Category: Domain Related

January 15, 2018

Domain Related

Reading Time: 7 minutes

As we move into 2018, web app frameworks continue be the figurative utility knives for web developers, buoyed in large part by the fact that ever increasing facets of our lives are tied into the digital world and we need devices and apps that allow us to manage them effectively. They are essential for the development of different web applications like web resources, web APIs, and web services, and can serve to relieve some the extraneous tasks by - among other benefits - promoting the reuse of code, a HUGE plus for developers for whom time is a precious commodity. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’re a leading Canadian web hosting provider who - not surprisingly - strives to have our thumb on the pulse on trends in the web development world given the fact a great many of our customers are also the ones getting their hardhat on when it comes to building and maintaining websites. Java continues to be one of - if not the - construction platforms of choice for web development, and we thought it would be helpful to this week have a look at some of the better Java web frameworks that are ideally lined up with what web apps are going to need to offer in the coming year. Let’s have a look at 7 of them, with both pros and cons: JSF (JavaServer Faces) JSF is a net utility framework of Java, and it benefits greatly by being supported by Oracle. While it’s not the most ideal framework for Java development, it is easy to put to work because of documentation supplied by Oracle. Further, if EE environment Java is what you’re after then there will be no extra dependency on JSF. It enables a number of quality tools and rich libraries for expanding upon the complexity of an application. JSF uses server pages of Java and can support different technologies of Facelets and XUL. Pros: JSF is an important part of Java EE and will likely be a very ideal match for developers who use IDE software Cons: JavaServer Faces can be a little daunting to those without prior skills and experience with Java...

January 10, 2018

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Some of you may already be aware, but we figure it’s likely best to still put this piece of news out there. Arguably the largest security breaches ever affecting electronic devices were reported last week, on Jan. 2nd. Labeled as Meltdown and Spectre, these similar but slightly different security loopholes take advantage of security vulnerabilities in CPUs (central processing units) with hackers becoming allowed to access systems and read / copy highly-sensitive and private data, like passwords and more. Here at 4GoodHosting, we believe that part of what makes us a premier Canadian web hosting provider is the level of accountability we have towards the wellbeing of our customers in as far as their online interests are concerned. That said, we understand that each of you are also everyday people using digital technologies to make your life better just like anyone else and so we make an effort to share information like this with you. It seems that the consensus among web security experts is that these 2 security flaws are encompassing a new realm in security flaws, and may be indicative of worse things to come in the future. That’s not really cause for more concern than necessary, however, as the struggle between hackers and those charges with implementing effective protective measures has been going on for decades now. It’s jus that it may mean a need to dig a little deeper in the pushback this time. Let’s get into the specifics of Meltdown and Spectre. We’ll start by saying that as of 3 days ago there are no reported cases of this vulnerability being exploited on a large scale. Facts on Meltdown and Spectre Meltdown To put it simply, meltdown is a hole in programming that allows unauthorized access to the memory of an operating system like Windows, iOS, macOS, Linux etc., as well as the programs that run on it. History, passwords and other sensitive information can be accessed and taken. Spectre Spectre makes it possible for hackers to pass through the security walls separating different applications. The most pressing concern here is that the greater number of security measures in place, the greater amount of potential...

January 3, 2018

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

We’ll start this week as we should - by wishing you all a Happy New Year for 2018 and hoping that the coming year is a prosperous one. When it comes to Internet marketing there are a number of truths that don’t change in the slightest no matter which pair of digits are at the end of a calendar year. The importance of smart content marketing is most certainly one of them, and as such it makes for a good refresher topic for us to hit the ground running with as January arrives. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’re proud to be a top Canadian web hosting provider and we also enjoying seeing our valued customers have success with making themselves more visible to prospective customers of their own. It’s safe for us to assume that you’re already creating valuable content for your site, but are you doing so most effectively? The aim is always to be nurturing the public with quality content - whether that’s with text, video or audio - in order to educate it, foster relationships and provide the types of necessary information that creates an informed consumer that will accredit a portion of their becoming informed to you on the way to becoming a loyal consumer. Here’s the consensus most impressive and recent statistics on content marketing that will give you even more motivation to revisit your content marketing strategy. Genuinely Informative, Well Written Blogs Generate Traffic and Leads Creating, writing, and maintaining a blog related to your website or e-commerce site is always going to be priority number one for anyone who wants to increase traffic, but without a good supply of content for the consumer and the ability to write (and produce) quality materials for readers is an absolute must. There’s 2 sides to this equation, the knowledge / insight AND the ability to share it in attractive, readable form. If you can cover both sides of it, great. If not, you need to connect with someone who can take care of that for you. That may become an expense, but it’s entirely worth it. Look no further for proof than a Hubspot survey showing that...

