Acorn Host: An Alternative Web Hosting Solution for Non-Profits

During the current harsh economy, many non-profit organizations find themselves reigning in on already frugal budgets, especially when allocating funds for social media outlets as well as launching and maintaining a website for the agency.  The good news is that there are web hosts that specifically accommodate the needs of non-profit websites.  One such web host is Acorn Host. Web Hosting Features Acorn Host strives to accommodate the hosting needs of the non-profit community by graciously providing very affordable web hosting services for organizations on tight budgets to launch a web presence.   The non-profit plans are basically similar as the regular hosting plans only at a cheaper price, however, there’s a limit on some features when compared to the regular plans. The non-profit hosting package includes the following: 1GB space, 25GB Bandwidth, C-panel, multiple domains with a single account, unlimited e-mail boxes and FTP accounts, Webalizer /AWstats, FrontPage extensions, ionCube, Zend, mySQL, WordPress, Drupal, ZenCart, Ruby on Rails and 24/7 emergency customer support.  Non-profit organizations opting for this hosting plan pays a relatively inexpensive price of $3.95 per month. Who is Eligible? It’s important to note that there are guidelines that dictate who qualifies for the non-profit hosting package.  As a general rule those that are eligible must serve a public service mission including health advocacy groups, homeless shelters and environmental organizations.  If you’re representing a non-profit agency, school or social service agency, or the organization serves the good of the public, you’re eligible.  It’s also important to note that 501( c)(3) is not necessarily required to be eligible for the non-profit hosting plan. Who is Not Eligible? Although everyone would appreciate the non-profit package, unfortunately not everyone qualifies.  Any individual seeking to obtain reduced non-profit pricing must serve the public within their mission and objectives.  Users looking for a financial break that only want to build a personal website or establish a site for hobby or games does not qualify for non-profit plans

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Acorn Host: An Alternative Web Hosting Solution for Non-Profits

Drupal 7 to Further Simplify Website Management

As one of the leading open-source content management systems, Drupal boasts many different applications; from personal websites to corporate and even the White House. This is due to being flexible and powerful. Drupal is also known for its complicated administrative interface. As a result, Drupal creators released the 7 th version which attempts to make the software more user-friendly. However, experts have mixed feelings on the usability characteristic. Simple Installation The installation is fairly simple and standard. The user is required to create a database, modify the configuration file and finish with a simple web-based installation. The installation process is extremely similar to WordPress; it is fast and easy

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Drupal 7 to Further Simplify Website Management

Ascent to Partner with Comcast

Colocation web hosting provider recently announced it has partnered with industry-leading telecommunications company Comcast Business Services. The partnership will allow both companies to have access to Ascent’s data center in Pittsburgh through Comcast’s fiber optic network. The partnership will grant customers access to colocation, virtualization and managed hosting as well as disaster recovery and business continuity. Data Center Specifications The data center is a 20,000 square foot, SAS Type II certified facility located in RIDC Park, O’Hara Township; approximately 12 miles from downtown Pittsburgh. The combination of services between the two companies is a response to the growing demand for cloud hosting services. Both companies are hoping the partnership will offer small and mid-sized businesses with the resources to improve data security and information technology through a point-to-point connection. Growing Success of Both Companies Comcast is excited about the collaboration as it will help to continue driving success for both companies through a dedicated Metro Ethernet bandwidth that provides a secure and scalable solution to meet customer’s expanding bandwidth demands

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Ascent to Partner with Comcast

An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom-based web hosting provider, Nexcess.net, recently announced that is has expanded its eCommerce hosting line to customers in the U.K. The expansion of services within the country began in April 2011. The announcement was released approximately three months following the launch of its managed cluster solutions line to eCommerce customers. Partnering with Magento The press release indicated that Nexcess is hosting provider that specializes in eCommerce hosting. As a result, the company has become an official partner of Magento, an online shopping cart software platform. Unfortunately this addition to its Magento product line is only available to customers in the U.K. For those in other regions, a new set of low-end hosting options featuring the Magento platform will be available. The SIP-100 and SIP-200 Hosting Packages Nexcess’ SIP-100 and SIP-200 Magento hosting packages were previously exclusive to United States-based customers.

