hosting week

March 31, 2005

2005-03-31T07:27:00.000-05:00

OSDL Names First Korean Member

The Open Source Development Labs (osdl.org), a global consortium dedicated to the adoption of Linux, announced on Monday that Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute would participate in the Lab's Carrier Grade Linux and Data Center Linux working groups as OSDL's first Korean member.

ETRI is currently leading the Linux innovation and adoption in Asia, one of the world's hotspots for open source software activity. In April 2004, the governments of Korea, Japan, and China came together to promote Linux as an alternative operating system and formed the Open Source Software Promotion Forum. ETRI is an integral part of this unique cooperation among Asian economic competitors and is actively developing and promoting Linux in the Korean market.

"ETRI is committed to the development of Linux technologies for business and consumers in Korea and around the world," says Sung In Jung, team leader of ETRI. "We're looking forward to working with our peers in the OSDL Carrier Grade Linux working group and contributing our 25 years of experience in computer and telecommunications systems research to advancing Linux."

According to technology analyst firm IDC, Linux software revenue in the Asian market outside of Japan will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 82.5 percent between 2004 and 2008, with revenue rising 78.6 percent in 2005 alone. IDC forecasts the region's overall telecommunications service revenue to increase by 11 percent in 2005 to $163 billion.

06:09 AM in News | Permalink

March 30, 2005

Bulova Picks Web Host NaviSite

Web hosting and managed application services provider NaviSite (navisite.com) announced on Monday that it had been selected by Bulova to develop, host and manage its wittnauer.com Web site. The site will be hosted out of NaviSite's Syracuse, New York-based data center. NaviSite also hosts bulova.com.

"We initially engaged NaviSite to design and build our Bulova.com Web site and we were so pleased with the relationship, it was an easy decision to employ NaviSite to build the new Wittnauer site," says Eric Hofmann, directo of marketing technology at Bulova.

Wittnauer.com, designed to be feature-rich and customer friendly, includes search functions that enables customers to view the company's store locations and product line.

"Bulova was in need of a full service vendor that it could entrust to design, build and host its new Web site," says Denis Martin, CTO of NaviSite. "It was critically important for Bulova to know that its chosen outsourcing partner would work with it to understand its business in order to leverage the strength of the Wittnauer brand, and be able to complete the engagement on time and on budget."

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06:09 AM in Web Hosting Companies | Permalink

March 29, 2005

Web Host 1&1 Registers 5 Millionth Domain

Domain registrar and Web hosting provider 1&1 Internet Inc. (1and1.co.uk) announced on Monday it has registered its 5 millionth domain name.

Since its 1992 inception in Germany, where it still maintains its world headquarters, 1&1 has gone on to command 40 percent share of the German market alone. In recent years, the company has significantly expanded its other operations in the United Kingdom, France, Austria, and the United States.

"It represents more than a decade of stability and growth that has allowed us to provide our customers with not only a domain, but the most feature-rich and affordable solutions for optimizing that domain," says Andreas Gauger, 1&1's Chairman of the Board. "Eclipsing the 5 million registration mark clearly indicates a significant global demand for the unique, one-stop-Internet-shop approach we first developed several years ago."

1&1's 5 millionth domain name was one of four registered by the Bethlehem Area Public Library in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The organization plans to use www.bestbooksale.org, www.bestbooksale.info, www.bestbooksale.net and www.bestbooksale.us to help promote six fundraising book sales it conducts annually.

06:08 AM in Web Hosting Companies | Permalink

March 28, 2005

Syntiva Moves Into Shared Web Hosting

Content management and Web design software developer Syntiva (syntiva.com) announced on Monday that it had launched dotSynergy Web Hosting (dotsynergy.com).

Syntiva previously offered managed Web hosting and with the launch of dotSynergy moves into the shared hosting space.

"With dotSynergy, we want to extend the customer service and support that our managed hosting provides to the shared hosting environment," says Jeff Smith, president of Syntiva. "Over the years we have experienced both horrible and some very excellent service from hosting providers. As a result, we know what typical Web hosts offer, in products and services, and we can surpass it, often greatly, in almost every way."

DotSynergy is based on the second level of the company's Virginia data center facility. All the shared servers are Dell 3GZ 6-12GB, 40GB+ HD, RAID 5 powered, and equipped with Fantastico, CPanel, WHM, RVSkins, PHP, JSP and web statistics. Customized and reseller plans are also available.

The company is offering a 30-day money back with a SLA guarantee of 99.9 percent uptime.

Get more info.

06:07 AM in Web Hosting Companies | Permalink

March 25, 2005

Digital Realty Trust Buys Chicago IDC

Digital Realty Trust (digitalrealtytrust.com), an operator of technology facilities, announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to purchase Lakeside Technology Center for approximately $142.6 million in cash.

Lakeside Technology Center, based in Chicago, is an eight-story building comprising a total of approximately 1,095,540 square feet. Of the total space, about 275,000 square feet is vacant space in condition for redevelopment. The facility houses national telecom carriers and data center operations for large corporate customers, in addition to a centrally-located meet-me-room and colocation facility.

