Websites help people and companies maintain reputations, reach new consumers, and market vital information. Building a website is typically more than the average user can handle. Unfortunately, companies like Wix, Squarespace, and Hibu make it seem like anyone can build a website on their own.

Anyone can create a Word document but no one wants to see it as a web page.

Modern websites are fluid spaces that adjust according to the device (mobile vs. desktop) and provide fast access to the most pertinent information about your brand. Your site’s hosting service serves as the foundation of every other digital activity. If you use an unreliable hosting service, great content and an intuitive user experience simply won’t be achieved.

If you don’t have experience with website hosting, design, content management, secure data storage, email management, and/or SEO capabilities, you need outside help to build a working and reliable website you can trust to promote your brand.

At 37SOLUTIONS, we offer turnkey website services, including our website hosting service. From choosing a domain name to optimizing each page for better digital visibility, you can count on us to offer premium website services for your digital presence.

Why 37SOLUTIONS for Website Hosting?

Since 2002, we have provided our customers with reliable and high quality website solutions using the latest techniques and solutions available in the marketplace. Our team knows how to build and optimize websites while minimizing the common complaints our competitor’s customers typically present.

The biggest complaints usually concern unreliable website uptime, inability to scale, and poor customer service. At 37SOLUTIONS, we pride ourselves on putting customer needs first. We only offer services we know we can competently support, and we offer concierge service plans for routine updates and unexpected changes.

If you’re still wondering if 37SOLUTIONS is the right website host and service company for your needs, consider some of our major value propositions:

We use the best

We don’t try to jam every client into the same hosting package or server. We develop custom solutions to match your hosting needs.
LiquidWeb is one of the most dependable and performance focused website hosting companies serving websites around the world today. We build most of our websites using LiquidWeb, and offer all our customers a reduced hosting rate. You get our services plus LiquidWeb’s reliability for a great price.

Depending on the situation we also use services from Rackspace, Amazon, Azure, CloudWays, Digital Ocean, WPEngine, SiteGround, and more!

You enjoy unprecedented scalability

A few years back, companies needed to estimate the amount of storage or bandwidth they needed. If they hit a limit, their solutions might shut down completely or fail to serve certain users. Today, automatic scalability is crucial for website success. If you operate an ecommerce store and Good Morning America showcases one of your products, you need to know you can count on your site to accommodate a sudden traffic surge.

At 37SOLUTIONS, we offer automatic scaling services. Your website will serve five people or 10,005 people based on your day-to-day needs.

You have access to our “department of redundancy department.”

In digital design, redundant storage can protect you from a cyber-attack, accidental data loss, or a small glitch. We offer all our hosting clients redundant storage so you never need to start from scratch in the event of an emergency.

Take advantage of our user friendly control panel

From your control panel, you can easily manage your DNS, FTP, MySQL and Microsoft SQL Server Databases, email, and cron jobs and more. If these tasks sound daunting, don’t worry! With our concierge service package, you probably won’t ever need to touch your control panel.

We believe LiquidWeb is one of the best hosting solutions available on the market today, which is why we exclusively sell the brand’s Cloud Sites, Cloud Servers, and Managed WordPress products. At the end of the day, you take advantage of the company’s premium website hosting products at our budget-friendly prices.

Modern cloud services are just as safe as traditional hosting environments, but some of our clients still prefer to use traditional hosting services. In addition to our cloud services, we can also help you with a shared, VPS, or dedicated server solution. If none of this makes sense to you, don’t worry. We will help you choose the right fit for your budget, security needs, and usage expectations.

Choose 37SOLUTIONS for Website Hosting

A solid website host offers reliability. Without it, even the best website will go unnoticed. You can partner directly with a hosting service, but you may not receive the discount or the customer service you would receive through a turnkey website support company such as 37SOLUTIONS. Here, we offer hosting services as well as many other website support services.

