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...

November 15, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Part of being successful in today’s advanced digital technology world is being able to update your marketing strategy along with the advancement of new platforms. It was 8 years ago that Morgan Stanley, one of the most renowned Fortune 500 companies, predicted a rise in popularity of ‘Mobile Web’ compared to ‘Desktop PCs’ would be coming by 2014. That of course was spot on, and we all now know the broader and more overarching value in keeping a website responsive and mobile friendly. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’ve established ourselves as a top Canadian web hosting provide, and part of what’s given us that opportunity is the way we strive to be as informative as possible with anything from which our customers stand to benefit. We host a large number of e-commerce and business websites. While we haven’t had to convince these folks of the value of having ‘responsive’ websites, we have had to provide more clarification of just what that involves. We’re happy to do so here as well, with hopes that it adds value to what is already very affordable Canadian web hosting! Mobile’s Mega Relevancy Anyone’s who’s not considering mobile web traffic in their analytic data is likely losing significant revenue. While mobile web technology hasn’t entirely overtaken desktop, it’s quickly on its way to doing so. Be explicitly aware via which devices these new customers are entering your website and embrace how responsive web design will benefit your online marketing strategy. Defining Responsive Web Design Here’s a straightforward and sufficiently non-technical explanation - Responsive web design is one where the page loads and then operates with full functionality, whether you access the website URL with a desktop browser or a mobile browser. Site fixtures will rescale, as the page size will be taken into account. It’s important to understand that there are no separate version of mobile sites or tablet or desktop versions with responsive web design. The website is oriented for maximum flexibility, opening as it should with any respective device. The benefit of this in simple terms? Visitors enjoy optimal readability on all their favorite digital devices. And when it comes to the construction of...

November 7, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Upon being first introduced into public servers – and not that long ago, really - cloud storage and cloud computing was a mysterious entity entirely foreign to the general public, but oh boy did its advantages ever become readily apparent. Cloud storage and computing quickly made significant changes to the way people put their computing devices to work in every way possible, as well as redefining the way companies do business. However, as is always the way in the digital world, the same question is always ready to go. “What is next in the evolution of personal and business computing?” Here at 4GoodHosting, we have cemented ourselves as a leading Canadian web hosting provider with affordable rates. Behind all of us here is a genuine interest in developments in the E-world and all that goes along with it. Anyone who’s been as curious as we’ve been over the past decade plus will now that nothing stays ‘new’ for long, and that the engines driving technological advances in computing aren’t one to rest on their laurels. Let’s have a look at what’s the general consensus on what’s next – if anything – after the Cloud. Wholesale Changes Aplenty The cloud has been much more than just a place to store and access data, it has indisputably been an opportunity for growth in the IT world. This has been especially true for people beginning to understand the benefits of mobile business. If we were to list them all we’d fill your screen 20 times over, so let’s look only at the main developments: Company Data Instantly Accessible From Anywhere Companies have been trying to figure out more cost effective ways to do their work since the beginning of commerce itself hundreds of years ago. The Cloud has made it feasible to work from almost anywhere, provided there’s an Internet connection. Having an employee or contractor working remotely saves any company quite a bit in overhead costs. It also allows employees to set their own pace and often motivates people to increase their own leisure time by performing their work more efficiently. Without the cloud, only companies that that could afford multi-million dollar...

October 30, 2017

Hosting Related, SEO Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It would seem that of all the social media platforms, Twitter is the one that businesses struggle with most in understanding just how to harness it for effective promotional means. The common assumption is any shortcomings are related to your use of the ever-ubiquitous #hashtag, but in fact they’re not nearly as pivotal as you might think. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’ve done well in establishing ourselves as a premier digital marketing agency in Canada and a part of that is sharing insights on how to get more out of your online marketing efforts. Social media is of course a big part of that, and as such we think more than a few of you will welcome tips on how to ‘up’ your Twitter game. It’s easy to forget that these social media platforms have algorithms working behind them, and working quite extensively. What’s going on behind the screen controls and narrows down what you actually see on your timeline. For example, let’s say you have specific political affiliations. The algorithms ensure that the majority of the tweets you’ll see will be linked to that party’s views. Or perhaps you’re especially into sports. If so, plenty of sports news sources will be all over your timeline. Oppositely, if you dislike something then that theme will slowly end up disappearing over the course of the week or beyond. All of this is a reflection of ALL social media platforms, Twitter included, are using more and more complex algorithms to satisfy their user base and deliver content they are likely to find favourable. So this is what do you’ll need to know about Twitter’s algorithms, and the best ways to use them to your advantage. Keep Your Eyes Peeled For These There’s no disputing the fact that Twitter has faded quite considerably in popularity and the strength of its reach. Despite this, Twitter is really narrowing its scope of engagement and a key way to increase engagement is through increasing relevance of the posts seen. Directly from Twitter’s engineering blog, here are a few of the factors that decide whether a Tweet is sufficiently engaging and thus worthy of ‘appearances’ The level of...