"Lakeside Technology Center is one of the premier Internet gateways in the region and fits extremely well with our current asset base and business strategy," says Michael Foust, chief executive officer of Digital Realty Trust. "We are very excited to be in the Chicago market, which is the major hub for commerce and telecom network traffic for the Midwest. Our acquisition of Lakeside Technology Center will provide us with a fantastic opportunity to provide space to leading technology and corporate data center tenants who require the mission critical infrastructure necessary to operate their businesses without interruption."

The transaction is subject to certain closing conditions.

06:05 AM in News | Permalink

March 24, 2005

Host Color Upgrades Its E-mail Service

Host Color (www.hostcolor.com), a shared web hosting provider, has recently upgraded its e-mail service with a special anti-spam solution installed in its US Data Center.

Now customers can benefit from advanced antivirus and anti-spam e-mail scanning. The new system uses Clam antivirus and SpamAssassin - two leading Linux e-mail protection solutions. They are deployed on a specialized server which maximizes their performance.

"Generally anti-virus and especially anti-spam scanning require a lot of system resource. Running those services on a shared hosting server is bound to harm performance. That's why we devised an e-mail scanning solution that does not take up the server's resource. An out of server e-mail scanner also has much quicker learning capabilities. This means that it constantly upgrades its definitions of which messages can be considered spam." says Host Color's software development engineer Venelin Mihaylov .

The new system also allows the site owners to turn the scanning features off through Host Color's Next Color control panel. Another addition to the e-mail service is the personalized and configurable catch-all e-mail aliases.

"We are now entering a new phase of development of our service. We not only aim to innovate and integrate our service; we also want to build a user friendly and seamless customer experience. This can be done by making our services as intuitive and user friendly as possible. We will also provide complete tutorials and high-quality customer support to all our customer." adds Mr. Mihaylov.

06:04 AM in Info | Permalink

March 23, 2005

Web Firm Aplus.Net Enters Online Marketing Segment

Site traffic service guarantees qualified Web site visitors

With online sales for the 2004 holiday season hitting a record of 23.6 billion dollars, the Internet has proven to be a small business staple. But with millions of Web sites competing for online business, the biggest problem for online business owners is getting enough visitors to the site. Today, leading Web design and hosting firm Aplus.Net announced that they will help solve this critical issue by offering a service which guarantees Web site visitors.

Aplus.Net’s new eTraffic service promises Web site owners between 120 and 6000 visitors a year. More importantly, these visitors are “qualified” – meaning the traffic comes from searches (on Google, Yahoo, MSN) that are related to the site’s product, service, or business. While the benefits of increased sales are obvious, this managed marketing program also saves time for small business owners with limited time and marketing resources.

“The number one request from our customers is to help with online marketing” explains Ivan Vachovsky, Chief Executive Officer of Aplus.Net. “We listened and developed this program to help them increase traffic.”

As a turnkey program, eTraffic is an easy way for Web site owners to get traffic. Starting at $24.99 a month, Aplus.Net online marketing experts actively manage “Pay Per Click” advertising campaigns for client Web sites.

The innovative eTraffic program is another step Aplus.Net has taken toward providing a comprehensive online marketing program in the Web hosting arena. The company has previously announced the release of many online marketing products which support and increase business for existing customers. Among these products are e-commerce Connectors, which help automate the listing of store inventory on stores like eBay and Shopping.com; free pay-per-click voucher coupons from Google and Overture, which help with additional traffic; and a host of free marketing tools that are included with all Web hosting plans.

06:03 AM in Info | Permalink

March 22, 2005

Interland Helps HealthNewsDigest.com Reach a Milestone of 10 Million Subscribers

Interland, a leading provider of online sales and marketing services for small and medium-sized businesses, is proud to announce its online services were key in helping online magazine HealthNewsDigest.com (www.healthnewsdigest.com) reach a milestone of 10 million subscribers.

Since 1999 when Michael McCurdy founded HealthNewsDigest.com, the company has grown to become one of the most widely syndicated sources of health care information on the Internet. Today it is the #1 rated health channel on AvantGo and produces more than 30 million impressions a month to individuals seeking the latest in health news.

According to McCurdy, Interland has been an invaluable member of his team in recent years. “Prior to Interland, I had been through a series of online service providers,” says McCurdy, who has been an Interland client for nearly three years now. “Many providers were just unreliable, and some were not able to handle our site and the traffic we generated, so they asked us to leave. Right now I am the most confident I have ever been in the stability of our website and our ability to market the site online.”

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06:32 AM in News | Permalink

March 21, 2005

Can-Spam Reports No Change in Compliance

MX Logic, Inc., a provider of email defense solutions, today issued its monthly statistics on corporate email security, which stated that there is no change in compliance from January report.

MX Logic reported that on average 5 percent of all spam through the email defense company's Threat Center during February complied with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM Act). Compliance with the federal anti-spam act has consistently hovered in the low single digits, compliance peaking at 7 percent in December 2004 and November 2004 and reaching a low of 0.54 percent in July 2004.