From website design to SEO projects, we can help you with most digital activities. Reach out to us today to get started.

The post Premium Website Hosting for Small Businesses appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

iDNS or Internet Domain Name Services is a scam

You may have received an official-sounding letter in the snail mail or through your email from “iDNS Internet Domain Name Services”. They claim that it’s time to renew your domain name and you should send them upward of $180 to renew for 5 years. It’s the “Best value!”, they claim.

As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification of the domain name registration that is due to expire in the next few months. When you switch today to Internet Domain Name Services, you can take advantage of our best savings.

Who are they?

The letter comes from a New Jersey address and their official name is Internet Domain Name Services Inc. Their domain name has an AC as the Top-Level Domain which is registered in Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha. They likely did that so they could get a short, official-sounding domain name (iDNS).

What do they want?

They are trying to trick you into changing your registrar to them and they will charge you 3 times what everyone else charges.

You must renew your domain name to retain exclusive rights to it on the Web, and now is the time to transfer and renew your name from your current Registrar to Internet Domain Name Services. Failure to renew your domain name by the expiration date may result in a loss of your online identity making it difficult for your customers and friends to locate you on the Web.

What should I do?

Nothing. Throw the letter/invoice in the recycle bin.

You probably bought your domain name from companies like GoDaddy or Namecheap (affiliate link) or Register.com and when you get close to your expiration date they will send you an email and maybe even a letter.

When it’s time to renew you should expect to pay less than $15 per year. That’s three times less than iDNS was going to charge you.

Incidentally, don’t buy domain names from Network Solutions either. Their prices are outrageous. You don’t (or rarely) get anything extra by paying double and triple for your website’s domain name so don’t be fooled. Stick with $15 or fewer domain names and you’ll be fine.

Can you help?

Absolutely! Visit our contact page and send us a message. We will help you buy your domain name with one of our preferred providers. We will never own your domain name – we’ll just assist you in buying it and helping you renew it if needed.

A visitor suggested that you complain to Stripe.com about iDNS. They said that they use Stripe as their processor and if enough people complain, it might help stop these people from tricking anyone else.

The post iDNS Domain Name Scam appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

Running a web hosting and design business frequently requires sharing content or looking at a website with your client. There are several tools to help accomplish this, including WebEx, join.me, GoToMeeting, Anymeeting, and FuzeMeeting.com.

The problem with almost all these services is that they never work when needed.

Every. Single. Time.

Consider this scenario that’s happened a hundred times to me and my clients:

1. You talk with your client and realize that you need to look at the same document or website together.
2. You schedule a meeting using your favorite premium web conferencing software.
3. Your client receives the email but doesn’t install the software beforehand. That is understandable; I do it too. Technology should “just work,” and they can install it whenever they join the meeting, right?
4. The meeting arrives, and everyone joins 2 minutes late due to an adjacent meeting, bio break, coffee run, etc.
5. 5 more minutes pass. Your client finally finds the meeting invite and clicks on the link.
6. Your client is presented with several boxes, and when each one pops up, they ask you if they should click it. SMH. Whatever it asks you, just click YES!
7. They inevitably say, “It says I need to install Java,” or, “It says that I’m in the meeting, but I don’t see anything. Are you sharing?”
8. 20 minutes have passed. At this point, everyone is frustrated, and you just manually tell each other what you’re looking at on the screen.

Be consistent

FuzeMeeting.com was very promising; however, like other web conferencing tools, it was missing a few features I needed.

Correction: I didn’t really need the extra features, but it’s essential to be consistent with clients. You can’t use four different tools for sharing documents, sharing screens, controlling their computer, and another for “quick meetings.”

It’s usually a miracle when you get one of them installed. Imagine telling them, “You’ll need to install this other tool for this meeting because I need to blah blah blah.”

Summary

In the end, I still don’t have a good solution. I currently use join.me, and it’s already failed 2 out of 3 times, so I won’t be renewing. I frequently need to control someone else’s screen, but tools like LogMeIn Rescue are too expensive for how little I need to use them.

