Category: Domain Related

December 5, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

One truism that is valid all over the place nowadays is that space is at a premium. That can be for anything from parking on residential streets in the suburbs to the way major metro cities have no choice to be growing upwards rather than outwards. That is certainly macro level stuff, but if we’re going to look at it in the context of computing and data storage requirements it’s fair to say this is macro level too. As the business (and personal) world shifts to be increasingly digital all the time there are ever-greater demands for data storage, and creating ever-more physical storage with massive data centers and the like was never going to be doable. That reality is a big part of why there was the push to develop the solution that cloud computing eventually became. Anyone and everyone will know what cloud storage is nowadays, and most people will be using it in some way or another. Look no further than Google Docs or OneDrive for most of us, and the way businesses are taking advantage of cloud storage is definitely an instance where innovation is meeting BIG necessity. Without it there simply wouldn’t be enough physical storage available for even half the need that business all over the world would be creating nowadays. This is something that we can certainly relate to here at 4GoodHosting as a good Canadian web hosting provider, as like any we have firsthand experience with the need to increase data center capacity and all the goes along with that. We’re in the business of providing it through web hosting though, while nearly all other businesses will be in a situation where they need to be utilizing it. Cloud computing is there for that utilization, and a lot of work has gone into making it accessible to the extent it is. But now there are trends in cloud computing that are very much set to impact business operations, and that’s what we’re going to look at here with this week’s entry. File Storage / Creation Foremost Cloud computing has boomed over the last few years, with global spending on services reaching near...

November 28, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Laptop computers have been pretty darn great since they made their arrival and offered the portable alternative to a desktop. Being able to fold open a 13 or 15” workstation and hop onto a network has been an advantage that nearly all of us take advantage of on a very regular basis, and it’s quite possible you’re reading this on a notebook or laptop right now. Whatever you want to call them, they’re a huge part of our working and private lives, but one of the realities with a laptop is that you don’t dare travel very far or long from home base without the charging cable in tow. We’ve yet to meet a laptop that has an impressive battery, and one of the things about them – whether Mac OR PC – is that that they tend to hold charges even less well as they get older. The basics of that is understandable, as nothing works as well as it did when it was younger and computing hardware is no exception. Older smartphones have their battery dies very quickly too, but in all fairness here iPhones are MUCH worse than Android phones in that way, and don’t think for a moment that isn’t intentional on Apple’s part. But today we’re talking about laptops only, and looking more deeply into the why and how of laptop batteries being such a disappointment. This is a topic of interest here at 4GoodHosting in the same way it would be for any reliable Canadian web hosting provider because so many of us are on our laptops daily in the same way you are, and quite often they’re not plugged in – either by necessity or the fact we don’t want to be cabled up for whatever reason. We are web hosting experts in Canada, but we’re not tech experts to the same extent. In the last little while we’ve learned a little bit about why laptop batteries die so quickly, so that’s what we’re going to look at here with this week’s entry. Faster All the Time Sure, laptop and CPU makers do urge you to upgrade your PC as the performance can’t...

November 21, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

The way 5G network connectivity is set to revolutionize the digital world really isn’t grasped to the extent it should be by a lot of people, but what is right now a trickle when it comes to seeing it worked into mainstream applications is set to soon become a torrent. Of course for many people the only real look into it they’re making is whether their new smartphone is 5G enabled and what that means they can do on an individual level. Which is fine, but like stated the relevance of 5G is about to become super apparent to everyone in the near future. Not surprising that cyber security and the increasing emergence of 5G networks are moving in step with each other, as the ever-expanding risks with data breaches and other types of malicious activity are going to be magnified quite a bit with 5G. So the question for developers is what will be the best ways to ensure that the reach of 5G doesn’t mean that bad actors have a whole lot more reach too. This is a topic that nearly everyone will take some degree of interest in, but especially those of us here at 4GoodHosting in the same way it would be for any good Canadian web hosting provider. The way we browse and interact within the World Wide Web is going to be wholly changed by 5G too, and that means everyone like us is going to need to be able to pivot as needed. So let’s take a deeper dive into the need for better 5G network security in the very near future with this week’s blog entry here. New Needs for Modern Enterprise Networking One of the most highly anticipated technology advancements in recent memory is definitely the rollout of 5G. So much is being made about the advantages for consumers, but organizations are also set to benefit significantly. Next-generation cellular performance and low latency are going to be great, there are still some with valid concerns about whether 5G for business will meet all the security requirements of modern enterprise networking. Let’s start with the fact that cellular-enabled Wireless WAN (WWAN) has...

