqqR1sI/AAAAAAAAAtU/NUSVMVNqyBY/s1600/pict121.jpg

#2
THE HACKER: Jonathan James
THE HACK: Accessed vital DTRA and NASA computer servers “for fun”
THE RESULT: 10 military computers were hacked which led to an overhaul of government security systems and $41,000 in damages.

Jonathan James, also known as c0mrade, is one of the most interesting hackers in history because he not only targeted some of the most major government agencies but also because he was only 16 at the time of his arrest – making him the first juvenile to be imprisoned for hacking!

Motivated simply by the challenge of seeing what he could pull off, James created a backdoor into a Defense Threat Reduction Agency server that was responsible for monitoring the threat of weapons of mass destruction, as well as, he intercepted over 3,000 messages between DTRA employees and gained control of passwords to at least 10 military computers. He also worked his way into the very NASA server that controlled the physical environment (temperature and humidity) of the International Space Station. Although he didn’t aim to do any harm, his ability to infiltrate NASA’s mainframe forced a $41,000 shut down of their system and an overhaul of security systems.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.listshere.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/jonathan-james.jpg

#3
THE HACKER: TiGER-M@TE
The HACK: InMotion/Web Hosting Hub Defacement
THE RESULT: Over 700,000 websites were hacked and defaced.

Having already been successful in hacking and defacing the Google Bangladesh website, a crafty Bangladeshi hacker known as TiGER-M@TE managed to access the entire data center of the InMotion Web Hosting network, accessing and defacing over 700,000 websites and sub-directories in the process. More specifically, TiGER-M@TE replaced the index.php file on each site, which, in turn, altered each site’s home page, making each site a billboard of his exploits that read, HACKED: Server hacked by TiGER-M@TE — #Bangladeshi Hacker..

In a rather non-apologetic statement, TiGER-M@TE’s response to the incident boasted, “I hack 700,000 websites in one shot, this may be a new world Record.”

IMAGE SOURCE: http://blastmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/hack.png

#4
THE HACKER: Gary McKinnon
THE HACK: Accessed vital U.S. Military and NASA computer servers
THE RESULT: He accessed 97 NASA computers and deleted operating files that caused an additional 2,000 military computers to fail.

For as many times as NASA has been hacked, you’d think that they’d have a better security system in place, however, in their defense, they’re the target of the most talented hackers on the planet – Gary McKinnon is no exception. Having been described by a prosecutor as the “biggest military hacker of all time,” McKinnon is an infamous British hacker with Asperger’s Syndrome that managed to crack the code of NASA’s computer system while in search of evidence supporting the existence of UFOs. It is said that he hacked 97 NASA computers and deleted operating files that caused the failure of over 2,000 military computers before he was arrested in 2002.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01498/Gary_McKinnon_1498748c.jpg

#5
THE HACKER: Vladimir Levin
THE HACK: Intercepted Citibank’s dial-up wire transfer accounts
THE RESULT: $11 million intercepted, $10 million never recovered

Throughout the 90s Vladimir Levin dabbled in many computer hacking schemes but his most notable (by a long shot) was when he successfully tapped into the dial-up wire transfers between Citibank and their most valued corporate customers, intercepting the signal and transferring the funds into various foreign accounts in the process. Before he was arrested in 1995, Levin successfully stole roughly $10.7 million from Citibank, however, when all was said and done, of all the money that was taken, only $400,000 was ever recovered and returned – meaning Levin pirated his way to over $10 million in plunder!

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.axban.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Vladimir-Levin.jpg

#6
THE HACKER: Anonymous
THE HACK: HostGator cPanel
THE RESULT: 200 servers hacked to re-direct visitors to malicious third-party site where Trojan virus was then planted

In 2006 an anonymous hacker managed to gain access to more than 200 HostGator system servers and all of their subsequent client sites through a an non-secured section of the host’s cPanel. By exploiting an “unpatched VML security hole” within Internet Explorer, the hacker was able to redirect all incoming traffic to a third-party website that would then infect the web surfers’ computers with a malicious Trojan viruses.