What tools do you use to share documents or websites with your clients? Let us know in the comments!

Bonus phrases!

Here are some other phrases I’ve heard on web meetings. Feel free to share yours!

• “I’m on a Mac. Is this compatible with Mac?”
• “I have JavaScript enabled. Do I need Java too?”
• “You sent me an email? I didn’t get it.”
• “I don’t have a spam folder.”
• “I clicked the link, and nothing happened.”
• “A message popped up. What should I do?”
• “It says ‘Name’. Should I enter my name?”

The post Why I Stopped Using Web Conferencing Software appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

I’ve been a programmer since 1988 and in that time I’ve found that computer programmers are not typically computer repairmen as well.

I’m a database developer now but I’ve done plenty of coding over the years. I started out learning BASIC on Apple IIe computers in high school and wrote programs on my Commodore VIC-20 at home. I wrote code for 6 hours straight on a hot summer day and burned up my VIC-20.

If I would have been as interested in the hardware as I was in the software I probably would have realized that I fried the power supply or something equally simple. But the machine eventually got tossed out with the rest of the day’s garbage.

Necessity is the mother of invention

I’ve only been fixing computers since 2002. I spent most of my time working on the software side of computers writing code, removing viruses, and building websites. Then my hard drive crashed. As they say, “necessity is the mother of invention”, and a hard drive crash will definitely motivate you to open up your computer and take a peek.

I recall a comedian who said,

Why do people that don’t know how to fix cars bother to open the hood. What are they looking for? A giant on/off switch?

I’m paraphrasing but you get the idea.

I’ve reinstalled Windows a hundred times at this point in my life. I typically reinstall all of my computers every year and a half to get rid of “bit rot”. Bit rot is what happens to your computer when you use it for a couple years, install and uninstall software until little pieces of software left behind seem to clog up and slow down your PC.

But companies like Best Buy pretend that your computer is a nuclear reactor that only qualified technicians should handle. The computer was already dead so I figured, why not? I pulled a couple cables, unscrewed the drive, screwed the new drive in and put the cables back. The rest was a breeze.

After that, adding RAM, installing additional video cards – everything was pretty easy.

There must be others

When I talked to my fellow geeks at work about my new-found skills I found a very strange phenomenon. Computer programmers typically don’t fix their own computers.

I’ve worked with all kinds of programmers and for the most part they all lacked the curiosity to get inside a computer. I was actually pretty shocked. Programmers are known for their curiosity and problem-solving skills. Why wouldn’t they want to get inside to see how everything works? Most colleges teach you about the insides of a computer so it’s not like programmers don’t know the parts, how they work, or what they’re for.

I dunno

In the end, I don’t really have an answer. When I asked, most of my colleagues just shrugged. I suspect that many of them haven’t had a problem with their hard drive because they buy a shiny new computer every couple years to keep up with the processing requirements of their development tools. And most of them use source control or some form of backups anyway.

What do you think?

What are your experiences with people that you consider “programmers”? Let us know in the comments!

The post Computer Programmers Are Not Computer Repairmen appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

With the recent news about Bitcoin “acceptance” by the U.S. government and the spike in Bitcoin prices some people are becoming aware of “other” cryptocurrencies and wondering what makes them different.

We buy Rackspace^® Cloud Sites^™ hosting and resell it to clients looking for premium website hosting at a reasonable price. In addition you get Rackspace Hosting with value-added features like our Concierge Service.

Get Started Today

What is Litecoin?

Arguably, Litecoin is the most widely known alternative cryptocurrency. Litecoin, like Bitcoin, is a peer-to-peer Internet cryptocurrency. It enables near-instant payments to anyone in the world.