MX Logic believes that CAN-SPAM is a part of an overall anti-spam arsenal that must also include technology solutions, end-user education and industry cooperation to improve identity and security protocols on the Internet.

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06:03 AM in News | Permalink

Friday, Mar 18, 2005

2005-03-18T00:04:00.000-05:00

AOL Selects HP for Support & Storage

HP, a technology solutions provider, yesterday announced that America Online, Inc., a provider of Internet technologies and e-commerce services, has selected HP in a competitive bid to be its provider of integrated support services for the company's server and storage technology.

As part of a three-year agreement, HP will provide maintenance and support services for equipment from HP and other vendors in AOL data centers across multiple U.S. locations. HP will manage support for more than 15,000 servers from multiple vendors, which includes support for 9,000 HP servers - including HP Integrity servers with Intel Itanium 2 processors and HP 9000, HP ProLiant and HP NonStop servers - as well as HP workstations.

"HP has been a long-time partner in helping America Online operate world-class services for AOL's customers," said David L. Cole, senior vice president of Systems Operations, America Online, Inc. "HP's flexible and collaborative approach and its ability to provide a single point of management for our multi-vendor environment will positively impact not just our infrastructure, but the speed with which we can respond to the needs of America Online's customers."

"AOL already had a sophisticated technology infrastructure in place, but it wanted to consolidate support contracts from different vendors to manage its server environment at strict service levels, under one service agreement," said Mike Rigodanzo, senior vice president, Technology Services, HP. "This relationship with HP will give AOL more streamlined service delivery, while providing clear savings and achieving simplification, standardization and modularity in its IT environment. These are the building blocks of an Adaptive Enterprise."

Get more info.

Thursday, Mar 17, 2005

NetIBA Offers Consumer Protection Tool

The Internet International Business Authority (NetIBA), a technology-based company to combat Internet fraud, today announced the launch of a new free software product - the Consumer Protection Tool - for consumers and businesses.

The Consumer Protection Tool sits locally as a tray application on consumers' PC desktops, thereby avoiding phishing and other Internet fraud scams, and confirms the identity of the people or organizations consumers are interacting with. The tool verifies web domains, auction sellers, and email identities.

As shoppers surf the web and find an on-line store, the Consumer Protection Tool automatically displays whether the merchant has validated its contact information, including its official company name, physical address, telephone number, and contact name. The NetIBA Consumer Protection tool can be downloaded for free at the website.

Wednesday, Mar 16, 2005

Microsoft to Acquire Groove Networks

Microsoft Corp., a provider of software, services and solutions, today announced that it will acquire Groove Networks Inc., a provider of collaboration software for the 'virtual office'.

The addition of Groove products to the lineup of Microsoft Office System products, servers and services builds on the capabilities of Microsoft's current collaboration products, allowing Microsoft to better meet the needs of organizations of all sizes that increasingly are creating borderless project teams comprising employees, customers, partners, suppliers, contractors and others.

"The acquisition of Groove complements Microsoft's collaboration offerings to include real-time, server-based and peer-to-peer solutions that address the ever-changing and more-complex work environment," said Jeff Raikes, group vice president of Microsoft's Information Worker Group. "Together, Microsoft and Groove will make anytime, anywhere collaboration a more natural and easy extension of how information workers coordinate their projects and document - centric work."

The acquisition also brings to Microsoft the development talent and technology leadership of top Groove executives, including founder Ray Ozzie, a creator of IBM Corp.'s Lotus Notes. Ozzie will assume the role
of chief technical officer, reporting to Bill Gates, Microsoft founder,chairman and chief software architect, with responsibility for influencing corporatewide communication and collaboration offerings and
associated platform infrastructure.

Tuesday, Mar 15, 2005

Novell Releases SUSE LINUX Professional v9.3

Novell, yesterday announced the availability of its latest Linux offering, SUSE LINUX Professional 9.3, due to ship in mid-April, 2005.

SUSE LINUX Professional includes a stable and reliable Linux operating system, and a complete set of desktop applications - office suite, Web browser, e-mail and instant messaging clients, multimedia viewers, photo organizers, and other popular open source applications. It also features the latest tools for setting up a secure home network, running a Web server, developing applications and more.

According to the company, the complete SUSE LINUX distribution delivers the latest Linux technology for standard 32-bit PC processors as well as for AMD Athlon 64 and Intel Extended Memory 64 Technology.

"SUSE LINUX Professional has always been popular among new Linux users and technical enthusiasts who gain access to the latest enhancements to Linux and open source with a cost effective and easy-to-use Linux operating system," said Markus Rex, Vice President of SUSE LINUX for Novell. "SUSE LINUX Professional also provides corporate Linux users a preview of the technologies in Novell's future enterprise Linux and a means of growing their skills to remain competitive in today's IT market."

Get more info.

