by: Chris Hudson
15 August, 2009
Virtualization giant VMware has proposed a $362m takeover of Java framework specialist SpringSource.
VMware hopes the acquisition of the relatively small SpringSource will provide it with the talent to make its vSphere virtualization hypervisor and management layer work with cloud applications.
The takeover should be complete by early October 2009.
by: Chris Hudson
12 August, 2009
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has revoked the accreditation of 3 domain name registrars for various offences.
South American Domains, Simply Named and Tahoe Domains are all based in the US and host 296, 298 and 231 top level domains respectively.
Under ICANN rules, the domains controlled by the three domain name registrars will be available for transfer to reliable third-party domain name registrars such as ourselves, Intrahost Ltd.
As with all things in business, this serves as a warning to do some due diligence on firms with which you have dealings on the Internet.
Don’t be fooled by size either, last month Network Solutions, one of the biggest names in domain names and hosting admitted its ecommerce servers had been hacked. Only last year EstDomains was shutdown, by ICANN revoking their accreditation, and 281,000 domain names had to find new registrars.
by: Chris Hudson
Yesterday a Texas judge granted an injunction banning Microsoft from selling MS Word in the United States!
Canadian company, i4i, sought an injunction as it believes Microsoft has infringed its XML patents.
The injunction “prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML”.
Microsoft have 60 days to comply with the injunction but has said that it plans to appeal.
As i4i’s business is based on selling XML products for Word it is highly likely that a settlement will be reached allowing Microsoft to legally resume selling MS Word in the US.
by: Chris Hudson
Apple have released v4.0.3 of their web browser, Safari, largely to address a number of security issues in Vista, Windows XP and Mac OS X.
This Safari 4.0.3 update is available through Apple’s Software Update system, or as a download for Mac OS X 10.4.11, 10.5.7 and 10.5.8, Mac OS X Server 10.4.11, 10.5.7 and 10.5.8, and Windows XP and Vista.
The update focuses on six problems, some critical including buffer overflows in XP and Vista that can cause crashes or arbitrary code execution and a buffer overflow in Webkit that affects both Windows and Mac and again could lead to crashes or even malicious code execution.
The update also prevents the ability to promote malicious websites into Safari’s Top Sites page, the disclosure of sensitive information, the launching of file URLs and provides fixes to the handling of look-a-like characters in domain names.
This final problem is also known as a homograph spoofing attack, where phishers may replace a Latin character in a URL with one from, say a Cyrillic alphabet, that looks visually similar to the Latin character but is actually perceived as an entirely different character by a browser. This enables phishers to register domain names that look similar to familiar brand names.
by: Chris Hudson
10 August, 2009
Here at Intrahost we have created another irresistible virtual server deal!
Last week we revealed our sensational offer - “buy one virtual server and get another VDS free of charge for twelve months“.
This, of course, is a great offer for the power user and those companies that need a testing or development server.
But what if monthly cost is an important criterion in your choice of virtual server host, rather than just power? Have Intrahost a deal for you?
We certainly have! We have reduced the cost of our entry-level, Linux, virtual dedicated server to just £14.95 per month!
The good news is that this is a permanent price reduction on VDS from Intrahost.
Don’t worry though, we haven’t compromised the quality upon which Intrahost has built its reputation. Despite that low price you are still getting top-quality, brand name kit - HP servers, Cisco switches etc. - housed in UK data centres. Moreover, the Linux virtual dedicated servers still come with UNMETERED monthly traffic and a 99.99% uptime backed by our leading money-back guarantee - it’s in our SLA!
So, if the time has come for your business to grow up and leave behind the world of shared or reseller web hosting by moving onto your own dedicated server you should take advantage of Intrahost’s generosity and a grab a Linux Value Virtual Dedicated Server package today!
by: Chris Hudson
7 August, 2009
Intrahost has raised the bar for UK hosting companies once again - this time we’re offering a FREE virtual dedicated server with every PRO VDS package taken out until the end of October - or while stocks last!
Incredibly, that’s two virtual dedicated servers for the price of one. (Some of you may be more familiar with the term VPS than VDS, but in practice they amount to the same thing).
Basically, take any PRO VDS from us we’ll let you have a VDS VALUE package, with your choice of operating system (Windows or Linux), totally free of charge for a full 12 months!
If you wish, you may choose different operating systems on each of your virtual dedicated servers. So, if you’ve ever considered having a development or testing server but dismissed it as too expensive this is a heaven-sent opportunity!
Obviously, with an offer like this the number of free dedicated virtual servers is limited and we are expecting a huge uptake, so it is strictly “first come, first served”!
Don’t worry, although the VALUE VDS is totally free it is of the same quality as the PRO VDS, it uses exactly the same top quality brand of physical server and ancillary equipment and it will be based in the same UK data centres - we haven’t cut any corners in bringing you a quality VDS offering.
In case you’re wondering, here’s the only small print (not literally) to Intrahost’s excellent free virtual dedicated server offer:
How do I get my free Intrahost virtual dedicated server?