The primary technological difference between Litecoins and Bitcoins is that Litecoin mining has a RAM (memory) requirement in addition to the GPU (or CPU) requirement. This makes Litecoins harder to implement as an ASIC unit which means they are easier to mine by individuals. Litecoins are also faster to confirm – 2.5 minutes compared to 10 minutes.

[Source: litecoin.org]

What is Rackspace Cloud Sites?

Rackspace^® is one of the leading hosting companies in the world and a Gartner Magic Quadrant leader. Their Cloud Sites^™ product offers the best benefits from managed hosting, shared hosting and cloud hosting all in one easy-to-use package.

How do I buy Rackspace Cloud Sites hosting with Litecoin?

There aren’t many institutions like BitPay or Paysius for Litecoin since alternative currencies are comparatively new. For now you can simply contact us to place your order and we’ll send you a payment address for your purchase.

Interested in paying with Bitcoin instead? No problem! Add some products to your cart and use BitPay or Paysius at checkout. You can always contact us to order or set up a custom hosting plan.

The post Rackspace Cloud Sites Hosting With Litecoins appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

As a 20-year PC veteran, web developer and hosting provider I describe my reasoning for buying a MacBook Pro instead of sticking with a traditional Microsoft-based laptop.

High School

Yes, that’s William Shatner

Like most geeks my age I’ve been using computers since high school. My parents bought me a Commodore VIC-20 and I burned it up by coding for 6 hours straight on a hot summer day in a house without air conditioning. I can’t even remember the program – something super awesome I’m sure.

I used Apple IIe computers to learn how to program in BASIC and I got out of boring study halls by saying that I needed to use the Mac lab to “study” when in reality I was playing games like Lode Runner most of the time.

College

In college I worked in the computer lab and played on 386/486 PCs and VAX most of the time, occasionally visiting the Mac room to say “Hi” to old friends. I was working on an accounting degree but I spent almost all of my time in the computer lab even when I wasn’t on duty.

A new beginning

Several years after college I started my side-business when I realized I should start charging all of the people that ask me to fix their computer, explain the latest technology fad, research the best television or fix their website.

The iPad saved my ass

When I purchased my first generation iPad I lived in a single-floor two bedroom apartment and I spent most of the time in the second bedroom – my office. I worked all day in front of a computer and then came home and worked all night too. My ass needed a break.

I figured if I bought an iPad I could segment my work into the tool best suited for the task.

I watched before it was cool!

Ultimately the iPad allowed me to leave the office and rest my butt muscles for a bit while still getting some work done and occasionally glancing up to watch Breaking Bad. If I needed to do anything on the PC it was only a couple rooms away.

More power, Captain!

It worked great for a while. But then I moved and started commuting to work on the bus. I found that I didn’t have as much time in front of my home PC so I tried to use the iPad to fill the gap. But the iPad simply isn’t suited for web development or the type of website maintenance that I needed to get done.

The typical argument is that if I work with PC-based files and software in my home office that I should get a PC-based laptop for easy compatibility. I completely agree. If I were to counsel someone else in the same situation I would recommend they stay with PC-compatible products. But I’ve never been one to take the easy way if I had an opportunity to learn something useful by doing it the slightly “harder” way.

I’m (probably) not an Apple fanboy

Apple Store New York

So why would a faithful PC guy buy a MacBook Pro? I won’t lie. The “cool factor” played an important role in my decision. The simplicity, elegance and thoughtful design of Apple products coupled with a sleek form factor are ultimately what drove my decision to buy a MacBook Pro.

But I also fix computers for people on the side and lately I’ve been getting more and more questions from people thinking about switching to Apple. Other than the iPhone and iPad I didn’t have recent experience with other Apple products. I rationalized that buying a Mac would allow me to help my clients make the right choice for their situation.

How did it go?