Monday, Mar 14, 2005

Daffodil Launches Replicator v1.7

Daffodil Software, a provider of database products and synchronization solutions, on wednesday announced the beta release of Daffodil Replicator v1.7, at SourceForge.net.

Daffodil Replicator is an Open Source data synchronization software, and the new version includes features like Pull and Push replication and Different GUI for Publication Server and Subscription Server. It can also be used for sharing workload across enterprise database severs, by mirroring vital data on identical databases.

v1.7 also includes fixed bugs related to System tables & column names, Parent-child relationship when adding tables for Publication and OutOfMemory problem in snapshot.

Get more info.

Friday, Mar 11, 2005

2005-03-11T04:45:00.000-05:00

Network Solutions Launches its New Generation of Web Hosting Packages

One-Stop Shopping for Industry Leading Performance, Reliability and Value

Free Domain Name Registration* & 24/7 Live Technical Customer Support

Network Solutions (www.networksolutions.com), the pioneer in domain name registration and leading provider of Internet services, today introduced its new generation of Web site hosting packages. These hosting packages provide comprehensive solutions for individuals and businesses that want to establish or enhance their visibility on the Internet. They provide a new combination of affordability, ease of use, reliability and power. Packages are priced as low as $9.96 per month for an annual plan and include: a domain name registration (free with annual package), generous amounts of storage, monthly data transfer and e-mailboxes. All of Network Solutions' Web site hosting solutions are supported by free 24/7, live customer support and technical support, and a 30- day limited money back guarantee.

Get more info.

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Thursday, Mar 10, 2005

3rd Annual Web Design Contest

Hostway Announces 3rd Annual Web Design Contest for Chicago Area High School Students

Next Generation of Technologists Compete for Citywide Recognition and Prizes

Do you know a high school student who can create a better Web site than a professional Web designer? How about a high school technology class that has designed a Web site that blows your mind? Or are you a high school student who has designed a phenomenal Web site and are ready to show it off?

Here is your chance.

Get more info.

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Wednesday, Mar 9, 2005

Enthropia Launches Next Generation Website Software from Evo-Dev

EvoArticles 2.0 and evoTopsites 2.0 offer new features for website management.

Enthropia, Inc., and its website software division Evo-Dev, announced today the re-launch of website management products evoArticles 2.0 and evoTopsites 2.0 with a new focus toward consumer’s time and their desire to concentrate on content versus management of their website.

Content has long been the key to a successful website but managing and trying to update files, design changes, and granting access to multiple users can be difficult and time consuming. EvoArticles 2.0, a product of Evo-Dev, addresses user’s needs by offering easy user and administration interfaces while providing the customization tools they need to make a website their own. Daniel Coburn, Operations Manager for Evo-Dev said, “The Internet has been a great way to publish and get your message, column or article out to the public. Managing multiple writers, editing articles and trying to keep up with the community has become a long and monotonous task. Uploading and managing files and edits can take time away from your focus, the content. This is why, with the success of the original evoArticles, the new 2.0 release focuses on the consumer’s time by providing online documentation, an improved client area and active support forums.”

Get more info.

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Tuesday, Mar 8, 2005

Go Daddy's Super Bowl Ad Receives Unprecedented Publicity

GoDaddy.com, the No. 1 registrar of domain names, announced today that its first-ever Super Bowl advertisement was a resounding success, as measured by independent third parties.

Go Daddy's Super Bowl commercial ran during the first quarter of the game, but was subsequently pulled by the NFL and FOX from its scheduled 2nd airing during the game's final two minute warning.

According to multivision, inc. (a leader in the collection and analysis of real-time broadcast corporate intelligence), the ensuing media coverage of the pulled advertisement garnered GoDaddy.com more publicity than any other Super Bowl advertiser. According to multivision's "Super Bowl: Monitoring the Advertising Buzz - 2005," GoDaddy.com's post-Super Bowl "Share of Voice" ("SOV") from February 7 - 11 was a tremendous, and unprecedented, 51.14%. This is the largest SOV attributed to any Super Bowl advertiser during the past two years, and possibly ever. (SOV is the percentage of times an advertiser is mentioned in all Super Bowl stories aired on national, cable and the top 50 local television networks. For example, if there are ten stories and a company is mentioned three times, its' SOV is 30%.)

Get more info.

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Monday, Mar 7, 2005

U.S. DSL Users Grew 41% in '04

U.S. DSL Users Grew 41% in '04
Adding subs nearly as fast as cable
"Pretty soon, the number of DSL subscribers will come close to matching cable broadband subscribers: we expect 30 million DSL and 32 million cable broadband subscribers in North America by 2008," suggests the author of a new report studying DSL growth (Networking Pipeline). DSL providers are provisioning broadband lines at nearly the same speed as their cable counterparts, and the DSL subscriber base in the United States grew by 41% last year.

Get more info.

