InMotion Servers Hacked – But Great At Handling It
( The Best Web Hosting Service )- You know i certainly love InMotion hosting as my InMotion review clearly shows. But, one thing that was just impressive about them today was since their servers got hacked (believe me it happens wherever you host), but when it does they handle it very professionally.
Other hosting services on the other hand have never sent out an notification on this matter and to be honest with you some of them could care less, rather than just tell you they are working on the issue. InMotion actually sent out emails today showing you how to fix the problem since they are bombarded with calls from people that have gotten their websites hacked.
Here is a copy of the message that was sent out today:
Dear Garen Arnold,
As you may be aware, our network, and potentially your server, was the
target of a large scale website defacing attack this morning, Sunday,
the 25th. The defacement worked by replacing index files in all
public_html directories with the attacker”s index.php. At this time, it
does not appear to be any more malicious than taking over the web site”s
home page, but we are still reviewing servers at this time.
We understand the method the attacker used to accomplished this and the
main exploit path was through an internal management server that can
control Cpanel on other servers. The management server was used to
change passwords on the Cpanel servers then login with those passwords.
It does not appear that gaining passwords was a goal or was
accomplished, just password changes were used. Access to the management
server was gained from an exploited customer”s server that was within
our network.
Though our team moved quickly to disable the internal management server
and limit the exposure of the servers to this attack when it began, it
was a very serious breach and could have been much worse if the hacker
had intended to do more harm.
At this time, we want to be sure you are aware of the attack and your
server”s potential exposure. Our systems team has moved to repair the
index files, but the automated system is still running and may take a
few hours to finish all sites.
Please you review your sites if you have not already done so. If you
have a backup of your site, you may upload your index.php files to
correct this. You will most likely need to do this for each directory.
If your site uses an index.html or index.htm, you will need to upload
those files, then delete the index.php.
If you were affected and you need assistance recovering the home page or
other directory indexes, please contact us.
Further, if you feel your server has been targeted more in-depth than
the index.php defacement, please contact us immediately and we will do
an additional scan on your server.
Though it does not appear gaining passwords was an intent of this
attack, it is recommended that you update all of your passwords related
to your server.
Please note, our billing, domain management, and customer tracking
system (AMP) was not targeted, nor was available to the Cpanel
management server. It is on a separate network and firewall.
Please accept our apologies as we go through this process. We are very
aware of our failure in this situation and we will provide more details
when we have completed the work of recovery.
Again, please review your server and sites if you have not done so
already. Reach out to us immediately if you suspect a more in-depth
attack on your server.
Sincerely,
Todd Robinson
President
InMotion Hosting
Great job InMotion hosting and thanks for treating me well and helping to get my websites restored in no time at all 
Managed and Unmanaged Servers at a Glance!
( The Best Web Hosting Service )If this is the first time you’ll be creating your own site, it would be advantageous to know beforehand the difference between a managed and an unmanaged dedicated server.
In maintaining a site, especially with a large and complex website, you have to make sure that your site is always hacker free through constant updates of your security software, manage your database and at the same time monitor your storage spaces. And since there are lots of site being hosted, managing a site is important to make a site competitive, ensuring a constant amount of traffic directed to it. But keeping a server running in top condition can be a time consuming task. Also, take note that an adequate amount of knowledge is needed in maintaining a site. And because of such responsibilities, there are users, who either lacks one or both, that look for someone trusted to manage their site. Who else can manage the site and make sure the person or entity is trusted, other than the web hosting company. Thus managed server was born.
But, which of the two would you need most? Although you might not have the ample time to manage a site, but with appropriate knowledge you can easily segregate a small amount of time in managing your site. Or you can have a lot of time, yet you are having difficulties in acquiring or learning the skills needed in managing a site, like constant updates on your security features. Then it would be better for someone with a better caliber to manage your site.
But with managed server, expect that the cost would be more expensive than that of unmanaged server, since the hosting company will provide you additional service necessary to maintain your account or site. And it is true that unmanaged server is definitely cheaper, but bear in mind that you need to invest time to maintain your server on your own and possess the technical knowledge to carry out the task needed for your site to survive. Since with just a simple DDOS attack, and without time or knowledge, your site is doomed.
Although there are other options like hiring staff to manage your site, which is cheaper than the hosting company managing it, but make sure you trust the person and do a constant monitoring to ensure your site is safe and sound.
Overall, you have to weigh your options on whether going for a managed or unmanaged server. Here are the factors you have to consider:
- The complexity of your site – determine whether your site has a big amount of pages that needs constant updates. Unmanaged server is advantageous for a simple site like a blog site, whereas managed server is good for a company website.
- Time – determine whether you can allocate your time to maintain a site
- Technical skills and knowledge – you need to consider if you or your staff possess the adequate knowledge in maintaining a site to be on its peak condition.
Such factors will help you see the difference between managed and unmanaged servers.
The Truth about Unlimited Bandwidth
( The Best Web Hosting Service )You need Web Hosting when you do online business. The basic requirement when you want to subscribed to a web hosting plan is bandwidth. Bandwidth is an amount you have available to transfer web pages from the web server to the browsers of your online visitors. Web pages and graphics consume a large amount of bandwidth. Unlimited bandwidth hosting has developed because of vicious competition among web hosting companies. If you have unlimited storage and unlimited bandwidth you are assured that whether your website grows faster than you think it will there will be no problem.