December 28, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

A full year ago, at the close of 2016, it wasn’t going to be much of a stretch to say that cloud computing will continue to dominate headlines in the web world throughout the coming year AND beyond. Of course that turned out to be entirely true, and the ‘beyond’ at the end looks to be pretty accurate too with the fact that the Cloud is still front and centre as a newsmaker moving now into 2018. Here at 4GoodHosting, we buy in entirely to the belief that the best Canadian web hosting provider will always be one with their thumb on the pulse of digital and web publishing technologies. Accordingly we’re always immersing ourselves in every permutation with which cloud computing is affecting the daily lives of those with vested interests in their online presence. Look no further than the fact that that by 2020, it’s estimated that public IT cloud services will account for 58% of the $355 billion combined spending on traditional plus public cloud applications, development and deployment tools, infrastructure software, storage, and servers. Public cloud services aren’t going to be everything though, as the dominant cloud model in coming years will revolve around hybrid cloud systems. There seems to be a consensus on what the coming year will have in store as regards the Cloud, so let’s have a look at in detail for our last blog of 2017. Keeping An Eye on the ‘Edge’ Edge computing will become a part of your business, whether you choose it to do so or not. Many digital business projects create data that is processed more efficiently when the computing power is in close proximity to the thing or person generating it. Edge computing solutions make it impossible to embrace all the benefits of localized computing power. Those responsible for IT infrastructure and operations should understand the associated business value and risks when managing these solutions, and this applies to much more than just content. Advanced devices like IoT and IIot will be front and centre with the edge, with approximately 43% of IoT data likely being processed at the edge by the time 2020 rolls around. Questions...

December 19, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Businesses without an online presence are few and far between these days, and there is a vast number of options for web hosting for those who’ve joined the majority and taken their business online. The bulk of those business owners won’t know one type of hosting from the other, and that’s perfectly fine - we may well know little to nothing about the ins and outs of your industry also. Here at 4GoodHosting, part of what’s made us a top quality Canadian web hosting provider is the way in which we’re entirely receptive to the differing needs of businesses when it comes to optimally locating themselves on the World Wide Web. Web hosting is most certainly not a 1-size-fits-all utility, and we offer different options accordingly. Which leads us to this week’s discussion. Collocation is something of a ‘buzzword’ in the industry these days, and as such we’re going to lay it out in detail in this week’s blog. Conventional shared hosting will be fine for small businesses with a stable number of visitors, but a large multinational - for example - will probably have its own web servers. Those of you who are somewhere in between may want to look at colocation. What Exactly is Colocation? It’s when companies locate their own privately-owned web servers and IT equipment in a 3rd-party data centre. They don’t own the space, they rent it. The total space available will be rented out to many different companies, and the provider will offer day-to-day support to accommodate the entirety of the clients’ web presence needs. You’ll get bandwidth, power, cooling, security (physical and cyber), and as many IP addresses as needed. Client companies are responsible for maintenance and upgrades, but some data centres will offer this service for an additional cost. How much space is available in a colocation data centre? That’s a measure of racks and cabinets. The physical server equipment is kept on a rack, and most measure 1.75” high. On average, 47 racks make up a cabinet and clients typically can rent out full or half cabinets. Advantages of Colocation There are plenty of advantages to choosing colocation over shared or...

December 12, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Now more than ever before it’s very important for any website that allows for transactions between vendor and purchaser to have an SSL certificate. This is in large part because Google’s newest update is now geared to make any site without one very visible to anyone visiting it. In fact it’s actually even taking punitive measures against sites that don’t feature an SSL cert. In previous versions, websites with an SSL would get an SEO boost, but now any HTTP websites with any kind of text input will be tagged with a “Not Secure” warning prominently - and painfully - displayed in the address bar. Here at 4GoodHosting, we pride ourselves on being a Canadian web hosting provider that has something for everyone when it comes to taking your venture, business - or even just yourself - onto the World Wide Web. A good many of our customers are in business online, and we’ve been offering quality, affordable SSL certificates for many years now. Some people many not like this new reality, but it is what it is and in the big picture of things it’s a positive as identity theft and fraud are ever-increasing threats to those making transactions online. Let’s start with a little self-diagnostic tip. If your website is displaying the ‘Not Secure’ status, ask yourself these two questions: Is your website set up for taking text input? This can include contact forms, search bars, login panels, etc. Are you using HTTP://? Answer “yes” to both of these questions and - long story short - you need to install an SSL certificate for your website. But let’s dig into this deeper. Difference between a Shared SSL and a private SSL Certificate? There are differences. The two types of SSL available for a website are Shared SSL and private SSL certificates. Free SSLs are a third one, but there are plenty of reasons why you should stay away from free SSLs and we’ll get to that. We’ll start by making clear that there is no difference between a Shared SSL and a private SSL certificate as far as the level of encryption is concerned, or how effective that...