Friday, Mar 4, 2005

2005-03-04T06:31:00.000-05:00

The pros and cons of virtual hosting

Virtual hosting is the term used to describe multiple domains that are hosted on the same server. It can be compared to leasing an item as opposed to purchasing it. In this case, you are leasing a service offered by a provider that generally includes the following:
* Basic server features
* Internet connection services
* Domain name registration
* File storage and directory services
* An e-mail account with related services.
In addition, a provider of virtual hosting may provide web site and web page design.

Like most other leasing situations, whether likened to tools, cars, or apartments, there are advantages and disadvantages.

Disadvantages of Virtual Hosting
* Limitations. Since you share the virtual host's services with your provider's other clients, your customers compete for access. As a result, your site may have slower server response times during peak periods and could time out with "Web Site Not Responding" messages as visitors try to browse your pages.
* Risks. You may end up sharing an IP address with scammers, spammers, or adult sites. Since all hosted sites are treated as a group, you could easily end up banned from search engines that actively seek to block questionable activity.
* Control. Users share software components. The result is an inability to configure individual settings independent of the other clients serviced by your virtual hosting provider.

Advantages of Virtual Hosting
* Support. Providers generally offer round the clock support, providing you with the security of available help when you need it most. In addition, many companies have measures in place to keep your site from hackers.
* Flexibility. You are can try a variety of features without the burden of long-term commitment. You can also customize your virtual hosting arrangements with the bandwidth and database access that matches your business needs.
* Cost. Virtual hosting is a great value for small or medium companies on a tight budget. With no major equipment purchases required, it is also ideal for start up companies trying to minimize their initial investment

When sharing a server, you are receiving a low cost service with others. Be sure to think through how this might impact your business. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to virtual hosting. Evaluate them in light of your business goals, budget, personal style, and target audience.

Thursday, Mar 3, 2005

MidPhase Offers Non-Profits Free Web Hosting

News MidPhase Services, Inc. (midphase.com) announced on Thursday it is offering free Web hosting services for nonprofit organizations in a partnership with United Way of Metropolitan Chicago's Teaming for Technology program.

Since the program's start, midPhase has provided free Web hosting for three nonprofit organizations in the general Chicago-land area. Teaming for Technology provides free technology consulting, as well as low-cost and free Web, networking, software, and hardware solutions to these companies.

"As a business, we've been very fortunate. It's time for us to help the less fortunate by assisting local charities with their otherwise costly web hosting needs," says Zak Boca, VP of sales for midPhase. "In helping these organizations, and hopefully many more in the future, we feel that we're doing our part in helping to build a better world."

Wednesday, Mar 2, 2005

Top Web Hosting Companies We Recommend

Top Web Hosting Companies We Recommend
Company Name	Disk Space	Data Xfer	Special Offer
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/102301/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/102301/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	1000MB	100GB	Free Setup
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96955/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96955/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	800MB	40GB	$50.00 at Overture
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96956/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96956/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	3000MB	40GB	Unlimited Email
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96957/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96957/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	500MB	24GB	No Setup Fee
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96954/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/96954/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	1000GB	60 GB HD	Free Setup & 50% off Servers
<script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/102982/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/102982/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	250 GB	2000 GB	Premium Tier 1 Bandwidth
&lt;script></script> <noscript><a class=style1 href=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/99951/0/clickCGI?zone=techpad><img src=http://rotator.adjuggler.com/servlet/ajrotator/99951/0/viewCGI?zone=techpad&dim=95890 width=161 height=18 border=0></a></noscript>	5 GB	50GB	Unlimited domains

Tuesday, Mar 1, 2005

Hyatt Picks AT&T Web Hosting

AT&T (att.com) announced on Tuesday it has renewed a three-year contract with Hyatt Corp. to provide a complete set of managed hosting services for its Web site, Hyatt.com. The contract expands on an existing agreement, continuing AT&T’s ongoing relationship with Hyatt as its primary networking services provider.

Hyatt.com will continue to be hosted at AT&T’s Chicago-area Internet data center - one of 26 IDCs that AT&T owns and operates around the globe. Under the new agreement, AT&T will fully manage applications that support the Hyatt.com interface, online reservations and an interactive loyalty program experience.

"AT&T's scalability and technical expertise in critical areas like bandwidth and performance management are impressive," says Joan Lowell, vice president of electronic distribution for Hyatt. "AT&T’s fully managed solution allows us to focus on our core business, while offering our customers superior performance on Hyatt.com."

AT&T says its BusinessDirect portal enables Hyatt 24-7 online access to real-time reports on network performance, as well as direct connection to electronic billing and trouble management systems.

Monday, Feb 28, 2005

Cogent Picks 365 Main for Hosting

Data center operator 365 Main (365main.com) announced on Tuesday that it would provide hosting, colocation and management for Internet service provider Cogent Communications (cogentco.com) out of its Bay Area facility.

"Cogent is now added to our list of over twelve providers that sell services to our customers," says Chris Dolan, president of 365 Main. "Adding Cogent to our list of providers has enabled customers to purchase cost effective bandwidth. Customers today in many cases are shopping for the best value. 365 Main is recognized as one of the few financially sound data centers of its kind in the industry, while placing additional focus on customer service and value added offerings that most critical facilities are currently without."