To further complicate the issue, even after HostGator identified the problem and eradicated all of the malicious code, the hack would automatically regenerate; causing the host company to have to repeat the correctional process, until it was ultimately forced to reconfigure all of its 200 servers.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.hostgatorsecretrevealed.com/images/2008/1210-5.jpg

#7
THE HACKER: Robert Morris
THE HACK: The invention of the first computer worm
THE RESULT: Over 6,000 computers were rendered useless

Although he is now a respected professor at MIT, Robert Morris’ most notable notoriety comes from inventing the first computer worm that was not so creatively named the Morris worm. Initially launched from MIT in 1988, to test how many computers were connected to the Internet, his worm proved to be a success, depending on whom you ask. Rending over 6,000 computers completely useless and causing nearly a half-million dollars in damages, Morris’ worm landed him the honor of being the first individual to be tried under the American Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://cryptome.org/eyeball/hacker/pict124.jpg

#8
THE HACKER: Kevin Poulsen
THE HACK: Accessed FBI databases and jammed media phone lines
THE RESULT: He won a Porsche 944 S2 and was featured on TV

Working under the pseudonym Dark Dante, Kevin Poulsen is a black hat hacker that has weaseled his way into the FBI’s investigative databases and wiretap information – but that wasn’t his grand opus. Although he has been dubbed “the Hannibal Lecter of computer crime,” his most notable crime wasn’t cannibalism, it was hacking phone lines, twice.

ONE: When KIIS-FM in Los Angeles was going to give away a brand new Porsche 944 S2 to the 102nd caller, Poulsen managed to hack into the station’s phone system and successfully blocked all incoming callers but himself to ensure that he would be that caller.

TWO: After winning the Porsche, he was forced into hiding but struck again as a result of his face being plastered on the TV screen during an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. During the show the phone lines not so mysteriously jammed – of course, it was Poulsen’s work. It bought him some time but not enough as he was eventually charged with wire, mail and computer fraud, as well as, money laundering.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.axban.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Kevin-Poulsen.jpg

#9
THE HACKER: Anonymous
THE HACK: Spread of Malware via a NetworkSolutions.com widget
THE RESULT: It is suspected that anywhere from 500,000 to 5 million domains were infiltrated and infected with the Malware

In 2010, a group of Chinese hackers remotely hacked into the NetworkSolutions.com servers and managed to spread vicious Malware through the use of a fraudulent customer service pop-up widget on the host’s many domains. Although the fake widget looked innocent enough, it appeared on many of the host’s parked domains and sites that were under construction and, in turn, added banner ads to the affected sites and attempted to install Malware via the Internet browser. Experts have estimated that anywhere between 500,000 and 5 million Network Solutions domains were involved in the outbreak.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.webhostingquery.com/wp-content/themes/couponpress/thumbs/networksolutionsthumb.png

#10
THE HACKER: Joseph Thomas Colon
THE HACK: Accessed classified FBI and government employee passwords
THE RESULT: He gained access to the passwords of 38,000 government employees and sparked the spending of $600 million in security upgrades

The first disgruntled employee to land on our list is Joseph Thomas Colon, a former U.S. government consultant that was able to hack into classified government servers on his way to accessing the passwords of over 38,000 government employees – some as high up as the director of the FBI. The best part is that two free computer hacking programs that Colon downloaded off of the Internet inflicted the majority of the damage! Of course, this obviously showed chinks in the FBI’s computer security armor, therefore, the entire network came to a halt and nearly $600 million was invested to upgrade the digital security and to install 30,000 new desktop computers.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.popfi.com/wp-content/uploads/FBI-seal.png

#11
THE HACKER: Mark Zuckerberg
THE HACK: Accessed Harvard University’s private student database
THE RESULT: The invention of Facebook

In 2003 Mark Zuckerberg hacked into the protected areas of Harvard University’s computer network and used private dormitory ID photos to craft a picture comparing program called Facemash. Because the site received 22,000 page views within the first few hours and was using unauthorized data, Harvard officials investigated the source to found that it was the work of Zuckerberg. Of course, it may not be the biggest computer hack in history in terms of size and numbers but Mark Zuckerberg’s hack of the Harvard University student database is certainly one of the most infamous. Why? Well, because without it, we wouldn’t have Facebook.