Overall I love my MacBook. It’s fast, quiet, cool, light and does almost everything I need. The hardest thing to get used to are the shortcut keys. I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts and I was a little frustrated at first trying to figure out how to do the same thing on a Mac that I do on a PC. One of the big sticking points for most people – no “right-click” – wasn’t hard to learn at all. I’m still not sure of the difference between FN, CONTROL and OPTION though. And installing third-party apps (e.g. FileZilla, Roboform) is a little odd; I’m not sure I’ve got the hang of it yet.

Luckily Google knows all and the thousands of people that have done this before me left lots of information for me to find.

I’m currently trying to convince my girlfriend that she should buy a Mac. She complains about her laptop all the time.

Get help picking the best computer for your family

The post Why A Faithful PC Guy Bought A MacBook Pro appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

We have been offering free SSL hosting for a few months now but haven’t made an official announcement. So here goes: Free SSL certificate hosting is included in all of our Cloud Sites Hosting Plans!

What is SSL?

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is used to encrypt traffic from your browser to the web server so that people in between can’t read your credit card numbers, passwords or posts. When you see a lock icon next to the website address or a green bar in your address window – that’s SSL.

Why is it free?

We already use SSL for our new e-commerce store so we’re simply passing the savings on to you.

Does free SSL include a certificate?

Certificates are sold separately. We can help you purchase one from vendors like RapidSSL, GeoTrust and Verisign.

How do I add SSL to my account?

Existing customers can simply call or email us to add an SSL certificate to your site. We’ll help you decide what kind of certificate you need and discuss features and pricing. We’ll walk you through the process of adding the certificate to your site too.

New customers can add SSL certificates from our online store. Please make sure you have one of our Cloud Sites Hosting Plans in your cart to avoid delays in processing.

Do I need SSL with my online store?

If you’re selling products online it’s a good idea to give your customers the peace of mind that you care about their security. But depending on your payment gateway (e.g. PayPal, Authorize.net) you may not be required to have an SSL certificate because of the way the information is transferred to them.

Do I get a dedicated IP address?

Yes! Due to the nature of SSL certificates you will have a dedicated IP address instead of a shared address. Note that if you let your certificate expire you will have to switch back to a shared IP.

Secure Your Site Today
It’s no secret that we use Rackspace Cloud Sites for our hosting plans so you can be assured that you are getting premium, quality hosting from one of the top 10 web hosts in the world!

If you have any questions about the new offering please let us know.

The post Free SSL Certificate Hosting appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

Bitcoin users want quality, reliable hosting from companies like Rackspace without getting their hands dirty in server configuration and maintenance.

We buy Rackspace^® Cloud Sites^™ hosting and resell it to clients looking for premium website hosting at a reasonable price. By buying from us you get Rackspace Hosting with value-added features like our Concierge Service.

Get Started Today

What are Bitcoins?

Bitcoins are the first decentralized digital currency – essentially digital coins that you can send through the Internet. Unlike traditional currency that requires a bank or clearing house to transfer funds, Bitcoins can be sent directly from person to person.

We see a lot of potential for Bitcoin to be a viable form of payment for Internet transactions and we want to support the community by accepting payments in Bitcoin.

Who uses Bitcoins?

Bitcoin users are typically more technically savvy and can appreciate quality hosting options. There are a lot of Bitcoin miners out there that have been accumulating coins for a couple years now but there aren’t a lot of places to use your Bitcoins. And while there are certainly other hosting providers that accept Bitcoin we are the first to offer quality Rackspace hosting in exchange for the popular digital currency.

Why now?

The electronic currency has been getting a lot of press lately from popular news sources like Wired, Ars Technica, Forbes and Bloomberg. We learned about Bitcoin in late 2012 and embraced the new currency by purchasing a mining rig from Butterfly Labs.

The recent popularity of Bitcoin coincided with our website redesign so we took advantage of the timing and added Bitcoin payments to our new e-commerce store. We hope that we’ll fill a niche market of users looking to spend their BTC for website hosting, email hosting, website design and other technology services.

What can I buy with my Bitcoins?