Cogent, based in Washington DC, is a provider of low-cost bandwidth to Web hosting and other service providers. The company has a presence in over 85 markets throughout the US and Europe.

"365 Main has all the critical support systems we need including security, redundant power, and most importantly, a large customer base with which to cross-connect," says Dave Schaeffer, CEO of Cogent. "By utilizing 365Main’s presence in Bay Area, we can now extend our footprint and reach customers that previously could not directly connect to Cogent."

Friday, Feb 25, 2005

2005-02-25T13:40:00.000-05:00

Host Reviews

These reviews are posted by actual clients or ex-clients of each hosting company. Although hosts do have the ability to respond to any review, they do not have the ability to modify the ranks or remarks given.

Check out.

Thursday, Feb 24, 2005

EarthLink Launches new Spam Lawsuits

Internet service provider EarthLink (earthlink.com) announced on Thursday that it had filed four lawsuits in its continuing battle against spam emails. The lawsuits identify defendants in California, Florida, Nevada and Washington state, as well as John Doe defendants.

"EarthLink is committed to protecting the Internet," says Larry Slovensky, assistant general counsel for EarthLink. "We will continue to pursue litigation, technical solutions, consumer education and legislative support to help ensure the quality of the Internet experience for all users."

In the Earthlink litigation, which was filed in US District Court in Atlanta last month, the defendants in all four lawsuits are allegedly in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act and other state and federal statutes, including the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the Georgia Computer Systems Protection Act and state and federal racketeering laws, and many others.

A few CAN-SPAM violations alleged in the lawsuit include falsifying "from" email addresses, failing to include a physical address in the email, deceptive subject lines and false and misleading header information. As in earlier lawsuits, EarthLink is requesting injunctive relief to prevent the defendants from illegally spamming any Internet user, as well as unspecified damages.

Wednesday, Feb 23, 2005

Web Host Compare Tool

Check out the Web Host Compare Tool.

Tuesday, Feb 22, 2005

Top 10 Web Hosting Reviews (Updated February 2005)

Hosting-Review is an independent provider of web hosting reviews. We base our reviews on knowledge, personal experience with webhosts and user feedback.

Monday, Feb 21, 2005

Search and Compare Web Hosting Companies

Search over 1,000 web hosting companies for the perfect host for you. To search directly for a hosting plan, please click here. To search for dedicated servers click here!

If you don't know click here.

Friday, Feb 18, 2005

2005-02-18T07:41:00.000-05:00

Vigilante Group Attacks Cyber-criminals

According to reports, an Internet vigilante group known as the 419 Flash Mob, launched a two-day bandwidth attack last Wednesday against spammers attempting to defraud people by providing hosting services for fake bank sites.

The criminals, reports say, run the "419 scam," which sends out emails, faxes and letters, asking individuals for help in recovering money from banks in exchange for a percentage. These criminals have reportedly graduated to hosting fake bank sites, hoping to lure victims to deposit money in their illegitimate accounts.

The 419 Flash Mob reportedly launched a distributed denial of service attack against the spammers' bandwidth and have reported them to their Web host and other legal authorities.

Reports said the sites attacked had the names Abbey Trust & Offshore Bank, First Global Trust, Crystal Bonds & Securities, Allied Trust Bank UK, KASH BANK CORPORATION and Liberty Stronghold Securities and Finance.

The 419 Flash Mob is supported by Artists Against 419 (aa419.org).

Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

February 2005 - Top 25 Web Host Awards

Each month HostIndex.com searches out the best web hosting companies that are listed in our directory! Our criteria includes feedback from our users, website navigation, features and pricing, financial stability, along with customer support. The host with the highest number of votes is not necessarily the top host. Instead HostIndex.com takes the time to examine each hosting company to obtain a more rounded picture.

Of the thousands of hosting companies worldwide, the companies listed at the HostIndex.com Top 25 represent the TOP 1% of HOSTING COMPANIES from around the world! A mere 25 companies out of the 8,000 web hosts in our directory make the cut. These web hosts have demonstrated considerable leadership and superior delivery of their hosting services. We recommend you include them in your consideration set of potential web hosts for your online presence.

Note: This ranking was prepared as of February 1st, 2005 and is updated on a monthly basis. The next Top 25 ranking will be released on March 1st, 2005. Any user feedback received about a web hosting company between February1st and February 28th will be reflected as of our March rankings.

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Wednesday, Feb 16, 2005

Verizon Communications Acquires MCI

Verizon Communications (verizon.com) announced on Monday that it has acquired MCI (mci.com) for $4.8 billion in equity and $488 million in cash, confirming reports that emerged late last Friday.

MCI will also pay a special dividend, Verizon said, bringing the value of the deal to $6.7 billion. Verizon will assume MCI's debt, estimated at $4 billion.

Verizon said the acquisition enhances its ability to serve large business and government customers with a complete range of services, and ensures that MCI's Internet backbone network will have the financial strength to be maintained and improved.