IMAGE SOURCE: http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/mark-zuckerberg.jpg

RESULTING LEGISLATION:

Thanks to hacks like these and countless others, the government and private businesses alike have taken great notice in increasing cyber security threats and are therefore acting accordingly.

For example, in Nevada, a law was passed that requires all businesses to encrypt personally-identifiable customer data that is transmitted electronically, including names and credit card numbers. Further, Massachusetts requires any business that collects information about its state’s residents to encrypt the sensitive data stored on any laptop or other portable device — more than 40 states have enacted similar laws pertaining to cyber security.

In the end, each law that has already been established or that is currently under review is in an attempt to maximize the protection of our privacy and our sensitive private data, as well as, minimize the successes of the average hacker. With some basic front-line defense, the hope is that stories like the ones above can be a thing of the past.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this review of some of the most notorious hacks and hackers in history. Above all, we hope you’ve learned a lesson; computer security is of the utmost importance so make sure that your computer, your host, your server and your Internet connection are all fully secure!

Related posts:

1. How To Hack Proof Your Website
2. The History of Server Virtualization
3. ALERT: “Here you have” Email Worm virus

Power bloggers may find that shared hosting is not handling the requirements of their blog visitors or e-commerce customers. For these bloggers, consolidating all websites and blogs onto a blog VPS will provide improved performance and decreased downtime. VPS hosting offers several advantages over shared hosting. In many cases, WordPress VPS hosting offers the advantages of dedicated hosting without the expense. Power bloggers may want to consider VPS rather than shared hosting, even if they choose the smallest available package at first. With only a few posts, power bloggers may obtain more traffic than they dreamed possible, and they will want to have the resources to handle it.

The VPS Advantage: Customization, Privacy and Resources

One advantage of blog VPS hosting over shared hosting is customization. VPS servers are nearly as customizable as dedicated hosting, which makes VPS the ideal solution for users who need customization without the power associated with dedicated servers. Servers that use Plesk or cPanel will allow for numerous software packages, including WordPress, to be installed.

VPS provides users with their own unique IP address. Unique IP addresses provide increased stability and reliability for a website. If another hosting account on the same server is hacked, blocked or becomes blacklisted, then that problem will not affect a VPS with its own unique IP address.

VPS hosting offers privacy. VPS servers offer the same degree of privacy as using a distinct physical computer that can be separately rebooted. With VPS, users often get root access with full administrative rights, allowing users to have full control over the server and over content hosted on the server. Because VPS accounts are insulated from one another, VPS minimizes access for both customers and hackers. If someone attacks an account on the same server, then your account will still be safe with VPS.

VPS provides dedicated resources. VPS allows for dedicated CPU, RAM, bandwidth and disk space. A fixed number of VPS servers will be offered on a physical node at any one time, and servers can be rebooted or updated remotely without affecting the other VPS hosting accounts on the same server hardware. Bloggers may consider VPS with “bursting” resources, which will accommodate additional CPU time and memory to VPS packages when they are both in need and available. This will provide additional computing power without upgrading to a higher VPS package.

With VPS, no single user will run away with all of the bandwidth capacity because all resources will be regulated. When users need more resources, VPS resources are scalable. Clients can transfer applications and files to a more robust VPS solution or even to a dedicated server solution without disruption in service. VPS will also provide lower latency and faster upload times for even the most high-traffic blogs.