November 14, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Crypto has been talked about more than enough, even though there are plenty of people who don’t know that it has values that go far beyond just financials. At the root of all its capabilities is blockchain, and again most people are at least aware of how the technology of it has so much potential for improving much of everything humans do on larger scales. Yes, cryptocurrency is in a bit of a slum right now but the technology as a whole is going strong and blockchain is doing extremely well in making up the building blocks of Web 3. That’s a term that some may not know as well, but it’s for applications built off distributed, user-owned blockchains and the promise it has for speeding up improvements in all sorts of areas is nearly immeasurable. Healthcare and financial security are front and center there, and the reason this of interest to a good Canadian web hosting provider like 4GoodHosting is also because Web 3 has the potential to factor into what we do as a service provider too. There is a lot to look forward to if Web 3 gets off the ground the way we all want it too. There’s always going to be bugs in any type of new largest-scale digital development though, and when it comes to blockchain the biggest concern is with reliable, consistent performance that is going to be needed if Web 3 is to be leaned on the way people hope to be able to. So this is what we’ll look at with this week’s entry as it is one of those topics that’s worthy of a longer look if you have any sort of interest in getting as much as possible out of your investment in digital. Multi-User Functionality Over the next 10 years or so billions of people are going to begin using applications built off distributed, user-owned blockchains as part of the emergence of Web 3. One the ongoing biggest issues with blockchain networks is the need for an efficient way of detecting and resolving performance problems. Current analytics tools for monitoring websites and apps are right now designed for...

November 7, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Many of you may not need to know what an enterprise stack is, but if you do then there’s a darn good chance you either have one or you’re responsible for one. Businesses have no choice but to have their operations tailored to digital operating realities nowadays, and being visible online with their website is the only connection that a lot of people will make with that. What they won’t know is that any business relies heavily on data in ways that didn’t exist 20+ years ago, and that is where the real importance lies when it comes to those new digital realities. Software applications are commonly an enterprise stack’s weakest link. A 2020 report found that over 70% of external hacks result from vulnerabilities with software and web applications, and this pushes the need for better web application security. This is beyond the scope our expertise here at 4GoodHosting, as providing good web hosting in Canada is where we’re your best bet but having all the workings of your site being secure is something that everyone can see as important. So let’s use this entry to share what we DO know from doing a little reading of our own. So what is web application security exactly? It is the process of protecting your website and online services against cybersecurity threats that take aim at the app’s coding. Database administration tools like phpMyAdmin, content management systems like WordPress, and SaaS apps are the most common targets for web-app attacks. All Devices at Risk Hackers then use the breached apps to attack devices like smartphones, tablets, and computers when they have access to the internet. Sensitive personal information is often contained here, and this makes them appealing targets for hackers who’d like that data for performing fraudulent transactions. Retail, finance, government, and healthcare sectors are more likely to see cyber-attacks because organizations in these sectors hold massive databases containing personal and financial data. Companies lose the trust of their customers with security breaches, and that’s very understandable. Significant financial losses can result too. Look no further than the $575 million penalty given to Equifax because of a 2017 data breach that...

October 31, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Looking to analytics to determine what are the best courses of action is nothing new, and it’s been a part of making business decisions since long before the business world shifted to digital. I takes a trained and educated eye to make good sense of numbers and the like when doing that, but the parameters of everything were different when all of them were tracked manually and often jotted down on paper. As in nearly always the case with interests of any sort, computing technology has been very beneficial in making business analytics better. It’s not something business managers will be fully intuitive with right off the hop, and given how increasingly competitive the space is becoming for nearly any industry or commercial venture online it is important to at least try to be ahead of curves. Other businesses will be leaning on web analytics too, and so it is important to do as well as possible with turning your data into decision making. This is why some businesses will hire a 3rd-party advisor in this regard, and many times it is a worthwhile investment. Our business here at 4GoodHosting takes value from web data too of course, and that will be true for any good Canadian web hosting provider. The reason this topic becomes of even greater interest and worthy of an entry here is that many of our customers are also operating a website for commercial purposes, and when anything related to profitability is involved you’re going to want to get it right. So let’s look at how eCommerce is being transformed by web data. Big for Pricing Strategies Increasingly relying on insights drawn from web data to guide their pricing strategies is increasingly common for online businesses, plus for finding the best time for product and service launches. Estimates are that upwards of 80% of eCommerce businesses have bumped up their web data collection and management budgets over the past year, and that’s an immediate reflection of how this type of web data is really increasing in value. What web date provides for eCommerce businesses is enhanced visibility over the competitive online market landscape. It creates an...