Our Cloud Sites plans are the easiest to set up and use but if you need something more robust please contact us and we’ll help find a solution for you.

I want to learn more about Bitcoin!

For more information about Bitcoin check out the following sites:

• InvestInBlockchain.com – Newbies should start here
• Bitcoin.org
• Bitcoincharts.com – Financial data related to the Bitcoin network.
• Blockchain.com – Navigate the bitcoin blockchain
• Bitcoin.it – a dedicated Wiki on Bitcoin
• GlobalCrypto.org

The post Buy Rackspace Hosting With Bitcoin appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

PITTSBURGH – 7/10/2012 – 37SOLUTIONS, LLC today announced they have entered into a partnership in the Rackspace^® Hosting Partner Network, (NYSE: RAX), the service leader in cloud computing. This agreement is designed to add mutual value for their current clients and to increase targeted exposure and reputation for both companies.

Rackspace provides our customers with a solid and reliable infrastructure on which to grow their business. Their unparalleled managed hosting expertise backed by Fanatical Support® provides our clients the best solution to succeed, ultimately increasing our customer loyalty and profit margin through a mutually beneficial relationship.” said Gregory Duffie, CEO, 37SOLUTIONS.

37SOLUTIONS Web Hosting & Design uses Rackspace’s CloudSites offering to make sure their customers’ websites scale to demand. CloudSites also allows 37SOLUTIONS to concentrate on customer needs instead of server maintenance.

We look for synergistic relationships with industry leaders like 37SOLUTIONS that enable us to add greater value to our customer base and sustain our ongoing commitment to Fanatical Support.”, said Christopher Rajiah, Rackspace.

About 37SOLUTIONS

37SOLUTIONS is a technology company dedicated to helping individuals and small businesses enhance their web presence in an increasingly complex environment. Conveniently located online, 37SOLUTIONS professionals work closely with clients to anticipate, clarify and overcome complex technological challenges in areas such as Website Hosting, Website Design, Website Management, Email Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Management, SQL Server Database Administration and Computer Repair.

The post 37SOLUTIONS Enters Rackspace Partner Program appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.

PITTSBURGH, PA – June 15, 2012 – Originally started in 2002 as a Sole Proprietorship and rebranded as 37SOLUTIONS in 2009 this Pittsburgh-based solution provider has restructured as a Limited Liability Company to take advantage of the benefits of incorporation.

Since 2002 Gregory Duffie, owner of 37SOLUTIONS, has been fixing computers and consulting for individuals, charities and small businesses. Originally known as duffie.net[works] he built servers, networked computers, provided support and built websites for friends, family and co-workers as well as homeowners’ associations and online communities.

In June 2009 Mr. Duffie purchased the domain name 37solutions.com and registered the fictitious business name 37SOLUTIONS in February 2010. The rebranding created a focus on building a name that clients would trust for technology solutions including website design, hosting, website management and more.

Gregory Duffie, owner of 37SOLUTIONS, says that the new arrangement is just the natural next step in the company’s growth.

“With our recently announced partnership with Rackspace and several upcoming web development projects, forming an LLC is part of the business’ logical evolution,” Duffie said.

For more information on the restructure or for a free quote please visit our contact page.

About 37SOLUTIONS

Since 2002 37SOLUTIONS has provided myriad solutions to clients trying to navigate the digital highway without a proper map. Solutions include website hosting, website design and management, database administration, email marketing, search engine optimization, technology consultations and even computer repair to name a few. With one convenient location online, 37SOLUTIONS works closely with individuals, charities and small businesses to enhance their web presence in an increasingly complex environment. If you have a technology problem 37SOLUTIONS will find the solution for you.

Media Inquires

Gregory (Greg) Duffie
Founder
37SOLUTIONS, LLC
844-412-3737
https://www.37solutions.com

###

The post 37SOLUTIONS Restructures as LLC appeared first on 37SOLUTIONS Technology Services.