Multi-Site, Multi-Blog Hosting

VPS allows bloggers to host multiple sites on their servers, including WordPress, Movable ype and CMS-based sites like Drupal and Joomla. This flexibility is especially important for entrepreneurs who want to transition to e-commerce, for instance. Having the ability to utilize multiple software platforms on one server allows bloggers to expand their offerings without compromising quality.

WordPress VPS is also ideal for hosting WordPress multisite networks. Since WordPress 3.0, the software has had the capability to run multiple blogs, even those from multiple domains, on one website. However, when those blogs are confined to a shared hosting platform, that platform may not be able to handle the traffic requirements of the multisite network. In those cases, upgrading to VPS is crucial to successful operation.

VPS Control Panels

Bloggers may choose a cPanel or Plesk interface for easy server management. cPanel is designed to transform standalone servers into one-stop point-and-click hosting platforms. cPanel is known for its ease of use, but Plesk has the ability to support both Windows and Linux-based operating systems, allowing hosting providers to utilize the same control panel for both Windows VPS and Linux VPS systems. Both Plesk and cPanel offer you the ability to get up and running more quickly, especially if you aren’t an experienced system administrator.

The slower speed of shared hosting could cause power bloggers to miss out on valuable sales and on visitors if the site loads slowly or does not work to its optimum capacity. With VPS, bloggers will have the resources that they need to take advantage of traffic and to convert traffic to dollars. When bloggers start to manage hundreds of blogs at a time or have traffic that gobbles up the bandwidth of a shared host, bloggers will want to upgrade to a VPS.

Related posts:

1. VPS Hosting For Webmasters
2. A Beginner’s Guide To VPS Hosting: Uses & Advantages
3. Drupal VPS: Everything you need to know about your CMS VPS

myhosting.com is dedicated to ensuring high quality of service and security and for this reason, we take a very proactive approach to maintaining the software we provide to our clients!

In the past 24 hours, our team patched a high-severity WHMCS security issue for all myhosting.com VPS administrators with WHMCS!

As soon as a fix was identified for the issue found on Dec 1st within WHMCS our team was ready and ensured all of our customers the security and peace of mind of a patched and secure VPS server.

The security issue was found and originally posted on the WHMCS forums at the below link:
http://forum.whmcs.com/showthread.php?t=43462

Related posts:

1. VPS Hosting Security Best Practices
2. Making Money Online With Reseller VPS
3. Private: Blog VPS Hosting Refined: WordPress VPS Hosting

Powering an eCommerce store has now become par for the course for any company that wants to ensure they are at the top of their game and stay competitive in their market. Not only having a regularly updated website but a reliable portal for your customers to buy goods and services online is expected. This means many potential customers will be motivated to seek other options if they discover that your store is slow, ungainly, or simply not available.

Setting up an eCommerce store solution or shopping now requires minimal investment of both time and funds, and the first question you to ask about your eCommerice option isn’t if you should have one, but how you should host it.

Hosting Your Store

When it comes to eCommerce hosting, you will be faced with three basic choices, each of which offers a different set of benefits. The cheapest option is what is known as shared hosting, where your cart or store resides on the same shared server as countless others. Shared web hosting is cost-effective, but there are no controls in place for memory usage or disk I/O management, which means the speed of response from your store is dependent on how many other people are using the server and how they are using it. In addition, you will not be able to customize your piece of the shared server. At the other end of the eCommerce hosting spectrum is dedicated hosting solution where your cart is the sole resident of a server. Not surprisingly, these servers are far more expensive, and while they do offer increased performance they are not quickly scalable if your needs change.

The third open choice available for eCommerce hosting is a virtual private server (VPS) option. The benefit of a VPS is that is balances price with performance, and also allows you to increase the amount of server space you are renting. In addition, you will typically be able to run under whatever OS you prefer and any apps or programs you install will have no effect on other users.