When you order ANY Intrahost PRO virtual dedicated server package you’ll be sent a voucher code so that you can select a Value VDS via the checkout as normal, but you’ll not be asked for payment.
by: Chris Hudson
3 August, 2009
You do have a SLA with your current web hosting company, don’t you?
Not sure?
Or was your reaction simply, “What’s a SLA?”
That’s not surprising, the first time many customers hear about an SLA, or Service Level Agreement is when their web site is down and they’re trying to find out what they can do about it.
Many of those same customers are shocked when they find there is nothing they can do about it because (especially if they are on a minimum year-long contract and no get-out clause) the web host either has no SLA, or the SLA is totally favourable to the web host or the SLA’s “guarantees” are worthless. We’ll be taking a look at those three scenarios in a minute.
If you are responsible for running a company’s commercial website then you should NEVER host your website with a web hosting company that does not have an SLA.
As a webmaster your mantra should be: No SLA - no deal!
(If you want to see a Service Level Agreement here’s ours as an example. You may want to compare it to that of your hosting company).
Typically, the SLA will include a network uptime or availability figure. This is where you may wish to get a big pinch of salt ready with the figures fed to you by some companies. When looking at a SLA ask yourself:
You may be familiar with the uptime figure, it’s used as a hook by most hosting companies to get you to sign up with them - the figure is usually 99% or above - but for many hosting companies the figure is worthless. That uptime figure needs to be in the Service Level Agreement, backed by a money-back guarantee or you are being short-changed - literally.
Firstly, you have the companies that have no SLA, often the excuse used is that it is a “budget” web hosting account that costs so little that they can’t afford to give uptime guarantees. Then why don’t they say that instead of splashing “99.9% uptime” all over the sign-up page? If they have so little confidence in their product that they won’t offer ANY guarantee, say even 80%, then just how bad is their service. AVOID!
Then there’s the companies with an SLA, but they have no actual way of being able to justify that figure they used. Often these are affiliates or resellers of another company’s hosting and they have no access to the actual uptime figures nor influence over the uptime. They are consumers of someone else’s products just like you, but slightly higher up the food chain.
What if you can show that the actual availability of your server was less than the headline uptime figure used by your web host? Disappointingly, that’s when many people find out that a guarantee isn’t always a guarantee!
Unless the web host offers a guarantee that includes money-back in the event of their failure to live up to their promises (e.g. uptime) then it is not a guarantee - because they don’t have to give you anything back in the event that their service falls below the level they promised! They suffer no penalty for failing to fulfill their specious “guarantee”.
Those of us with a legal background know that there are ways to make companies live up to promises but let’s be honest do you really want to have to go to Trading Standards, the Better Business Bureau or the County Court to extract compensation every time your website is down?
Wouldn’t life be easier if you just hosted your commercial (or personal) website with a company that excelled at keeping it servers running year-after-year, and that provided you with written details of the refunds that you would receive in the, highly unlikely, event that they didn’t do exactly as they promised?
Needless to say, here at Intrahost, even our “Value” entry-level, £4.95 pm, shared web-hosting account is backed by a written, money-back guarantee, in our Service Level Agreement.
Your next step is to check that you have a SLA with your current host - if not - MOVE!
If you have an SLA read it carefully, you’re looking for a guarantee of uptime, with reasonable exclusions (stuff that the host can’t really do anything about), and a clear and specific refund amount for each hour your site/server is down; and a reasonably easy way of proving and claiming for, that downtime. If any of those features are missing it is time to seek another more responsible web hosting company.
by: Chris Hudson
Our offer of “double memory” on dedicated servers has proved so popular that we have extended it until 31st October 2009.
So, just sign up for and Extra or Pro package on an Intrahost dedicated server and we will double the supplied memory, free-of-charge!
Even better news, you get to keep that double memory for as long as your are renting the dedicated server from us. So renew after the first year and you get to keep the benefits of that extra RAM.
Remember, Intrahost only supply and use top-quality, brand-name servers and ancillary equipment, all based in UK data centres that feature the best in security and reliability. That’s why our current availability (uptime) record is BETTER than 99.99%, and we guarantee the 99.99% in writing, in our Service Level Agreement.
by: Chris Hudson
Get a .com domain registration completely free of charge from Intrahost!
In a UK first, Intrahost are offering a free .com domain name with every 12 month web hosting package.
You can even choose the operating system on your web hosting server - Windows or Linux - and you also get to choose the control panel that you use to maintain the web host account - cPanel or Plesk.
Remember you can host an UNLIMITED number of domain names on a single Intrahost web hosting account.
(You DON’T have to change registrar on existing domains to host them on your Intrahost web hosting account - simply go to your domain’s account at your existing domain name registrar and alter the DNS record to point at the IP address that we give you when you open your Intrahost web hosting account).
This free .com offer is available on ANY Intrahost web hosting package, and naturally we include all services normally associated with a domain registration service such as DNS management & name server control via a control panel.
Our web hosting packages start from the equivalent of a highly competitive £4.95 per month - £59.40 per annum.
