Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

CentriLogic Launches First Canadian-Based Distributed Cloud Computing Service

2010-04-30T08:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - CentriLogic has launched the first international, multi-infrastructure cloud computing service based in Canada. The new enterprise-class cloud provides a secure and scalable on-demand computing infrastructure enabling organizations to efficiently deliver content and information services over the Web. The new cloud service enhances CentriLogic’s suite of hosting and managed services including, Co-location, Private and Managed Hosting, Data Management, Security, Network and Professional Services.

Utilizing resources housed initially in CentriLogic’s Mississauga, Ontario Data Center, the new multi-infrastructure cloud supports organizations that need to collect and process data while addressing cross-border regulatory concerns.

“Today’s enterprise customers require the power, flexibility and availability of an on-demand cloud computing infrastructure,” said Robert Offley, CEO of CentriLogic. “With the adoption of cloud computing and SaaS (software as a service), organizations are becoming concerned about regulatory compliance issues based on the geographical location of their data and applications. CentriLogic has responded by providing the first distributed cloud computing service based in Canada, so that customers have the choice of location while benefitting from a scalable and secure computing infrastructure. By deploying the Enomaly Elastic Computing Platform, we are able to construct and manage multiple, geography-specific clouds across our Data Center facilities and networks in Canada and the U.S.”

CentriLogic’s new cloud service allows customers to access and manage any number of virtual servers running Microsoft Windows or Linux through a web-based dashboard, as well as automatically scale up and down their use of cloud servers through a robust web-based API. Utilizing the Enomaly Elastic Computing Platform, the new cloud can be used to host Web Sites, power internal business applications, provide burst capacity to meet peak loads for existing systems, and provide a highly flexible, virtual element to an existing physical infrastructure.

CentriLogic cloud service customer Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada needed the power and flexibility to manage large fluctuations in web traffic that were placing unpredictable demands on their hosting resources. “Due to the nature of the websites and applications we have running, we utilize a number of different server and operating system configurations,” says Karl Sutton, IT Specialist, Mortgage Alliance Company of Canada, “For example, our Mortgage Sweepstakes and E-learning applications like MAC TV, can see large fluctuations in traffic that place unpredictable demands on our hosting resources. CentriLogic's cloud gives us the ability to scale up dramatically in a short period of time, allowing us to address periods of increased usage without provisioning for these peaks while keeping our data close to home"

CentriLogic’s Canadian cloud service is now available to customers. The company’s U.S.-based cloud, currently offered to select customers, will be publicly launched this summer. For more information on services and pricing call 1-866-366-3678 or visit www.centrilogic.com/cloud.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/centrilogic_launches_first_canadian-based_distributed_cloud_comp.html

Parallels Adds CloudLinux to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5

2010-04-30T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - CloudLinux recently announced that Parallels has included CloudLinux in its newly released version of Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 control panel. Parallels, a cloud enablement leader, has included CloudLinux as one of the Linux OS options in its newly released Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5, and is available for all 9.X versions of the product. Parallels chose to include CloudLinux because of its Lightweight Virtual Environment™ or LVE technology that is designed specifically for hosting service providers to provide greater density and stability in shared hosting and multi-tenant environments. Parallels is also impressed with the impact CloudLinux has made on the hosting market since its launch in February 2010.

"It makes sense for us to include CloudLinux as one of the native operating systems in our Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 product because it gives our customers the significant advantages of improved performance and stability so they can deliver better services to their small business customers," said Jack Zubarev, President at Parallels. "Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 is the most feature-rich control panel for shared hosting and, with the addition of CloudLinux, supports the fast industry adoption we are seeing for this product."

According to Parallels, the Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 is the number one control panel in the world with thousands of applications that deliver the easiest, most profitable and most complete service for virtual, dedicated, and shared hosting providers.

“LVE is a great addition to the Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 features,” states Igor Seletskiy, CEO and Founder of CloudLinux. “CloudLinux can help Parallels deliver the fully integrated and professional experience their customers have come to expect from a major virtualization and cloud computing leader.”

What makes CloudLinux so attractive to hosting providers is its core technology Lightweight Virtual Environment™ which is a kernel-level technology that limits the amount of resources (CPU, I/O, memory) available to a group of processes. With LVE, administrators have the tools to control the CPU and IO demands of individual tenants, so that a single site cannot slow or take down a whole server. While similar in approach to container virtualization, LVE is lightweight and transparent. The LVE level fair-share CPU scheduler makes sure that each account gets enough CPU resources to run efficiently. This innovative CloudLinux OS technology offers service providers increased control as never realized before with traditional OS.

CloudLinux OS provides additional benefits to Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 users including:

• Innovative lightweight and transparent LVE technology that increases server stability and performance
• Decreased downtime
• Ability to allocate resources to individual server tenants efficiently
• Increased control over traditional OS
• Complete, 24/7 support
• Compatibility with the major control panel for easy management and deployment

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/parallels_adds_cloudlinux_to_parallels_plesk_panel_9_5.html

Purity Networks Announces Free Antispam

2010-04-30T08:12:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Purity Networks announced today the general availability of its new Free User program which gives customers a free UserProtect license for the life of their account. There is no purchase necessary, no credit card required, no strings attached.

The UserProtect service provides users with the full range of Purity Networks’ email protection services, including protection from spam, viruses, phishing and other malware, priced on a per user, unlimited volume basis. Each user account is only $10.95 per year with volume discounts available. Monthly billing options are available to accounts with 10 users or more.

“We want to give people the ability to try and use our services with no strings attached,” said George A. Roberts IV, President and CEO of Purity Networks. “We’re sure that our Free User offer will give them that opportunity. Besides, people love free stuff!”

For more information on the Free User offer, see http://www.purity.net/service/freeuser.php.

Purity Networks backs all of its services with a 30 day, 100% money-back satisfaction guarantee. A 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 24-hour support response guarantee are also provided to all customers at no additional charge.

For more information on UserProtect and to order service online, see http://www.purity.net/service/.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/purity_networks_announces_free_antispam.html

CyberlinkASP Completes SAS 70 Type II Audit at Dallas Datacenter

2010-04-30T08:10:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - CyberlinkASP announced the completion of the company's second annual SAS 70 Type II audit. CyberlinkASP enlisted an outside accounting firm and subjected itself to a rigorous third party review of all infrastructure, personnel, policies and procedures at its Dallas data center facilities.

"This has been a major initiative for us the past two years as more and more firms require documented security policies and procedures relating to IT. We feel it's a must for anyone hosting or managing mission critical information technology," said Stephen P. Phillips, President of CyberlinkASP. This wide-ranging SAS 70 audit reviewed every aspect of CyberlinkASP's business, operations, security policies and executive oversight.

In addition, CyberlinkASP also maintains a secure PCI Compliant hosting environment within its mix of managed hosting solutions. CyberlinkASP continues to gain market share as more and more firms adopt its virtual private cloud and Citrix powered technologies.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/cyberlinkasp_completes_sas_70_type_ii_audit_at_dallas_datacenter.html

Palladium Hosting Announces Hosted Exchange

2010-04-30T08:08:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Palladium Hosting recently launched a new line of Hosted products including Exchange 2010, Blackberry, Sharepoint, Office Communication Server, and Dynamics CRM. The service is designed to assist customers who need today's technology for communication and collaboration, rely on devices powered by BlackBerry and Windows mobile, but don't want the expense of designing and maintaining their own infrastructure.

Palladium Hosting - Elemental to your Business"Our products deliver 99.999% up time, with a 100% mail data protection guarantee allowing companies and their employees to communicate and collaborate with confidence using their mobile devices, a capability which has become critical to the success of any business," said Wayne Freeman, the founder of Palladium Hosting, which offers various hosting solutions to personal and business customers throughout the world.

The key advantage to using this service, Freeman said, is that companies no longer are required to maintain expensive networks -- necessary for BlackBerry and corporate collaboration solutions -- in-house, and maintain the IT staff that comes with it. Through this service, the necessary software is hosted for the client, eliminating the cost and resources that come with housing such things within the company. Palladium takes care of server updates, software licensing, upgrades, and all the administrative headaches of in-house solutions, allowing you to focus on your core competencies.

With Palladium's solution clients can access their corporate Sharepoint portal, Customer Relationship Management tools, and the complete array of email and scheduling functionality irrespective of their location, enabling you to work when and where you need.

Palladium Hosting offers web hosting services for private customers, as well as full-service hosting for corporate customers that complies with necessary PCI, HIPAA, SOX, GLBA, and SB1386, and other legal requirements.

Exchange, Sharepoint, Dynamics CRM, Office communication Server, and Blackberry are trademarks of their respective owners.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/palladium_hosting_announces_hosted_exchange.html

rackAID and R1Soft Host Linux Server Backup Best Practices Webinar

2010-04-29T08:24:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - rackAID and R1Soft will host a free webinar: Best Linux Server Backup Practices featuring Jeff Huckaby, CEO and founder of rackAID.

rackAID Managed ServicesThe webinar will be held on April 28th, 2010 at 12:30 PM EDT.

“Backing up one server can be a pain, but imagine what you need to do if you have 100’s. Fortunately, we found a cost-effective solution in R1Soft’s CDP technology which we deployed in 2007. Since then, we have helped many clients restore lost data due to accidentally deletion, security issues, hardware failures and even a fire. In this webinar, I want to pass on some of what we’ve learned at rackAID in backing up 100’s of servers so that businesses can make good decisions about their backup and recovery plans, “ said Mr. Huckaby.

rackAID specializes in managed service for Linux powered operations. More than 90% of their server management clients use their R1Soft powered backup and recovery services.

This webinar will focus on backup strategy, implementation and management with some time for questions and answers with the rackAID team.

As an added bonus, R1Soft will be giving away a Bose SoundDock to a lucky attendee.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/rackaid_and_r1soft_host_linux_server_backup_best_practices_webin.html

Social Media Staff Use Causes Security Concerns for IT

2010-04-29T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - More than half (61%) of IT decision makers in the UK see the security threat of staff use of social media as their biggest concern, according to new research by LANDesk Software, a global leader in PC lifecycle management, endpoint protection and IT service management.

The study found that IT departments are facing an uphill struggle to regain control of the way they enforce policy and practice within their organisations as they face a power struggle against increasingly digital-savvy employees.

“Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have changed the way we communicate with one another,” says Andy Baldin, VP EMEA, LANDesk. “Today more end-users than ever are able to easily download software and manage the way they use IT. As a result, many employees see themselves as their ‘own IT Manager’, which has the potential to cause a number of problems for organisations. As applications evolve, end-users increasingly download new software add-ons, which can expose businesses to new security threats.”

Despite the fact that the majority of firms do have strict policies around the use of social media (73%) and internet downloads (89%) in place, the study showed that one in three were unsure that these were being adhered to.

Indeed, 55% of employees surveyed admitted to downloading software from the internet to a corporate computer. Almost half (48%) of those downloads were found to be non-work related, leading to a quarter of employees needing to contact IT helpdesks to fix resulting problems.

Furthermore, the study found that 58% of staff admitted to posting company information on social media platforms, creating additional security challenges through the potential loss or leak of sensitive information.

Baldin continues: “There’s no question that as social media continues to evolve, IT departments will find themselves fighting more fires, resulting in greater resourcing and financial pressures. Systems management and security software can help solve a number of these problems, but only when customers are using all the functions available, which all too often they’re not. We would encourage all IT departments to get in touch with their software vendors to learn about the tools and practices that can be put in place to help minimise security threats and future proof their business.” http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/social_media_staff_use_causes_security_concerns_for_it.html

Certified Hosting Introduces Unlimited Web Hosting

2010-04-29T08:20:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Certified Hosting, a leading shared, reseller and dedicated server hosting company, announced today its unlimited hosting options featuring unlimited bandwidth and unlimited disk space. Website owners concerned with exceeding their monthly data transfer and traffic limits benefit by using Certified Hosting's unlimited web hosting plans.

"Businesses and websites limit their opportunities for success and growth when they must calculate the correct amount of monthly visitors and data transfers they need without exceeding that number," says Kacy Carlsen, President and CEO at Certified Hosting. "At Certified Hosting, there are no limitations with our unlimited bandwidth hosting, unlimited domain hosting and unlimited disk space hosting plans. Website owners can concentrate on business strategy and generating more traffic without having to worry about their web hosting plan supporting that kind of growth."

Certified Hosting's unlimited web hosting, reseller hosting and dedicated server hosting also include unlimited options and tools for building and customizing websites. Each web hosting plan features an easy to use control panel with support and scripts for blogs, forums, video, images, databases, shopping carts, email and other tools to help webmasters build powerful websites. Webmasters redesigning a website or transferring data from a different web hosting company have immediate access to Certified Hosting's free website templates and free file transfers to make the process simple and intuitive.

"Unlimited options for creating, maintaining and protecting your website is what we guarantee with unlimited web hosting at Certified Hosting," says Carlsen. "The available options are limitless, and our highly qualified support staff is always available and eager to answer questions, troubleshoot, and explore all the possibilities that are best for the goals of any type of website."

Certified Hosting's unlimited web hosting plans are insured with an optional Certified Protection plan. Hosting unlimited domains, unlimited disk space, and unlimited bandwidth are standard, and the Certified Protection ensures continuous service for shared web hosting in case of server resources overload.

"Many people want the freedom unlimited web hosting offers them in terms of resources, support and room for growth," says Carlsen. "Certified Hosting guarantees 99.99% uptime with 24-7-365 technical support and an anytime money back guarantee so you can feel comfortable knowing your website and your data are in good hands."

Certified Hosting offers reliable unlimited web hosting with unlimited bandwidth, unlimited domain hosting and unlimited disk space for any type of website in addition to dedicated server hosting and reseller hosting. Visit the Certified Hosting website, certifiedhosting.com, for more information on how unlimited hosting can support your website's growth.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/certified_hosting_introduces_unlimited_web_hosting.html

HostingCon Announces the Theme For This Years Conference

2010-04-29T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - HostingCon, the premier conference and trade show for the web hosting and hosted services industry, today announced the theme for HostingCon 2010 in Austin, Texas: Piloting Into the Cloud - Setting a Course for the Future.

"Without a doubt, the Cloud is the 800-pound gorilla applying market pressure and likewise opening new opportunities within the industry," stated Kevin Gold, the Chariman of HostingCon 2010. "Whether a company decides to go up, around, through or beneath it, one way or another, companies must strategically confront the Cloud and set a plan in motion for how to compete."

The conference is adding a dedicated Cloud track to its educational program to reinforce the important role it will play in the future of the web hosting industry. Additional tracks covering Marketing & Sales, Technology, Business Development and Data Centers round out the HostingCon 2010 program.

In addition to the new educational tracks, HostingCon 2010 will feature:

66% C-level executives in attendance
120+ companies on the exhibition floor (currently 90% sold out)
35% more speaking panels (versus individual sessions)
40% new speakers; thought leaders from across the world
3 networking events, including a Happy Hour in the Exhibit Hall

HostingCon 2010 will be held July 19 - 21, 2010, at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas. Over 1,500 hosted services professionals from more than 30 countries are expected to attend.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/hostingcon_announces_the_theme_for_this_years_conference.html

SEO Expert Gary Barnes Joins Blue Horseradish

2010-04-29T08:17:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Blue Horseradish recently announced that Gary Barnes has joined the company as an SEO expert. Barnes has over eight years of web marketing and SEO experience, including over 70 web marketing projects, 30 new or revamped customer websites and over 100 website assessments. These SEO projects have resulted in numerous client success stories with documented results typically focusing on new and retained sales via web marketing.

Gary Barnes joins Blue Horseradish Web Marketing/SEO teamBarnes' specialties include internet marketing strategy and tactics, search engine optimization (SEO), project management, social media and web analytics. He has consulted with companies from a wide range of industries including manufacturing, engineering, medical devices, aerospace, automotive, legal, printing and consumer goods.

"I love working with companies to grow their business and utilize the internet as a vital component of their marketing strategies," comments Barnes. "And I'm excited to join Blue Horseradish."

Gary believes in an integrated marketing approach based on strategic planning, accurate data, strong project management and continuous improvement. He looks forward to generating results for more clients in his new position.

Blue Horseradish Principal Larry Chrzan says, "It's great to have Gary aboard. He's an experienced and successful SEO professional with many talents. I'm sure he will continue his great track record of successful customer engagements. It's good to be working with Gary again."

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/seo_expert_gary_barnes_joins_blue_horseradish.html

Hostway Announces New Executive VP and GM

2010-04-28T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Hostway Corporation has recently named Gordon Henry as executive vice president and general manager. Henry will head the company’s small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) division, which focuses on providing Web hosting, Web site design, online advertising and other services to SMBs.

Henry is a veteran of the online search and local advertising industry. He was chief marketing officer at Yellowbook, where he led the development of the company’s online site, Yellowbook.com, built the company's brand into a nationally recognized name and oversaw the expansion of its printed directories. More recently, Henry led online video agency Spotzer Media's entry into the US. As president of Spotzer, he introduced video as a core offering of many top search and Internet sites.

Previously, Henry held marketing and business development positions at Knight Ridder/Philadelphia Newspapers Inc., where he led the launch and acquisition of new advertising businesses, and Columbia House Company, where he founded the company’s audiobooks division. He has an MBA from Wharton Business School, an MA from the University of Pennsylvania and a BA from Yale University.

"We are excited to have Gordon join the Hostway team," said Lucas Roh, CEO and co-founder of Hostway Corporation. "His experience in marketing to, selling to and understanding the needs of the small- and medium-sized business customer is unparalleled. He is a great fit to help lead our efforts in this area. We expect that he will expand our penetration among SMBs, grow the variety of Web hosting and online services we provide and further build our brand."

Hostway’s service offerings range from Web hosting for SMBs to managed and dedicated server hosting for large enterprises. Hostway has garnered industry-wide recognition and praise for ServicePlex, an online service delivery portal developed internally to enable a seamless customer experience. In 2009, the company launched its cloud hosting offering, FlexCloudTM, which enables customers to access a multi-million dollar hosting infrastructure that scales up and down based on business needs for as low as $15 per month. Hostway has also partnered with telecom companies, cable operators and large retailers to deliver fully private-labeled online services to their customers.

Last month, Hostway announced that it raised $110 million in debt and equity financing to support its continued growth plan. The transaction was led by private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson, along with Fortress Capital, Regiment Capital and Phoenix Life.

"Since our founding in 1998, we have continuously sought ways to deliver more value to our customers by investing in our people, technology and infrastructure. As a result, we have built a solid platform for growth. In the next stage of our history, in partnership with our new investors, we aim to accelerate the pace of becoming the leading provider in the expanding online services market," said Roh.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostway_announces_new_executive_vp_and_gm.html

Total-Apps and Chargeback Guardian Partner to Deal with Fraud Detection

2010-04-28T08:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Total-Apps Inc. and Chargeback Guardian join forces to deal with risk management and fraud detection.

Total-Apps Inc., the ECommerce Engineers, was formed in 2007 to provide complete ECommerce consulting services and customized solutions for merchant’s processing needs. The Total Apps, Inc. team is a culmination of nearly 20 years of payment processing expertise.

Chargeback Guardian utilizes a comprehensive combination of technology, relationships, and smart tools to Prevent Chargebacks and Protect Against Fraud to keep you Processing. This cutting edge arsenal is proven to lower chargeback percentages, lessen processing interruptions, and contribute revenue to the bottom line.

“By having these two powerhouses working closely together, merchants can be confident their processing is being monitored by a specialized risk management team as well as a sophisticated system,” said Rey Pasinli, Executive Director of Total-Apps Inc.

To request a more information, visit www.total-apps.com or www.chargebackguardian.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/total-apps_and_chargeback_guardian_partner_to_deal_with_fraud_de.html

SAP Hosting Partner Secure-24 to Showcase Solutions at SAPPHIRE NOW

2010-04-28T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Secure-24, an SAP® hosting partner and leading provider of managed hosting, disaster recovery and information security services, will showcase its capabilities in booth 407 at the SAPPHIRE® NOW conference, May 16–19 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. This event brings together professionals and partners who want updates on the latest SAP technology and partner capabilities.

As an SAP hosting partner and SAP-certified provider of hosting services, Secure-24 manages advanced SAP landscapes for firms that operate globally. Secure-24 leverages SAS70 Type II certified data centers combined with a long-established history of ITIL and COBIT IT management processes to help customers meet compliance mandates and mitigate risk.

Customers using SAP solutions -- from earliest versions to leading current initiatives -- benefit from the comprehensive experience of Secure-24’s core team focusing on SAP technologies to gain significant efficiencies and enhanced ROI.

Secure-24’s team focused on SAP solutions will be on hand in the exhibit hall to explain the company’s single-source support for the entire lifecycle of SAP solutions. The team will share its capabilities and expertise related to SAP solutions, and demonstrate how to unlock strategic advantages, mitigate risk, increase efficiency and drive up ROI.

As an SAP hosting partner with an executive management team experienced in providing hosting services for SAP solutions, Secure-24’s hosting services are in line with SAP's requirements for quality, availability and security. Secure-24 delivers solutions and services to mid-size and large organizations in industry and government.

Secure-24 has what companies seek for technology efficiency and transparent business practices. The company has put a high priority on client success and delivering value in enterprise hosting services, approaching each client like a partner, not a vendor. Secure-24 clients benefit from high-quality service, reduced costs, seamless integration, unlimited scalability and improved communication at all levels.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/sap_hosting_partner_secure-24_to_showcase_solutions_at_sapphire_.html

Sunrise Introduces Iguana self-service Interface

2010-04-28T08:16:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Sunrise Software has unveiled Iguana, a brand new self service interface for its ITSM platform Sostenuto at the Service Desk and IT Support Show today.

Iguana, which has been designed using the latest technologies available today, will transform the user experience for customers and remote service desk staff. The portal will allow users to access and manage information within Sostenuto, from wherever they are, through a web 2.0 interface.

Sunrise development director Nilesh Dabholkar comments: “Web 2.0, which has come of age through the massive adoption of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, has brought significant innovation to interface design. We are proud to be the first to introduce this technology to service desk software.”

Iguana Web 2.0 features include global search, dynamic partial page updates, bookmarks, and significant scope for personalisation by customers. The portal gives users the option to display and configure their own widgets, or panels of information housing RSS feeds, ticker messages, and tools of their choice, from currency converters to the weather forecast.

“Today’s ‘netizens’ expect instant access to the information they need,” adds Dabholkar. “Offering your IT users a first class experience when managing their IT issues is really a must if you want to encourage them to adopt the self service option over picking up the phone.”
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/sunrise_introduces_iguana_self-service_interface.html

The Planet Participates in Interop Las Vegas

2010-04-28T08:14:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - The Planet recently announced its participation in the Interop expo. During the expo, the company will showcase its IT management, hosting and cloud solutions, as well as continue its popular Server Challenge, which tasks conference attendees to post the fastest time in correctly rebuilding a server. The expo at Interop is scheduled for April 27-29, 2010, at Mandalay Bay Convention Center.

The winner of The Planet Server Challenge will receive an Asus Eee PC netbook. The company has run the competition both at South by Southwest and ad:tech San Francisco this year, with more than 150 participants and rebuild times as low as 30 seconds. For video footage of the most recent challenge, visit: http://blog.theplanet.com/2010/04/20/adtech-server-challenge/.

The company will also give away a Flip digital video recorder during the show. Interop attendees must submit their business card to win.

For more information on The Planet at Interop, visit http://www.theplanet.com/events.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/the_planet_participates_in_interop_las_vegas.html

LinMin Accelerates Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Adoption

2010-04-27T09:31:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) LinMin has announced its support for the provisioning and imaging of systems running Ubuntu 10.04 Long Term Support (LTS) Edition of Ubuntu, released by Canonical every two years.

LinMin supports the deployment and imaging of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS on servers, blades, PCs, Virtual Machines and other form factor devices. LinMin’s functionality in servicing Ubuntu systems can be integrated into IT applications such as control panels and orchestration engines as well as invoked remotely with a browser.

“Canonical welcomes LinMin's support of Ubuntu 10.04 LTS Server to accelerate its adoption in hosting, cloud, IaaS and corporate data centers worldwide," said Matt Asay, COO of Canonical. "LinMin Bare Metal Provisioning empowers our customers to quickly deploy, repurpose and recover Ubuntu on large numbers of servers, blades, PCs and virtual machines faster and more reliably than with conventional methods.”

“Service providers and corporate data center leaders demand system software stability and predictability in order to meet the needs of their external and internal customers,” said Laurent Gharda, CEO and founder of LinMin Corp. “The five year support life for the server edition of every Ubuntu LTS release provides this predictability, and LinMin ensures that customers can easily and reliably deploy and recover Ubuntu systems within their IT infrastructure as we have with LTS releases since 2006.”

Pricing
LinMin Bare Metal Provisioning for the provisioning and imaging of Ubuntu systems starts at $999 for 100 systems and costs $5 per system for infrastructures with 2000 systems. Contact LinMin to inquire about volume discounts for larger infrastructures. Download free trial. http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/linmin_accelerates_ubuntu_10_04_lts_adoption.html

SmoothWall Steps Up Malware Protection with Sunbelt Software’s VIPRE

2010-04-27T09:30:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Internet security specialist SmoothWall, today announced a partnership with Sunbelt Software, a leading provider of anti-virus, anti-spyware, email security and malware analysis solutions.

As partners, SmoothWall and Sunbelt Software will deliver solutions that combine their respective best of breed web filtering and enterprise security solutions. SmoothWall’s first step as part of the joint venture is to integrate Sunbelt Software’s award-winning VIPRE® anti-malware solution and ThreatTrack™ data feeds into its Guardian web filter. Although SmoothWall’s web content filtering solutions already protect users against web-borne viruses and malware, the integration of VIPRE will enable it to offer dramatically improved, third-generation web security protection.

“After studying the market, Sunbelt Software was a clear choice. The integration of VIPRE, as an exciting, market-leading solution will significantly boost malware and virus protection for our customers,” said SmoothWall managing director George Lungley.

”We will be able to offer users fast, powerful and intelligent web and threat management in one unified solution. In tests, VIPRE’s heuristic threat detection methods performed exceptionally well and the anti-malware engine itself is refreshingly light on system resource usage,” Lungley added.

SunbeltLabs™, the malware research and analysis division of Sunbelt Software, processes tens of thousands of malware samples a day, leveraging ThreatTrack data feeds alongside Sunbelt Software’s CWSandbox™ - the leading automated malware behavior analysis tool - and the ThreatNet™ user community. Zero-day threat updates are pushed to customers using Sunbelt Software’s SteadyStream™ update technology to ensure robust anti-virus detection and protection.

VIPRE won the 2009 Windows IT Pro Magazine Gold Community Choice Award and received a VB100 award on its debut in tests by Virus Bulletin, the world's premier anti-virus lab. It has also been confirmed in independent tests* to "consume up to 45% less memory, and offer up to 3.6x scanning speed compared to Symantec and McAfee."

VIPRE has been rigorously tested by Microsoft and has been certified compatible with Windows 7. It has also been certified by ICSA Labs and West Coast Labs. VIPRE demonstrated a particularly outstanding performance in Virus Bulletin’s April 2010 RAP (Reactive and Proactive) tests, which separately analyze the heuristic and generic detection capabilities of security software, proving the accuracy of its behavior-based approach.

“We are delighted to be working with SmoothWall, a vendor that shares our intelligent and resource-efficient approach to network protection. VIPRE is a great fit for SmoothWall’s suite of internet security and web content filtering solutions, and we are in no doubt that our combined technologies will significantly raise the bar on web security solutions worldwide,” said Chad Loeven, vice president and general manager for SunbeltLabs.