October 26, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Progress isn’t going to be stopped, and while the ubiquitous shift to cloud computing makes so much sense given the way it removes the need for physical storage of data it still comes with challenges. They need to be met, as we’re not going to go back to having so much data stored physically and all the resources and energy required for doing that on planet with 8 billion people. So it is what is with regard to the challenges of having Multi Cloud platforms as the norm, and all that is left is to find ways to make it work. Security is at the forefront of all of that, and especially considering the ongoing rise in cyberattacks with both frequency and complexity. Business have the most to lose here of course, and the way it works that the larger the business the more sensitive data there is at risk if their cloud security isn’t what it needs to be. Providers aren’t resting on their laurels there, and there is ongoing progress with cloud security that fortunately is keeping pace with the threats these days for the most part. This is a topic of continued interest for us here at 4GoodHosting in the same way it would be for any reliable Canadian web hosting provider, and naturally because many of the sites we host are for people who have commercial interests in them. The reality of the current situation with MultiCloud security issues is that many businesses feel they are ‘sitting ducks’ of sorts and that they are far too much at risk of suffering a crippling cyber attack at this time. Increased Risk Multi-cloud setups are increasingly integral organizations of all shapes and sizes, but more and more of them are becoming difficult to secure properly. This exposes them to breaches that leak large amounts of sensitive data to malicious third parties. There was a survey recently where near 300 senior executives DevOps leaders, and seniors in other security roles had 70% of them reporting not enough confidence in their ability to properly secure both on-prem and multi-cloud environments. This comes at the same time that cyberattacks are on...

October 18, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

That’s not something that is exclusive to these types of websites, but it can be a little more perplexing when the site is simple and doesn’t have a lot of dynamic elements that would be asking for a lot of bandwidth of any other sort of technical explanation for its being slow. We won’t get into the workings of that, but what we will do with this blog entry is share what you can do to boost WordPress speed and performance without having to exert yourself too much. All these years later and WordPress continues to be easiest way for any not so web savvy individual to put together a basic website. For many of us it was the means for our introduction to web publishing of any sort, and the value that comes with the simplicity and practicality of it has never diminished. Next year will be WordPress’ 20th birthday, and way back in 2003 it was much more bareboned in the way it didn’t have all the many plugins that there are today. For a website that is more informational and content-based with text, WordPress continues to be the way to go. Any type of expansion of functionality with software of this type tends to be organic given its age, but fortunately with WordPress there continues to a sufficient number of enthusiasts who don’t mind putting a little bit of effort into that. This is something that those of us at 4GoodHosting will take an interest in, and that’s because there’s still many of the websites that we host for customers that are WordPress-hosted sites. That’s an indication of how it continues to be a popular option, but one thing that uses may find is that the speed and performance of the site starts to lag over time. Why Speed Matters Apparently from 2000 to 2016 the average human attention span has gone down from 12 to 7 seconds. The relevance of this to anyone who’s behind a website is that you have very little time to show users your content and convince them to stay on your website. Nowadays so many of them will leave a website...

October 10, 2022

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Most of us are plenty agreeable with letting things go when it’s time to let them go, unless of course it has some sentimental value like something your grandfather gave you or the very first one you had of whatever it is. But usually when we talk about hoarding, we’re talking about tangible objects, meaning things that you can hold in your hands or at the very least physically touch. It’s not uncommon for the scope of things to expand, and in this case, technology has made it so that with hoarding it appears you can hoard inanimate objects too. We wouldn’t be talking about this here if it didn’t have some connection to the digital world and data storage, and but it seems that digital hoarding is now a thing. The old stereotype of a hoarder also having far too many cats in a house with little if any space to move around has to go now, as these new types of hoarders are likely going to be living lives just as normal as the rest of us. This does have everything to do with how the demand for data storage has been met with more it, but there are some that want to be retaining more than they’d need. This is a topic that we can relate to here at 4GoodHosting, and in much the same way that any good Canadian web hosting provider would give the fact that data storage is front and center for all of us. It certainly should be something to be used judiciously, but that’s just not the case as it with so many things in life where one is able to have a ‘possession’ – animate or inanimate in this case. What’s to be done? That’s what we’ll look at with our blog entry here this week as we go over what is likely an entirely new term for all of you – digital hoarding. As data storage has become more accessible than ever, the amount of digital "stuff" we all have stashed away is on the rise, too—for many of us, it's becoming more unwieldy by the day. More Bytes This...