December 5, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

What’s that, you say? This week’s topic may seem a little ‘surreal’, but there is, in fact, such a thing as a zombie server and there’s increasing numbers of them out there draining away power and resources that could otherwise be put to more productive purposes. It’s certainly a power efficiency problem, but it’s also an environmental problem as well as a capital resource problem. Zombie servers have now become a major hassle for data centres around the world. Comatose devices running with no external communications or visibility, and contributing nothing in the way of computer resources. Here at 4GoodHosting, we like to think that staying on top of major trends in the industry is a big part of what makes us a good Canadian web hosting provider. And considering that estimates now suggest that there are over 10 million zombie servers worldwide, this is definitely one that we’d prefer to never be discussing again. These 10 million+ servers are wasting the equivalent of the electrical power generated by eight major power plants. Reliable research indicates that 30% of servers are comatose, and that means that almost one-third of capital in enterprise data centres is squandered. Then you add the security risk posed by zombie servers because of how they aren’t patched or maintained. The Horde is Growing It’s a fact that identifying a zombie server isn’t easy, and particularly for those who don’t interact with them frequently or extensively. More and more data centres with hundreds and thousands of comatose servers are completely unaware of the power these devices eat up. Many of these ‘zombies’ remain anonymous, devouring energy while providing no real active function. Example of their evil ways include dozing off for months at time, generating heat for no real reason, and accelerating the power meter simply for the sake of doing so. And more often than not the only way to identify them is to walk up down the aisles of a data centre with a clipboard taking notes of the transgressors. That’s something few operations managers have the time to do. Consider as well that another massively problematic issue related to these zombie servers is...

November 28, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 8 minutes

It’s safe to go ahead and assume that nearly all of us have sent an email to a prospective client or colleague and - without our being aware of it - had it end up in a spam folder when we thought it was received in their inbox and thus ready for viewing. Add the fact that people typically don’t search through their spam folders for emails that might’ve been misdirected there and it becomes a serious issue for anyone who’s putting considerable efforts into their email marketing campaigns. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’re a top Canadian web hosting provider who can absolutely relate to this because we’ve no doubt had a few or more of our own ending up being auto-deleted over time from a spam folder. That’s an opportunity lost, and like you we also put a lot of effort into our email marketing efforts. So what to do, what makes certain emails get caught in the spam folder when there’s nothing - at least to your understanding - ‘spammy’ about them at all? Of course, it’s because of spam filters. But how exactly do they work, and more specifically what are common triggers for them to take a legitimate email and label it as spam? Let’s discuss this today, and start by having a look at how spam filters work. Avoid Accumulating Points! Spam filters are software programs that scan emails as they flow into device. It is programmed with a specific set of criteria about filtering these emails. When the filter finds an email that matches the criteria, it is summarily sent to the spam folder. All good internet mail servers are equipped with a spam filter, and they can also be installed on network servers and individual PCs. The filters work with a point system, but of course you don’t want your email accumulating any of these points. When a certain limit or point value is reached during the email scan, the email is termed as spam and it is flagged or deleted depending on the user’s preference settings. So it now begs the question - how are these points calculated? Every email spam filter will...

November 21, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 8 minutes

Google is never one to stay the course for long, and this month they’re introducing a new security standard. Site owners and SEO experts that don’t make necessary changes may be seeing a significant drop in their search rankings and it’s certainly not something you want to be putting off for long. 4GoodHosting has established itself as one of the best Canadian web hosting providers, and along the way we’ve grown accustomed to have our thumbs on the pulse of trends in the online marketing world. We know how essential it is for business owners to be readily visible on the Web, especially given how web searches make up an ever-greater majority of how customers find retailers and providers. With the new Google Chrome 62 update, the search engine will designate any HTTP page that contains a form requiring a customer to fill out anything as being insufficiently secure. The consensus is that this is going to have a massive effect on search rankings, primarily because nearly every site uses a variation of a form on at least one page of their site. This is also going to extend to blogs that allow users to log in for posting comments and to make a long story short - basically every website online may be impeded by this update. This needs to be on the radar for site owners, SEO experts, Pay Per Click specialists, and AdWords consultants, but when we got the why of it all we need to first explore a previous update from March of this year, Chrome 56. Chrome 56 & New Security Protocol Google rolled out the Chrome 56 update 7+ months ago, and with it changed security protocol for websites online. Websites that requested a password from a user that was not encrypted were labelled as ‘not secure’ in the address bar. This meant that websites would now need an SSL certificate. With one, any connection or data shared between the site and the user is completely secure. The encrypted information is by and large entirely secure, and will foil even the best of hackers 9 times out of 10. An SSL certificate also reassures...