SmoothWall’s integration of VIPRE is scheduled for launch next month. For more information visit www.smoothwall.net
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/smoothwall_steps_up_malware_protection_with_sunbelt_software_s_v.html

PEER 1 Offers Consultations for Free Body Piercing

2010-04-27T09:29:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) PEER 1 Hosting Network Enterprises, Inc. (TSX:PIX), the global online managed hosting provider, is offering Internet World visitors consultations to “Get Metal” at its stand E4000 at the show. The special hardware offer is in addition to the managed and dedicated hosting services that PEER 1 Hosting is already known for.

As well as body piercing, PEER 1’s finest will be on hand to provide unrivalled customer service and demonstrate its cutting edge technology, the core tenants of its Ping & People mantra. For those that want entertainment that doesn’t involve holes being punched into their flesh, PEER 1 Hosting’s dancers will be on hand whilst smellovision technology will waft delicious aromas across the stand.

Dominic Monkhouse, MD, PEER 1 Hosting said: “It’s our first anniversary and we wanted to do something more interesting to celebrate, something that really reflects our passionate tribal culture, and piercings just seemed to fit the bill. Come and get some metal on us!”

PEER 1 Hosting is one of the world's leading IT hosting providers, and works with more than 250 fast-growth companies in the UK where the internet is critical to their business. It also has a dedicated hosting (through ServerBeach) on a ‘pay as you grow’ basis.

PEER 1 Hosting’s professional body piercer will be available to give consultations for any visitor who wishes to “Get metal”. The piercer will be available between 12 – 1pm each day during of the show (27 – 29 April 2010). To register, email: peer1hosting@championcomms.com.
http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/peer_1_offers_consultations_for_free_body_piercing.html

Megatrade Offers Hibernia's Global Financial Network to Members

2010-04-27T09:28:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Hibernia Atlantic and Megatrade Communications Services have announced today that Hibernia’s low latency Global Financial Network (GFN) is now available to all Megatrade members. With this new offering, Megatrade clients now have access to secure and diverse low latency connectivity solutions throughout Canada, the US, UK, and Europe.

With over 100 points of presence throughout North America and Europe, the GFN is built upon 24,000 kilometers of fiber optic cable ensuring maximum reach across key financial markets. Specifically engineered for 'security through diversity,' the GFN serves the global financial community with its low latency network solutions, including popular financial routes such as connections from New Jersey, and Chicago to Toronto.

Representing a wide variety of financial institutions and firms, Megatrade aggregates its purchasing power to secure the most optimal route and competitive rates for its large membership base. By accessing Hibernia’s GFN, Megatrade members, such as Canadian financial firms and exchanges, can now connect directly to Europe from Canada, bypassing U.S. points of presence for added diversity. Financial companies can also access GFN’s lowest latency routes, ensuring the fastest route for effective automated trading.

“Our financial membership base requires high performance networks with the utmost in reliability, and with Hibernia's GFN we can deliver the most secure and diverse path for their critical data and trades,” states Barb Boznar, General Manager of Megatrade. “Our combined offering ensures delivery of fast, innovative services at some of the most competitive pricing in the marketplace.”

As time to market is so critical in today's trading markets, Hibernia Atlantic guarantees Megatrade members rapid installation and deployment of fiber routes within a 5-day timeframe, along with guaranteed latency Service Level Agreements. Megatrade's membership base of over 120 organizations can take advantage of the GFN with just one cross connect.

“To remain competitive, financial entities not only must have ultra fast connectivity to conduct trades, but also work with a trusted, experienced partner to deliver secure high performance solutions,” states Eric Gutshall, EVP of Sales and Marketing of Hibernia Atlantic. “Our partnership with Megatrade demonstrates our commitment in providing operational excellence to the global financial community.”

For more information on the Megatrade and Hibernia offer, please contact: Barb Boznar at Bboznar@megatrade.ca 416-943-4651 or Eric Gutshall at sales@hiberniaatlantic.com.
http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/megatrade_offers_hibernia_s_global_financial_network_to_members.html

Increase Revenue With Private-Label Hosted SaaS Services

2010-04-26T09:09:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) across all industries are embracing the idea of outsourcing software applications which, traditionally, have been hosted and managed in house. This trend is occurring due to SMB’s focusing on their core business rather than IT, high demand for uptime, as well as 24/7 technical support. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), as these services are better known, is becoming widely accepted. Finding and utilizing this new class of application is the challenge businesses face; but this challenge is felt by more than just end users. In most cases, web hosting and internet connectivity providers are one of the first places customers turn. The SaaS model is becoming widely embraced by SMBs because they want to utilize enterprise-class applications to grow their business but lack the financial and human resources to do so. To successfully meet these customer needs, add value to their hosted services offering, and increase average revenue per user, hosting providers are looking for ways to provide additional best-in-class SaaS applications.

While this acceptance of SaaS services creates new revenue opportunities for hosting providers, it also creates new challenges as they are being asked to move beyond their areas of expertise. Providing new services can be an expensive proposition. First a company needs to make significant capital outlays to invest in additional hardware. They also have to develop the technical expertise to deploy, maintain and ensure uptime reliability for the SaaS application. Additionally, providers need to patch and upgrade systems as well as train administration and support staff on these applications. Without significant customer scale these investments may not produce any returns. Additionally, in order to offer multiple SaaS applications providers would need to make these investments in each application. This means that an ever-growing set of experts must be kept up-to-date with training and new skill – a costly proposition.

Without breaking the bank – or disappointing customers (and risk having them turn to another provider) – how can hosting companies face this challenge? One approach is to utilize the resources and expertise of hosted SaaS providers who offer applications which were traditionally deployed in house such as SharePoint, CRM and Microsoft Exchange.

Microsoft Exchange represents an example of the compelling SaaS opportunities for hosting providers. Today, there are almost eight million SMBs worldwide. The total estimated number of PCs used by SMBs is 520 million globally. Assuming a conservative percentage of that group is interested in just enterprise-level email (seven percent), the target market is about thirty-six million mailboxes. It is estimated that the U.S. market is approximately 4.5 million SMB mailboxes. All of these businesses are willing to pay for advanced options provided in Exchange such as anytime/anywhere access and integrated collaboration features. Assuming these customers are willing to pay a median of $12 per month, this business is projected to grow by more than $600 million over the next year.

As mentioned above, the types of applications that SMB’s are looking for go beyond just basic POP3 email or web hosting. Hosting providers, looking to minimize their roll out costs, address this customer need by offering private label Exchange, Sharepoint, CRM and other services offered by third party providers. The main reasons why web hosting providers are deciding to partner with private label service providers are that they continue to own and enhance their relationship with their customers, increase ARPU, improve customer retention and do this with no upfront financial outlay or risk.

Owning the Relationship
One benefit to companies who resell a truly private label solution is that their customer never has to know that the additional services are provided by a third party. A private label SaaS solution allows hosting providers to completely and easily re-brand the service with their logo, url’s, corporate look and feel and contact information. Owning the customer relationship means the service provider can have a deeper relationship with their customer, thereby, providing a one-stop-shop for all the customer’s needs.

Increased ARPU
By partnering with a private label provider to offer expanded services, hosting companies also see increased average revenue per user (ARPU). Providers can offer additional SaaS services to their customers as “upsells”, giving them the opportunity to collect increased revenues with each user without incurring any of the costs associated with an in house deployment – hardware and software purchases and hiring and training of personnel. As a result, hosting providers can bundle high revenue generating, key business services such as Microsoft Exchange, for their customers increasing ARPU by $20-$25/user/month with profit margins of up to 50%.

Increase Customer Retention
Being able to offer new services doesn't only help attract new customers but also in retaining existing ones. With each additional service sourced from the same provider, it becomes less likely that a customer will switch to another provider for additional services. Working with a private label reseller new and exciting functionality can be offered to customers more easily and frequently than building and deploying them in house. These services, bundled with the provider’s core offerings, allow them to differentiate themselves from other providers and make switching services harder for customers.

No Upfront Investment or Risk
The initial deployment of a new technology can be very costly, but ongoing expenses for hardware and software upgrades, maintenance, and personnel training must also be considered. By partnering with a private-label hosted Microsoft Exchange provider, for example, hosting companies are able to expand customer offerings, be up and running in minutes and increase revenue, without making any initial capital investments.

In addition, hosting providers who offer a service level agreement (SLA) provide their customers with piece of mind that they are getting solid and reliable service and access to their data at anytime from anywhere. This is a key selling point to businesses that work around the clock and have employees who work remotely or travel frequently.

As customers continue to demand increased enterprise-class services from their web hosting providers, these organizations are searching for new ways to differentiate themselves from their competition. Being able to offer customers additional services and provide "upsells" to current services will allow web hosting companies to increase revenue and customer retention figures while eliminating the costly investment in time, personnel and hardware.

Authors Bio: Ravi Agarwal has been working with small businesses for the last eight years, most recently with a provider of outsourced IT support for SMB's. It is from this experience – working with small businesses owners face-to-face and discussing their needs – that Mr. Agarwal recognized the need in the market for enterprise level e-mail & collaboration services - at a small business price. Realizing this crucial customer need and combining it with his experience creating BizLand, Inc., he founded groupSPARK.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/increase_revenue_with_private-label_hosted_saas_services.html

Hostway and Stratavia Partner to launch NetDBAs

2010-04-26T09:02:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) - Hostway Corporation has announced that it has partnered with Stratavia to launch NetDBAs; a revolutionary, enterprise-class database automation solution that simplifies the management of corporate databases and can be consumed cost effectively as a service.

NetDBAs is a unique database automation tool meant to simplify and automate routine, time consuming tasks such as installing new databases, administering users, applying patches, and managing backups. Through a simple and intuitive web-interface, NetDBAs turns complex work flows into point and click operations that can be performed by any member of an IT organization. NetDBAs is distinctive in that it can be accessed by any business, anywhere from the Hostway cloud. Database servers may be located in one of Hostway’s global data centers, on-site in the customer’s corporate offices, or in any third party data center. The initial release will manage editions of Microsoft SQL Server database; future versions will add support for databases from other manufacturers.

“We are excited to team with Hostway to launch the industry’s first database administration as a service offering on the cloud,” said Thor Culverhouse, President and CEO, Stratavia. “With Stratavia’s Data Palette driving the automation behind NetDBAs, IT administrators can better manage the full lifecycle of database operations, thereby enabling companies to realize economies of scale and better return on investment from the cloud.”

“We are excited to launch this value added solution that will automate and simplify the most time consuming and repetitive tasks typically performed by database administrators,” says Todd Benjamin, vice president of Enterprise Hosting, Hostway.” With assistance from Stratavia we have harnessed high-end enterprise-class automation technology, simplified it, and deployed it in the cloud to be cost effective and versatile, solving a prevailing challenge for today’s efficiency minded corporations.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostway_and_stratavia_partner_to_launch_netdbas.html

Green Host It Brings A Breath of Fresh Air to the Hosting Industry

2010-04-25T23:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) It’s a new day in web site hosting with the launch of Green Host It, the only end-to-end environmentally-responsible green web hosting company.

Green Host It employs wind turbines to power both its servers and its U.S.-based, 86,000 square foot facility, cold water cooling of servers and environmentally-responsible recycling of out-dated hardware, loaded with toxic heavy metals that pollute our water supply.

Long-time, web hosting management, and founders of Green Host It, described the company’s principles during a recent industry-insider conference call. “We developed GHI on two core values: completely “green” technology and business operations, and the highest level of client care in the industry.”

Green Host It achieves these objectives employing carbon-neutral energy sourcing and out-reach client care that ensures access to the web for businesses and individuals who are part of the fast-growing Green Power movement.

“GHI has already generated a lot of interest from businesses and web masters who choose environmentally responsible hosting and want to make “green” part of their on-line corporate culture. We’ve seen tremendous pre-launch interest from all sectors of the economy,” a Green Host It spokesperson explained.

Virtually every aspect of business development is based on pro-active client care and a firm commitment to the environment today and in the future. The company’s headquarters, located in Austin, Texas, utilizes a variety of green technology to shrink the carbon footprint of web site owners.
Each year traditional energy generation sources pump tons of toxic residue into the atmosphere. “We begin by educating site owners on their power consumption, and provide alternatives that enhance the air we breathe and the corporate image site owners present to their clientele,” Green Host It’s CEO explained.

“We’re committed to improving the environment while reaching out to our clients to ensure they have the best on-line experience available. We’ve built our success on the success of our clients…[the two are intertwined.”

Most web masters, site designers and businesses give little thought to the impact their sites have on energy consumption. Even tech-savvy web workers don’t think in terms of energy consumption and the negative impact their web hosting companies have on the environment. The focus of these men and women is on web success.

Green Host It provides all the tools required and desired to build, launch and grow a web-based business as part of its low-cost, tiered pricing, enabling anyone with a vision to make that vision a reality.

The company employs a client-centric approach to delivery of services. “24/7 tech support and a 100% uptime demonstrate GHI’s approach to client services. We want our clients to succeed and we provide the features and information to do that through a well-populated blog, newsletters, industry updates, free features and free services,” GHI’s President explains.

With the launch of Green Host It, the web hosting industry is trying to quickly play catch-up. However, the phenomenal growth of Green Host It in a matter of weeks clearly proves that the web community is ready to go green now.

Green Host It is in the right place at the right time to help its clients define the right corporate culture – a corporate culture based on principles of environmental protection and enterprise-grade customer service.

Green Host It is changing the web hosting industry one responsible client at a time.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/green_host_it_brings_a_breath_of_fresh_air_to_the_hosting_indust.html

Netfirms Announces sponsorship of FITC Toronto 2010

2010-04-26T08:58:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Netfirms announced today that they are proud to be one of the key sponsors of the upcoming FITC event to be held at the Hilton in Toronto between April 25th and 27th, 2010.

FITC Toronto, one of the largest design and technology festivals in the world, is a key attraction for web designers, a customer segment that Netfirms is dedicated to serve with its premium VPS S-Series line of products.

"It is an exciting opportunity for us to meet digital media experts from around the globe," says Flora Chan, Senior Marketing Manager at Netfirms. "We have built and tailored our Virtual Private Server products precisely for this audience. We want to meet them, talk about their needs, and reinforce our commitment to serve them in the best way we can as a leading web hosting provider."

Netfirms invites all FITC attendees to visit their booth to meet the next generation of VPS products as well as to earn a chance at winning an iPad that they will be giving away to one lucky conference attendant.

Learn more about the Netfirms VPS S-Series line of products.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/netfirms_announces_sponsorship_of_fitc_toronto_2010.html

Napatech Launches Two new Features Sets

2010-04-26T08:57:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Napatech today launched two new important product features sets to address Traffic Generation and Capture & Replay applications. The Traffic Generation feature set addresses Ethernet full line-rate traffic generation applications, while the Capture & Replay feature set addresses Capture & Replay applications. The introduction of the Traffic Generation and Capture & Replay feature sets coincides with the announcement of Napatech’s new NT20E2 2x10 Gbps PCI-Express Gen 2 In-line and Capture network adapters.

“Napatech has identified a need for network adapters focused on Traffic Generation and Capture & Replay applications. While many of the features provided by our existing In-line family can be used in these markets, the needs are slightly different demanding different feature focus and performance” said Erik Norup, President of Napatech Inc. “For example, in in-line applications, latency is extremely important, but not an issue in traffic generation. Similarly, in In-line there is a need to receive and transmit at the same time, while in capture & replay, it is typical that capturing data and replaying data are two separate activities that need not coincide.”

The Traffic Generation and Capture & Replay feature sets are supported by the current 4-port 1G and 2-port 10G Napatech products as well as the new NT20E2 2x10Gbps PCI-Express Gen 2 network adapters.

Key features for Traffic Generation are:
• Full line-rate 20 Gbps Ethernet traffic generation
• 10ns precision time-stamping of transmitted packets
• Transmit of packets according to individual packet time stamps
• Ethernet, TCP and UDP checksum generation
• Configurable Inter-Frame Gap (IFG)

Generated traffic can be application-generated traffic or traffic from a file.

Key features for Capture & Replay are:
• Full throughput 10 Gbps capture and analysis per port (max 20 Gbps)
• Full line-rate 10 Gbps replay per port (max 20 Gbps)
• Full capture feature set (similar to Napatech Capture adapters)
• 10ns precision time-stamping on received and transmitted packets
• Replay of packets according to individual packet time stamps
• Hardware time synchronization based on GPS, IEEE1588v2 or CDMA
• Ethernet, TCP and UDP checksum verification and generation
• Configurable Inter-Frame Gap (IFG)

The Napatech adapter acceleration features enable on the fly intelligent indexing of received frames for fast data retrieval from storage.

To find out more visit www.napatech.com or contact us for more details.

Napatech is exhibiting the NT20E2 at Interop Las Vegas (stand 2335) and Infosecurity in London (stand L70) from April 27 to 29. http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/napatech_launches_two_new_features_sets.html

HostV Triples VPS Bandwidth, Upgrades Dedicated Server Specs

2010-04-23T08:11:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) HostV announced today a major shakeup in its hosting lineup, including a tripling of bandwidth on all VPS Hosting plans and major upgrades on specifications for Dedicated Servers.

The company’s Managed VPS Servers and Linux VPS Servers now start at 1500GB of monthly bandwidth, up from just 500GB before. Hybrid VPS plans, which combine the power of dedicated severs with the agility of virtual servers, start at a whopping 7500GB of monthly bandwidth, up from only 2500GB. HostV’s new bandwidth allotments are among the industry’s most generous.

“We’re expanding the scale and scope of our hosting packages in a way that distinguishes HostV and reinforces our role as leader in the VPS and dedicated hosting space. These upgrades are important investments in our customers, and we believe these upgrades will drive both retention and new sign-ups,” said John Xie, president of Cirtex Corp., HostV parent company.

New Dedicated Servers from HostV now include double RAM – starting at an unprecedented 8GB of RAM (up from 4GB). New Dedicated Servers now also boast double disk space, starting at 2 500GB SATA drives.

Fully-managed VPS Hosting with cPanel from HostV starts at $39.99/monthly for 50GB of disk space. All accounts include full support for video hosting, free data backups, and HostV’s premium customer support.

Earlier this year, HostV introduced Ksplice Uptrack, allowing it to update Linux servers without rebooting. Linux kernel updates are automatically converted into rebootless update packages, and HostV can simply apply the update remotely without causing a disruption or significant performance hit on the server.

To learn more about high performance, Unmanaged Linux VPS hosting from HostV, please visit http://www.hostv.com/linux-vps.shtml.

To learn more about Hybrid servers from HostV, please visit http://www.hostv.com/hybrid.shtml.

To learn more about HostV, please visit http://www.hostv.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostv_triples_vps_bandwidth_upgrades_dedicated_server_specs.html

EPA Recognizes Datapipe for Leading Green Power Purchase

2010-04-22T22:08:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Datapipe, a leading provider of managed hosting and IT services, announced today its partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) Green Power Partnership. Datapipe is purchasing nearly nine million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough to power its Somerset One data center solely on renewable energy resources. Datapipe is purchasing Renewable Energy Credits through Constellation NewEnergy. This purchase demonstrates a proactive choice to switch away from traditional sources of electricity generation and support cleaner, renewable energy alternatives.

"We're pleased to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for choosing to purchase green power," said Robb Allen, Datapipe CEO. "Investing in sustainable energy is the right thing to do for our kids, our community and our clients."

Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, biomass and low-impact hydro. These resources generate electricity with a net zero increase in carbon dioxide emissions, while offering a superior environmental profile compared to traditional power generation sources. Green power purchases also support the development of new renewable energy generation sources nationwide.

"The EPA is pleased to welcome Datapipe to the Green Power Partnership," said Susan Wickwire, Chief of the Energy Supply and Industry Branch at USEPA. "We applaud their commitment to using green power to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," Wickwire added.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/epa_recognizes_datapipe_for_leading_green_power_purchase.html

Myriad Selected To Power Mobile Social Networking Services

2010-04-23T08:08:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Myriad Group has announced that Australian mobile network operator, Optus, has signed a commercial agreement to offer its eight million customers social networking services, powered by Myriad. This is the first social networking deal announced by Myriad since acquiring Xumii, Inc., the company that pioneered the use of cloud-based technologies to simultaneously connect mass-market phones to multiple social networks.

Now live, the Myriad-powered Optus SocialView service seamlessly adds social networking features to Optus’ existing mobile portal, Optus Zoo. Using a mobile phone browser, Optus users can now view friends’ messages from Australia’s most popular social networking sites – Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and Flickr. Users can also post their own updates and tweets, either to a specific site, or to all of their social networks simultaneously.

The new service offers unique advantages to Optus, as it only requires a standard mobile browser, providing access to SocialView for all customers, not just those with smart phones. As an added feature of the new service, customers are also given the option to receive free text alerts, which include social network updates and one-click access to SocialView.
“Social networking services are a sure-fire way for Optus to increase the appeal and popularity of Optus Zoo,” commented Jennifer Zanich, Myriad’s general manager for Xumii services. “Viewing friends’ updates and changing status are the most common actions on social networks. Enabling these features on a single screen creates a quick and easy way for mobile users to stay in touch throughout the day, which will increase visits to Optus Zoo and ultimately drive the adoption of other services on the portal.”

More information on SocialView is available on Optus Zoo: http://mobile.optuszoo.com.au/cocoon/content/displayStatic.do?file=static/socialview.html&node_id=34381

For more information please visit www.myriadgroup.com http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/myriad_selected_to_power_mobile_social_networking_services.html

Cloud Computing: Are you the master or the slave?

2010-04-22T08:19:00-04:00

(WebHost Blog) In a land not unlike our own, there dwelt a large herd of horses. These horses however were troubled for they were under constant fear of wolves. Unable to attack the wolves and win, the horses required an ally. So they looked to a local village of humans. The humans were well equipped to kill the wolves, but they were too slow to actually catch them . So the horses made a pact. They would submit to saddle and bit to aid the humans in killing their mutual enemy. The humans agreed. Over the course of many weeks, horse and human rode together, hunting down and killing the wolves. At the end, the horses were delighted. Their enemies were wiped out and they could live without fear.

They thanked the humans and said we have killed the wolves together and now both of our races can live in peace. However, with the wolves gone, you no longer need us so please remove the saddle and bit. The humans laughed and said “no,” and applied the spur at will.

Isaac Asimov used this fable in many of his writings. I hope I have done it justice. In their haste to live without fear, the horse submitted themselves as slaves to the wills of others. Now you may wonder, what does this have to do with cloud computing?

One of the far reaching problems with cloud computing is interoperability. At the nuts and bolts cloud computing is a platform. Cloud computing therefore has hardware and software components. If you are adapting some of your business processes to the cloud, they must able to use that platform. Quick note, I am not talking about web hosting in the cloud. I am however talking about moving say your backups or your ERP, or your business’ database to the cloud.

Now the big problem with cloud interoperability is that software adapted for one specific cloud may not work for another. Which is fine and good if you like the cloud provider you are with, but what happens if they go out of business or get bought out (MediaMax and Cassatt comes to mind)? Or what happens if you simply don’t want to use them anymore?

No company should be a slave to the tools it uses and if you cannot move your business processes from one cloud to the next then, like the horse, a slave is what you will become. If you decide to use the cloud, you should keep interoperability foremost in your mind. You should be able to identify several options for your cloud systems should one fail and you should have a standard procedure of how to transfer everything as promptly as possible if the worse does happen.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/cloud_computing_are_you_the_master_or_the_slave.html

Colocation America and Total-Apps Form Strategic Partnership

2010-04-22T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Colocation America has formed a strategic partnership with Total-Apps Inc.

“By joining resources and efforts, we are able to save our customers a conservative average of 10 to 30 percent on their credit card processing alone,” says Rey Pasinli, Executive Director of Total-Apps Inc.”

ECommerce companies gain leverage against high credit card and hosting fees from strategic relationship between Total-Apps Inc. and Colocation America.

“Our relationship facilitates dramatic cost savings and tremendous value ads that directly affect bottom line for online businesses,” says Shawn Jacobs, Marketing Director of Colocation America”

Total-Apps Inc., the ECommerce Engineers, was formed in 2007 to provide complete ECommerce consulting services and customized solutions for merchant’s processing needs. The Total Apps, Inc. team is a culmination of nearly 20 years of payment processing expertise.

Colocation America, a diversified leader specializing in infrastructure solutions and data management, provides an enterprise-grade, fully redundant network that meets the security, capability, and reliability requirements needed to host all e-commerce sites.

Together, they are able to assess each company’s needs and cut costs for: dedicated hosting, merchant services, PCI compliance, traffic as well as minimize exposure to credit card fraud.

Jason Taylor, Executive Director said: “By combining the core competencies of Total Apps and Colocation America, we have developed a competitive advantage and taken a strategic position in the industry. We can now provide a cost effective, modular and scalar infrastructure that can be custom tailored to each client’s specific needs.”

To request a free cost savings analysis, visit www.Total-Apps.com.

For industry comment, forecasting and trends contact Linda Baginski at 949-954-7919, Email: Linda {at} Total-Apps.com and visit www.Total-Apps.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/colocation_america_and_total-apps_form_strategic_partnership.html

Skype Blocker Security Patch Now Available at gateProtect

2010-04-22T08:13:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) gateProtect has released a new security patch for its Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances which allows users to block the use of Skype. This gives them a reliable way of stopping dangerous malware from entering the network via a potential security vulnerability, while preventing unwanted messaging and chatting during working hours. The patch, called HU-01050, is available immediately and will be installed automatically on all gateProtect firewall systems from Version 8.6 via the update server.

In almost all companies, the use of instant messaging programs like Skype, ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger is unwelcome. As they enable people to share files, they can pose a risk to corporate networks while distracting staff from their work. Skype is a particularly tough instant messenger as it is based on proprietary protocols that escape detection by proxies and firewalls in various ways, including encryption.

“Skype’s ability to slip through firewalls and NAT gateways is well known,” says Dennis Monner, CEO of gateProtect. “Administrators have long had an ongoing battle to block Skype. As no administrator permissions are needed to install it, many employees are unaware of their company’s security policies and use it without informing their IT department. As a result, companies have virtually no control over the data users share via Skype.” The Skype service uses Port 80 (HTTP) and Port 443 (HTTPS) for its internet connection, and in most companies these ports are open as they are needed for web use. Skype can also use higher ports (above1024) for its internet access. http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/skype_blocker_security_patch_now_available_at_gateprotect.html

HostDime Receives RIPE and LACNIC IP Allocations

2010-04-21T08:04:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) HostDime announced today it has received IP address allocations from the Réseaux IP Européens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE CC) and the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC). The new IP allocations mean that HostDime has IP addresses in more than half of the world’s Internet regions.

Along with its allocations from the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), HostDime now has IP addresses in three out of the five regional Internet registries. In the coming year, HostDime plans to receive an IP address allocation from the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), which will help HostDime continue to expand its operations internationally.

Additionally, local region IP assignment is an important variable in the ranking algorithms for many search engines. With IPs in such a variety of regions, HostDime has an edge over other hosting companies.

“HostDime is one few hosting firms that physically operates in more than three international locations and maintains its own IP ranges in each respective region. Today’s announcement is yet another milestone for our company as we continue to add more international hosting offerings to better service our clients’ worldwide needs. Local region IP routing is crucial to international operations,” said Emmanuel Vivar, CEO of HostDime.