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An Expansion of eCommerce Web Hosting in the United Kingdom

How to Prevent Domain Hijacking

Although a website owner may feel secure upon registering a domain name, many don’t realize that domains are subject to hijacking.  Domain hijacking, or domain theft, is a prevalent nuisance that is on the increase.  Hackers need not to even access the target web server to create havoc. The process of hijacking a website really doesn’t require a lot of knowledge or even effort.  There are various methods hackers use to hijack domains such as launching Trojan viruses, illegitimately acquiring login information or utilizing software to hack into a web hosting account to reconfigure ownership information.  Once hackers gain access to the targeted web server’s control panel, the chaos and headaches begins for website owners. While most domain hijacking attacks are illicit, large companies take advantage of their branding leverage citing copyright infringements.   By doing so allows more established companies to legally “hijack” specific domains.  Unfortunately, small companies simply don’t have the necessary resources to defend their domains when toppled by a larger company with the same resources readily available to combat legal battles. Locking the Hijacking Tool Shed The truth is hijacking of a domain doesn’t take an arsenal of tools to access an authorized account.  The two basic items needed to hijack a domain is the target domain’s registrar name and the administrative e-mail address for the target domain.  Upon accessing these two essential items, hackers can easily hijack a domain without the knowledge of the authorized owner.  Website owners often don’t realize that this information is available online for the public to view by visiting www.whois.com .  A simple search can reveal the imperative information needed to hijack a domain, however, it’s possible to thwart hacking attempt by opting for a private domain registration. A private domain registration allows website owners to hide vital information such as personal details including name and administrative e-mail address.  So, when a potential hacker looks up the domain on WHOIS, the information is hidden from public view.  It’s strongly recommended that website owners take the proactive security measures and choose to hide such details to thwart hijacking attempts

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How to Prevent Domain Hijacking

Government Decides to Move Email to Microsoft Exchange

The San Francisco county government recently announced that it has decided to move all email to the Microsoft Exchange Online which is a cloud-based system. This will be a major upgrade to the current systems. Unfortunately during the week of May 9 th , 2011, Microsoft Exchange Online fell victim to three outages that significantly affected business email customers across the network. Government Employees Affected by the Migration As per the press release from the San Francisco government, over 23,000 employees from 60 departments will benefit from the email migration. Since the governmental community is large and diverse, this investment in information technology has many advantages including decreasing costs and improving productivity. Although Microsoft has already begun the transition, the total migration will occur over 12 months. Collaborative Tools Microsoft Exchange Online delivers an improvement in collaborative and communicative tools such as calendar and email functions in addition to hosted archiving of emails. The city and county government of San Francisco continues to think toward the future and has always leveraged technology to improve all services

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Government Decides to Move Email to Microsoft Exchange

The Venetian’s New Web Standard

Ektron is a provider of web content management systems, marking optimization tools and social software solutions. On May 18 th , 2011, the company announced that the Las Vegas-based Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino is utilizing the Ektron Web Content Management platform in an effort to re-launch its website, Venetian.com. The Corporate Director of eCommerce Technology for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, parent company of the Venetian, released a statement noting that the organization researched several different content management systems but Ekron fit their corporate structure. Furthermore, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation is committed to building working business relationships with top-tier partners that provide excellent support. The Director has recognized that Ektron offers a pure .NET content management system that integrates Microsoft technologies. This was the primary reason for the decision to use Ektron. The software also features open architecture and API which delivers unlimited scalability. Sands information technology professionals are planning to tie the Ektron API to the back-end data systems and other third-party tools for full functionality

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The Venetian’s New Web Standard