The acquisition comes just a few weeks after SBC acquired AT&T. Like AT&T, MCI is an attractive asset because of its extensive national infrastructure and strong corporate customer base.

MCI also has strong Web hosting capabilities, bolstered by a strong enterprise hosting base built through its acquisition of Digex. According to research and analysis firm Netcraft (netcraft.com), MCI is the world's ninth largest host, home to 878,000 hostnames. MCI's customer base, Netcraft says, has been growing at a rapid pace, adding 233,000 hostnames in the last year, with 61,000 coming in the last two months alone. MCI's high-profile hosting clients include The Weather Channel and Bloomberg.

Verizon has an extremely small Web hosting presence with just 10,000 hostnames, according to Netcraft.

The Verizon and MCI boards have approved the agreement and both companies expect to attain regulatory approval within the year.

Just last year MCI emerged from the largest bankruptcy in corporate history amid a massive accounting scandal. Former CEO Bernie Ebbers is currently facing fraud charges.

Tuesday, Feb 15, 2005

Anti-Spyware Activist Web Site Attacked

According to a report by research and analysis firm Netcraft (netcraft.com), the Web site of anti-spyware activist Ben Edelman (benedelman.org) suffered an extended period of downtime earlier this week due to a distributed denial of service attack.

Edelman said on his Web site, which is back online, that the site was down for much of Monday and Tuesday, as well as several hours last week. According to Edelman, his host Globat (globat.com) informed him that the site was the victim of a large-scale DDoS attack, the like of which the company had never seen, bringing traffic of more than 600MB per second.

In a posting Edelman said his site was brought back online with the help of the Internet Software Consortium (isc.org), which now provides Web hosting for benedelman.org.

Edelman's Web site documents the methods used to install adware and spyware programs. The information has reportedly been used in legal cases against adware and spyware advertisers.

Monday, Feb 14, 2005

Hosting ZOOM deploys ClamAV email anti-virus

Hosting ZOOM, a full-service provider of web hosting services, has upgraded security on its servers by installing ClamAV anti-virus software.

Every web hosting account now comes with complete spam and virus protection absolutely free.

“Recent market studies along with customer surveys clearly demonstrate that hosting customers rank email viruses as one of their major concerns,“ according to Kiet Duong, President of Hosting ZOOM. “With the addition of our free email anti-virus services, our customers will be assured that their systems will be free of viruses and other malicious programs that can arrive via email.”

The new measures safeguard hardware and software by eliminating the opportunity for end users to receive and deploy harmful viruses via email. They especially protect non-technical users from downloading attachments with viruses in them

Clam AntiVirus is an anti-virus toolkit for UNIX. The main purpose of this software is the integration with mail servers and attachment scanning. The package provides a flexible and scalable multi-threaded daemon, a command line scanner, and a tool for automatic updating via Internet.

To view more details of free spam filtering and virus protection on Hosting ZOOM, visit www.hostingzoom.com

Friday, Feb 11, 2005

2005-02-11T06:05:00.000-05:00

Brinkster Announces New Referral Program

Brinkster, a popular web hosting company that grew to fame by offering free web hosting without ads, today announced a new referral program that offers 10% commission (cash) or three times that amount in web hosting credit.

The program also includes a unique feature that allows customers to forego their commission and pass it on as a 10% discount to the people they refer.

With the new referral program, Brinkster customers now have an added incentive to refer their friends. “Repeat and referred customers have long been a strong component of our business and we are very excited about the value this adds to our service, “says Jared Stauffer, President and CEO of Brinkster.

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Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

Web.com Selects SWsoft's PEM Data Center Hosting Automation Platform

Leading Domain Registrar and Hosting Provider Migrating to Comprehensive Windows and Linux Web and Application Hosting Solution

Today, SWsoft, the established leader in hosting automation and server virtualization software, announced that Web.com, an ICANN-accredited registrar and Web hosting company, has purchased and begun migration to SWsoft's PEM data center automation platform. Web.com will maximize the capabilities of PEM to offer a full range of integrated services including: shared hosting for Linux/Unix and Windows, VPS hosting, game server hosting, Microsoft Exchange hosting, and more.

"We made the move to SWsoft's PEM to align our infrastructure with our plans of integrating and centralizing our entire domain registration, Web and application hosting offerings," said Will Pemble, CEO, Web.com. "We have evaluated several solutions and adopted some, but those solutions came up short when it came to meeting our diverse needs. From domain registration to Web hosting to email hosting, DNS management, website promotion and more, SWsoft has created the most comprehensive integrated package of services available."

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Wednesday, Feb 9, 2005

MSN Outage Caused by Data Center Issue

February 9, 2005 -- According to reports, software giant Microsoft (microsoft.com) said late Tuesday that the outage suffered by its instant messaging service MSN earlier in the day was the result of an isolated data center problem.

According to comments by Microsoft, the outage began on Monday evening and affected a "significant" number of users. MSN representatives confirmed the problem was fixed by approximately 5:00 p.m. pacific standard time on Tuesday.