HostDime India, launched earlier this year, is HostDime's latest international division. HostDime operates six international divisions in total, with operations in Haifa, Israel (HostDime Israel), Joao Pessoa, Brazil (HostDime Brazil), Ibague, Colombia (HostDime Colombia), Monterrey, Mexico (HostDime Mexico), and Kerala, India. The United Kingdom division is run out of the company’s United States headquarters, in Orlando, Fla.

To learn more about HostDime, please visit http://www.hostdime.com/international.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostdime_receives_ripe_and_lacnic_ip_allocations.html

Binary Resource Releases FastTrack Scripting Host 2010

2010-04-21T08:03:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Binary Research International Inc. have recently released FastTrack Scripting Host 2010, a rapid scripting tool that simplifies the work of system and network Administrators who write scripts to automate day-to-day tasks.

Based on the concept that most system and network Administrators aren’t programmers, nor do they want to be, FastTrack Scripting Host is a pseudo-language that allows Users to execute one script line to perform one operation. Anyone with an understanding of IT can develop an automated script that might otherwise take hours or days to write, or in many cases, require the help of an outside consultant.

Designed to handle every kind of scripting needed to service clients in a Windows network, FastTrack Scripting Host 2010 will execute any task the user describes, automating even the most difficult of scripting tasks. The User writes one line in the script, which triggers hundreds of lines of code in the engine via the FastTrack user-friendly GUI.

David Norfolk, practice leader, development and governance at Bloor Research, commented: “Scripts can get complex very quickly and developing and testing them can become an overhead. What Administrators need is a declarative scripting language which says what should happen, not how it should happen. In this respect, FastTrack Scripting Host might be a useful tool to add to an Administrator’s armoury.”

“FastTrack Scripting Host 2010 has been developed to streamline and simplify common, yet sometimes complex, IT scripting processes that harried system and network Administrators find themselves facing every day,” said Annette Dow, CEO of Binary Research International.

She continued: “Designed by a former System Administrator, FastTrack is a complete set of tools with a powerful scripting engine, giving IT professionals endless possibilities to apply it to save time that can then be used on more productive tasks – and as important in these times – to save money for their organisation.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/binary_resource_releases_fasttrack_scripting_host_2010.html

Icelandic Cloud Pushes to Postpone Data Centre Europe

2010-04-20T08:45:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) BroadGroups’ 6th annual Data Centre Europe conference (http://www.datacentres.com/dce/) to be held in Sophia Antipolis near Nice, France, has been postponed to 24th and 25th June, with the Reception and Gala Awards Dinner taking place on the evening of 24th June.

Philip Low, managing director of BroadGroup explained: “Given the current situation and uncertainty with air travel so close to the event date, and after consultation with the venue, our sponsors, and the travel authorities, we made the decision to reschedule the conference. This is the largest regional event with more than 500 executives from the data centre sector registered from all over Europe as well as the Middle East and North America. The postponement will sustain the success of the event despite the force majeure.”

The event is supported by more than 30 sponsors and will host an industry exhibition, Gala Reception, Annual Awards Gala Dinner, specialist workshops and will provide a unique platform for data centre executives to network profitably with international peers. http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/icelandic_cloud_pushes_to_postpone_data_centre_europe.html

Net Neutrality: People Get Real

2010-04-19T22:04:00-04:00

(WebhHost Blog) I am getting tired of all the crying over the court decision that said the FCC doesn’t have the authority to enforce net neutrality. Gee golly, I didn’t see this coming a mile away.

Heck think about this for one second. Congress couldn’t pass net neutrality through so the FCC figures what the hell let’s give it a shot. Does anyone see the fact that this was designed to circumvent actual elected officials and disenfranchise the citizens of the US (regardless if it is a good idea or not). The fact that what they did was unconstitutional should not come as a surprise. The FCC does not have legislative powers. They cannot create laws cause they feel like it. Nor can they enforce rules that they themselves come up with. The authority they have comes from what Congress gives them not from what they decide to give themselves. I am sure in hindsight people will breathe a sigh of relief.

I am also tired of hearing people say this is a setback. This whole thing was never a step forward for net neutrality so its failure is not a step back. If you want net neutrality petition Congress. Until that time however do what is your right to do, SUE! This isn’t a case of McDonalds making hot coffee and oops I dropped it on my lap cause I have the muscular control of an addled toddler (probably from eating too much fast food in the first place). No, instead it is the precise reason why litigation was created.

If your ISP is throttling your connection, or banning you from use either do what Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. did and boycott or instead file a class action lawsuit. We have ways for punishing moronic companies already in place. Both require you to act.

Now if you would rather sit around and cry about how some big bad company is screwing you over, by all means do so. If you do not wish to act and use the thousands of laws already in place to empower you over businesses, then by all means do so. But don’t expect me to listen or care.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/net_neutrality_people_get_real.html

txtNation connect Premium SMS in Brazil

2010-04-20T08:03:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) txtNation are pleased to announce that they are to go live in Brazil after months of speculation.

txtNation are already active in South America across Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela. Brazil, viewed by many as the jewel in the crown for Premium SMS billing services is now due to go live, after today been approved for full roll out.

The regulations across Brazil require every company operating Premium SMS services to be validated and approved with the national regulatory body, which provides a way to monitor all activity on short codes in this fast growth area.

The Brazilian Regulation Body, Anatel, recognise businesses that have developed, implemented, and benchmarked the most efficient processes for service levels, regulation, support and delivery. Companies like txtNation, seeking this certification and approval must have passed through a rigorous assessment.

Michael Whelan, Director at txtNation, says ‘It’s great to be approved for premium rate and short code services in Brazil. It’s a market we have been after for some time and equally important is our support and commitment to all regulations in Brazil.’

Brazil has over 173million subscribers in total with a 92% penetration rate. txtNation connect to all major networks, Vivo, Clarom TIM, Oi with Nextel coming on board later in the year.

txtNation has recently added further features to the already well established txtNation SD, Support and Development platform, which allows for online ticketing, live chat, phone and email support for clients that use the multi-award winning Premium SMS and Mobile Billing services.

You can find out more about txtNation, it’s premium SMS solutions in Brazil. and other markets, and txtNation Support by visiting http://www.txtnation.com/about/call, emailing sales@txtnation.com or calling +44 (0)1752273491. Latest news can be found on txtNation's blog at http://blog.txtnation.com. Support can be found online by visiting http://sd.txtnation.com. http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/txtnation_connect_premium_sms_in_brazil.html

Trade Haven Colocates to Frankfurt and Dusseldorf

2010-04-20T08:02:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Interxion has announced that Trade Haven is to colocate to its financial hubs in Frankfurt and Dusseldorf. Trade Haven provides trading platforms and trading systems to a variety of international customers, including private banks, brokerage houses, brokers, asset managers, day traders and other sophisticated market participants.

The agreement will enable Trade Haven to provide its customers with low-latency access to the major financial markets from Interxion’s Financial Hubs – a close-knit community of Interxion-based capital markets participants. Trade Haven will run their high-quality and custom-tailored managed hosting services, such as managing, monitoring und connectivity services, from two highly secure and interconnected private suites – one in Frankfurt and the other in Dusseldorf, both of which offer industry-leading service level agreements and guaranteed N+1 power and cooling redundancy.

As a carrier-neutral data centre operator, Interxion also provides a choice of connectivity options for direct cross connects within the data centre, in addition to more than 150 network service providers for external connectivity. High-density power configurations from 5 kW up to 30 kW per cabinet are available as standard, with industry-leading service level agreements and reliability and 24x7 secure access to equipment.

"The continued availability of state-of-the-art technology in Interxion’s data centres convinced us," said Michael Heck, managing director of Trade Haven GmbH. "Our customers expect us to guarantee the high availability of systems and the corresponding performance, speed and security. By collaborating with Interxion, it has enabled us to implement strong service level agreements with our customers."

Peter Knapp, Managing Director of Interxion Germany said, "We are delighted that the Interxion Financial Hubs are able to provide Trade Haven with an infrastructure that is optimised to support their business model. This agreement is further evidence of our growing reputation as one of the key players providing services to the financial services industry and further reinforces the value of our Frankfurt and Dusseldorf Financial Hubs.” http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/trade_haven_colocates_to_frankfurt_and_dusseldorf.html

Cemex and Attenda Partner for SAP Cloud Services

2010-04-20T08:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Attenda Limited has recently signed a contract with building materials company CEMEX UK, to provide operational managed services for its business critical UK Legacy SAP system.

CEMEX is a global building materials company and leading supplier of cement, ready-mixed concrete and aggregates. In the UK, CEMEX also provides asphalt, roof tiles, concrete block solutions and railway sleepers. The company generates over £1 billion in annual sales and has a UK supply network with over 500 locations to ensure that quality building materials is available to customers locally. CEMEX is dedicated to building a better future and couples financial achievements with a firm commitment to sustainable development.

CEMEX selected Attenda in a competitive tendering process to replace its existing outsourcing arrangement with a more flexible commercial contract that would reduce costs. The goal was to provide the capability to ‘right-size’ the infrastructure and service level for its UK Legacy SAP environment, to match the reduced number of users, whilst retaining functionality for the users and providing access to historical data for legal and audit reasons.

As Erwin Von Doelling, Head of IT Services for CEMEX Shared Services of EMEA & Asia explains, “The cost of our existing outsourcing arrangement was disproportionate to the number of users on this legacy platform.” He continues, “We needed to provision for a low risk, scalable infrastructure as a service for our UK Legacy SAP system, in order to avoid unnecessary CAPEX investment and to provide greater commercial flexibility for the future.”

In the contract, Attenda is managing the infrastructure solution for CEMEX’s UK Legacy SAP environment, including production, QA and Development systems, with interfaces to other CEMEX systems. The Attenda solution has delivered cost reductions, through re-sizing of the infrastructure, whilst still retaining a dual centre design for disaster recovery.

The Attenda solution is built upon its Cloud Computing platform, Attenda RTI, which has enabled CEMEX to rapidly migrate across to the Attenda data centres. The solution has required minimal testing by CEMEX’s own IT staff and user base during the transaction and go-live period, with all of the interfaces to other CEMEX systems retained and fully tested. The infrastructure solution includes integrated disaster recovery capability, restoring the production system within 24 hours, matching CEMEX’s recovery time objectives within its Business Continuity Plan.

Von Doelling concludes, “The Attenda SAP managed service is providing our CEMEX operations in the UK with a cost effective, high availability infrastructure solution for our UK Legacy SAP system, acting as an extension to our own SAP application resources in the UK, and delivering the business agility and commercial flexibility that we require for this SAP infrastructure moving forward.” http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/cemex_and_attenda_partner_for_sap_cloud_services.html

O-bit Telecom offers cost-effective colocation services

2010-04-20T07:58:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) O-bit Telecom has launched Hostwise, its new colocation solution. The new offering will give resellers the opportunity to provide their customers with advanced data centre services, allowing them to meet the growing demand from businesses for stable and reliable server hosting solutions.

Based in a purpose-built modern data centre facility in High Wycombe, Bucks, Hostwise can provide 24/7/365 server access with massive savings when compared to facilities in London.

Hostwise allows resellers to provide customers with a competitive colocation solution that benefits from a 100 per cent uptime SLA for power and cooling, and a 99.99 per cent network uptime SLA.

“Increasingly, many businesses are offering their services via the internet” explains O-bit Telecom CEO Dave Breith. “Whether this is a simple e-commerce website, or a more complex cloud-based service, these companies need a reliable colocation solution to keep their business running. Hostwise provides high levels of reliability at a much lower price than similar facilities in London, allowing resellers to easily meet the needs of these businesses.”

As well as flexibility in choice of rack size, Hostwise customers are able to take advantage of bandwidth options ranging from 50GB to 100GB, as well as optional ‘remote hands’ technical support and optional VoIP connectivity.

To find out how to offer Hostwise or to receive further information please contact O-bit Telecom on 08008 49 49 49 or visit www.hostwise.co.uk http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/o-bit_telecom_offers_cost-effective_colocation_services.html

Social Search May Galvanise Organic Results

2010-04-19T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) The addition of real time social media factors into results on search engines could serve to galvanise the quality of organic search according to PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.

Leicestershire, UK (PRWEB) April 18, 2010 -- The addition of real time social media factors into results on search engines could serve to galvanise the quality of organic search according to PR, search and social media agency Punch Communications.

The evolution of real time social networks has resulted in news of current events travelling much quicker than was previously possible online, and the degree of online discussion occurring around a specific topic can be an accurate gauge of what the public is talking about at a given moment, and why it is important or relevant to them.

The appearance of this social network content in search engines has the potential to make their results much more organic than was previously possible, by sourcing current, up to date discussions from around the web and suggesting this as a solution to user's queries. The influence of algorithms and Google's page rank system on non-paid search responses could be lessened as a result, a process that will continue as more and more social media content permeates throughout the internet.

Pete Goold, Managing Director of PR agency Punch, said: "From a marketing perspective, the inclusion of social media content in search results places much more of the onus on marketers to deduce which members of the social sphere are going to be most important in reaching and influencing the end consumer. As the amount of such content increases, so will its effect on search results, so the reach of social media activity may travel much farther than the walls of a given network.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/social_search_may_galvanise_organic_results.html

1&1 Internet Named Largest Web Host by Known Servers

2010-04-19T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) 1&1 Internet Inc. has been recently named the largest Web host by known servers in today’s technology industry. According to numbers recently reported by Intac.net, a respected resource for information about the IT industry, 1&1’s fleet of over 70,000 servers is larger than that of any other top player in the hosting industry. Comparatively, 1&1 is third in line for total number of servers behind other major players across the world of technology, including Intel and Google.

This latest news mentions 1&1 in a comparison that looks at the total number of servers owned by some of the top players in technology and information management. The number of Web servers run by 1&1 has placed the company as the third largest technology provider amongst major companies in the industry. 1&1’s 70,000 servers was shy of taking the top two spots, which went to Intel and Google, with 100,000 and over 1,000,000 servers respectively. Other key organizations also mentioned include SBC Comm., Time Warner Cable, and AT&T, amongst others. The research however did not consider server numbers by Microsoft and HP, as these companies do not reveal corresponding numbers.

1&1’s operations, which span five major markets across Europe and North America, have grown to measure a total of over 70,000 servers. Its current server strength has surpassed other Web hosts in size, as indicated by numbers given in the article, for The Planet and Rackspace, along with OVH, a European Web host, and Akamai Technologies, a global internet hosting service.

With over 10 million hosted domains and services provided for more than 9 million customer contracts, 1&1’s server strength has surpassed some of the top organizations in communications technology. Both Verizon and Facebook, the social networking platform, for example, had a combined total of just over 55,000 servers in comparison to 1&1’s 70,000.

For more information about 1&1 and its services, please visit www.1and1.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/1_1_internet_named_largest_web_host_by_known_servers.html

EvoSwitch Sponsors Dutch Road Show for Preservation Antarctica

2010-04-19T08:17:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) The ‘Leadership for Antarctica’ road show will be held in the Netherlands from 1 May to 30 June 2010. This event targets organizations that want to be leaders in sustainable business operations. The promotional tour visits the organizations with the aid of a sustainable sailing yacht on a trailer and was initiated by the Dutch company Bolster Group (http://english.teambolster.com/) with support from EvoSwitch (www.evoswitch.com), the CO2 neutral data center for ICT infrastructures based in Amsterdam.

In the course of the tour, the sailing yacht – a Dehler 22 – drops anchor at a different big Dutch organization every day. Siemens, BMW and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs are among the organizations that support the initiative by Bolster Group and EvoSwitch and will be visited by the yacht. Board members of the organizations are then invited on board to receive information on concrete ways to realize sustainable business operations.

Green ICT
Bolster Group’s international operations serve companies like Shell, TNT, PricewaterhouseCoopers, T-mobile and the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management. In collaboration with EvoSwitch, the company expects to reach most of the management boards of top 500 companies.

‘We contacted EvoSwitch as a sponsoring partner because it is the first CO2 neutral data center in the Netherlands,’ explains Rogier ‘t Hooft, Managing Director of Bolster Group. ‘ICT infrastructures tend to consume a lot of power. With their extensive knowledge of sustainable ICT infrastructures, EvoSwitch can make a significant contribution to the promotional tour.’

The management board of EvoSwitch will discuss the options for a sustainable, energy saving setup of ICT infrastructures during the tour. In addition, a secure space outside the heavily secured EvoSwitch ICT data center will serve as a daily refuge for the sailing yacht in 2010.

‘The Green Fan’ label
A green ICT infrastructure setup results in an energy saving and therefore cost benefit but is often invisible to the outside world. Publicizing a green ICT setup may help companies invest in environmentally friendly solutions. For this reason EvoSwitch will link The Green Fan label (www.thegreenfan.com) to the promotional tour by featuring its logo and discussing it in the knowledge sessions with executives.

‘The Green Fan is a logo reserved for EvoSwitch customers,’ says Eric Boonstra, the Managing Director of EvoSwitch. ‘By featuring the green label on their websites, they can show to the world that they have a green ICT infrastructure thanks to a significant energy saving and investments in CO2 compensation. As such it may stimulate the organization to put green ICT on the management agenda as an important theme. Such a label can act as an eye opener for top managers, regardless of whether they are using this specific green label. It enables us to demonstrate that green ICT can absolutely become a tangible asset for stakeholders.’

Leadership program with a trip to Antarctica
The road show precedes a more in-depth substantial program relating to leadership and sustainability to be kicked off by Bolster Group towards the end of 2010. The program, in which several managers visited during the road show will participate, has a practice driven setup and embraces concrete, suitably sustainable projects for the participating organizations. The program is based on 4 pillars and focuses on the positive impact of sustainability on cost reduction, customer image, attracting talent, and a proactive approach to legislation.

In the program, Bolster Group is collaborating with the US based organization 2041. The year refers to the ideology and activities of the polar adventurer Robert Swan (53). His organization ‘2041’ works to preserve Antarctica and the environment in general. He chose this remarkable name for his organization because the treaty that protects the untamed nature of Antarctica will expire in 2014. In that year, the treaty may be subject to changes that may endanger nature in the Antarctic region.

An expedition to Antarctica is part of the sustainability leadership program in the Netherlands. Together with Robert Swan, several top managers will experience the overwhelming beauty of untouched nature and the impact of deterioration.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/evoswitch_sponsors_dutch_road_show_for_preservation_antarctica.html

Darin Lynch of Irish Titan Named to "40 Under 40" List

2010-04-19T08:16:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Darin Lynch, a Platinum Group member and CEO of Platinum's Irish Titan, has been honored as one of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal's "40 Under 40" for his leadership, career and achievements to date. Under his leadership, Irish Titan has been working with a growing number of Platinum Group clients, private equity companies and others, including Argos Risk, Artisans, Inc., Ducks Unlimited, No Name Premium Meat & Seafood, ProCard Direct, and XATA Corporation.

Eden Prairie, Minn. (PRWEB) April 16, 2010 -- Darin Lynch, a Platinum Group member and CEO of Platinum's Irish Titan, was honored last month as one of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal's "40 Under 40" for his leadership, career and achievements to date. The weekly publication annually spotlights the region's most talented and successful young leaders who have established themselves in the Twin Cities and are poised for even bigger things.

Lynch rose quickly to the top of one career ladder by starting his own e-Commerce strategy business -- Irish Titan -- at age 33. He sold it six years later to Platinum Group and now juggles CEO responsibilities at Irish Titan while advising privately held business owners in critical transition as a member of the Platinum.

Under his leadership, Irish Titan has been working with a growing number of Platinum Group clients, private equity companies and others, including Argos Risk, Artisans, Inc., Ducks Unlimited, No Name Premium Meat & Seafood, ProCard Direct, and XATA Corporation.

His 17 years of leadership experience includes online strategy, business development and organizational alignment. He offers significant organizational, technology and e-Commerce retail expertise from previous positions, including CIO of 2nd Swing, Inc. and business systems manager of Wilson's Leather.

Lynch holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from the University of Iowa and a master's in business administration degree from the University of St. Thomas. He is a member of the Turnaround Management Association and the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association.

Founded in the early 1980s, Platinum Group (eCommerce platform, online strategy, online marketing, and website design and development.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/darin_lynch_of_irish_titan_named_to_40_under_40_list.html

Webfusion Offers Hosted Exchange solution at half price

2010-04-19T08:15:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Webfusion is currently offering its Hosted Exchange solution at half price for the first three months. The solution is designed to provide businesses with improved email functionality whilst reducing the hassle of administration.

Hosted Exchange enables businesses to share large folders, documents, calendars and contacts throughout their organisation whenever and wherever required. As users stay connected to the same Hosted Exchange server, inboxes remain synchronised, regardless of the email client being used.

The solution works immediately on smart phones such as the Apple iPhone using either ActiveSync or IMAP, giving users instant access to company information. Hosted Exchange also offers extra functionality such as BlackBerry and SharePoint services.

In addition to the offer, anyone signing up to the programme before the end of June will also be automatically entered into a prize draw with the chance of winning a netbook.

For further information on the offer visit: http://www.webfusion.co.uk/email/ http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/webfusion_offers_hosted_exchange_solution_at_half_price.html

ORCS Web, Inc Makes ASP .NET 4.0 Available

2010-04-19T08:14:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ORCS Web Inc. recently announced that ASP .NET 4.0 has been made available on all of their Shared Hosting Servers. OrcsWeb’s dedicated and cloud server solutions also support the newly released version, enabling all OrcsWeb clients to have the ability to enjoy the benefits of ASP .NET 4.0. ASP.NET 4.0 is the newest version of Microsoft’s web application framework developed to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, web applications and web services.

OrcsWeb’s strategic partnership with Microsoft enables them to provide the support and tools necessary for their clients to thrive in this competitive environment. OrcsWeb continues to be an early adopter of new technologies and strives to be the fastest to the market with these new technologies while also providing the highest level of support of these platforms – helping their clients achieve the maximum benefit from the new technology.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/orcs_web_inc_makes_asp_net_4_0_available.html

cPanel Parked, Add-On & Sub-Domains Oh My!

2010-04-15T22:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) cPanel’s concept of Add-On, Parked and Sub-domains are very confusing for the first time cPanel user. This article will explain each of them and when/why you would use them.

We’ll start out with the easiest concept which is a domain. Before I can explain a domain there needs to be a brief discussion about “Top Level Domains” (TLD). No one really gives TLD’s that much thought. It’s really hard to define what a TLD is, so I’ll simply provide a sample list here:

§ .com
§ .net
§ .org
§ .co.uk
§ .jp

There are 100’s of different TLD’s (as well as country code TLD’s but you get the idea, right?) Domains then are pretty simple. It’s just any name that you pick (that follow domain naming rules) that are just to the left of the TLD. For the rest of our example here we’re just going to work the really simple “sample.com” domain.

So what are sub/add-on/parked domains?

We’ll start out with sub-domains first. You don’t realize it, but you use sub-domains every day. A sub-domain is simply the name just to the left of your domain name. The universally accepted sub-domain for web sites (drum roll please) is “www”. So while everyone “thinks” of their domain as www.sample.com, “www” is really a sub-domain of sample.com. Other popular sub-domains are “mail’ and “ftp”. See, that was pretty simple, wasn’t it?

At this point you're probably asking yourself “why would I ever need a sub-domain other than www?”. There are a lot of good reasons. Some of them include “blog.domain.com”, “forum.doman.com”, “secure.domain.com” and “devel.domain.com”. Each of these sub-domains could have been created as www.domain.com/forum and www.domain.com/blog but there is one big technical difference. With www.domain.com/forum and www.domain.com/blog they both physically have to be on the same server becuase there is only one DNS record for www.domain.com. With sub-domains like blog.domain.com and forum.domain.com each sub-domain has it’s own DNS record and therefore can be on different servers. The fact that you can put the different sub-domains on different servers is not particularly useful for most cPanel web hosting clients but if you have an very large/active site you many want out put devel.domain.com on a totally different server than www.domain.com

Parked domains are pretty straight forward. When you park a domain in cPanel it simply lets one site respond to multiple names. So again, with our sample.com domain you could park sample.org and sample.net on sample.com and you would see the exact same web site for www.sample.com, www.sample.net and www.sample.org. The real confusion with parked domains is that cPanel uses a different meaning for “parked” vs. the rest of the domain world. When most people think of parked domains they think of a landing page that your domain registrar gives you to “park” your web site before you create a real one. If you simply think of cPanel’s parked domains as domain aliases I think it’s a lot less confusing.

Add-on domains in cPanel are also pretty straight forward. They literally let you “add-on” another domain to your hosting account so you can host multiple domains from a single cPanel account. So how does cPanel do this magic? Most of it has to do with the configuration of the web server and of course, you don’t have to worry about that. The only thing you really need to be concerned with is “where do I put my files?”. With cPanel your web pages will be put in your public_html directory. When you add-on domains (unless you change cPanel’s defaults) they will simply be directories under your public_html directory. Visually they look like this:

/public_html/
/public_html/domain2.com
/pubic_html/domain3.com

So what is this 1+1 and 1+10 nonsense on the Doreo web site?

OK, first off, let’s blame that on the marketing guys, ok? This is simply the best notation we could come up with to explain how many accounts you can host on a single Doreo hosting account. With our SH-A plan you can host one main domain (the one you sign up for) and then you can add one more sub-domain or add-on domain or parked domain. With the SH-B plan you can host one main domain and then up to ten more sub/add-on/parked domains. It does not matter how many of which kind as long as the totally does not exceed ten.

Hopefully this clears up the mystery a bit about sub/add-on and parked domains (and why you’d use them). If things are still not quite clear please feel free to contact Doreo sales (by phone, chat or email) and we’ll do our best to explain it.

Writer's Bio: Frank Feingold is the President of Doreo Hosting. Frank's responsibility at Doreo includes new product development and customer satisfaction. Frank has been involved in the web hosting industry since 2001. Prior to his web hosting career Frank had 20+ years of mainframe and mid-range experince working in corporate america.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/cpanel_parked_add-on_and_sub-domains_oh_my.html

Digital Realty Trust Begins Construction of New Turn-Key Datacenters

2010-04-16T08:32:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Digital Realty Trust, Inc., the world’s largest wholesale datacenter provider, announced plans today to build out the next phase of over 170,000 square feet of new Turn-Key Datacenters® in five major metropolitan markets to meet escalating demand for its move-in ready datacenter space. The new Turn-Key facilities will be built in the Company’s following top markets:

—Over 53,000 square feet of Turn-Key Datacenter space in Northern New Jersey;
—Approximately 34,000 square feet of Turn-Key Datacenter space in the London metro area;
—Approximately 29,600 square feet of Turn-Key Datacenter space in Northern Virginia;
—Over 22,000 square feet of Turn-Key Datacenter space in San Francisco; and
—Approximately 33,000 square feet of Turn-Key Datacenter space in the Dallas metro area.

“In response to the increased demand for our Turn-Key product, we are accelerating our development plans in these key markets and expect construction to be completed by mid-year,” said Michael Foust, CEO of Digital Realty Trust. “Our redevelopment program is an essential component of our growth strategy. We are also focused on optimizing space in existing operating facilities to meet local demand for highly improved datacenter space while maximizing the returns to our shareholders,” Mr. Foust added.

In addition to the abovementioned projects, the Company also announced construction plans to add datacenter space to the following strategic properties:

—600 Federal Street in downtown Chicago;
—210 North Tucker Boulevard in St. Louis, MO;
—113 North Meyers in Charlotte, NC;
—2323 Bryan Street in downtown Dallas, TX; and
—The Quannapowitt Parkway property in the Boston, MA metro area.