Labeling bandwidth as unlimited is far from the truth. Although hosting companies have huge servers and fiber cables that can provide you the internet access for those sites that stored on their service it still has its limits. Hosting companies are limited to the amount of capacity that they have. Unlimited bandwidth can only be possible if the website hosting company has their own internet broadband company.
Unlimited bandwidth offer is dependent on the premise that not all their customers are using their bandwidth at all. What if at any given time customers will have peaks on their needs against the other customers like them then the bandwidth that they all need will not be sufficient for everybody’s use.
If you need that much bandwidth check the fine print of your web hosting company’s contract because it might contain information that says that if you exceed the their maximum bandwidth allotted for your website you need to pay for an upgrade. This usually takes place when you have an online store that has lots of pictures. There are also other examples on why you can exceed your present bandwidth need like when you have many visitors or traffic to your site.
Before you close that contract with your new web host provider do not forget about the server resources usage. This includes CPU, RAM and database connection. Without this bandwidth and disk storage issues would be worthless. To calculate your website’s bandwidth requirement the formula is the total page size multiplied by your estimated number of visitors.
Stating that they are offering unlimited bandwidth is almost close to impossible. Consumers do often grab attractive offers like this because of the word UNLIMITED but customers are unaware of its true limitations. Check in your hosting company’s Terms of Service (TOS) it is noted there what the real definition of unlimited is. Your best path for you to take is to plan ahead. After you estimate how much bandwidth you need multiply the figure by two to allow room for your future expansion needs. If you have exceeded your limit for your bandwidth use be sure that your web host provider will immediately contact you.
How Much Uptime Should You Expect For Your Web Hosting?
( The Best Web Hosting Service )People who subscribe to web hosting services expect that they would have an access to its remote server anytime of the day or anytime of the night, in short all 24 hours of it. Before we delve deeper into how much uptime is expected for web hosting let us first discuss what hosting uptime is all about. Hosting uptime according to Wikipedia is the percentage of the time that the host is accessible via the internet. A customer who is paying for hosting services expects that he/she will receive his maximum uptime value.
Uptime is always express as a percentage such as 99.99%. Uptime is use to measure how good a web hosting provider is in keeping all their systems functioning. The web host uptime dependability affects the running of the subscriber’s website. As long as the website is running its customers are happily browsing and accessing the functions that the website offers. A huge obstacle when grading your web host would be taking your web host word for what its worth that they have 99.99% uptime. The 1% make not be big in terms of number and percentage but when this translate to online business every little second counts.
Another way of viewing how uptime may affect your business is not just with minutes but lost in sales. Online customers are pickle minded if they think that your search engine does not work or is unreliable they will stop coming back to visit your web site and your ads or they will stop availing the services that you offer. When you are shopping for your Web Hosting provider do get those that are highly recommended or has good reviews with an guaranteed uptime of 99.5% or more.
When availing for Web Hosting services look for their terms in case there are unavoidable instances that there are unscheduled power outages. This can be called as server upgrade. Most hosts don’t take their sites down for more than 4 hours at a time, usually a lot less. Refunds for instances such as this will only be a couple of measly cents so be sure to keep a clear understanding that they will really refund you for the inconvenience. Some Web Hosting providers will only refund you during the time that you reported the power outage.
Ask your web host if they guarantee also your software uptime since in some cases the machine that runs your website us up and your website is still down. This will only be applicable if you are not the one doing the maintenance for your Web server software. Be sure that you have cover all of the inevitable when it comes to making arrangement with your Web Host provider since they would make many lame excuses so that you can’t claim reimbursement.
Indications that You Need to Switch from Shared Hosting to VPS
( The Best Web Hosting Service )Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting is slowly gaining popularity as the best hosting service. VPS means hosting of different entities for different clients but through the use of only one server. The VPS partitioning allows clients to share the server as a whole which includes connection and hardware. It is a combination of the services that a dedicated server and Shared Hosting can offer.
It is also much cheaper than a dedicated server and more efficient than Shared Hosting. Internet business owners are making the switch from their Shared Host to VPS. VPS is powerful than a dedicated server and this is a fact. You have lots of access to some of the things that cannot be access by the use of an entry level dedicated server. When you feel that your Shared Host service response is not fast enough and you start hitting the limits for your needs it is time to move on VPS.
The right time to upgrade from a Shared Hosting to Virtual Service Provider (VPS) is when you need more resources like space, memory (RAM) and bandwidth. Your gauge would be when your website reaches beyond 1,000 UVs per day. Another factor to consider is a VPS that offers operating system and software in case something happens. Learn to evaluate the control panel that VPS services offer hopefully it is something similar to what you are using now to save you time and effort in learning how to install a new control panel function. You must have the technical knowledge if you are the one responsible for handling the VPS account. Using Linux and UNIX platforms needs a wide range of knowledge of its basic commands to make changes in its configuration.
If you need any 3rd party application which is not provided by your present Hosting Provider on your Shared Hosting plan, all you need is to install the application from the Root access. Consider the price, technical and customer support that the VPS provider has to offer. Test the support by firing off some questions to see the response times. It is always wise to get the advice from other users. See what can work best for you like a making a choice between self managed and managed service.
Some other factors that might indicate that you need to switch to a VPS are when your resources cannot support a co-hosted website in a Shared hosting environment. Another case would be when your site needs to consume additional resources you must work out a plan accordingly. Another factor is when your website needs some customization and this is not possible with a Shared Hosting.
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