The outage came just days after the W32/Bropia worm hit the MSN service. But Microsoft said the most recent downtime was not related to the worm in any way.

According to some estimates, MSN has 145 million users worldwide.

Friday, Feb 4, 2005

2005-02-04T08:42:00.000-05:00

Internet Security Weekly Review

Recently Linux vendors Red Hat, Novell and Mandrakesoft released patches for several vulnerabilities. The patches range from flaws to buffer overflows. Secunia rated five of the updates "highly critical". SuSE issued updates to resolve flaws including a vulnerability that could allow malicious code to cause a local denial-of-service attack. Red Hat issued recently a package of updates for its desktop and enterprise software.

The Spanish security company Panda Software warned last week that several companies are apparently using Microsoft Media Player's digital rights management (DRM) tool to fool people into downloading spyware and viruses.

Microsoft responded that the security risk does not arise from a flaw in its tool. It was found that some sites can use Windows Media Player to pop up a Web page with information about a video or song, and here the page was apparently loaded with automatic spyware. Microsoft representatives said that the automatic downloads would be blocked on any computer running the Service Pack 2 release of Windows.

Continue reading "Internet Security Weekly Review"

Thursday, Feb 3, 2005

2005-02-03T10:14:00.000-05:00

Web Hosting Company XO to Launch Flex VoIP Solution

XO Communications, Inc. (www.xo.com) today announced plans to launch XOptions® Flex, its new industry-leading bundled voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution that will give business customers enhanced features, functionality and value for their voice and Internet services.

XOptions Flex represents the first offering of the company's new XOIP services, a series of next generation IP services that will leverage the XO national IP network and softswitch technology to provide customers advanced IP-based voice and data services.

XO is the only national competitive carrier focused exclusively on businesses to offer a simple, integrated VoIP services solution with unlimited local and long distance calling over its own Tier 1 IP network. In 2000, XO revolutionized the telecommunications industry with XOptions®, the first bundled services solution for businesses that combined local, long distance, Internet access and web hosting services for one flat monthly rate on a single bill.

Continue reading "Web Hosting Company XO to Launch Flex VoIP Solution"

Wednesday, Feb 2, 2005

Microsoft and Digital Dimension Team Up for Super Bowl XXXIX

Microsoft Corp. (www.microsoft.com) and Digital Dimension (www.digitaldimension.com), a four-time Emmy Award-winning visual effects and animation studio, today announced that Digital Dimension used Microsoft® technologies to create the visual effects for the opening sequence of Super Bowl XXXIX.

"We are currently implementing Windows Server System and customizing it for our unique needs for many reasons: total integration, performance and collaboration capabilities unheard of on any other platform," said Ben Girard, president and founder of Digital Dimension, which was named one of 10 digital studios to "storm the world" in 2005 by 3D World Magazine.

When the Philadelphia Eagles meet the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6, an estimated 140 million viewers worldwide will see one minute of cutting-edge visuals that were developed using Microsoft Windows Server System (TM) .

"The visual effects production market is booming," said Gerry Kaufhold, principal analyst with In-Stat. "But major networks need to keep tight control on what's being done, and the timelines for creating memorable images are constantly shrinking."

Digital Dimension, whose highly acclaimed visual effects have appeared in numerous movies, including "Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed" and

"The Last Samurai" starring Tom Cruise, has a reputation for leaving audiences amazed.

"For studios wishing to maintain a competitive edge, it's become increasingly important to keep up with technology advances," said Kimberly Till, vice president of the Worldwide Media & Entertainment Group at Microsoft.

Tuesday, Feb 1, 2005

HiNet Data Network Selects Cisco for Routers

Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com) today announced that HiNet, the data communications business group of Chunghwa Telecom (CHT), has selected Cisco's high-end Internet equipment to implement an all Internet Protocol (IP) Next Generation Network (IP NGN) to consolidate traffic of all its services.

"We are delighted to be working with HiNet to simplify and consolidate its network, not only to help it reduce capital expenses but also operational expenses," said Larry Chai, general manager of Cisco Taiwan.

The new CHT IP network will help CHT to reduce capital and operating expenses as it adds new services.

The Cisco 12800 Series Router is the industry's first field-upgradable 40gigabit-per-second (Gbps) core routing solution that can double the capacity of large IP MPLS networks without a complete equipment upgrade.

"Cisco and HiNet have developed a strategic relationship over the past few years. We truly value the advice provided by Cisco," said Dr. Yen-Sung Lee, president of Chunghwa Telecom Data Communication Business Group.

"We are also very pleased with the efficient deployment of the solution. We are confident that this new upgraded network will help achieve our objectives of increasing number of customers and reducing operating expenditure," added Dr. Lee.

The major installation of the CHT IP network took less than two months. The upgraded network is expected to serve more than three million customers, including the existing 2.5million ADSL broadband users. HiNet has been voted "Best choice of ISP" in Taiwan for five consecutive years in surveys conducted by Taiwan Information and Computers Institute for Information Technology.