“As the largest wholesale datacenter provider, we are committed to meeting our customers’ ongoing datacenter requirements in each of our markets. Our strong balance sheet enables us to fund our development program to meet the demand for our Turn-Key product,” said A. William Stein, CFO and Chief Investment Officer of Digital Realty Trust. “Our financial strength and ability to access capital are significant advantages for customers seeking space in our global portfolio.”

Digital Realty Trust Turn-Key Datacenter facilities provide state-of-the-art environments for supporting mission critical infrastructure, with advanced cooling, power, redundancy, and sustainability features to ensure that critical applications are available while optimizing energy efficiency. Digital Realty Trust’s Turn-Key Datacenters are scalable from hundreds of kilowatts of IT Load to megawatts of IT load and are located in markets throughout North America and Europe. Each Turn-Key Datacenter facility is physically secure and features a state-of-the-art power and cooling architecture that has been optimized for green operation. Every Turn-Key Datacenter is built using the Company’s proprietary POD Architecture® and uses metered power to ensure that clients pay only for the power that they use.

For more information about space availability at any of Digital Realty Trust’s properties, visit http://www.digitalrealtytrust.com/datacenter-locator.aspx.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/digital_realty_trust_begins_construction_of_new_turn-key_datacen.html

Open-Xchange Groupware and E-mail Available as SaaS in Spain

2010-04-16T08:31:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Affordable, business-class e-mail will now be available in Spain from Dinahosting, an independent provider of Internet business services, which will be the first partner to offer Open-Xchange in Spain.

“Many of our customers ask for easy-to-use and affordable tools to improve their office communication and day-to-day collaboration,” said Carlos Suárez, technical director of Dinahosting. “With Open-Xchange, we can provide our customers business-class webmail and PIM (personal information management) functionality at no additional charge with the choice to upgrade to complete groupware and mobility offerings at any time.”

By offering Open-Xchange`s e-mail and groupware as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Dinahosting enables its customers to work productively with the AJAX-based Open-Xchange anywhere they have access to a browser and an Internet connection. Open-Xchange enables synchronization with Microsoft Outlook, Apple Mail, native Mac applications iCal and Address Book, as well as most popular smartphones, including iPhone, Nokia and Windows Phone.

With recently introduced “Social OX” features, Open-Xchange also gives users the ability to consolidate any kind of existing webmail accounts—for example from Google and Yahoo — into a folder in Open-Xchange so they can be managed more easily. In addition, contact details from social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Xing can be added automatically to the Open-Xchange address book — giving users easy access to the latest contact information within their personal network. Users can now integrate and merge their address books from Google Mail and Facebook into Open-Xchange, as well.

“Dinahosting is the first partner to join our just recently introduced OXrate sales promotion — enabling Dinahosting to move quickly and easily into the SaaS market with Open-Xchange,” said Rafael Laguna, CEO of Open-Xchange. “Selling complementary and valuable services based on Open-Xchange helps service providers differentiate themselves, increase their average revenue per user and significantly grow profitability. By leveraging our Open-Xchange software, Dinahosting will gain competitive advantage, strengthen their relationship with existing customers and attract new customers.”

Open-Xchange is used by more than 15 million users worldwide as hosted and on-premise business-class e-mail and groupware.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/open-xchange_groupware_and_e-mail_available_as_saas_in_spain.html

Parallels Launches Plesk Panel 9.5

2010-04-16T08:13:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Parallels has launched Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 with significant upgrades including Google Services for Websites, PCI compliance, free installation, migration and upgrade support, support of most virtualization platforms, self-diagnostic tools and automated bug fixers.

It also includes free Parallels Sitebuilder 100 and free Parallels Billing 1000 (supporting USD, AUD, CAD and GBP) when purchased with Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 Unlimited version.

“Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 is the most feature-rich and easiest control panel for shared hosting,” said Jack Zubarev, President at Parallels. “These significant updates enable shared hosting companies to generate new revenue streams and deliver better services to their small business customers.”

Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5, the number one control panel in the world, is also the first commercial control panel to offer Google Services for Websites which enables hosting companies to monetize the applications available through Google Services for Websites.

“Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 will be instrumental in helping us launch new services to our customers,” said George Karidis, Chief Marketing Officer at SoftLayer. “This will enable us to reduce customer churn, decrease our operating costs and make us even more appealing to our valued customers.”

For dedicated and shared hosting companies, the new updates are appealing. Support for the leading virtualization platforms including Parallels Virtuozzo Containers, Parallels Server Bare Metal, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware ESX, Citrix Xen and KVM hypervisors allows flexibility in offering diverse virtualized services, access to thousands of applications ensures a complete and easy end-user experience, self-diagnostic and automated bug fixers allows small businesses to resolve problems quickly and efficiently and PCI Compliance ensures security of transactions.

“What Parallels Plesk Panel 9.5 does is let us concentrate on what we do best,” said Patrick Ahler, Director of Sales and Business Development at Superb Internet. “Its ease of use, micro-updates and self-diagnostic tools all combine to deliver the best end user experience available.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/parallels_launches_plesk_panel_9_5.html

ReliableSite Supports ASP.NET Framework 4.0

2010-04-16T08:12:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ReliableSite.Net has begun supporting the .NET Framework 4, which was released by Microsoft earlier in the week. The framework is immediately available on all hosting plans.

The new release of .NET 4 includes a wide-variety of important changes for developers, including enhancements to core ASP.NET services, as well as new Ajax upgrades, Web forms, and functionality for handling dynamic data. A complete listing of upgrades is available from Microsoft’s .NET 4 whitepaper.

In addition to .NET 4, ReliableSite also supports ASP.NET MVC 2 and the IIS URL Rewrite module. The company has a broad customer base of Web developers, and offers a wide variety of features to meet these unique requirements.

“Our customers have always expected us to be agile and ready to adopt new technologies. From the moment ASP.NET 4 was in beta, we had customers requesting it. Today’s announcement underscores the notion that we are serious about rapidly deploying the latest in technologies to our customers,” said Radic Davydov, owner of ReliableSite.

ReliableSite also offers a range of hosting solutions, including shared hosting, semi-dedicated servers, dedicated servers, and reseller hosting.

Available in Dual Core, Quad Core, and 8 Core hardware configurations, dedicated servers start at just $89 per month and can be loaded with a variety of operating systems, including Microsoft Windows Server and Linux. Dedicated servers also include remote boot functionality, 24 hour provisioning, and a 100% uptime SLA for network, power, and cooling.

To learn more about dedicated servers form ReliableSite, please visit http://www.reliablesite.net/v3/dedicated.asp.

To learn more about ReliableSite, please visit http://www.reliablesite.net.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/reliablesite_supports_asp_net_framework_4_0.html

Box.net Integrates With Netsuite

2010-04-16T08:11:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Box.net announced an integration with the NetSuite cloud computing platform. Box makes it simple for businesses to share, access, manage, and collaborate on their content online. Built using NetSuite's SuiteCloud development platform, the combined solution helps NetSuite customers improve productivity, efficiency, and business performance by making it easy to manage and collaborate on content without leaving NetSuite. The announcement was made today at SuiteCloud 2010, NetSuite's annual partner and developer conference being held in San Francisco.

NetSuite's SuiteCloud is a comprehensive offering of on-demand products, development tools, and services designed to help customers and commercial software developers take advantage of the significant economic benefits of cloud computing. The complete SuiteCloud offering includes NetSuite's multi-tenant, always-on SaaS infrastructure and the NetSuite business suite of applications: Accounting/ERP, CRM and Ecommerce.

"Business content comes in all shapes and sizes, from digital media to company publications and architectural files," said Karen Appleton, Box.net Vice President of Business Development. "Box.net for NetSuite is designed to help NetSuite customers collaborate within teams, across departments, and even with external partners and customers, from within the NetSuite environment."

Box.net for NetSuite helps NetSuite customers increase productivity by making relevant content - such as sales collateral, demo videos, invoices, contracts and purchase orders -accessible and shareable to those who are viewing a customer record. By assigning Box folders to specific customer records, employees across departments are kept in sync with what files have been shared with which customers. The combined solution also incorporates collaboration and workflow into NetSuite, giving users the ability to create shared folders outside of a customer record and invite colleagues, partners and contractors to review, update and add their own files. And, NetSuite customers can increase employee productivity by leveraging Box's integrated third-party services within NetSuite, including the ability to email or fax files, e-sign contracts and edit documents online.

"We're excited to bring a dynamic, flexible and powerful content management and collaboration solution to our customers by integrating with Box.net," said Guido Haarmans, Vice President of Developer Programs at NetSuite. "At NetSuite, we strive to eliminate operational inefficiencies by offering robust, cloud-based business management software. Box.net for NetSuite furthers our goal of using the cloud to help our customers centralize their business processes in a single location, online."

Box.net for NetSuite is currently available as part of the Box Enterprise edition. Please visit www.suiteapp.com for more information on the integrated solution. For screenshots and other press materials, please visit www.box.net/netsuitepress.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/box_net_integrates_with_netsuite.html

10 Blog Monetization Tips

2010-04-15T08:24:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) I am always harping about the importance of blogging, aren’t I? Well, it’s definitely for a good reason! Blogging is one of the best ways to gain relevance in the search engines, because you are sending out fresh and relevant content and telling the search engines exactly when you’re doing it. This can help grow your business with new customers, spread the word through existing readers, and even give you a niche in the world.

But enough about why blogs matter – let’s talk about how to make money with them! I’ve got 10 surefire ways to earn some income off your blogs. Especially in the current economy, it’s never been more important to monetize your blog to produce extra income where you can.

1. Sell Stuff People Actually Want
No, I don’t mean selling a tea cozy your grandmother made for you or auctioning off some old socks for profit – I mean selling your own content in various formats.

For example, if you have an RSS Feed (which you should, because people can gather your content very easily this way) you can compile these articles and rewrite them as an ebook. Sell this ebook very affordably on your website. You can bet your readers, who already love your stuff, will be interested in purchasing to help support your website.
Another idea is to produce offline material, such as CD-ROMs, hard copy books, or merchandise like t-shirts or coffee mugs. Websites like Lulu.com and CafePress.com are especially worthwhile in these cases.

2. Advertising
This is probably the first thing you thought of when looking into blog monetization, but it’s not always the most successful. That’s usually because bloggers get excited and overwhelm their website with ads or place irrelevant ads on the site. 1) Your readers are smart enough to click on something only when it’s relevant to their interests and 2) most readers don’t like to see too much advertising on a blog, since blogging is supposed to be all about personalization and community, not about making money.

So three rules for choosing advertising:
* Choose one space on your website to display advertisements. If that space is successful, you can then look into taking on more advertisers in other spaces, rotating ads, or making this space bigger.

* Make sure the advertisers you go with are relevant to your blog topics. If you’re blogging about children’s books, don’t take on adult advertising, in other words.

* Choose one method for displaying advertisements. You can choose from text links, banners, video ads, etc. Start with one and work your way up if they are successful.

3. Affiliate Networks
Are you guys tired of me talking about affiliate programs yet? I hope not, ‘cause I absolutely love them! And if you are blogging, you should love them too, because they can be an incredible source of revenue. Affiliate programs pay you every time someone 1) clicks on your unique URL or 2) every time someone purchases something after clicking that URL.

Choosing an affiliate program can be difficult, so here are some tips!
* Go with what you know! Most large websites and businesses these days offer affiliate programs, so check your favorite websites first. Especially if you plan to work these affiliate URLs into blog posts, you’ll want to be familiar with what you’re writing about.

* Only join relevant affiliate networks, so if your blog is all about beauty products, you probably want to steer clear of sporting goods affiliate programs.

* If you’re overwhelmed with the choices available, pick 2 industries that can relate to your readers. For example, if you run a technology blog, web hosting, domain registration, and iTunes are three niches that your visitors are likely to respond to.

4. Run Contests
You might be wondering how in the world you can make money when you’re giving something away. Well, it’s easy if you have sponsors! Email friends, associates, or even complete strangers from companies that would benefit from your readership and ask them to donate prizes in the form of cash, products, or services. This is free advertising for them and free publicity for you. Even offering some kind of raffle where readers must donate $1 to your blog before they can enter would be a great monetization effort. And, if your sponsors see a good result, they might be keen to setup future advertising campaigns.

5. Ask For Money
No, really! Everyone knows bloggers are oftentimes poor or just blogging for fun and may need assistance keeping their domain and web hosting paid and up-to-date, so putting a small PayPal Donation button or a Scratchback Top List in your blog is a very common practice these days. With Scratchback, you display your readers’ links on your website for a very small donation, so this usually is a great tradeoff. And you’d be surprised what you can earn if your readers are loyal.

6. Offer Specials
Create a Members Only area, organize special blogging events for your readers to participate, sell videos or podcasts, or even put up some tutorials or guides for sale. As long as everything you’re selling is stuff your readers will appreciate, you can make a great deal in offering special places or services to your users.

7. Sponsored Posts
Did you know you can earn money just by writing a review of a certain product, service, or tool? With services like PayPerPost, ReviewMe, and SponsoredReviews, companies will literally pay big bucks just to get word of mouth advertising on blogs with related content. Though a lot of readers will be turned off by too many sponsored blog posts, if you choose your advertisers carefully and pick products or services you either have always wanted to try or have always loved, it can be a very natural addition to your blog.

8. Create a Mailing List
Get your readers’ attention! Having a mailing list will help you keep your readers up to date with your latest news, contests, events, or specials. Plus, you can squeeze advertising in if you want to give your readers deals from companies with related niches or products.

9. Incorporate Ads Into RSS Feeds
By using services like Feedvertise and Feedburner, you can put small Adsense-like advertisements directly in your RSS Feeds. Again, as long as content is related, your readers shouldn’t find this too obtrusive.

10. Miscellaneous!
There are a ton of ways to think outside the box and make money on your blog. For example, there’s a service called ShareAPic that allows you to earn money by hosting your images with their service. Every time your picture is downloaded, you get a share of the company’s profits. But use your imagination and you can certainly come up with other wonderful ideas to monetize your blog.

The biggest tip I can offer is to blog as often as possible and gain your readership before you take any steps to monetize!

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/10_blog_monetization_tips.html

iPad Developers Rapidly Developing Apps

2010-04-15T08:22:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) With just under 6 billion mobile applications forecast to be downloaded this year, up from an estimated 2.4 billion in 2009*, app development has no indication of slowing down.

First weekend sales of the iPad estimated over 700,000 units and iPhone app developers are switching gears and rapidly turning to iPad app development.

In a survey of hundreds of iPhone app developers conducted by Optimum Lead Generation, the company behind iPadApplicationQuotes.com, a new website that connects business and entrepreneurs with experienced iPad app developers, the survey revealed:

- 88% of iPhone app developers surveyed anticipate the porting of existing iPhone Apps to iPad Apps

- 76% of iPhone app developers surveyed currently have at least 1 iPad App in development

“iPad application development represents new ground and opportunity for mobile developers” said Gregg Weiss, Founder of iPadApplicationQuotes.com. “Larger screen size, faster processor and richer user experiences are all reasons developers are excited about creating apps for the iPad”

When asked why iPhone developers might continue to develop for iPhone vs move only to iPad, one developer said “Existing iPhone users might be more reluctant to spring another $500 for an iPad. That's a big reason why I'm keeping with both platforms now”.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/ipad_developers_rapidly_developing_apps.html

Fasthosts Launches New Shared Hosting Packages

2010-04-15T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) In the company’s latest step toward raising the standard of UK web hosting, Fasthosts has launched a brand new range of premium-quality shared web hosting packages. Priced from only £4.69/month incl. VAT, and currently offered with a 50 per cent discount for 3 months, the new packages combine huge quotas of web space with new professional-quality web building and monitoring tools, and Fasthosts’ unlimited website traffic. As the market for hosted solutions continues to grow apace, the new hosting range is designed to exceed the growing technical demands of businesses and IT professionals alike.

Fasthosts’ new range of Personal Hosting packages comprises of the Standard package (5GB web space), which is priced from £4.69/month incl. VAT, and the Premium package (25GB web space) priced from £8.21/month incl. VAT. Both solutions include all the tools needed to maintain a professional-quality website including SiteBuilder, Blog tool and MatrixStats. The Premium package boasts 10 FTP accounts, 10 x 1GB anti- virus/SPAM mailboxes and 1 free .UK domain. Fasthosts’ new Business Hosting Packages are the Business Standard package (25GB web space), priced from £8.21/month incl. VAT, and Business Premium package (50GB web space) priced from £14.09/month incl. VAT. The flagship Business Premium delivers unlimited FTP accounts, up to 10 MYSQL databases and Load Balancing – which shares visitors over multiple web servers to maximise the uptime and speed of a website. All hosting packages are available in either Linux or Windows at no additional cost, an approach unique to Fasthosts.

A prominent feature is the powerful template-driven SiteBuilder tool, which benefits from 98 brand new design templates, faster editing and publishing, new site add-ons, RSS and Site Search. The tool is a highly effective way to build an impressive website within minutes, and is particularly well suited to small businesses. As eCommerce continues to be a key issue for all sizes of UK business, Fasthosts today launches a highly effective solution for starting an online store. The new optional SiteBuilder eShop, included within the Business Premium package, offers the functionality of specialist eCommerce software with unmatched ease of use and convenience of SiteBuilder. The shop pages are seamlessly integrated within an existing SiteBuilder website. Advanced features include unlimited product categories, 2-click PayPal integration, multiple currency support and advanced image handling.

Steve Holford, CMO Fasthosts Internet Ltd., said, "Our latest range of hosting packages sets a new benchmark for performance and value. We have built-in as much power as we can with no hidden fees or limitations. It has never been easier or more affordable to launch web project, and Fasthosts packages are designed to flex and adapt in line with your success”.

Fasthosts remains the clear favourite for the web professional. Development features include ASP.NET 3.5, PHP and ASP for Windows, and PHP, Python, Perl, MS SQL 2008 databases and SSH access for Linux. SSL web space and advanced password protection are also included in the majority of packages. Business hosting packages receive £105 of free search engine advertising credit. Furthermore, Fasthosts web hosting customers enjoy the flexibility to pay monthly or yearly with a choice of contract lengths, including a new pay as you go option. Unlike many of its competitors, Fasthosts does not charge a set-up fee for instant activation.

Fasthosts’ unlimited website traffic on all shared hosting means no caps or extra fees to pay that could limit traffic to your website. Unlimited traffic provides peace of mind to businesses or users who experience higher levels of traffic or fluctuations in visitors throughout the year. For UK SMEs, the ability to accept unlimited website visitors at times of high demand is essential for capitalising on peak consumer spending periods.

As a leading web host, Fasthosts is well placed to deliver a high quality service. Customers receive 24/7 technical support by phone or email. All data is hosted in Fasthosts’ state-of-the-art UK based data centre. Fasthosts offers a comprehensive range of web solutions including domain name registrations, email solutions (including mobile email services), shared web hosting, virtual servers, dedicated servers, online payment services, reseller web hosting and feature-rich broadband packages.

Full details of the new shared hosting range can be found at http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/hosting/ http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/fasthosts_launches_new_shared_hosting_packages.html

Razorfish Designation as Amazon Global Solutions Provider

2010-04-15T08:20:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Razorfish has recently launched its Cloud Computing practice to deliver a new suite of cloud computing services to its clients. Additionally, Razorfish has attained the designation as an Amazon Web Services (AWS) global solutions provider. The designation is nonexclusive for both Razorfish and AWS.

As an AWS global solutions provider, Razorfish combines its own design and technology integration capabilities (including cloud expertise) with AWS cloud computing web services for Razorfish clients. In March, Razorfish documented how its use of AWS resulted in a 500-percent increase in return on advertising spend for a client. The case study is available at http://bit.ly/caguQ6.

The Razorfish Cloud Computing practice, coordinated by Razorfish Chief Technology Officer Ray Velez, consists of approximately 100 Razorfish employees who regularly apply cloud computing technology for clients such as Bundle.com and MillerCoors.

The practice is charged with developing cloud computing expertise, partner relationships and thought leadership. For instance, the February 5 Razorfish Technology Summit focused on how companies can support marketing and customer service by employing scalable and portable cloud computing platforms. And the recently released Razorfish 5 report on technology trends predicts that the Facebook Connect cloud platform will become more popular than Facebook.

As an AWS global solutions provider, Razorfish learns about upcoming AWS features and services in order to deepen its knowledge of the AWS platform. The insight into AWS cloud computing complements Razorfish's expertise in cloud computing.

Velez said, "Cloud computing is a business phenomenon, not a technology issue. Because cloud platforms are more scalable than other alternatives, marketers can better manage the peaks and valleys of marketing campaigns. And because cloud services are less expensive than traditional hosting options, marketers can free up their budgets to innovate. Razorfish clients benefit from our demonstrated knowledge of AWS in a number of ways, such as our ability to perform highly granular ad spend analytics."

Terry Wise, director of Developer Relations for AWS, said, "Razorfish's unique use of Amazon Web Services is bringing new solutions and significant value to our joint customers. We are pleased that Razorfish is among our AWS Global Solutions Providers, and their achievement of this designation demonstrates their extensive knowledge of cloud computing."

Razorfish already uses AWS to deploy cloud computing for major organizations. Their work includes migrating functions such as real-time advertising and analytics, credit references, electronic commerce, sales acquisition and self-service to the AWS cloud platform. Razorfish also uses AWS in offerings such as business intelligence.

The relationship will be managed by John Cunningham, Razorfish Technology director in London. Cunningham said, "Razorfish is pleased to become one of the few AWS Global Solutions Providers. We've already successfully deployed AWS for clients such as MillerCoors. The scalability and pay-as-you-go cost structure of AWS makes it a natural platform for hosting online advertising campaigns."

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/razorfish_designation_as_amazon_global_solutions_provider.html

Three New SEO Training Courses Launched at SEO Junkies University

2010-04-15T08:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) The recent recession has been a wakeup call for many businesses who have had to rethink the way they generate sales by using the assets they currently have at their disposal - people. The tightening of belts is only natural in an economic crisis so utilising the company’s current resources is paramount, which often means training key personnel in new areas to generate those vital leads.

SEO Junkies University, in particular, has seen a substantial rise in the number of delegates attending their SEO Training Courses, which has lead to them to launch a new range of courses suited to different levels and aspects of search engine optimisation. Each of the SEO Training Courses are designed for both basic and technical knowledge associated with SEO as well as the social media aspect all designed to increase the sites search engine rankings and generate revenue for their clients.

The ‘Essential SEO Training Course’ is aimed at those taking their first steps into search engine optimisation. The Essential SEO Course is a lighter way to gain fast track knowledge of SEO techniques and where they fit in with your internet marketing strategies. The Essential SEO Training Course gives the company the knowledge to take control of the sites ranking in the natural search engine results pages to gain more traffic and increase those valuable sales. This course is perfect for Marketing Managers.

The ‘Hardcore Search Engine Optimisation Training Course’ digs deeper into the SEO theory and real world techniques. Starting with the basics, the Hardcore SEO course looks into complex techniques including different technical aspects of coding to improve the sites search ranking performance –page rank sculpturing is just one of those techniques. This course is aimed at people who want to get down to the ‘nitty gritty’ of search engine optimisation.

The third course on offer is the’ Social Media Training Course’ which looks at all the different social media networks that can help your site gain traffic. The course is aimed at revealing the technology and techniques required to make a commercial success of social media marketing. The popularity of social media is often recognised by companies but many of them have no idea how they can help their business grow. This one day course aims to shake your businesses into diving in to the world social media marketing and is aimed at anybody who has a keen interest in social media.

SEO Junkies University has been established for 4 years and has had incredible success with their courses with the attendance of clients such as Your M&S, Coremetrics and Betting.com. With each of the courses restricted to a maximum of 5 delegates per session, the exclusivity gives them a much more consultative feel rather than other standard SEO Training courses.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/three_new_seo_training_courses_launched_at_seo_junkies_universit.html

Xcellimark Among Leading Web Designers in the Southeast

2010-04-15T08:17:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Xcellimark has once again been selected by Goldline Research as one of the 10 Leading Providers of Web Design in the Southeastern United States and is featured on a list published in the April 12, 2010 issue of Forbes Magazine.

For the fourth year in a row, Xcellimark was chosen by Goldline Research.

To be selected as a Leading Provider, companies must pass the Goldline Research certification process by meeting all of Goldline Research's industry criteria such as no consumer complaints, lawsuits or disciplinary actions and the ability to provide client references that are checked and scored based on a proprietary scoring system.

“Being recognized as a Leading Provider of Web Design for the fourth year in a row is both remarkable and an honor for us. It’s important to us to partner with our clients to deliver the overall marketing success they need to reach their goals and objectives,” said Scott Lambert, President of Xcellimark. “Great web design must be a part of a well-defined marketing strategy, integrated with compelling copy, and enhanced with digital marketing and ongoing optimization to deliver profitable customer growth. It is the combination of these critical elements that consistently delivers online success for our clients.”

And it’s that kind of thinking outside of the box that makes Xcellimark an industry leader. They know that online success goes beyond a good looking website and a cookie-cutter SEO program, which is why they provide their clients with a customized digital strategy with a blueprint for success.

The Internet marketing plan may contain any number of creative integrated solutions such as video, social media, compelling writing, continuous testing and analysis in addition to a creatively designed website. Each piece of the Internet marketing puzzle is tailored to client needs to ensure that their business goals are met.
Xcellimark's clients are reaping the rewards of this unique approach to Internet marketing and experiencing unprecedented success online and offline.

“There was an audible ‘ahhhhhh’ in the audience when we pulled up our new website,” said Kevin Higgins, International Director, Global Teams. “To work with a team of people that bring the right experience, the right gifting, the right talent pool in to play at the right time was incredibly helpful. And perhaps the most helpful thing, which can be easily overlooked, is the wisdom to know how to ask the right questions to get us moving in the right direction, to prod us to think about things we would never have imagined.”

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/xcellimark_among_leading_web_designers_in_the_southeast.html

Fpweb.net Set to Host SharePoint 2010

2010-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Fpweb.net is currently gearing up for the highly anticipated launch of hosted SharePoint 2010, scheduled for Monday, April 19th. Hosted SharePoint 2010 Foundation from Fpweb.net, now available for pre-order, will be available days before Microsoft’s official release of SharePoint 2010.

Fpweb.net has over ten years of SharePoint hosting experience and hosts more than l,000,000 users in 80 countries."We can't put into words how excited and honored we are for the opportunity to not only help Microsoft with the research of SharePoint 2010, but to be the first to host it as well," said Rob LaMear IV, CEO of Fpweb.net. "This is a huge milestone in our ten plus years in the SharePoint community and something that we couldn’t have achieved without our brilliant engineers. We were the first in the world to host SharePoint in 1999, and now we’ll be pioneering yet again as the first to offer hosted SharePoint 2010."

While the official release date of SharePoint 2010 is slated as May 12th, 2010, Fpweb.net will be hosting the new product almost an entire month early. Their extensive SharePoint knowledge has lead to recent opportunities like conducting SharePoint 2010 research for Microsoft and has continued to keep the SharePoint momentum going since first hosting SharePoint in 1999.

"It's taken a lot of hard work and talent to get where we are today and I couldn't be more proud of who we are as a company," stated LaMear.