October 23, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

This past week has seen an explosion of cautions extended to people using home Wi-Fi networks (which of course is pretty much ALL of us) regarding a security risk that makes private information and personal content increasingly vulnerable to theft or misuse. It’s certainly not the first time such an issue has come to the attention of the digital world, and it won’t be the last. This one, however, is particularly noteworthy given the fact that it has such far-reaching and widespread potentially negative implications for anyone who’s on the web via a Wi-Fi connection – at home or elsewhere. Here at 4GoodHosting, we strive to be on top of trends and developments in the industry to go along with being a premier Canadian web hosting provider. This ‘heads up’ should be especially welcome for business owners operating an e-commerce website, but we imagine it’s going to also be well received by your average web browsing guy or gal as well. Malevolence from your Modem? Credit for catching this new flaw goes to a team of Belgian researchers. They’re the ones who recently discovered a security vulnerability in the WPA2 protocol. The WPA2 protocol is a system of rules that dictate how your Wi-Fi networks function and behave. As mentioned, it’s a near ubiquitous and wide-reaching ‘standard’ – it’s installed and in use with almost every single modern Wi-Fi modem or router. We’re going to go ahead and assume that includes you, and as such this warning is one you’ll want to take note of and follow the precautionary measures we’ll lay out here. The research has indicated that there’s a loophole in the WPA2 rules that’s creating the possibility for hackers to tap into a Wi-Fi network and grab sensitive information that’s being relayed back and forth over it, with one example (and likely the most disconcerting of all the possibilities) being stealing your credit card details when enter them in the process of buying something online. Another possibility could be snagging your password when you enter it into the login for a particular website. Here is a good read on the issue in detail, via the official website....

October 17, 2017

Domain Related

Reading Time: 6 minutes

Over the past few months we’ve devoted a post or two to rise of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and how they’re still worth taking note of despite the fact they haven’t ‘taken off’ quite like people expected them to. Different people have different takes on whether they will ever become a legitimate player on the global currency scene, but we believe that there is in fact going to be a demand for currencies that are not internationally regulated by any specific bodies and can be uniform from one country / currency to the next. Here at 4GoodHosting, we’re a leading Canadian web hosting provider who also takes a keen interest in developments in the digital world. That’s likely a hallmark of any good provider –staying on top of trends and the like and choosing the most relevant ones to share with their customers. Right then, let’s continue. Not-So-Harmless Browsing It would seem that Internet ads are now the least of your concerns when it comes to annoyances. Recent news indicates that the websites you visit could now be prompting your computer to do what’s called ‘cryptocurrency mining.’ So with an existing understanding of what a cryptocurrency is, we now need to ask what exactly cryptocurrency mining is. The entirety of the creation, management, conversion, and transaction of digital currencies demands a lot of computing power. Each block of transactions involves computer owners around the globe racing to solve a very challenging cryptographic puzzle, and winning means you get paid in the relevant cryptocurrency. Contestants, known as “miners”, up their chances by building up their processing capacity. Most commonly this is done by building server farms in remote locations where electricity is cheap, but they are always searching for inexpensive ways to mine for cryptocurrencies more effectively. Conversely, website publishers are always on the hunt for new ways to generate revenue. The standard means – subscriptions, ads, etc. are often insufficient. They don’t have much appeal for most users, can be hijacked, and the big search engines like Google typically take their cut of revenues. So increasingly these days they are resorting to an unscrupulous approach. They’re offering miners access to the...

October 2, 2017

Hosting Related

Reading Time: 4 minutes

The top dogs in the world of web hosting all reside south of the 49th parallel, and their sway of influence over consumers and the way they command the lion’s share of web hosting business is well established down in America. Recent news from the Canadian government, however, suggests that their influence may be making perhaps the biggest of inroads up here in Canada too. Here at 4GoodHosting, in addition to being a quality Canadian web hosting provider we’re also keenly interested in developments that are both related to web hosting AND are tied directly to any of the different offshoots of the business as it pertains to Canada as a whole. As such, the Canadian Government’s announcement last month that it was moving web hosting for its departmental and agency website related to the Canada.ca domain to Amazon Web Services in the U.S. March of 2015 saw the government grant a contract to Adobe Corp. for a fully hosted service with a content delivery network, analytics, and hosting environments. Adobe then contracted Amazon Web Services in the U.S. to handle all of the government’s website data. That contract has been extended by one year, and the value of it has grown exponentially - to $9.2 million. It would seem that Canada.ca is now no longer as Canadian as it sounds. With all the reputable and reliable web hosting providers in Canada that would have no problem accommodating such a busy client, it’s worth taking a look at why the Federal Government would make this move. Related to the Cloud & ‘Unclassified’ The Government recently produced a draft plan for cloud computing that recommended that data deemed to be “unclassified” by the government — meaning it’s seen as being of no potential harm on a national or personal level — can be stored on servers outside of Canada. There is however some debate as to whose responsibility it is to determine what information should be considered sensitive. Further, when information is deemed sensitive, it remains unclear how that data will be stored, and where it will be stored. Of course, this raises some obvious questions on the part of registered...