Getting Your Store Up to Speed

Once you’ve decided on an eCommerce VPS server or other hosting option, you’ll have to choose what kind of cart or shopping platform best suits your needs. There are a range of options available online; from open source eCommerce options like osCommerce, a free solution that has been providing online business support for 10 years; Zen Cart, which is also open source and is focused on giving users easy set-up and simple, intuitive functionality; and Magneto eCommerce, which is a for-pay solution that includes access to a wide variety of store extensions and add-ons as well as on-demand training.

You may also wish to consider leveraging the power of an eCommerce VPS server to run multiple stores by installing a control panel such as Plesk or cPanel. Both of these popular options are compatible with a large number of shopping cart and store solutions, and give you the power to multiple stores from a single interface and track details regarding the performance of each one.

The key to making the most of an eCommerce solution in today’s marketplace lies in ensuring that it is optimized to perform and can deliver a consistent experience for customers. By using a VPS hosting solution in combination with a simple-to-use piece of store or cart software, you can make sure that customers always find what they are looking for and can always make their purchase, without having to worry about lost orders or slow response times from your hosting provider.

Related posts:

1. eCommerce VPS: Taking your Online Store to the Next Level
2. Everything eCommerce: Get Setup Online and Start Selling!
3. What is eCommerce VPS?

One of the most powerful ways to interact with an online community is through the use of moderated and standards-compliant forums, which allow a wide range of users to post messages, share thoughts, and collaborate on ideas. If your community is looking for a new place to call home, or if your current forum software is no longer able to deliver the kind of performance you need, you may want to consider an upgrade to a more powerful bulletin board application. In combination with a reliable hosting provider, the right forum hosting tools can ensure that no post goes unread and that every user gets a chance to have their say.

The first thing you will need to consider when you begin the process of hosting an online forum or bulletin board is which app will provide the best utility. A number of popular options exist on the market such as phpBB, vBulletin, Vanilla and others. Choosing one will depend on the needs of your community, as well as the type of hosting that you prefer.

phpBB: Free and Open-Source

phpBB is a free and flat-forum bulletin board software that includes a wide variety of user-created modifications along with style and image packages which allow you to customize your forum experience. The phpBB community forum is active in both forwarding innovations for the forum software and quick to respond to user concerns. Organizations such as Debian, Activision, and the Mozilla add-on forums all use this software. phpBB forum hosting can be done either on a shared web server or on a virtual private server.

vBulletin: The Latest and Greatest

vBulletin is one of the most popular pieces of forum and bulletin board software currently on the market, but it does come with a price tag attached. vBulletin’s Forum Classic 4.0 costs just under $200 for the purchase of a new license and $175 for an upgrade. The price does come with a wealth of features, including a CMS that is built for large communities that allows content to be easily created and then cross-published between websites. A redesigned UI with version 4.0, improved search features and free support from vBulletin for the life of the product all make vBulletin hosting a viable option if your community is large or is growing rapidly.

Vanilla, but not “Plain”

Forums powered by Vanilla are customizable, standards-compliant, and are driven by the open source code of version 2.0.17.10, released in May of 2011. Over 495,000 sites use Vanilla forums for their hosting, and data from any other hosting platform can be migrated to the app. It is also possible to embed Vanilla into any site with a single line of code, allowing you to take your forum anywhere, and ensure that you never lose contact.

In addition to choosing what forum software is best for your community, you will also need to determine if your needs can be met by simple shared hosting or if you will require a virtual private server for your forums or bulletin board. Shared hosting is a great place to start for communities that are small or just finding their feet – forum hosting can be done under a shared hosting solution. If your community has a large number of users or those that post images or video frequently, you may wish to consider the move to a virtual private server. Some forum software, such as vBulletin, is also intensive enough that trying to run it under a shared hosting solution may not be viable. vBulletin hosting on a virtual private server will give you access to a set of specified resources and allow your forum or bulletin board to respond more quickly to user requests.

Forums and bulletins can both provide powerful options to keep a community together and evolving over time. What kind of software package and hosting you need will depend both on the features you want, the price you are willing to pay, and the kind of resources you require.