With more than 1,000,000 users in 80 countries, Fpweb.net is the SharePoint hosting industry leader with over a decade of pure SharePoint experience. Widely known as the SharePoint Hosting Pioneer™, Fpweb.net has an excellent reputation of having the most industry knowledge regarding anything SharePoint. Their unique SharePoint Cloud solutions boast a SuperFast™ network and SAS70 data centers in addition to offering complete server control and add-on SharePoint applications. Trusted by the best, including the US Air Force, DOW Chemical and the American Red Cross, this premiere SharePoint hosting company can cut your I.T. costs by 60% and deploy in just days.

For more information on hosted SharePoint 2010, visit www.fpweb.net or call 866.780.4678.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/fpweb_net_set_to_host_sharepoint_2010.html

The Planet Announces Participation at PubCon South

2010-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) The Planet announced its participation in PubCon South at Dallas, the premier search and social media conference and expo. Hosted by WebmasterWorld, the event is scheduled for April 14-15, 2010, at the Richardson Conference and Civic Center. During the expo, The Planet will showcase its hosting and cloud solutions optimized for webmasters, search engine marketers and business IT managers.

“This show brings together industry thought-leaders in Internet and search marketing, social media, and advertising to share best practices in supporting their Web-based businesses,” said Todd Mitchell, The Planet’s general manager for dedicated hosting and global services. “For this audience, a reliable IT platform is paramount to their success. They’ll hear firsthand about our solutions and our own customers, who choose The Planet based on the quality of our network and data centers.”

The Planet will return its popular Server Challenge to the expo, tasking conference attendees to post the fastest time in correctly rebuilding a server. To maximize social media access throughout the event, the company is also providing a live Twitter feed, which will be displayed in the conference lobby.

For more information on The Planet at PubCon South, visit http://www.theplanet.com/events.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/the_planet_announces_participation_at_pubcon_south.html

ReliaCloud and Commission Junction Offer Cloud Servers to Affiliates

2010-04-14T14:00:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ReliaCloud has announced the launch of its ReliaCloud Affiliate Program. Under the terms of the new program, affiliates earn $25 for each referred customer.

ReliaCloud is the first cloud hosting company to offer cloud services with Commission Junction. With 75% of companies stating that cloud computing is a priority for their companies in 2010, the demand for cloud solutions is unprecedented.

“We designed this new program to give affiliates an easy way to offer cloud services,” said Al Afflitto, Channel Manager at ReliaCloud. “With our program, affiliates can realize instant revenue by helping their clients utilize cloud services.”

With a variety of banner and text ads to choose from, affiliates can choose which look and feel best fits the ambiance of their own website.

You can get started as a ReliaCloud affiliate partner by completing the form online at http://www.reliacloud.com/partners/affiliate. It only takes a few minutes and you can be earning money by referring clients to ReliaCloud.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/reliacloud_and_commission_junction_offer_cloud_servers_to_affili.html

SoftLayer Selected for Streaming Masters Tournament

2010-04-14T08:27:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) SoftLayer Technologies was the provider of critical data center and network infrastructure used for streaming video of the 2010 Masters Golf Tournament live on the Internet, April 5 through 11. More than 600 SoftLayer servers were deployed for the webcast. The company hit network traffic peaks approaching 170Gbps on Thursday and 190Gbps on Friday of last week. Total network traffic was 40% above normal traffic loads.

“SoftLayer is the ideal infrastructure provider when a Web service of any kind, from content delivery to social media applications, needs to massively scale for a specific period or event,” said Ric Moseley, SoftLayer Vice President of Engineering. “With fully automated services, our customers know they can scale to exactly the type and level of resources they need, for as long as they need them. It’s a seamless extension of their dayto-day environment—just as reliable and robust.”

SoftLayer has more than 26,000 deployed servers in their three geographically diverse data centers, and over 300Gbps of total network capacity. The company is continuously expanding its network capabilities: its total capacity will more than double in the coming weeks, reaching 1,000Gbps with the launch of multiple new network Points of Presence and the addition of several network carriers.

SoftLayer has been the partner of choice for content delivery networks that have webcast many major events that drew large online audiences, including pop icon Michael Jackson’s memorial service and the inauguration of President Barack Obama.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/softlayer_selected_for_streaming_masters_tournament.html

i/o Data Centers Launches i/o On-Demand

2010-04-14T08:29:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) i/o Data Centers has recently launched i/o On-Demand, a service that provides access to a virtual enterprise-grade IT environment – on-demand - for a fraction of the cost of building from scratch.

i/o On-Demand™ can accommodate a wide range of business needs including growth and expansion, hardware refresh, disaster recover/business continuity and application development. i/o On-Demand™ offers multiple configuration options from single servers to hosts and clusters that are designed to deliver superior performance and reliability. i/o Data Centers already has more than 30 active customers using the service.

“i/o On-Demand can meet the needs of any sized business,” says Kindra Martone, General Manager and SVP, Sales for i/o Data Centers. Purchasing IT capacity typically requires a substantial capital expenditure. According to Martone, “i/o On-Demand™ turns the acquisition of computing and networking capacity into an operating budget line item, eliminating the many problems associated with capital expenditures – something that is attractive to businesses in today’s economic environment.”

"Companies want to manage performance, not hardware," says Jason Ferrara, VP, Sales and Marketing for i/o Data Centers. "With i/o On Demand, no assembly is required. i/o On-Demand™, helps our customers save time, resources and capital and eliminates the need to manage multiple hardware vendors and platforms.

The servers, storage arrays and networking equipment that power the i/o On-Demand™ environment are located within highly reliable data centers designed, built and operated by i/o Data Centers and backed by a 100% uptime service level agreement. “i/o Data Centers is trusted by some of the world’s largest corporations to provide 24 x 7 x Forever availability for their mission-critical IT operations” says Ferrara. “i/o On-Demand allows us to service the needs of our customers and provide the flexibility and reliability they expect.”

For more information about i/o On-Demand™, please visit: www.iodatacenters.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/i_o_data_centers_launches_i_o_on-demand.html

Future Hosting Expands Partner Program with Cash Bonus Offers

2010-04-14T08:24:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Future Hosting has expanded its popular Future Hosting Partner Program, to allow non-clients to participate and receive cash payouts. The program will also reward the top-affiliate with a $500 cash bonus.

The highly competitive program already offers 100 percent payouts on the referred transaction, subject to a 90-day customer retention period. Affiliates simply pass along special tracking URLs to prospective clients, and all sales made through the URL are recorded. As part of today’s expansion, the affiliate with the highest total referred sales through the end of May will receive a $500 cash bonus, in the form of an instant credit to his or her affiliate account.

With today’s changes, affiliates in the program do not need to be existing Future Hosting clients, and affiliates may receive payouts in cash, instead of in a service credit.

Affiliates can now also begin earning commissions for Dedicated Server referrals, in addition to referrals for Virtual Private Servers.

“The Future Hosting Partner Program is competitive and designed to maximize success for our affiliates. By expanding the program to include not only our existing clients, but also members of the public, we can greatly grow the scope and success of this program. For several years, this program has helped us drive sales and gain high-quality, loyal customers. We’re fully committed to taking this program to a higher level,” said Future Hosting Chief Strategy Officer Stephen Kowalski.

Future Hosting also offers a competitive reseller program, enabling individuals to resell Future Hosting services. Resellers receive progressively discounted wholesale pricing, depending upon volume, and in return provide Level 1 technical support and customer service for their clients.

Dedicated Servers and Virtual Private Servers from Future Hosting are available in a wide variety of configurations, including on both managed and unmanaged plans. Clients are also able to locate their server in any of Future Hosting’s five international data centers, in Chicago, Dallas, London, Seattle, or Washington, D.C.

Future Hosting is the developer of Future Engineer™, a technical support automation system designed to automate time consuming server configuration and repair tasks on Virtual Private Servers (VPS), Future Engineer™ allows clients to receive a greater level of technical support than is available when technicians spend their time performing routine or basic maintenance tasks. With Future Engineer™, technicians are free to spend their time offering a level of technical support that is unrivaled and otherwise unaffordable.

For more information about Future Hosting, please visit http://www.futurehosting.com.

To learn more about the Future Hosting Partner Program, please visit http://www.futurehosting.com/affiliates.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/future_hosting_expands_partner_program_with_cash_bonus_offers.html

Hosting.com Joins Cybersecurity Advisory Committee

2010-04-14T08:31:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Hosting.com has announced that Jim Garrity, Hosting.com Chief Security Strategist, has been selected to participate on California State Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris’s Advisory Committee on Cybersecurity.

Harris, the two-term District Attorney of San Francisco now seeking the Democratic nomination for California Attorney General, recruited online security thought leaders from various sectors of the technology industry to discuss cybersecurity issues, industry trends, and threats. The group will also formulate policy recommendations designed to help stem security breaches and crimes.

Heightened cybersecurity threats surrounding electronic trade, identity theft, e-commerce, intellectual property right protection, and financial crimes impelled Harris to create this advisory committee to solicit the best possible advice from experts in the field.

“I am honored and grateful to have the leading experts in the field of cybersecurity advising me on matters of critical importance in our 21st century global economy,” said Harris. “I look forward to working with this committee to bring innovative cyber crime-fighting solutions to California’s justice system.”

“Kamala Harris moves far ahead of the threat curve by creating this task force,” noted Hosting.com Marketing Director Aaron Hollobaugh. “The high level of online success for California businesses poses one of the greatest threats for security breaches. We look forward to working with the other members of the Advisory Committee and Kamala herself to identify those threats and ensure legislation reduces their frequency and mitigates their impact.”

Jim Garrity of Hosting.com will join other cybersecurity experts and thought leaders in frequent calls and meetings with Kamala Harris and her campaign staff to ensure existing and pending legislation takes the security enhancements and threats associated with it into full account.

The inaugural meeting of the advisory committee will take place on Tuesday, April 13. The first session will focus on providing Harris with an update on the current state of cybersecurity, and proposing areas where administrative policies and legislation could help minimize risks and enhance privacy.

For more information on Harris’s campaign for Attorney General, please visit www.KamalaHarris.org.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/hosting_com_joins_cybersecurity_advisory_committee.html

XMission's Launches New Hosting Division, Stackable.com

2010-04-14T08:23:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) XMission has announced the launch of Stackable (stackable.com), the company's new hosting division. Stackable will allow web developers across the nation to more easily integrate web development and testing processes into hosting.

"Seeing the need for better web hosting, XMission simplified access to cloud hosting technologies like virtualization, real-time scalability, and high availability. Stackable web hosting makes scalable web hosting easy at a price that can't be beat," said XMission president and founder Pete Ashdown.
XMission started development on Stackable in 2008 after hearing many web developers express their frustrations with traditional hosting services. "We knew that developers felt dissatisfied with the traditional model, but they didn't necessarily want to put everything in the cloud either. EC2 for example can cause more deployment problems than it solves and can be very expensive," said Ashdown. Systems engineers Jason Hansen, Michael Place, and Eric Waters built Stackable in-house at XMission.

Stackable allows web developers to increase or decrease the resources provisioned for their site as demand increase or decreases. "Virtualization makes scaling much easier for the developer," said Michael Place, Senior Engineer for Stackable. "A developer can instantly add resources like memory from the Stackable control panel, and we'll only charge them for the resources used. This just isn't possible with a traditional host. Developers had to either purchase too many resources to anticipate growth, or they found themselves with too few resources when they needed them." Stackable also offers unlimited load-balancing at no additional charge.

Additionally, Stackable allows developers to test website functionality on the live server, by providing a separate testing environment and private URL. "Testing on Stackable means that developers will not experience any surprises when they deploy their site, giving them more confidence and security." According to Place, this means that developers can test and refine their website in an environment identical to that of the live server.

"With other hosts, developers never know if code developed on their workstation will work when uploaded to the hosting provider," said Place. "Stackable lets developers create multiple versions of a single website and then, with a single click, deploy a chosen version into production."

Stackable hosting starts at $35 per month for one 256MB container. All new customers who sign up for a Stackable account will receive a container for free for one month. This free container can be either 256MB or 512MB. Additional resources or containers will be billed at the advertised rate.

For additional information, visit www.stackable.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/xmission_s_launches_new_hosting_division_stackable_com.html

DiscountASP.NET Launches ASP.NET 4 Hosting

2010-04-13T08:13:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) DiscountASP.NET is enhancing their Windows Server 2008 hosting platform with latest .NET Framework 4.

All DiscountASP.NET production Windows 2008 servers are installed side-by-side with .NET Framework 4.0 and 3.5 SP1/2.0 versions. Customers can choose which ASP.NET version they desire to develop against using a real-time ASP.NET Version Chooser tool available in the DiscountASP.NET hosting control panel. Customers have the freedom to switch to different versions of ASP.NET without the assistance of DiscountASP.NET staff, and do not have to experience service disruption due to server migration.

One of the key new enhancements with ASP.NET 4 and Visual Studio 2010 is in the application deployment experience. With DiscountASP.NET's support for the Microsoft Web Deployment Tool, customers can package applications including databases and seamlessly deploy applications from their development environment to the production servers using One Click Publish.

"We are very excited to offer ASP.NET 4.0 hosting. Our Windows 2008 platform is now ready for applications developed with Visual Studio 2010." said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing and Business Development at DiscountASP.NET. "We are proud to be among the first hosts to support One Click Publish, the next-generation in web application packaging and deployment."

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/discountasp_net_launches_asp_net_4_hosting.html

Interoute connects to BATS Europe

2010-04-13T08:12:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Interoute has announced the availability of direct connectivity to BATS Europe, the second largest Multilateral Trading Facility (MTF) in Europe.

Financial institutions can connect directly to BATS Europe via Interoute’s high quality bandwidth service, Fast Trade, which offers ultra low latency connectivity between 25 countries in Europe.

“We are pleased to partner with Interoute to connect market participants to the highly efficient, low latency BATS Europe platform. We remain committed to providing market participants with a choice of connectivity providers that can provide our customers with the low latency and resilient experience they have come to expect from us,” said Paul O’Donnell, Chief Operating Officer of BATS Europe.

Lee Myall, UK regional director at Interoute, said: “BATS Europe’s 300 per cent growth spurt in 2009 is testament to its investment in leading technology and its innovative approach to financial trading. Not only has this proposition attracted many leading blue chip companies, but it has earned it a reputation for high performance across its trading platforms. We are committed to helping BATS Europe to continue its delivery and innovation in this field.”

Supporting trades in securities across 16 European markets, BATS Europe provides world-class system performance with 99% of orders filled in 465 microseconds. Interoute’s Fast Trade service was chosen as it guarantees ultra low round trip delay times and low latency between any trading hub on Interoute’s extensive European network, which covers more than two hundred of Interoute’s points-of-presence (PoPs).

Interoute Fast Trade is a point to point service based on Interoute’s SDH and wavelength platforms. Any Fast Trade bandwidth purchased is entirely dedicated to the customer, ensuring the latency does not vary during the working day. Before it goes live, each Fast Trade route is tested for its exact round trip delay. This delay, measured to the nearest 100 microseconds, is then guaranteed in a premium quality Service Level Agreement (SLA) before the customer takes delivery of the service, ensuring a predictable high quality, high speed service. Furthermore, the Interoute SLA means that should the round trip delay not match the guaranteed level the customer is free to cancel the service without any additional charges.

BATS Europe, which launched on the 31st of October, 2008, currently matches more than 9% of trading in the FTSE 100, 6% of the FTSE 250, FTSE MIB and SMI, and 4-5% of the CAC 40 and DAX. http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/interoute_connects_to_bats_europe.html

SMX Advanced Seattle "Early Bird" Discount Expires April 24

2010-04-13T08:11:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Search Marketing Expo - SMX Advanced Seattle's early bird registration rate expires at the close of business on April 24. Conference participants can save $200 by registering before the price increases.

Search Marketing Expo - SMX Advanced SeattleSMX Advanced Seattle has sold out each year since the conference was founded in 2007, and this year will be no exception. More than 2/3 of the tickets available have already been reserved.

SMX Advanced Seattle is programmed by leading search authority Danny Sullivan and the editors of SearchEngineLand.com. The conference program features for-experts-only sessions on search engine optimization (SEO), paid search engine marketing, social media marketing, and SEM business issues. See the complete agenda.

Headlining the list of speakers at SMX Advanced will be Google’s Matt Cutts. He’ll participate in an engaging "You&A", an unscripted and PowerPoint-free conversation with the SMX Advanced Seattle audience.

A host of market-leading companies will be participating in SMX Advanced. They include Bing, Yahoo, Covario, Bruce Clay, Inc., and Acquisio. See the complete list at http://searchmarketingexpo.com/advanced/2010/exhibitors .

Register for SMX Advanced Seattle before April 25 and you pay the Early Bird rate of just $1,395, which includes all of the sessions, keynotes, network activities, hot lunches and social events.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/smx_advanced_seattle_early_bird_discount_expires_april_24.html

CENX and Interxion Expand Carrier Ethernet Services in Europe

2010-04-13T08:10:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Interxion and CENX have partnered to launch a pan-European Carrier Neutral Ethernet Exchange service. The service will be available in Interxion’s London data centre in June 2010 with expansions being planned for other locations including, amongst others, Amsterdam and Paris.

The CENX-Interxion partnership will help to accelerate the already rapid growth in demand for Carrier Ethernet services in Europe. Market analyst Infonetics Research expects that as a direct result of efficient and economical interconnects between service providers, the market for Ethernet Services can grow at 20% CAGR to a total of almost US$40 Billion in 2013. CENX’s proven business processes and methodologies enable service providers to gain access to the CENX marketplace within 30 days, which today includes over 5 million Ethernet end user locations provided globally by more than ten service providers including Verizon and Level 3. This partnership will facilitate rapid and easy access by carriers located at Interxion to the new CENX service and generate cost savings, as well as extending the potential reach of Carrier Ethernet networks across Europe for the benefit of their customers. Interxion’s data centres in 11 countries provide direct connectivity to the highest carrier density in Europe of any data centre operator, including all the major Carrier Ethernet service providers.

“The Interxion and CENX partnership creates carrier-neutral integration points that meet critical market demand for ubiquitous network and service delivery of data, voice, and video over Carrier Ethernet,” said Stan Hubbard, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading. “This move will allow service providers to establish interconnections quickly and effectively in key European markets, enabling them to focus on their primary business goal of serving their end-customers and accelerating revenue.”

“Through this agreement, we are delivering on our strategy of further enhancing our connectivity proposition and driving cost savings for customers in the rapidly growing Carrier Ethernet service market,” said Kevin Dean, Chief Marketing Officer Interxion. “By seeking out CENX as the leading neutral, best-of-breed operator of Carrier Ethernet exchanges, Interxion can continue to offer its carrier, digital media, financial services, content and cloud provider customers the best connectivity products, while we stay focused on operating and building out our best of breed data centre footprint. With its world-leading solution and deep understanding of Carrier Ethernet services, CENX is uniquely positioned to service Ethernet data-driven requirements, driving down customer costs and offering improved reach in the process.”

“Building on its seven years of working on the development of Carrier Ethernet, the CENX team has launched their services in November 2009 and has already made accessible over 5 Million Ethernet end user locations across the U.S., by connecting the networks of more than ten major carriers, including Verizon and Level 3. Our partnership with European market leader Interxion, with over 350 interconnected carriers throughout Europe, allows CENX to create the only European solution bringing both the ease of colocated physical connectivity together with the efficiency of CENX’s Carrier Ethernet Exchange solution,” said Nan Chen, CEO and co-founder of CENX. “Interxion has the optimum balance between carrier and content provider customers, ideal for the rapid migration towards the integration of data, voice and video delivered over a Carrier Ethernet infrastructure.” http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/cenx_and_interxion_expand_carrier_ethernet_services_in_europe.html

CM4all Integrates eNom RichContent into WebsiteCreator

2010-04-13T08:07:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ContentManagement is pleased to announce that eNom, Inc., the world's largest ICANN accredited domain name wholesale registrar, has successfully launched an enhanced version of CM4all WebsiteCreator ContentManagement. eNom and CM4all continue to deepen their long-standing relationship by finalizing a joint-project to seamlessly integrate eNom’s RichContent service into CM4all’s site builder product.

"RichContent is a simple, self-serve way for Web site owners to add relevant, high quality articles and videos to their sites," explains Chris Sheridan, vice president of platform for Demand Media, Inc, the parent company of eNom. "With the latest version of CM4all WebsiteCreator our customers are able to leverage our new content offering in a convenient way and without any programming knowledge."

Since launch, eNom has been evolving its RichContent service to simplify the process for website publishers to supplement their existing site content with written and video content. The content is sourced from an industry-leading library containing millions of rights-cleared, premium articles and videos and is incorporated into customer websites via a widget.

In order to make RichContent also available for users of CM4all WebsiteCreator, CM-AG augmented its site builder with a brand new page type which easily renders eNom content. These enhancements make it possible for customers to experience improved and simplified functionality.

"eNom’s RichContent service is centered around website owners’ ever growing need for multimedia content. With the unique integration capabilities of our tailor-made solution we are proud that we could enable eNom to seamlessly deliver RichContent to its customers within our application," says Robert Schovenberg, CEO of CM4all.

The newly-added RichContent page type is currently available in the CM4all WebsiteCreator Business Edition.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/cm4all_integrates_enom_richcontent_into_websitecreator.html

R1Soft to Exhibit its MySQL Backup and True-Granular Restore

2010-04-12T16:10:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) R1Soft, developer of Continuous Data Protection® (CDP) for Windows and Linux, announced today it will showcase its high-performance software and True-Granular Restore™ technology for the 3rd consecutive year at the MySQL Conference and Expo to be held April 12-15 in Santa Clara, Calif.

As the largest gathering of MySQL developers, users, and database administrators, this year’s show provides a key opportunity for R1Soft to engage with the MySQL community and educate users about its CDP software for MySQL database servers. R1Soft’s CDP for MySQL technology allows databases to be backed up as often as every 15 minutes. Snapshots are created in less than a second for online backups without interruptions to busy production databases.

In addition to zero-interruption hot backups, R1Soft’s True-Granular™ table-level restore for MyISAM and InnoDB gives developers and administrators the ability to restore individual tables to original or alternate locations using an easy-to-use interface.

"Year after year the MySQL Conference provides a constructive forum that allows us to exchange ideas and feedback with MySQL developers, users, and database administrators,’" said David Wartell, Vice President of R1Soft, a division of BBS Technologies.

At booth #520 of the expo hall, R1Soft will be showing live demos highlighting the some of the new features in R1Soft’s latest release, CDP Standard Edition. Attendees will have the opportunity to enter the company’s latest promotional contest, the R1Soft Continuous Giveaway, for a chance to win prizes like the new iPad and the Bose SoundDock. R1Soft will also be handing out its popular penguins and newly-designed 2010 T-shirts.

For more information about R1Soft and Continuous Data Protection, please visit http://www.r1soft.com or call 1-800-956-6198.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/r1soft_to_exhibit_its_mysql_backup_and_true-granular_restore.html

Codero Offers Unprecedented Savings In Time for Tax Day

2010-04-12T16:05:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) As companies feel the pinch from the approaching “Tax Day” April 15, Codero is taking measures to assist small- to medium-sized businesses who need more powerful dedicated servers. The dedicated hosting and managed services company is reducing prices on its entire server inventory by 50 percent in order to help organizations purchase the computing infrastructure their businesses need most to remain competitive.

The price-cutting campaign is being offered for a limited time in an effort to give something back to businesses as they make their tax payments. According to Phillip Spencer, Chief Executive Officer of Codero, “Organizations nationwide are seeking cost-cutting measures even as the economy rebounds. This is our way of helping companies fuel growth for the future with a more secure, high-performance online presence at a substantially reduced price.”

All new servers purchased at Codero are included in the price-break. The company recently expanded its server portfolio adding nine new options to its server lineup in categories that include Webmaster Class, Professional Class, Enterprise Class models and Dell. Located within Codero’s green-powered secure data centers and backed by 24/7/365 support, servers can also be hosted in a PCI compliant environment.

For more information on the server lineup and 50% off prices, visit www.codero.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/codero_offers_unprecedented_savings_in_time_for_tax_day.html

Increase Business with Private-Label Hosted SaaS Services

2010-04-11T22:53:00-04:00

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/increase_business_with_private-label_hosted_saas_services.html

Build Dynamic Web Sites Without Programming

2010-04-12T08:43:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Webvanta announced the release of version 2.0 of the Webvanta platform, which gives designers even more control and flexibilty to design and manage sophisticated, database-driven websites without needing a programmer. Webvanta 2.0 provides more power and flexibility than other hosted CMS solutions, which typically do not support custom databases or structured content. It is an easier-to-use alternative to systems such as Drupal, Joomla!, and Expression Engine, which typically require much more time to complete a site, and it is more powerful and easier to customize than WordPress.

"Since releasing version 1.0 of Webvanta last September, we've been listening attentively to the designers who have been using it. As a result of this feedback, we've rewritten the administrative interface to make it even more efficient for designers and site owners," said Michael Slater, Webvanta CEO and co-founder. "Webvanta allows designers who don't want to deal with PHP and SQL to create database-driven sites without needing help from programmers. Designers using Webvanta tell us that it enables them to provide a CMS for even their most cost-sensitive clients, and that these sites deliver oustanding SEO."

Webvanta is a SaaS (software-as-a-service)-based solution designed to empower designers to deliver better business results for themselves and their clients. Designers can use whatever tools they want to create their page designs, and then integrate their HTML, CSS, and JS code into the Webvanta system to construct the site. There's no limitations on the design of their pages, and no complicated theming system to deal with - setting up any arbitrary design is easy. Easy-to-use CMS features include a full blog system, photo galleries, calendars, RSS feeds, and a membership system, as well as fully customizable database-driven content.

Webvanta makes it easy for clients to make updates on their own, enabling site owners to keep their sites fresh while keeping their costs down and preserving the integrity of their sites' design.

Webvanta's hosted CMS eliminates all the hassles of software updates, security risks, backups and systems administration, so designers can focus on design while being assured of reliability.

Designer Louis Plante commented, "I had no trouble learning Webvanta, since it leveraged everything I already knew. I dropped in my front-end code and was building customized, content-rich sites in far less time than with any other CMS I had used. I've saved clients up to 70% in total costs."

Availability
Webvanta 2.0 is available now. Pricing starts at as little as $15 monthly for use of the CMS and database system, site hosting, monitoring, and support.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/build_dynamic_web_sites_without_programming.html

SEO Consult Clients See Page Rank Increase

2010-04-12T08:43:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) SEO Consult has reported that they have seen over a third of their clientbase achieve a large increase in their PageRank during the last Google update on April 3, 2010.

SEO Consult were one of the first SEO specialists in the United Kingdom to report on the latest Google PageRank update which occurred over the Easter bank holiday weekend, 2010. Google PageRank is useful SEO information to have as an indicator of the current authority Google holds for a specific website, and a steady rise can be a good sign that their search engine optimisation campaign is having a positive effect on the way that Google views them.

The latest PageRank update saw over a third of SEO Consult’s clients receive a significant boost in their PageRank, all having undergone ethical SEO practices employed over a period of time. Key off page optimisation techniques combined with streamlined, optimised live pages and social media optimisation are SEO Consult’s focus and they maintain that their white hat policy is reaping excellent rewards.

“We’re delighted for our clients and feel this latest PageRank update proves our SEO philosophy is on the right track. That the best way to improve rankings and authority is by implementing well researched, bespoke and ethical SEO strategies for long-term, stable growth,” commented Matt Bullas, Managing Director of SEO Consult. “PageRank shouldn’t be given too much weight, but it’s an impressive indicator to how important Google judges a website to be. We expect these clients to now see further improvements to their relevant site traffic, and any business or organisation considering an SEO campaign can contact us today for a free SEO analysis.”