Surviving Website Downtime

Downtime is an annoying occurrence that most website owners experience sooner or later when managing web hosting needs.  Downtime is basically considered as the amount of time that a website is inaccessible to users for various reasons.  While some websites have near perfect uptime rates, others are offline at least a couple of hours each day.  Understanding downtime and how to prevent it from wrecking havoc on the daily operations of web hosting is essential for success. Downtime Causes Although often difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of downtime, there are several common reasons.  The first being planned downtime by the web host for tasks such as server upgrades, hardware, operating systems or software.  Another cause is component failures such as faulty hardware, defective programs, viruses, file corruption, and programming errors.  User errors or malicious intent are other causes which include accidentally erasing files or hackers.  Finally, natural disasters which can’t be prevented such as hurricanes and tornadoes are also common causes of server downtime. Affects of Downtime Regardless of the cause for sever downtime, the impacts are usually significant.  The most obvious impact of downtime is a loss of profits.  A staggering example is Amazon.com’s approximate two hour downtime in June 2007 that resulted in an estimated $3.48 million profit loss.  Customer satisfaction also takes a hard hit whenever a website experiences downtime.  Along the same lines, a loss of interest from potential investors is often a result of website downtime.  Search engine rankings are also affected negatively by downtime as it’s factored into the top five things considered when rankings are generated. Proactive Steps to Prevent Downtime While downtime can’t always be predicted, especially in cases of planned downtime or natural disaster, there are proactive ways to prevent website downtime.  Consider the following steps: Use a DNS backup service Purchase a monitoring system to ping websites on a regular schedule and send notifications of outages. Backup data on regular intervals Maintain current domain name Utilize Google Webmaster tools Implement accurate server downtime error codes Reporting Downtime Remember that time is a valuable commodity, especially when it comes to generating profits via an e-commerce site.  Once your site has been verified as down and the respective website is offline, try to locate the cause of the outage.  Often scripts running cause a strain on the server, thus resulting in being knocked offline.  If you can’t locate the reason for the outage, contact your web host’s technical support.  Hosting providers aren’t always aware of outages, so it’s important to notify them as soon as possible to report the outage.  After reporting the issue, it’s equally as important to send notifications to your customers to let them know you’re aware of the website being offline and explain the situation to the best of your knowledge. Finally, stay in touch with the web host’s customer support and IT team that’s been assigned and responsible for fixing the issue.

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Surviving Website Downtime

TERMINALFOUR Wins GBP 100,000 Content Management Deal

Industry-leading web content management company, TERMINALFOUR, recently announced it has won a GBP 100,000 contract to provide its system to Manchester Metropolitan University. This deal is the 75 th university client across the world. Information about Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University had over 52,000 undergraduate student applicants for Fall 2011. The university is spread across seven campuses with main locations in Manchester and Cheshire. The school delivers over 1,000 courses to over 36,000 students across the United Kingdom. To accommodate the increasing online demands for students and faculty, the university’s collection of websites was reviewed. TERMINALFOUR’s Site Manager Uses As a result, TERMINALFOUR was selected to implement its primary product, TERMINALFOUR Site Manager to fulfill the university’s website content management requirements. This system will be primarily used to support the maintenance and future development of 100 websites while replacing the outdated system that is currently being used.

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TERMINALFOUR Wins GBP 100,000 Content Management Deal

Wal-Mart Continues to Strengthen Web Presence

In December 2010, Wal-Mart invested in 360buy.com, an ecommerce website. The retail industry-leader recently announced that it plans to invest in a fast-growing Chinese ecommerce website: Yihaodian. The deal is currently under discussion but is slated to be closed within the next 60 days. The amount of money invested in the ecommerce company has not yet been disclosed but it is sure to be significant. About Yihaodian Launched in 2008, Yihaodian delivers over 75,000 products to its online customers. The company currently boasts over 2,000 employees and a logistical networked based out of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. The company is provides products to a fast-growing customer base with a focus on next-day delivery of critical daily items while keeping prices to a minimum. These characteristics have driven the success and profits of Yihaodian

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Wal-Mart Continues to Strengthen Web Presence

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