Related posts:

1. MediaWiki Hosting: Creating your own Wiki Website
2. VPS Hosting For Webmasters
3. myhosting.com Takes your VPS Security Seriously with Proactive Security Patching!

Employees at SoftCom Inc. (parent company of myhosting.com) are growing mo’s and collecting donations in support of prostate cancer research!

Throughout November, you can signup for myhosting.com services and purchase donations during signup! Not only that, do so and we’ll match your donation! Those needing a charity receipt can donate through our official SoftCom Employee Movember Donation page.

Stay tuned for Movember Pics and more and keep track of your favourite SoftCom Mo!

Related posts:

1. myhosting.com Mobile Email Solution Awarded for Excellence @ Parallels Summit 2011 Awards
2. myhosting.com for Haitian Relief
3. Management Changes at myhosting.com

One of the most important digital aspects of your business that you can protect is your domain name. With it, you are able to effectively brand your business and ensure that both customers and those with potential business interests can find you online, and you can tailor your SEO and organic link building to take into account the domain name – or names – that you have chosen. Unfortunately, maintaining control of your domain name and ensuring that only appropriate information is disclosed on the WHOIS listing of domain name owners is becoming increasingly difficult, but there are several ways you can help ensure that your domain name remains in the right hands and that you do not fall victim to any type of scam.

Preventing WHOIS Piracy with WHOIS Privacy and Domain Locking

The first line of defense in protecting your domain name is what is known as WHOIS Privacy. WHOIS directories allow anyone with Internet access and a desire to do so to find out who owns a domain, as well as obtain email address and phone number information. According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), anyone who owns or manages a domain must make this information available publicly on WHOIS directories. Also known as Contact Privacy, WHOIS Privacy is a service that many domain name registrars will offer clients in order to help keep their details confidential. Typically, you will buy a domain name and protection from the same provider, who will then replace your WHOIS information with the information of a forwarding service. This will prevent your real phone number and email address from going public and possibly be used by those looking commit fraud or simply looking to increase their spam mailing lists. In some cases, these providers will be willing to provide your information to outside parties at the first hint of legal action, while others will take steps to ensure that even your payments to them are confidential and cannot be traced.

Another way to help protect your domain name and prevent any changes from being made to it is with the use of domain locking. A domain lock is also known as a registrar lock and is a status code set on your domain name by your registrar. When a domain lock is in place, you will be unable to modify your domain name, transfer your domain name or delete your domain name, but will be able to renew it as required. This lock ensures that no one is able to steal your domain name, and that you will be unable to change your domain name, even if prompted to do so as a part of a scam. In most cases, having a domain lock will not interfere with the operation of your website.

The Importance of Staying Up-To-Date

It’s also crucial that you do not let your domain contact information lapse, and that you notify your domain registrar with any changes in your email address, phone number or physical address of your company. If your domain registrar cannot contact you regarding matters of domain security and domain name registration, you may find yourself with reduced or no access to your domain. While your contact information may not be made public if you have paid for contact privacy, ensuring that your registrar has your correct information is essential.

One other easy way to protect your domain name and your brand is to always know who you are using as your domain name registrar. Companies that sell domain names will often change the names they use, and many have similarly themed names. This means that you will be receiving emails from companies other than the one that supplies your domain registration and security, perhaps trying to lure you away at renewal time. Once you provide them with enough information or access to your domain, they will be able to supplant your current provider or take control of your domain. By making sure that you always know who your registrar is and responding only to them, you will be able to minimize the number of potential security breaches.

Your domain name speaks to your brands, and was likely carefully chosen for maximum effect. Losing control of your domain could mean damage to your website or a significant cost to recover the name if it is taken by another company. Simple steps like WHOIS privacy, domain locking and staying in contact with your registrar can go a long way to ensuring that your domain always remains firmly in your control and that your customers and clients can easily find you online.

Related posts:

1. Be Aware of Domain Name Renewal Scams
2. Domain Name Transfers made easy
3. How to Transfer a Domain Name in 4 Easy Steps