To find out more about SEO Consult please visit our website at http://www.seoconsult.co.uk/ or call 0845 205 0292 during office hours.

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/seo_consult_clients_see_page_rank_increase.html

NameCheap Plants Trees to Reduce Carbon Footprint

2010-04-12T08:42:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) NameCheap has recently formed a unique alliance with the International Tree Foundation. NameCheap will be planting trees in Asia, the African Drylands, and Sub-Saharan Africa in this move to reduce the carbon footprint.

"We are committed to reducing the impact our operations have on the environment and maintaining our green focus," said Richard Kirkendall, CEO of NameCheap. "We're confident that our partnership with the ITF will benefit our world in the present and to generations in the years to come."

To celebrate this partnership, NameCheap is also offering current and new subscribers a coupon code of SaveTheEarth for a discount on domain registrations and GreenPlanet for a discount on web hosting.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/namecheap_plants_trees_to_reduce_carbon_footprint.html

Zend Server 5.0 Streamlines PHP Development for IBM

2010-04-12T08:40:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Zend Technologies recently announced that Zend Server is available for the first time for the IBM i operating environment running on the IBM Power Systems™ platform. With Zend Server for IBM i, enterprises can now use modern PHP Web-based applications to leverage existing business logic and corporate databases efficiently and securely.

“PHP and Zend are a leading platform for rapid development of Web front-ends to RPG and COBOL applications,” said Ian Jarman, Manager, Power Systems Software at IBM. “The commitment of IBM and Zend to technology cooperation has led to a robust, fully supported solution that will help our customers to achieve the performance, reliability and security they have come to expect when running business-critical applications on IBM i.”

ZEND SERVER FOR IBM i – RUNTIME AND MANAGEMENT FEATURES

- Business-grade PHP – An up-to-date, fully tested, supported and documented PHP stack ensures high reliability and minimal risk
- Rapid problem response – Application monitoring and diagnostics enable early problem detection and quick root cause analysis
- Optimal application performance – Built-in optimization, acceleration and job queue ensure high performance and low resource utilization
- Leveraging the power of IBM i – A 5250 bridge and PHP toolkit make PHP applications easy to build and run on IBM i

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
“We chose Zend Server for our IBM i platform to create a responsive front-end ordering application for our warehouse distribution system,” said Scott Campbell, Programmer/Analyst at Value Drug Mart of Canada. “This allowed us to provide convenient self-service to hundreds of customers who can now order online, track order fulfillment and request credits without tedious faxing. Automating this process reduces errors and frees up our support staff to focus on higher level tasks.”

Zend Server for IBM i is integrated with Zend Studio for IBM i and with Zend Framework to provide a complete solution for developing, debugging and running PHP applications on IBM i.

”Integration of Zend Server with Zend Studio means we can program, monitor and debug all in one place,” said Campbell. “We can spot and fix performance issues without unnecessary downtime and deliver tighter code in less time than before. Following this approach, we anticipate a marked improvement in the speed of our e-commerce sites.”

Since the IBM and Zend partnership began, tens of thousands of IBM i customers from around the globe have used the PHP language and Zend solutions in rolling out business-critical Web applications.

ZEND SERVER EDITIONS
Zend Server for IBM i combines into one product all the features that were previously offered separately in Zend Core for IBM i and Zend Platform for IBM i. It is available in two editions:

- Zend Server for IBM i is the commercial edition, which adds software updates and security patches as well as a 5250 bridge, integrated application monitoring, code tracing and problem diagnostics, full page caching and job queue functionality. The commercial edition is available with Gold and Platinum support, which provide up to 24x7 phone support.
- Zend Server Community Edition for IBM i includes a complete and tested PHP stack, PHP toolkit and performance optimization tools plus the first year of Silver level support from Zend. This edition is integrated into all new distributions of the IBM i operating system, and it may also be downloaded for free from zend.com.

Zend Server for IBM i surpasses Zend Core for IBM i and Zend Platform for IBM i to provide better performance and simpler management of the PHP environment. With the release of Zend Server for IBM i, both Zend Core for IBM i and Zend Platform for IBM i will enter an end-of-life process.

PRODUCT INFORMATION, DOWNLOAD
Zend Server for IBM i download: http://www.zend.com/products/server/downloads
Zend Server for IBM i information: http://www.zend.com/solutions/i
Zend Server for IBM i webinars: http://www.zend.com/resources/webinars/i5-os
IBM i on Power Systems: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/i/

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/zend_server_5_0_streamlines_php_development_for_ibm.html

Cable and IPTV Telcos Investing in Video on Demand Servers

2010-04-09T08:43:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Market research firm Infonetics Research (http://twitter.com/infonetics) released the fourth quarter (4Q09) editions of two video-related market share and forecast reports: Video Infrastructure and Subscribers and Set-Top Boxes and Subscribers.

ANALYST NOTE
"In the ongoing battle between cable and telco IPTV operators, both continue to spend furiously to add video-on-demand and streaming content server capacity to support the rollout of on-demand HD content and provide start-over and remote storage-digital video recorder services, all of which require the delivery of unicast streams to set-top boxes. This aggressive move to full unicast models for video delivery is driving strong growth in video-on-demand and streaming content servers. While telco, cable, and satellite operators all saw sustained video subscriber growth in 2009, it certainly was not at the growth rates of years past, so operators held off on more significant infrastructure investments, resulting in a down year for video infrastructure overall outside of VOD servers and edge QAMs," notes Jeff Heynen, Infonetics Research's directing analyst for broadband and video.

VIDEO INFRASTRUCTURE MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

- Worldwide video infrastructure revenue held steady from 3Q09 to 4Q09 at $625 million, with all segments up but one
            > Up: video on-demand (VOD) and streaming content servers, video encoders, IPTV middleware/content delivery platforms, edge QAMs, digital cable middleware, and satellite video middleware
            > Down: video content protection software

- For the full year 2009, video infrastructure revenue decreased 11% to $2.5 billion

- Worldwide video on-demand and streaming content server revenue increased 60% from 2008 to 2009, and is expected to increase rapidly over the next four quarters

- 3D TV is expected to be popular for particular content, primarily movies and sporting events, but will have little impact on how operators spend to deliver 3D content, except for devices that improve access network bandwidth, such as edge QAMs for cable operators
            > Of course, set-top boxes and displays will have to include increased processing power to correctly display 3D video

- Huawei, generally not known for their video infrastructure outside China, leads the video on-demand and streaming content server market, followed by Cisco

- There were 417 million cable video subscribers worldwide in 2009; that number is expected to hold steady through at least 2014 as standard cable video subscribers switch over to digital cable video

SET-TOP BOXES MARKET HIGHLIGHTS

- Motorola is the worldwide set-top box market share leader, followed by Cisco and Pace

- Worldwide total set-top box (STB) revenue grew 7% in the fourth quarter, following a dismal third quarter

- The number of video subscribers increased across the board in 4Q09, and more existing subscribers also upgraded to premium HD and DVR set-top boxes, a trend likely to continue

- For the full 2009 year, worldwide STB revenue reached $11.2 billion, down 5% decrease from 2008, as macroeconomic conditions tempered subscriber growth, especially among North American and European cable operators

- Measured improvement is expected for the set-top box market in 2010

REPORT SYNOPSES
Infonetics' quarterly video infrastructure report provides worldwide and regional market share, market size, analysis, and forecasts through 2014 for telco IPTV and cable video equipment, including VOD and streaming content servers, video encoders, edge QAMs, IPTV middleware and content delivery platforms, digital cable middleware, satellite video middleware, and video content protection software. The report also provides market size, analysis, and forecasts for telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video subscribers and operator service revenue. Market share is provided for Alcatel-Lucent, ARRIS, BitBand, Cisco, Concurrent, Edgeware, Envivio, Ericsson, Espial, Harmonic, Huawei, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia Siemens, OptiBase, SeaChange, Tandberg TV, Technicolor (Thomson), UTStarcom, ZTE, and others.

Infonetics' quarterly set-top box report provides market size, market share, analysis, and forecasts through 2014 for telco IP STBs (pure IP, hybrid IP/over-the-air, and hybrid IP/QAM STBs), digital and hybrid IP/QAM cable STBs, satellite STBs, DVR STBs, HD STBs, and OTT (over the top) media servers. The report also provides market size, analysis, and forecasts for telco IPTV, cable video, and satellite video subscribers. Market share is provided for ADB, Cisco, Coship, Dasan, Echostar, Huawei, Jiuzhou, Motorola, Netgem, Pace, Sagem, Samsung, Sumitomo, Technicolor (Thomson), Yinhe, and others.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/cable_and_iptv_telcos_investing_in_video_on_demand_servers.html

iWeb Increases Credit Facility

2010-04-09T08:40:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) iWeb recently confirmed the completion of a new $3 million financing agreement with BMO Bank of Montreal, one of its major financial partners.

iWeb's Chief Financial Officer, Philip Tousignant, announced that the increased facility will be used to finance the initial 3,000 servers provisioned in the Company’s new data center. Once it reaches capacity, iWeb’s fourth Montreal data center will have an estimated 20,000 dedicated servers online.

The $3 million credit facility is available in term loans, bearing interest of 4.25% as of today (prime rate plus 2%), payable in monthly instalments over 42 months. The agreement also includes a 0.5% reduction in the interest rate on the outstanding amount of the previous facilities (balance owed as at March 31, 2010 is $3.1 million). Finally, an additional facility for foreign exchange contracts is also included in this agreement.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/iweb_increases_credit_facility.html

Tsukaeru Delivers Efficient cloud services offerings Through Parallels

2010-04-09T08:36:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Cloud enablement leader, Parallels, today announced that Japanese hosting company,Tsukaeru.net Co., Ltd., has implemented Parallels Automation to increase efficiency and speed to market of its cloud service offerings.

Parallels Automation is a modular system that includes Parallels Business Automation (PBA) and Parallels Operations Automation (POA). PBA simplifies service delivery, billing and management, while POA provides end-to-end automation for provisioning, server management, application management, service plan creation and management, end-user self-service and reseller management.

Parallels Automation allows companies to quickly address a specific problem and expand functionality in line with the demands of a changing marketplace. Systems can be sold separately or as a complete integrated system.

Tsukaeru.net (Nagano, President: Jason Frisch, Tsukaeru.net) offers webhosting services featuring the use of virtualization technology and with Parallels Automation. Tsukaeru.net can manage high density and high efficiency servers to support an increasing customer base. In addition, the modules enhance competitive advantage and can deliver excellent customer service without any time loss.

“The Parallels’ solution enables us to offer a wider range of services with quick implementation, while allowing continued business growth,” said Jason Frisch, CEO of Tsukaeru.net. “Parallels Automation enables us to extend service offerings and to support end-user management systems.”

“As a Parallels Partner, Tsukaeru.net, is a pioneer in the cloud services provisioning,” Jan-Jaap Jager, General Manager APAC at Parallels said. “Hosters and cloud services providers like Tsukaeru.net can rely on Parallels Automation to launch new services quickly, reduce customer churn and decrease operating costs.”

For detail of Parallels Automation, please visit http://www.parallels.com/spp/parallelsautomation/

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/tsukaeru_delivers_efficient_cloud_services_offerings_through_par.html

Social Media Strategies Focuses on Marketing & Optimization Strategies

2010-04-09T08:29:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Social Media Strategies Conference 2010 announced it will focus on Social Media Marketing and Optimization Strategies, featuring B2B & B2C companies that have used social media marketing strategies successfully.
More and more businesses are learning that it is important to have a strong social media presence in place to promote their products and services.

The conference will feature keynotes, discussions, panels and workshops featuring industry experts sharing their insights and knowledge on:

B2C and B2B Approaches to Social Media
How to Create Your Social Media Strategy
How to Sell Social Media to the “C” Suite
How to Implementing Large Scale Social Marketing Strategies
How to Leverage Social Media with Online PR
Optimization for Smarter Social Media
Social Analytics, Monitoring and Metrics for Social Media

The conference will also feature two workshops on:
How you market your business on Facebook to increase revenue, drive website visitors and create brand awareness through customer engagement.

In this workshop you will learn:

Ten tips for getting your Fan Page found
How to create a branded Facebook user name
How often should you be posting and what should you be posting
Should you advertise on Facebook
How can you use Facebook to build your email database
What types of contests and user polls you should be using to drive engagement
How you can promote special deals and offers to the fans of your Facebook page to drive revenue

How to Market on Twitter
In this workshop you will learn:

How to use Twitter to drive revenue, build your email database and brand awareness
Learn our five step marketing plan for Twitter
Avoid the biggest mistakes made with Twitter
Examples of "best practices”
How to measure your success
Valuable Twitter tools and apps that you should be using to market with Twitter

The conference will feature discussions on social media marketing and optimization strategies, techniques and cases studies for creating and implementing a social media campaign, and delve into social media strategies for lead generation, increasing website traffic, social analytics, engagement and ROI.

The two-day Conference will feature thought leaders in the Social Media industry, sharing their knowledge on best practices, marketing strategies and real world examples and how businesses can leverage social media it to achieve their business goals.

The Social Media Strategies Conference is relevant and geared to:

Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs)
Social Media Marketers, Managers & Strategists
Online Advertisers, Ecommerce & Internet Marketers
Online Community Managers
Search Engine Marketers
Search Engine Optimization Specialists (SEO)
Web Analytics Professionals
Ad Agencies
Media planners, Buyers & Publishers

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/social_media_strategies_focuses_on_marketing_optimization_strate.html

Google Vs Yellow Pages

2010-04-07T22:16:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) A lot of fuss has been made over the Yellow Page and whether or not print is still viable. Obviously the Yellow Pages will do everything in their power to demonstrate their effectiveness, while online-players will have you believe the opposite. So who's right?

In a recent survey conducted by Melbourne SEO Services, a cross section of people from the streets of Melbourne were asked a series of questions to help answer the question. Questions asked included "How do you search for products and services you need?", "What search engine do you use most?", and "How often do you use Google?"

The results were clear, with 53.85%, of respondents saying they haven't used the yellow pages in the last year, while 100% of respondents said they use google every day. One respondent even commented "I reckon the yellow pages is obsolete: why would you spend money on the yellow pages when they'll just as easily find you on Google?"

Unfortunately for the Yellow Pages, surveys such as this aren't the only indication Yellow Pages is falling from the public's mind. Early indication could be taken from SuperMedia (Yellow Pages United States) who announced a decline in '09 profits citing, among other reasons, "… declining use of print yellow pages directories".

"It's obvious the attitudes and habits of consumers have clearly shifted, with people switching to the internet to find products and services within their local area" says David Jenyns of Melbourne SEO, "I think the writing is on the wall for many offline print publications - the consumers are voting with their eye balls."

Furthermore, the Yellow Pages, seeing the decline in effectiveness of print media, is rapidly looking to the internet for alternative means to add value to their clients - most recently, entering into agreements with major search engines such as Google and Bing to provide sponsored business listings for their local customers.

This may be critical when you consider respondents were also asked to comment on their behaviours once a search had been entered into Google with 100% of peoples saying they don't look past the first page.

"People aren't interested in understanding how Google works, they just trust Google's results will be the most relevant and important," David explains "For this reason, it's now more important than ever to feature prominently on Google".

With all that being said, the print Yellow Pages will not disappear any time soon as businesses continue to buy advertising space. Who knows how long this will last but, as with any form of advertising, it only lasts as long as long as there is a positive return on investment for the business running those ads.

To find out more about the survey and see the complete survey results please visit : http://www.melbourneseoservices.com/google-vs-yellow-pages/ or call (03) 8060 5131 during office hours.

Melbourne SEO Services is a boutique search engine marketing company based in Melbourne, Australia - helping small to medium sized business market their business more effectively online. To find out more about us, read our SEO blog.

http://www.gawkwire.com/video_tv/google_vs_yellow_pages.html

Future Hosting Releases Future Hosting Management Portal

2010-04-08T08:15:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Future Hosting recently released its custom-developed Future Hosting Management Portal (FHMP), a new management portal that provides dedicated server clients with complete control of their servers.

FHMP, which has been in development for several months, gives clients with dedicated servers at Future Hosting much greater control and access over servers than had been available previously. Clients can use a single username to access all billing and client support services, including a fully-featured dashboard that provides vital statistics and management shortcuts.

“Our clients have asked for an easy to use, intuitive platform for managing their dedicated servers. We set out to create a solution that would not only streamline server management, but also would allow our clients to access the entire breadth of our services under a single login,” said Future Hosting Chief Strategy Officer Stephen Kowalski.

The platform has been highly customized to meet the unique requirements and specifications of Future Hosting and its clients. In the coming weeks and months, Future Hosting will release additional features designed to further broaden the scope, usability, and power of FHMP. Additional announcements will be made as significant new features are added.

Dedicated Servers from Future Hosting start at just $139.99 per month and are available in a wide variety of configurations, including on both managed and unmanaged plans. Clients are also able to locate their server in any of Future Hosting’s five international data centers, in Chicago, Dallas, London, Seattle, or Washington, D.C.

For more information about Future Hosting, please visit http://www.futurehosting.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/future_hosting_releases_future_hosting_management_portal.html

Unlimited cPanel Management Service Launched at AssistanZ

2010-04-08T08:14:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) AssistanZ has launched its unlimited cPanel management service for the lowest price ever offered at just $25 per month, per server.

The unlimited cPanel management service includes unlimited server administration requests via ticket support, 24x7 availability, 24x7x365 Non-Stop Server Monitoring with email alerts, reboot requests to datacenters and monitoring at AssistanZ’s global monitoring locations. Customers can choose up to two ports for monitoring, and enjoy a 30-day money back guarantee if they are not satisfied with the service.

AssistanZ does not include management of third-party software, scripts, or tools in its $25 cPanel management package. However, it does include management of all cPanel functionality and the overall server operation.

“After managing literally thousands of servers for more than six years, we’ve become global leaders in providing affordable, outsourced server management for Web hosting companies. We can do it all – from A to Z – and with our $25 unlimited cPanel management package, we can do it for less than any of our competitors. This is just the beginning of significant changes in our industry,” said Amal Ranjith, managing director of AssistanZ.

Unlike other outsourced management providers, AssistanZ specializes in proactive (not reactive) server management and the ability to respond instantly to problems when they occur. Its technicians are fully accredited, each with a certification in their fields and several years of experience.

To learn more about the $25 unlimited cPanel ,management service, please visit http://www.assistanz.com/cpanel-server-management.shtml.

To learn more about AssistanZ, please visit http://www.assitanz.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/unlimited_cpanel_management_service_launched_at_assistanz.html

Interxion Sponsors Trade Tech Europe Summit

2010-04-08T08:14:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Interxion announced its sponsorship of TradeTech Europe, the 10th Equity Trading and Technology Summit, taking place on the 20th - 22nd April 2010 at the Excel Centre, London.

TradeTech Europe is the leading industry conference and exhibition, bringing together approximately 2,000 Financial Services professionals, dedicated to high-level discussion on the major challenges facing the equity trading market. It boasts a varied format that combines invitation-only forums alongside plenary discussions to deliver a total focus on buy-side technology issues.

As well as sponsoring the event, Interxion will be exhibiting at stand 62. Its dedicated Financial Services team will be on hand to offer advice on successful colocation and connectivity strategies for buy-side and sell-side firms that aim to achieve cost-effective, low-latency access to the key trading venues across Europe.

“TradeTech Europe provides an important forum for sharing best practices on the technologies that power low-latency algorithmic and high-frequency trading,” said Kevin Dean, Chief Marketing Officer Interxion. “Interxion’s Financial Hubs host a large and growing community of exchanges, sell-side and buy-side firms, and connectivity vendors. By sharing the experience we have gained from serving financial services firms across Europe, we aim to help attendees meet their objectives in terms of latency and connectivity.” http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/interxion_sponsors_trade_tech_europe_summit.html

LogicMonitor Wins Best of SaaS Showplace Award

2010-04-07T16:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) THINKstrategies, Inc., the leading strategic consulting company focused on the business implications of the on-demand services market, announced today that LogicMonitor has been named the latest winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

(Gawkwire.com) THINKstrategies announced that LogicMonitor has been named the winner of the Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards program, which is aimed at promoting the measurable business benefits being delivered by today's Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions.

The BoSS Awards program was announced in January 2009 to bring attention to SaaS companies that are producing tangible business benefits for specific user organizations. These benefits include increased sales, lower costs, higher customer satisfaction, faster operations and greater profitability.

LogicMonitor provides automated monitoring, trending and alerting for the entire data center infrastructure from a single, affordable SaaS-based solution. LogicMonitor's Active Discovery engine performs ongoing discovery of new devices and device changes, eliminating the need for continuous monitoring configuration.

A case example of LogicMonitor’s measurable business benefits is AppFolio (www.appfolio.com), which creates complete, web-based, SaaS solutions for multiple vertical markets. AppFolio uses LogicMonitor to monitor all parts of its infrastructure, including web servers, switches, and back-end databases, as well as to manage the alerting mechanism for on-call ops personnel. LogicMonitor has been particularly helpful in triage situations and identifying potential performance issues before they affect customers. As a result, AppFolio estimates that it has been able to defer the cost of a full-time SysAdmin hire, estimated at $120,000 a year, by using LogicMonitor.

It is for these reasons that LogicMonitor has been named a Best of SaaS Showplace Award winner. A summary of the company's winning BoSS Award submission can be found http://www.saas-showplace.com/awardSummary.php?key=1667.

"We are extremely pleased to be recognized by THINKstrategies and the SaaS Showplace for the business value of our SaaS solution,” said Steve Francis, LogicMonitor founder and CEO. “With the pace of change in today's datacenters, automation is the only way to ensure all devices are monitored, and monitored completely--and we're proud to offer such a service in a way that really makes a difference to our clients' bottom lines."

"Optimizing the performance of a data center has become imperative in order to meet the escalating needs of an organization,” stated Jeffrey M. Kaplan, the founder of the SaaS Showplace and Managing Director of THINKstrategies, the strategic consulting firm which conceived and administers the Showplace. "LogicMonitor’s SaaS solution enables organizations to achieve this objective while reducing the costs of data center management."

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/logicmonitor_wins_best_of_saas_showplace_award.html

topseos.com Celebrates its Eight Year

2010-04-07T16:17:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) topseos.com is celebrating their eighth year as an independent authority on search vendors. The site owes its success to the extensive work that goes on behind the scenes on the research teams that handle the review of thousands of applicants every month. Each team has grown in their depth of knowledge over the years along with the growth of the site. Today, over 50,000 visitors come to the site every month in order to find the best internet marketing services and software.

Jeev Trika, managing partner of topseos, noted, "The success of the site is a reflection of the team that we have in place. They are the ones putting in the hours behind the scenes to ensure that only the best companies are being ranked on our site. The firms on our lists are the ones who have chosen to open themselves up to our research teams for review. What our teams have found only has gone to prove the capabilities of each firm in their respective industry. The growth of our site over these past eight years ensures that we will be here far beyond eight more."

The evaluation process that each applicant goes through is quite extensive. An assigned evaluation team analyzed the methodologies employed by each applicant comparing them against industry standards. They review the past work that has been completed by the applicant to see the methodologies put into practice. Then a research assistant contacts at least three clients of each vendor in order to obtain their perspective of working with the applicant. A ranking score is then applied to the applicant and the information is compiled with the rest of the research that was completed.

topseos.com, the independent authority on search vendors, was launched in 2002 with the goal of helping businesses find the best in the internet marketing industry. Thousands of applicants are continually reviewed each month by an experienced research team assigned to the various categories being ranked. topseos.com then releases a new set of rankings on the first of each month highlighting the best firms in the industry. In addition to the rankings, visitors to the site can find a full directory listing of internet marketing companies, a knowledge zone, internet marketing news, and much more.

To learn more about the independent authority on search vendors visit:

http://www.topseos.com/

To view the latest rankings of the best SEO company and other internet marketing services and software visit:

http://www.topseos.com/rankings

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/topseos_com_celebrates_its_eight_year.html

The Etymology of the Most Successful Hosting Companies

2010-04-07T08:23:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) When Nobel Prize winning novelist Elias Canetti wrote that “people’s fates are simplified by their names,” he clearly was not thinking of the web hosting industry. If an outsider were to glance at a list of the largest and most successful web hosting companies, he would quickly realize there is little correlation between the quality of a particular host’s name and its level of success. eNom, 1&1, Go Daddy, Bluehost, HostGator, The Planet, and iPowerWeb are just a few of the tremendously successful web hosts with names that will baffle more people than they will impress.

In other industries, the relationship between the names of companies and what they do seems to be equally meaningless. We no longer live in a time where the biggest companies have painfully obvious names like Standard Oil and US Steel. Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world and competes fiercely with a company called Target; neither name has anything to do with discount retailing. Starbucks, the largest and most financially successful coffeehouse, has a name that has nothing to do with coffee and even less to do with the caffeinated yuppies (myself included) that it caters to; the name is actually a reference to a relatively obscure character in the mid-nineteenth century novel Moby Dick. Herman Melville and his famous novel about a white whale can be described as many things, but hip is probably not a description that comes to mind right away. Google’s name is a play on a (previously) little known number that’s relation to search is a stretch at best. Yahoo is completely made up. Apple, a consumer electronics maker that is perhaps the best example of bizarrely named company that ended up successful, is named after a fruit.

Despite their curiously irrelevant names, Google, Starbucks, and Apple all managed to create impressive brands. Google is synonymous with search, Starbucks with coffee, and Apple with high-end consumer electronics. And all three of the names are memorable and easy to spell. Beyond those aspects, the success of the brands was in the implementation. Google made itself quirky and simple; Starbucks, eclectic and refreshing and Apple made itself hip and stylish. The companies looked beyond the original meanings and inspirations behind the names and created their own brands. Apples are not hip and stylish – they are ubiquitous fruits that grow on trees and are even mentioned in the Bible. Starbucks is not nautical or whale-like. Google purposely avoided branding itself as a boring math company.

The best web hosting companies have taken a similar, but less apparent approach. Go Daddy, even with a name that violates countless rules of good naming, has branded itself as a rebel domain and web hosting company. 1&1 has branded itself as a serious and professional company that has “proven products and honest pricing.” Bluehost and HostGator’s brands portray relatively non-corporate, down-to-earth web hosts. The Planet has made use of its planetary motif. However, brands of the most successful web hosting companies are generally weak when compared to strong brands in other industries. Is it because the industry is so commoditized or is it because branding has taken a backseat to other types of more overt marketing?

Web hosts experience a unique problem when it comes to naming because of the sheer competitiveness of the hosting industry. All web hosts need a name, and because domain names can be obtained so easily and inexpensively, everyone that wants a domain can get one. The pre-teen deciding to start a web hosting company in his basement can buy a great domain name for $8.95. When he does so, he takes the takes the possibility of that domain name being a potentially great name for a company away from everyone else. Worse yet, when that pre-teen’s business goes under in three months, the domain name will not be available for more than nine months and likely will be grabbed by a greedy registrar or an enterprising domain seller before it goes on sale to the general public. The immediate result? A shortage of good names for web hosts and web businesses in general. The secondary result? A plethora of web hosts and other web businesses with bizarre names.

In a post on his blog, marketing expert Seth Godin argued against overly simple, boring names and said that businesses are best off choosing names with domain names that are unique enough to stand out in Google. Generic names with great domains (such as Web.com) sound good and describe what the particular company does, but are not nearly as valuable if they cannot dominate the search engine results. Web.com does not show up on the first page when the term “web” is Googled. On the other hand, when the term “Bluehost” is Googled, all of the results on the front page relate directly to the company. The Planet is lucky that Google includes the word “the” in search results. If Google did not, the dedicated server provider would literally have to compete with the solar system for prominence in search results. By Seth Godin’s definition, Bluehost has the best name of the three companies because its name is unique enough to stand out on the search engines while also being memorable and easy to spell.

To be unique, web hosts have developed a habit of coming up with bizarre names. Some of the names have some special significance, while others were quite simply made up.

1&1, a hosting provider that claims to be the world’s largest web host, is one of most prominent examples of a host with a bizarre name; the company’s name consists entirely of non-letter characters. 1&1 is also unique for using an ampersand (a character that cannot even be included in a domain name) in its name. As the founders were brainstorming about potential names, co-founder Ralph Dommermuth suggested naming the company after the zip code of the German town the company was (and still is) based in, 5439. The other founders convinced Dommermuth that 5439 would not make for a great brand name, and the name 1&1 was their alternative. The new name represented a desire to bring what the founders thought were the two most important aspects of the company, software and customers, together. The name stuck and proved to be successful. (Ironically, five years after 1&1 was founded, the German town changed its zip code from 5439 to 56410.)

HostGator, a shared, reseller, and dedicated host that has since moved to Houston, was originally located in Boca Raton, Florida. The city of Boca Raton happens to lie right on the edge of the Florida Everglades, a subtropical wetland that is home to roughly two million American alligators. When founder Brent Oxley had trouble deciding between HostGator and GatorHost, he let a coin flip determine the brand’s fate. Since then, the company has made use of the gator motif beyond just the name: the company’s official slogan is “we eat up the competition” and the logo features an alligator chomping on the letter “h” in the HostGator name.

Other names have less interesting roots. The Planet was originally known as NTAccess, a name the company quickly changed after Microsoft voiced concerns about the name’s similarity to software giant’s multi-billion dollar operating system. “We hired a domain name broke and found that theplanet.com was available. It was the most appealing choice since it enabled us to present a global image and brand,” said Steve Kahan, vice president of marketing and product management at The Planet.

Domain registrar and hosting company Go Daddy was originally known as Jomax Technologies. With the understanding that the name Jomax was neither unique nor impressive, Barbara Rechterman, who later became Go Daddy’s executive vice president of marketing, suggested the name ‘Big Daddy.’ After learning that the suggested name was taken, founder Bob Parsons suggested the name Go Daddy. “The staff and anyone else who heard our funny new name, fell in love with "Go Daddy" and it stuck,” wrote Parons in a December 2004 blog post. When the team observed people hearing the name Go Daddy for the first time, they noticed the listeners not only smiled, but also remembered the name. For a company trying to build a brand during the height of the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, having a name that would stand out and could easily be remembered was essential.

Shared and reseller provider Site5, another web hosting company that includes a number in its name, admits the origins of its name have no special significance. The company’s founders, Matt Lightner and Rod Armstrong, chose the name Site5 because they were determined to have a name that was both unique name and did not include the word “host” in it. Ten years later, the brand today represents just that rationale - beyond being in the company’s name, the five seems to be insignificant the company’s overall brand.

While there is nothing explicitly wrong with choosing to include a number in a company’s name, branding common sense says that companies should own and control as many iterations of their name as possible, with the goal being to eliminate any possible confusion. Site5 took steps to protect its brand and eliminate potential confusion by ensuring it owned both the site5.com and sitefive.com versions of its name. 1&1 also left out the possibility of confusing potential customers by purchasing both 1and1.com and oneandone.com. HostNine, yet another hosting company with a number in its name, has branding that could potentially lead to confusion - its logo is an H followed by a 9 (H9), but h9.com is an advertising site that has nothing to do with the host. The company does not own Host9.com, either.

In what seems to be desperation, many web hosts come up with names that might not have the best connotation in a technical industry. Frozen Web Host, an Atlanta-based shared hosting provider has a name that rarely comes with positive associations (frozen computers are perhaps the most the apparent). Banana Host’s quirky name is certainly unique. Darkstar Communications, a game server host, shares its interesting name with a 1974 sci-fi-comedy-thriller and a California-based manufacturer of wood skateboard decks. Pair Networks shares the pronunciation of its name with a fruit. Dathron Internet Services uses the perhaps inappropriate acronym of “dis” in its logo.

Other hosts, even those with less bizarre names, have names that seem to have little to do with the company’s actual brand. HostDime’s name might suggest affordability (which is accurate), but the company’s home page touts exceptional service, not low prices, as HostDime’s primary competitive advantage. Based on its name, one might assume Rackspace is a budget provider of co-location services, while in actuality, the 2,000-employee company is a high-end managed hosting company that prides itself on its deep-rooted commitment to “Fanatical Support.”

The oddity of web hosting names does not seem to be as apparent among sites that support the web hosting industry. The most popular web host review sites have simple names such as Web Hosting Geeks, HostReview, FindMyHost.com, Web Hosting Jury, and Best Host Ratings. The people behind these web sites realized a name that would rank well on Google was crucial to the success of their respective businesses. Web Hosting Talk, the largest forum community related to the web hosting industry, has a name that is both catchy and appropriate.

The major control panel makers have a mix of names – some unique, others not. cPanel is an uncomplicated name for a control panel. DirectAdmin is also self-explanatory. However, Ensim and Plesk seem to be made up words that have little to do with web hosting. The makers of Plesk used to be known as SWsoft, but later decided to take the much more marketable name of an acquisition and rename the company Parallels – a far less ambiguous name that actually represents what the company does.

Much to Elias Canetti’s dismay, the fates of the companies in the web hosting industry are not simplified by their names. The names of the top web hosting companies can each be described with a seemingly endless number of adjectives: bizarre, random, catchy, awkward, meaningful, creative, mundane, and perhaps even fun. One adjective describing these companies does not need to be debated, though, and that one adjective is successful.

These companies have defied the odds by not only surviving, but actually succeeding in one of the most competitive industries in the world. They have overcome countless obstacles, built great brands, and dealt with an unimaginable number of challenges. And perhaps most surprising of all, they have managed to do all of it with funny names.

Writer's Bio: Douglas Hanna is a consultant and the Customer Service Editor for Ping! Zine. His first name, which is Gaelic in origin, was originally the name of a river. http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/the_etymology_of_the_most_successful_hosting_companies.html

Codero Holds Green April Events

2010-04-07T08:22:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Committed to using renewable energy for every dedicated server it supports, Codero is taking even more ecology-conscious steps during April. The hosting company is launching events to encourage both associates and customers to enhance the role they take in keeping our earth green and healthy.

In celebration of Arbor Day, Codero invites its customers to participate in a campaign designed to help with reforestation. Customers using both dedicated and managed hosting plans may participate in the Codero Plant-a-Tree program by donating $1, $5, $10, $15 or $20 dollars through their online orders. Each tree costs $1 to plant and Codero will select a forestry organization to plant the tree in the customer’s honor at the end of the month.

First celebrated in Nebraska City, Nebraska in 1872, Arbor Day is now observed across the nation for the planting of trees. The observance of Arbor Day on the last Friday of the month in April has now spread to many other countries.

“Every year, thanks to Arbor Day, millions of trees are planted all over the United States and in foreign countries. Replanting can make a difference in the quality of our lives for generations to come. Trees not only control erosion and provide much needed habitat and nutrition for wildlife, they also absorb carbon dioxide to reduce climate change,” said Shelby Garlock, Director, Marketing for Codero.

For example, the average midsize sedan produces an annual amount of 10,168.3 lbs CO2, but this amount can be offset by planting 15.2 trees. A climate change calculator can provide more information on calculating carbon footprints.

In addition to the tree-planting project, Codero has invited all of the associates and their families at its headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas to commemorate Earth Day 2010 by participating in EarthWalk, April 11, 2010. The three-mile walk in Kansas City, Missouri is a fundraiser for Bridging the Gap, a local organization connecting business leaders, government agencies and citizens on environmental issues.

“This whole month represents an opportunity to be environmental stewards. It’s a great way for everyone to come together to take action to support the earth,” added Garlock.

Codero uses energy sourced out of wind farms to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. The company is the largest dedicated server and managed hosting provider in the industry to offer eco hosting solutions across its entire operations so small- to mid-sized businesses can power their websites and online stores using green energy.

For questions about the Plant-a-Tree project or EarthWalk, please email marketing(at)codero(dot)com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/codero_holds_green_april_events.html

Hosting.com Releases IaaS Cloud Security Report

2010-04-07T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Hosting.com has recently released a Cloud Security Executive Report which addresses the concerns associated with Cloud Security and how cloud hosting providers can work with clients to address their concerns and needs.

Hosting.com’s 2009 Cloud Computing Trends Report revealed that Security was the top obstacle that cloud providers needed to address. Over the past 12 months, security measures for cloud hosting users have improved dramatically due to advancements in network, microprocessor and virtualization technologies.

When properly managed and configured, cloud hosting can be as safe and secure as any in-house solution running on dedicated servers. The areas of greatest concern include data integrity, protection from theft, back-up/recovery and regulatory compliance – all of which can be addressed with cloud hosting managed services such as privileged user access, multiple layers of physical security, SAN (Storage Area Network) backup and storage, and private cloud solutions.

This technology briefing addresses the sources of confusion as they apply to IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) implementations and then outlines the practices and technologies available to keep clouds safe in the areas where they do have unique vulnerabilities.

Aaron Hollobaugh, Hosting.com Director of Marketing, commented, “We have built both our public and private cloud solutions on enterprise-class technologies because our clients demand the highest levels of security and regulatory controls and reporting. This report helps demystify some of the valid, yet erroneous myths associated with cloud computing and security. Our ability to provide Hybrid Hosting solutions across multiple, connected hosting platforms allows us to custom build solutions to meet the PCI, HIPAA, SOX, and GLB requirements that our clients need and regulators demand.”

Hosting.com leverages its five geographically-dispersed datacenter network and converged cloud infrastructure to provide customers enterprise-class managed security solutions. Hosting.com’s Cloud Portfolio utilizes world-leading manufacturers to produce solutions that guarantee no downtime, provide unparalleled security, use superior equipment and are backed with experienced technical support for maintenance, monitoring and service.

“Clients demanding high levels of application security or regulatory compliance utilize Hosting.com’s Cloud Dedicated solution (single tenant) to store sensitive applications and records and utilize Cloud Enterprise for additional compute resources for non-sensitive assets. Our migration expertise and integrated platforms allow clients to create hybrid hosting solutions to meet their specific business and security needs,” said Hollobaugh.

The report can be downloaded online at Cloud Security Executive Report.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hosting_com_releases_iaas_cloud_security_report.html

IBM and generationE Technologies Improve Network Reliability

2010-04-07T08:20:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) IBM and generationE Technologies have announced a new software and services bundle to help small to mid-sized communications service providers (CSPs) prevent network downtime or loss of service to their customers. The bundle will help smaller CSPs more easily adopt the sophisticated network monitoring capabilities used by larger service providers.

Typically, small to mid-size CSPs have limited views of their network environment and do not have proactive monitoring capabilities such as the consolidation of repeated network alerts. This can cause ongoing false alerts, which are ignored by network technicians, but increase the chance of a missing a real network warning. One missed alert can result in loss of service to thousands of customers. The IBM software provides a comprehensive view of the network, consolidating and prioritizing networks alerts, which helps prevent network outages.

Like large CSPs, small to mid-size service providers need a reliable network in order to maintain and grow their customer base. Consolidated Communications, a mid-size CSP serving customers in Illinois, Texas and Pennsylvania, needed advanced monitoring capabilities for their IP-based network, which includes telephone, high-speed Internet access and digital TV services.

"After evaluating other company solutions, we chose IBM Tivoli Netcool software because it will provide us with the most comprehensive visibility and flexibility in managing our network," said Chris Smith, senior manager, Network Operations Center, Consolidated Communications. "The implementation services provided by generationE Technologies helped us to easily integrate the IBM software into our network environment."

"Small to mid-midsize communications service providers are one of the fastest growing sectors, and an increasing number have been switching to the more advanced network monitoring capabilities offered by IBM Tivoli Netcool software," said Scott Sobers, program director for the communications industry, Tivoli Software, IBM. "This new bundle offered with generationE Technologies will help small to mid-size CSPs become more competitive and profitable by recognizing short-term efficiencies, managing service quality, and launching new services faster to market."

Interrupted mobile and broadband service is not only costly and time consuming for CSPs to repair, but a key factor for customer churn. According to an IBM Institute for Business Value global telecommunications study published this week, 70 percent of mobile and broadband consumers stated "network reliability" as a top reason for choosing or leaving a service provider.

The bundle includes IBM Tivoli Netcool software, which proactively monitors mobile, fixed and broadband networks to help prevent network downtime or loss of service, with implementations services by generationE Technologies.

IBM Tivoli Netcool software has been selected by more than 1,000 CSPs globally. The software helps service providers manage service quality and reduce operational costs. IBM helps service providers address emerging opportunities in next-generation network transformation, fixed/mobile convergence, and IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) deployment.

generationE Technologies offers the implementation services required to deploy the IBM Tivoli Netcool solutions included in the new bundle. Over the last decade, generationE has developed deep expertise around all aspects of Operations Support Systems (OSS) in the communications service provider industry and holds the largest number of IBM Tivoli AAA accreditations worldwide.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/ibm_and_generatione_technologies_improve_network_reliability.html

Domain.com Opens Pre-Registration for .CO Domains

2010-04-07T08:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Domain.com announces the opening of pre-registration for .CO domains. Expected to be the biggest domain name launch since the .COM launch in the 1990s, .CO domains are the perfect two letter option for businesses and individuals unable to find their perfect name in the increasingly depleted .COM domain name inventory.

Universally recognized as an abbreviation for company, commerce, and community, the new .CO domain gives companies concise, creative options for branding their Internet real estate. “Because .CO is a memorable and short extension, we’ll see a rush of companies launching or re-launching their brands around their .CO name,” said David Andrews, Marketing Manager for Domain.com. “As word gets out and more people recognize now is the time to stake their claim, the frenzy around .CO should be similar to what the world saw when .COM first launched. Early adopters have the most to gain.”

To take advantage of this opportunity and claim your own .CO domains, visit: http://www.domain.com/domains/tlds_co.php

Domain.com will offer .CO Pre-Registration for the three major phases:

GLOBAL SUNRISE Pre-Registration – For companies that want to register their existing global trademarks. Ends June 10.
LANDRUSH Pre-Registration – For individuals and businesses who want to be first in line for prioritized registration before general availability opens. Ends July 13.

GENERAL AVAILABILITY Pre-Registration – For those who want to be at the top of the general availability list. After July 20, all domains will be registered on a first come, first served basis. Pre-registering your .CO domains ensures your domains will be submitted the moment general availability opens.

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/domain_com_opens_pre-registration_for_co_domains.html

netAugusta Announces Server Specification Upgrade

2010-04-07T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) netAugusta.com today announced the server specification upgrade.

Their entire client's websites now resides on a server of the following specifications:

Dual Processor Quad Core Xeon 5520 (16 CPU Threads)
12 GB DDR3 Registered 1333 RAM
4x500GB RAID-10 Storage

The above specifications are over four times as powerful as their previous
configurations. They strive to be at the cutting edge in server technologies to order to serve you better. In addition to making services more reliable, they are more energy efficient and come pre-loaded with a much stronger spam protection software suite.

All combined, you are guaranteed a far superior experience on this hardware. The company claims that the decision for the upgrade is due to the increased consumption of disk space of the current online market.
http://www.netaugusta.com

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/netaugusta_announces_server_specification_upgrade.html

Tips, Tricks and Pitfalls of SEO

2010-04-06T08:23:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) I have been witness to many clients interested in SEO, but their mild interest in this field makes them a ticking time bomb for SEO implementation and website success. If we can further educate individuals on the SEO pitfalls, tips and techniques, we will be creating a more educated market base. My hopes here are to help deliver a general overview of SEO.

Picking incorrect keywords – Some people tell me, “How can I pick the wrong keywords if I am aiming for a specific target or product?” This is an oversight a number of individuals, even SEO companies take lightly. Individuals may try to create powerful and creative keywords and think that by doing so they are helping their website or webpage, but in this case the typical user that is searching, might never type their selected keywords, and thus never find their website. For example, let’s say that you have created a website where people can purchase used sports equipment. “Used Sports Equipment” might not be the best keyword phrase you should target, even though it contains what your site is all about. “Sports Equipment” or “Exercise Equipment” would be the better keyword targets to go after. Chasing after the best keywords is certainly a giant factor in determining if your SEO campaign is a success or failure. Having an inventive idea is the one thing, but using that idea to its full potential should be your primary objective. Don’t be afraid to use keyword tools like, Word Tracker (previous 60 days of information), Google Adwords: keyword selector, and MSN Adlabs. Remember when you do this though; some specific searches are seasonal like, electric heaters in winter time, barbeques for the summer, and so on. Remember to always perform a competitive analysis to stay with and above the competition.

The lack of an effective Title tag – The Title tag tells a browser what text to display in the browser’s title bar, and they are really crucial when wanting to please the search engines. This is one of the most important components from a search engines perspective because this pretty much tell them what your page is all about. There are a few common mistakes individuals make when it comes to Title tags.

One, they are all together missing. Some web pages plainly do not contain Title tags. If this is the case, they are not allowing the search engines to gather critical data to determine what the subject of your page really is about.

Two, they have a Title tag, but it is in the incorrect place. This tag should be placed directly beneath the <HEAD> tag and should have constructive keywords within it. There should be around 40 to 60 characters in the middle of the <TITLE> and </TITLE> tags (this should including spaces as well) and you might even duplicate your most important keyword more than once, but not too much to indicate spamming.

And Three, they have a Title tag, but it is simply weak. If the Title tag is not created with the right specific keywords, you are basically wasting your time because you will not receive the result you are truly looking for.

Tell the Flash to take a hike – If you are one of the many people that have a Flash intro to your website, I recommend that you tell Flash to take a hike. In other words, keep it off of your site. I can’t tell you how many people I have talked to about this and a majority of these individuals have said this does nothing, but irritate them when they arrive to a site with Flash. To me, it is sort of like watching fireworks, its fun and exciting, but after awhile of watching the same thing, it gets old and I want to leave. Don’t get me wrong, Flash animation at times makes sense, but for the most part it’s pointless. There are a lot of Web Designers that create elegant Flash animations within their homepages with the simple hopes of catching an eye or two. This hardly ever contains helpful text for indexing. So to those individuals, who insist on placing Flash within the most critical pages of your website, know that your page is practically insignificant from a search engine standpoint. And if you do not pay attention to what the search engines are looking for, your website will be practically invisible to them. If you are still in love with Flash, and you would like the search engines to acknowledge it, you should definitely offer an html edition. There is a reason why search engines are not in love with Flash sites and that reason is simple, the spiders can not interpret Flash and can’t take the information from your site back to be indexed. Don’t forget that you are dealing with constructed algorithms so you must work with them or you will not be able to help your site grow.

Do not forget about your site! – There are certain individuals that assume once you optimize a website, you don’t have to do anything to it ever again. That’s ok if you are not considering moving up within the search engines or if you just constructed your website to be a profile page or site. But if you are aiming for success and would like to see your website grow within the web and climb in the search engine rankings, you must constantly be optimizing your website. Be sure to watch your competitors and recognize what they are doing to their sites. If they do something that boosts their ranking, take note of what that was and build on it.

Do not use an Image for your Heading – A number of individuals assume that an icon or another image looks more presentable than well defined text for their headings and menus. I agree, an image has the potential of making your website appear unique, but remember, from an SEO and a search engines perspective, it is a huge fault for the simple fact that h1, h2, etc tags as well as menu links are imperative SEO items. If you’re not satisfied with how your h1, h2 tags look, maybe you should edit them within a style sheet or think about another option all together.

Don’t ignore your URL – Individuals undervalue the importance of a great URL string. Though it is likely to have your page rank well without placing your selected keywords within your URL, if you place your selected keywords within your URL, this will give your page a little extra lift over the competition. Placing your keywords within your URL’s is more imperative when you are optimizing for MSN or Yahoo!, but still a good idea when optimizing for Google as well, so be sure to place a keyword or two within your URL (if you can).

Fill your content with keywords – After you have established exactly which keywords you will be using, be sure to adjust the content of your page to relate accordingly to them. You will most likely what to place your keywords where it seems relevant. Your page should have a natural flow to it. Do not stuff your content so full of keywords that it is unreadable and might be considered as keyword stuffing (which is frowned upon by search engines). You should also try creating them in bold characters or even highlighting them to make them stand out to the naked eye.

Link a Go go - Links are important and possibly the most important feature of SEO. Stay away from free-for-all links pages, reciprocal links, links from spammy sites and as a general rule of thumb it is best to look at a inbound link strategy that is multi-fold. This means have an inbound link strategy that looks natural, includes many different types of links and again.... LOOKS natural.

Search engines are always changing. I like to constantly test the search engines as do my employees. Google, Yahoo and MSN will never give us an outline on how to rank #1 within their search engines so as a professional search engine marketer we must test the engines, test theories and keep up on our industry daily. The tips listed above are a solid baseline for beginners and a great guideline for people looking for SEO services.

Author's Bio: John Satter is the Director of SEO at HybridSEM.com and is a pioneer in approaching SEO and online marketing with our signature Hybrid approach. At HybridSEM we forge old and new school SEO together to maximize our clients ROI. Check out our blog at www.hybridSEM.com/blog http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/tips_tricks_and_pitfalls_of_seo.html

WordPress Theme Helps Save The Planet

2010-04-06T08:22:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) PageLines has launched a new CMS WordPress theme and will be donating a portion of sales to a local environmental non-profit organization.

The inspiration behind EcoPro is the desire to create a professional website design for the growing number of eco-conscious professionals. As a company, PageLines cares about the environment and those who work to protect it, and hopes to make a difference by supporting the environment with each sale of this theme.

"There are two things our customers want more of: capability and flexibility for their websites. EcoPro gives them this while allowing them to contribute to a greater cause," explains PageLines founder Andrew Powers.

EcoPro can be purchased and downloaded at www.PageLines.com. In addition, full details on features, pricing and examples of websites developed using PageLines themes are available on the site.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/wordpress_theme_helps_save_the_planet.html

Network Solutions Announces Free Business Marketing Webinar

2010-04-06T08:21:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Network Solutions recently announced it will hold a free webinar taking place on April 13 2010, from 2-3 p.m. EST. The webinar will show attendees how to improve their rankings with search engine optimization, generate traffic and leads with pay per click advertising and reach and retain new customers with the latest social media tools.

"While the Internet is truly a level playing field for businesses of all sizes, competition online can be fierce," said Randy Windsor, Online Marketing Coach. "This webinar is designed to demonstrate how easy it can be for a business to use online marketing to stand out from the competition."

Attendees will learn tips for making their website more appealing to search engines like Google® and Bing® by improving its content and building links from other websites. The use of keywords and landing pages in pay per click advertising will also be explained. Finally, the webinar will help attendees understand how social media tools like Facebook® and Twitter® can help them grow their customer base.

To learn more about marketing your business online, register today for this information-packed webinar.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/network_solutions_announces_free_business_marketing_webinar.html

CloudMiddleware.com Offers In-the-Cloud Software

2010-04-06T08:20:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Linxter has announced CloudMiddleware, an online directory for developers wanting to consume and provide cloud services that use Linxter and public APIs.

The cloud services available at CloudMiddleware.com are traditional web services (web APIs) that have been wired with Linxter, a communication platform that connects distributed applications and systems via message-based data exchange.

When traditional web services are wrapped with Linxter, they can be consumed securely and reliably, regardless of the number of intermediary networks involved and regardless of whether or not those networks are secure. Additionally, traditional headaches are eliminated for both the developers who build and expose web services and for the developers who consume them.

Linxter takes care of common technical barriers so developers don’t have to. With just a few method calls (no specialized coding), developers can take advantage of all that the Linxter platform has to offer, such as: message polling, transactional queues, X.509 message encryption, authentication and authorization, internet connection retries, non-repudiation, and file chunking.

For developers who wish to publish their own cloud services on CloudMiddleware.com, a Linxter account is required to either quickly enhance existing web services or create new services. For developers wishing to consume cloud services, CloudMiddleware.com currently offers OnlineCount and AvailableToPlay.

As their names suggest, OnlineCount is a service that Linxter developers can use to determine how many people using the same application are online, and AvailableToPlay is a service that Linxter developers can use to determine who is online and available to play. Both services were created for Linxter enabled game applications, but can be used for a variety of other applications.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/cloudmiddleware_com_offers_in-the-cloud_software.html

Alurium Hosting Announces ‘Mini’ Hosting Plan

2010-04-06T08:19:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Alurium Hosting has recently introduced the 'Mini Plan', an entry-level shared hosting plan designed to provide robust hosting at an entry-level price.

Starting at just $3.75 per month, the Mini Plan comes with 10GB of storage space, unlimited data transfer, and a wide variety of other features, including 25 Email Accounts, two Mailing Lists, two FTP Accounts, two MySQL Databases, two Sub-Domains, two Add-on-Domains, and two Parked Domains.

Like all hosting plans from Alurium, the Mini Plan also includes ColdFusion (CFML) support, powered by Railo. The Ralio solution is a high-performance, open source CFML engine that allows users to write and run CFML pages on any JEE server or servlet container.

“Even though our Basic Plan was already one of the most affordable CFML hosting plans on the market, for some of our clients it was still ‘too much’ plan. As we added more capacity to the Basic Plan, we realized that the plan may be getting too big for some customers just starting out with their first website. We introduced the Mini Plan to create a plan that would better meet the needs of some of our smaller customers,” said Peter Amiri, founder of Alurium Hosting.

Alurium has been hosting customers since 2004, and today hosts hundreds of sites from customers in the United States and Canada. The company plans to introduce a broader variety of hosting services in the coming months.

To learn more about Alurium Hosting, please visit http://www.alurium.com.

To hear what Alurium’s existing customers have to say, please visit
http://alurium.com/testimonials.

To learn more about Alurium’s Mini Plan, please visit http://alurium.com/hosting/min-plan/. http://www.gawkwire.com/promotions/alurium_hosting_announces_mini_hosting_plan.html

Portable PC Demand to Propel Market Growth in 2010

2010-04-06T08:18:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) For 2010, the total portable PC market is expected to grow to 215 million units and $117 billion, according to a new report by DisplaySearch, its Q1’10 Quarterly Advanced Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report. Dramatic increases in the size of the slate-style PC market are expected to be driven by the Apple iPad and slates from other PC brands that are expected to be launched this year. DisplaySearch expects slates to take some market share from clamshell-style netbook PCs, as well as lure customers that desire more functionality away from the e-reader market. The company also foresees the majority of slate volume to ship into the North American and Western European markets due, in large part, to Apple’s distribution plans and known content agreements.

The mini-note/netbook/slate category will be the fastest-growing segment of the portable PC market for 2010, propelled in part by the introduction of slates. However, clamshell style devices will continue to grow as well. In addition, we expect continued strong growth in emerging markets and a recovery of B2B spending in the second half of the year to lead to 25.7% Y/Y growth as the market surges towards 215 million units. (Table 1.)

Strong unit growth and less ASP erosion in 2010 will combine to grow portable PC market revenue to almost $117 billion, recovering to 2008 levels. Revenue growth is forecast to be strongest in the mini-note/slate category due to the introduction of higher-priced products. ASPs for mini-notes have steadily eroded from $400 down to just under $300. The Apple iPad, which we expect to represent the bulk of slate shipments in 2010, has ASPs that start at $499 and increase to more than $800. (Table 2.)

The low prices of clamshell-style mini-notes made these products attractive to buyers seeking a secondary or tertiary PC for the home or office, and also lowered the entry barrier for first-time PC buyers in emerging markets.

"We expect that, like Apple’s iPad, slates from other brands will be positioned as content consumption and manipulation devices, and the necessity of focusing on industrial design and features will result in ASPs that are higher than those of mini-notes," notes John Jacobs, Director of Notebook Market Research.

Jacobs added, "The low ASPs of mini-notes have been a concern to component suppliers, OEMs/ODMs, brands and retailers, due to the thinner margins and lower revenue generation of the devices. Slates—especially those that will be able to mimic Apple’s content library, model of content delivery, and their very successful App Store—will be able to generate greater revenue and healthier margins for the brands that build them, the retailers that sell them, and many of the component makes in the supply chain."

DisplaySearch's New Advanced Quarterly Notebook PC Report Now Available

Building upon DisplaySearch’s proven expertise in notebook PC market research, the company’s new advanced version of its Quarterly Notebook PC Shipment and Forecast Report will take your company’s notebook PC know-how to the next level. With expanded coverage to the end market, including street prices (ASPs) and system revenue for notebook PCs and mini-note (netbook) by display size/resolution by region, you won’t want to miss out on the latest information that can impact your business decisions.

Other report highlights include forecasted notebook PC and mini-note (netbook) shipments by region, display size and resolution, along with insightful analysis of the state of the notebook PC industry, including the breadth and depth of mini-note and notebook PC demand in the major geographic regions, and identifying the key variables influencing changing demand patterns in these markets.

For information on this DisplaySearch report, contact Charles Camaroto at 1.888.436.7673 or 1.516.625.2452, e-mail contact(at)displaysearch(dot)com or contact your regional DisplaySearch office in China, Japan, Korea or Taiwan.

Learn more about the notebook. Notebook, netbook and slate PCs market during the SID DisplaySearch Business Conference on May 24 during SID Display Week in Seattle, Washington. For more information on the event, visit www.displaysearch.com/events.

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/portable_pc_demand_to_propel_market_growth_in_2010.html

Top Hosting Center Offers Free Cloud Backup Service

2010-04-05T09:27:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Top Hosting Center announced today the availability of R1Soft High-Performance Continuous Data Protection® (CDP). The data protection technology will be offered as a free service to all of Top Hosting Center’s Linux Cloud Hosting Clients.

R1Soft’s next-generation CDP software will allow Top Hosting Center to protect its clients’ mission-critical data with advanced disk-to-disk backup technology. Top Hosting Center clients will also benefit from free restore access with an easy-to-use, intuitive interface to manage backups and restores.

“Before R1Soft, we tried several backup systems without any satisfaction. We found other solutions to be limited in functionality and unreliable. Prior to offering R1Soft as a service to our customers, we used it for our offsite backups and after a year of intensive usage and testing we are confident that R1Soft CDP backups are 100% reliable,” said Eric Vanier, CEO of Top Hosting Center. “Our customers deserve to enjoy the best SaaS on demand and with our new virtual infrastructure, we are proud to offer R1Soft CDP to all of our customers as a free backup service.”

Through this partnership, Top Hosting Center’s cloud products will include free R1Soft data protection with daily backups and 15 days of restore points. Top Hosting Center customers will also enjoy 15 days worth of database backups with restore points available every six hours.

“R1Soft’s partnership with Top Hosting Center will significantly enhance the value of its cloud products with free enterprise-level data protection,” added David Wartell, Vice President of R1Soft, a division of BBS Technologies, Inc. “We look forward to working with Top Hosting Center as it continues to grow.”

Initially, the service will only be offered on Linux servers. Extended data protection is also available to customers with large databases. Top Hosting Center proudly supports these services through a real customer network of phone, ticket, and live chat with impressively speedy response times.

The R1Soft backup technology will bypass the file system and backup data at the block level for ultra high-performance data protection and greater peace of mind. For more information about extended data protection, please contact Top Hosting Center.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/top_hosting_center_offers_free_cloud_backup_service.html

Apple Sells Over 300,000 iPads First Day

2010-04-05T08:40:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Apple recently announced that it sold over 300,000 iPads in the US as of midnight Saturday, April 3. These sales included deliveries of pre-ordered iPads to customers, deliveries to channel partners and sales at Apple Retail Stores. Apple also announced that iPad users downloaded over one million apps from Apple’s App Store and over 250,000 ebooks from its iBookstore during the first day.

“It feels great to have the iPad launched into the world—it’s going to be a game changer,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPad users, on average, downloaded more than three apps and close to one book within hours of unpacking their new iPad.”

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/apple_sells_over_300_000_ipads_first_day.html

UltraWebsiteHosting.com Introduces Ultra Unlimited Plan

2010-04-05T08:38:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Flux Servicesrecently launched its new Ultra Unlimited hosting plan which is the lowest cost unlimited hosting plan available. With the new plan, users can host as many websites as they like under a price of only $2.95 a month with a four-year agreement. No setup fees are required to receive the offered price and a 45-day money back guarantee is included. UltraWebsiteHosting.com also includes a free domain registration or domain transfer with any annual or greater purchase.

“We own and operate our own servers and are always reducing overhead to pass savings down to the consumer. The Ultra Unlimited web hosting plan is the most competitive hosting plan on the market,” says Mr. David Turner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Flux.

UltraWebsiteHosting.com home page screenshot.With one consolidated interface and one low monthly cost, the Ultra Unlimited hosting plan is an extremely convenient and attractive option for many web designers and developers. The hosting plan gives designers and developers easier administration of their web sites with an increased feature set, while reducing cost. With the Ultra Unlimited plan, users can add multiple domains and content within seconds. Individual web pages can also receive their own ftp account information used to upload content, which also allows for micromanagement of accounts, if required.

Features included in the unlimited hosting plan are live support, site builder, a website template package, latest technology dual processor Quad-Core Intel Xeon Servers, massive disk space and unlimited monthly transfer. Other features include an easy to use script installer, free daily backups and restores, advanced SPAM protection, automatic web stats, PHP 5 support, GD, Imagemagick, website marketing tools and much more.

Flux Services also offers to price match competitor hosting plan prices. If a client's existing hosting provider supports the cPanel interface, which is the most popular control panel for websites, Flux Services can transfer the entire hosting account to their service free of charge. For more information on the Ultra Unlimited plan, visit http://www.ultrawebsitehosting.com/hosting-plans.php

Flux Services was established in 2002 and provides value website hosting and domain registration services. The company maintains its operations in Seattle, Washington.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/ultrawebsitehosting_com_introduces_ultra_unlimited_plan.html

DiscountASP.NET Updates Free ASP.NET 4.0 Hosting Sandbox

2010-04-05T08:36:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) DiscountASP.NET has updated their free ASP.NET 4 hosting sandbox with the recently released .NET RIA Services RC. The free hosting sandbox program is extended until April 2010 to allow Visual Studio 2010 RC users to experience 1-Click publishing now using .NET RIA services.

Windows Communication Foundation RIA Services brings together ASP.NET and Microsoft Silverlight platforms using Windows Communication Foundation. The RIA Services provides support for tasks such as data validation, authentication and roles by integrating with Silverlight on the client and ASP.NET on the mid-tier. In addition, it includes rich tooling for integrating client and mid-tier projects and helps in developing rich UI with drag-drop simplicity.

vide end users a more integrated experience with Silverlight and ASP.NET.

The free sandbox hosting program is a limited program offered as an open beta for developers on a first come first serve basis. The.NET Framework 4 beta hosting account comes with 50 MB of disk space and 50 MB of SQL Server 2008 database space. The program ends April 16, 2010.

Interested developers are welcome to sign up at http://labs.discountasp.net while space is available.

"At MIX 2010, Scott Guthrie announced the release of .NET RIA Service RC," said Takeshi Eto, VP Marketing and Business Development at DiscountASP.NET. "We wanted to give the developer community a chance to get a jump start in experimenting with RIA services."

"We are pleased to have Discount ASP.NET supporting ASP.NET 4 hosting and adding more depth to the .NET hosting community," said Brian Goldfarb, director of Developer Marketing at Microsoft. "Utilizing the recently released .NET RIA Services RC with the ASP.NET 4 hosting sandbox will provide end users a more integrated experience with Silverlight and ASP.NET."

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/discountasp_net_updates_free_asp_net_4_0_hosting_sandbox.html

Peter Morville to Keynote at SES Toronto 2010

2010-04-05T08:34:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Search Engine Strategies recently announced that Peter Morville will deliver the first keynote for SES Toronto 2010. The event will be held on June 9-11 at the Hyatt Regency Toronto, 370 King Street. Now in its 7th year, SES Toronto attracts Canada’s and U.S.’s leading search engine marketing (SEM) professionals.

Marketers can take advantage of the early-bird special registration and save up to $200 by registering by May 21. Click here to review SES Toronto rates and registration details.

Morville, president of Semantic Studios, is widely recognized as an authority on information architecture. He is the co-author of the recently published, Search Patterns: Design for Discovery, a practical guide for building effective search applications.

“I really appreciate the opportunity to speak at the SES conferences because no matter how well tuned in I think I am to the latest search trends and issues, I still pick up much food for thought at these conferences,” said Morville. “I'm particularly looking forward to SES Toronto because it’s a little tamer than the other SES shows and provides a more intimate networking environment.”

“It’ll be great to have Peter back as a keynoter and hear about the search insights he’s covered in his new book,” said Matt McGowan, Publisher and Head of U.S. for Incisive Media. “And because a lot has advanced in the search marketing arena this past year, especially in the social media, video and mobile marketing segments, we’re really looking forward to exchanging ideas with our Canadian colleagues.”

SES Toronto, which is covering such topics as pay-per-click (PPC) management, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, mobile platforms, link building, duplicate content, video optimization, site optimization and other timely SEM topics, is suitable for the full range of marketers, from beginners to advanced. The conference consists of keynotes, panels, an exhibit floor, training sessions and many networking opportunities.

Marketers are invited to submit a proposal for participating in SES Toronto. Speaker submissions close May 14. SES speaker guidelines and the form for submitting a proposal can be found on the website.

For more information about SES Toronto 2010, visit:
http://www.searchenginestrategies.com/toronto/

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/peter_morville_to_keynote_at_ses_toronto_2010.html

ReliaCloud Cloud Server Platform Provides Solid Gaming Environment

2010-04-02T12:42:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ReliaCloud announces a case study showcasing its highly scalable and cost-effective cloud server product. After running out of capacity in previous years, the advertising agency Preston Kelly found the on-demand capacity they were looking for with cloud computing.

Preston Kelly annually hosts an online version of the popular holiday gift exchange game dubbed “White Elephant”. Two years ago, the game was hosted on a single dedicated server. It was such a huge success that its hosting environment couldn’t handle the amount of traffic. During the last twenty minutes of the game, the site was practically unreachable.

Anticipating high demand again, Preston Kelly turned to national cloud provider ReliaCloud for help. ReliaCloud’s pay-as-you-go cloud servers provided a cost-effective way for the agency to offer the game. They deployed four load balanced Windows servers running Microsoft .NET with a backend Microsoft SQL database. Rather than pay top dollar for a dedicated server that had enough capacity to accommodate the high traffic spikes, they scaled ReliaCloud’s servers up and down with demand, allowing them to only pay for what they actually used.

Preston Kelly reported no failed steal attempts, time outs, or database deadlocks during the game. “We were delighted that the game functioned at 100% even during the busiest parts,” said Melody Lentsch, Director of Interactive at Preston Kelly. “We’ve already decided upon using ReliaCloud for future projects.”

The full case study is available on ReliaCloud’s web site at http://www.reliacloud.com/casestudies.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/reliacloud_cloud_server_platform_provides_solid_gaming_environme.html

AspDotNetStorefront ML Version 9.0 Now Available

2010-04-02T09:08:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) AspDotNetStorefront releases the next generation of its AspDotNetStorefront ML
platform.

Building upon the massively successful e-commerce shopping cart platform powering more than 11,000 websites, AspDotNetStorefront is proud to release AspDotNetStorefront ML version 9.0. Significant updates to the underlying architecture, user interface, templating system, integration features, and administrative functions have made the platform more robust, simpler to use, easier to integrate, and more efficient to develop against. Notable features include the use of industry-standard ASP.NET Master Pages to generate application templates and themes, the ability to customize URL rewriting rules to provide tailored SEO results, extensive utilization of AJAX throughout the site to provide faster, more efficient administration and a friendlier shopping experience, and implementation of Microsoft's cutting-edge add-in system to allow highly portable, self contained modifications without touching core application code. The AspDotNetStorefront ML version 9.0 ecommerce shopping cart also includes mobile browsing functionality, allowing merchants to reach nearly 2 BILLION mobile devices, as well as advanced integrations with online chat applications, tax providers, new payment gateways, and more.

"Modern e-commerce websites demand efficiency to maintain competitive advantage," remarked AspDotNetStorefront's COO and Executive Vice President Dan Van Kuren. "AspDotNetStorefront ML version 9.0 delivers just that. We've taken a platform that was already best of breed, and added new features and technologies to reduce development time, shorten the learning curve for new merchants, and allow site administrators to manage and market larger, more diverse product offerings than ever before. All of these initiatives have created a winning platform for success-driven merchants and development shops."

AspDotNetStorefront ML v9.0 also carries on AspDotNetStorefront's commitment to protecting merchants and consumers against fraud and malicious users, slated to undergo full PCI PA-DSS certification.

Merchants and developers wishing to obtain more information about AspDotNetStorefront ML v9.0, or existing customers interested in learning about upgrading, can visit AspDotNetStorefront's website at http://www.aspdotnetstorefront.com or contact AspDotNetStorefront sales at sales@aspdotnetstorefront.com (phone: +1 602-490-0243 option 2). AspDotNetStorefront ML version 9.0 is available with full source code in C# or VB.net and starts at $1,295.00.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/aspdotnetstorefront_ml_version_9_0_now_available.html

UK Employees Ignorant To latest Data Breaches fines

2010-04-02T09:07:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Three months after the announcement that the Information Commissioner’s Office is to be granted new powers from April 6th, 65% of people are still ignorant to the fact that they could cost their organisation £500K if their actions cause a “deliberate or negligent” breach of personal data. The study, sponsored by Cyber-Ark Software amongst 500 city workers, found that the majority of employees haven’t been informed about the latest fines and rules of the data protection act and the impact abuse of their privileges could have on the organisation, with 65% agreeing that nothing has ever been said to them about the regulations.

This realisation will be a rude awakening to many directors if a breach should occur as the ICO has advised it will consider what reasonable steps the organisation has taken to prevent breaches when serving monetary penalties!

93% of city workers revealed that if they were personally held liable for protecting customers’ data, they would certainly be more careful with how they handle data. 71% of respondents claimed, now that they have been made aware of the financial implications to their employer they will be more careful with how they handle data in future.

88% of customers’ data on handhelds isn’t adequately protected!
It may not be surprising that 64% admit to carrying customer data with them on mobile devices yet, with the Information Commissioner waiting to claim his first scalp. What is scandalous is that 38% protect it with ‘nothing’, only 50% use a password and just 12% encrypt this information to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. This will delight the “hacking” community as many know it only takes minutes to “crack” most people’s passwords, allowing them to get easy access to the majority of these devices if all they have on them to protect the data is a password at the most!

When asked whether their organisation has policies or processes in place to protect customers’ personal data, a staggering 38% didn’t seem to recall knowing if they had them in place or not, which invariably renders any that may be in operation utterly worthless or ineffective.

Adam Bosnian, vice president of products and strategy for Cyber-Ark Software commented, “People increasingly understand the need to protect their data, but for some reason it’s not always top of the CISO’s priority list – and it should be. We have been blown away by these findings especially to discover that, with a £500k fine hanging over UK directors as of the 6th April, workers are walking about with unprotected customer records. Education is one piece of the puzzle in making sure that those people who do have access to privileged data are responsible with it and recognise the vital role they play in an organisation’s compliance obligations. Organisations also need to control privileged users and accounts to protect sensitive information, such as customer data, from navigating its way into the wrong hands. By having the tools in place that manages who has access to what data, and tools in place to keep track of what they do with it, organisations can regain control – a pretty real need not only to respect the information but to avoid the hefty fines that will soon come into force.”

Cyber-Ark advises that in order for organisations not to fall foul of the latest data protection act rulings, they need to implement, promote and enforce policies and procedures that control and manage who is entitled to access sensitive data, devices and networks – and make sure that users are made aware of them. Users must also be made aware of what they are allowed to do and importantly what they’re not with customers’ personal data. Companies can keep track of what’s happening to their customers’ personal data by performing audit reports of all activities within these privileged sessions. Following these simple processes will ensure that your organisation will be ready to meet the latest guidelines set down by the Information Commissioners Office.

http://www.gawkwire.com/technology/uk_employees_ignorant_to_latest_data_breaches_fines.html

ad:tech San Francisco Announces Keynote Lineup

2010-04-02T09:06:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) ad:tech San Francisco has enlisted some heavy hitters for its conference in April. Newly announced keynote speakers include Chris Anderson, best-selling author and editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine, and Loïc Le Meur, founder and chief executive officer of Seesmic.

In his keynote, Anderson will discuss how WIRED is using the new Apple iPad as a venue to launch itself into the next era of digital media consumption. Anderson is the author of The New York Times best-seller “The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More,” and “Free: The Future of a Radical Price.” His original thinking as editor-in-chief of WIRED significantly broadened the magazine’s audience in the business world and won the publication a National Magazine Award.

Le Meur’s entrepreneurship and innovative thinking recently earned him recognition as one of “The 25 Most Influential People on the Web” by BusinessWeek magazine, and he was also named “Young Global Leader” by the World Economic Forum. Seesmic’s flagship social software application has become one of the most successful in the industry under Le Meur’s leadership.

Conference attendees will also learn from and interact with some of the brightest in the industry, including:

Jaime Cohen Szulc, chief marketing officer, Levi Strauss & Co.
Kristi VandenBosch, chief executive officer, Publicis & Hal Riney
Geoff Ramsey, chief executive officer and co-founder, eMarketer
Lori Schwartz, executive director, IPG Media Lab

Having the opportunity to interact with these leaders is an important aspect of the conference. ad:tech organizers have gone to extensive lengths to create a marketplace for business interactions that encourages easy and effective networking. Sessions with these experts will have a whole new feel this year. Attendees will get hands-on participation and will take away practical solutions to improve marketing immediately, in addition to suggestions and tools for future growth and improvement.

The focus of the conference is on the application of practical information and case studies. There will be eight Marketing Masters Series led by industry experts on topics including social media, mobile marketing, e-mail, Web analytics, branded publications, ad networks, affiliates and search. The Digital Demographics Series will introduce and analyze tips and tricks to successfully reach five of the most popular demographics on the Web.

Meanwhile, the exhibit show floor, where exhibitors include Google, Facebook, Verizon, AOL, ValueClick Media, Advertising.com and Casale Media, has been redesigned and will introduce new attractions such as Innovation Alley, Miracle Mile and Mobile App Exchange, where CEOs, CMOs, brand managers, strategists, media buyers and other attendees can easily engage with potential suppliers and business partners. Expo floor events have been designed to encourage networking and meaningful business interactions.

ad:tech San Francisco will take place April 19-21, 2010 at Moscone Center North. For more information or to register, please visit: www.ad-tech.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/events_html/ad_tech_san_francisco_announces_keynote_lineup.html

DomainWhiz Unveils Domain Search Tool

2010-04-01T11:08:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) DomainWhiz.net unveiled its domain name search tool aiming to help potential web owners to find SEO friendly domain names, which most believe play a vital role in promoting a website and the business associated with it.

SEO, short for Search engine optimization, is the practice of optimizing a web site by improving internal and external aspects in order to make a website appear higher in search results and thus increase the traffic the site receives from search engines, which are driving the majority of the web traffics today. Many believe that a good domain name, which is related to the products or services a website is selling, is a critical first step of SEO. The problem is, most SEO friendly domain names are already taken.

DomainWhiz.net's search engine searches for alternative names that are still available.

Supported by state-of-the-art Natural Language Processing technology, DomainWhiz' domain name search technology is able to generate hundreds of alternative names that are either synonymous with or highly relevant to keywords entered by an end user. DomainWhiz further checks the availability of each alternative name, and notes whether it's taken, available, expiring, or for sale.

Searching at DomainWhiz is fast and the alternative names it comes up are SEO friendly, which differentiates DomainWhiz from similar services.

DomainWhiz currently offers its service in English. Its search engine has also been used for generating domain name suggestions and ideas

http://www.gawkwire.com/domains/domainwhiz_unveils_domain_search_tool.html

Best Web Design Companies for April

2010-04-01T11:07:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) bestwebdesignagencies.com has ranked the best web design company for April 2010. The ranked companies were those that stood out on top after an extensive evaluation process was completed. The top web design agencies are evaluated and recognized each month by bestwebdesignagencies.com.

The team sifts through the thousands of applicants every month in order to find the best web design companies. In addition the team contacts at least three clients of the design firm in order to obtain their perspective on working with the company. Questions are asked of clients such as, "Is a lot of attention paid to the design for the customer or does it appear to be too generic and quickly assembled?" or "Does the quality of the stock photography used in the design create a more professional look?".

The top web design company for April 2010 is:

1.   MindSmack.com
2.   Web312
3.   2advanced.com
4.   DeepBlue
5.   Oxygen Productions
6.   Rooster Ink
7.   Big D Creative
8.   POP Interactive
9.   Studio 7 Designs Inc.
10.   352 Media Group
11.   lifeBLUE Media
12.   Blue Fountain Media
13.   Web.com
14.   Blast Radius
15.   Hudson Horizons
16.   Oxidev Interactive
17.   Beetroot Street
18.   End Communications
19.   Hawaii Web Development
20.   Bam Creative
21.   Digital Base
22.   etonDIGITAL
23.   Ideaz Inc.
24.   Broadway Infotech
25.   Creat7ive Web Design
26.   Breworks Design & Communications
27.   Intense Design
28.   Iflexion
29.   Headstand Media
30.   BlackPig

Established in 2009, bestwebdesignagencies.com, the independent authority on the best web design and development, began with the mission of finding the best web design company and development firms. Accomplishing this task can be quite difficult for the everyday business, but bestwebdesignagencies.com is equipped with a specialized research team and internally developed evaluation criteria to separate the best from the rest. In addition to the independent rankings available on the site, you can find a full directory listing, news and information, and much more.

Web designers that would like to be considered for ranking can apply at:

http://www.bestwebdesignagencies.com/rankings/web-design-agencies/apply-for-ranking

To view the latest rankings of the best web design agencies visit:

http://www.bestwebdesignagencies.com/rankings-of-best-web-design-companies

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_design/best_web_design_companies_for_april.html

Codero Offers Secure Hosting for Cardholder Data

2010-04-01T08:37:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Codero announced recently that it has met all requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). PCI Compliance represents minimum payment-processing security measures to ensure all companies process, store and transmit debit and credit card information while maintaining a secure environment.

Assessment of Codero’s Phoenix data center was completed by an independent auditor as of March 18, 2010. A recently re-designed space within the building now includes a secure cardholder data environment, mandating strict access via badge readers and 24/7/365 camera surveillance. This caged-off area also features separate environmental controls (cooling, etc.) and an isolated electrical network.

“There’s clearly too much at stake today in protecting cardholder privacy as eCommerce continues to surge,” notes Shawn Hashmi, Director, Operations at Codero. “Our PCI-compliant environment in Phoenix is just the latest in a series of steps we’re taking to ensure businesses are able to accept online payments without putting their customers at risk.”

Created in 2006 by the five major credit card issuers (American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa), PCI DSS as a security standard focuses on 12 requirements over policies, procedures, network architecture, software design and other critical measures to improve payment account security throughout the transaction process.

For more information, see PCI Compliance at Codero.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/codero_offers_secure_hosting_for_cardholder_data.html

HostV Launches Private Servers for Developers

2010-04-01T08:36:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) HostV announced it has introduced a new line of unmanaged high-performance, highly-flexible Virtual Private Servers. These new servers are targeted at developers and other advanced users who do not require end-user control panels or proactive management.

The new high-performance unmanaged plans offer tremendous flexibility at substantially reduced cost. Starting at just $29.99 per month, the new DEV-VPS plans enable users to select between a 32-bit and 64-bit platform and from a broad variety of operating system templates, including Debian, Centos 4, Centos 5, Fedora Core 9, Fedora 11, Fedora 12, Ubuntu 9.10 and Open Suse 11. The DEV-VPS plans include access to Virtuozzo 4 and Power Panel.

“It is important to be responsive to the needs of our customers and to the market as a whole. There is an increasing segment of hosting users seeking no-fills, bare-bones virtual servers that put all the focus on infrastructure and little focus on management, including end-user hosting control panels. We modeled these developer plans on that need,” said John Xie, president of Cirtex Corp., HostV parent company. “There’s a broad range of uses for these new plans, from administrators needing a virtual server to create a Openfire XMPP Jabber Server or Voice server, to a developer looking to for a testing environment.”

Fully-managed VPS Hosting with cPanel from HostV starts at $39.99/monthly for 50GB of disk space and 1000GB of top-tier data transfer. All accounts include full support for video hosting, free data backups, and HostV’s premium customer support.

Earlier this month, HostV introduced Ksplice Uptrack, allowing it to update Linux servers without rebooting. Linux kernel updates are automatically converted into rebootless update packages, and HostV can simply apply the update remotely without causing a disruption or significant performance hit on the server.

To learn more about high performance, Unmanaged VPS Hosting from HostV, please visit http://www.hostv.com/vps-hosting.shtml.

To learn more about HostV, please visit http://www.hostv.com.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/hostv_launches_private_servers_for_developers.html

Interxion Opens Second Data Centre in Dublin

2010-04-01T08:35:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Interxion announced the opening of DUB2, its second Dublin data centre. The expansion was required to meet growing customer demand for energy-efficient, high-power-density colocation infrastructure and outsourced managed services. The new data centre will provide an additional 2,455m2 of gross space, increasing Interxion’s overall capacity to 4,755m2.

With a redundant 4 MVA grid connection, the data centre supports the latest high-density power configuration requirements. It offers 2N UPS power and N+1 cooling, as well as advanced alarm and monitoring systems. Furthermore, the site has been designed using Interxion’s energy-efficient modular architecture, with free cooling and maximum-efficiency components as standard. Power monitoring and management systems also enable customers to monitor their power usage, streamlining their operations to optimise Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE).

“The Irish Government has prioritised energy efficient ICT and the establishment of new data centres in our framework for economic renewal. With our temperate climate, Ireland is one of the best locations for the construction of data centres internationally and this provides us with a real competitive advantage.” said Eamon Ryan TD, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. “Interxion has clearly recognised these advantages, in establishing its second data centre here in Park West. This is a company that is focussed on energy-efficient operations, on delivering green jobs, and I wish them the very best in their endeavours"

“We would like to thank the 90+ people involved in the completion of this complex data centre construction project. The completion of the project means that we are able to further strengthen Park West’s reputation as a key ICT hub and continue to meet demand for data centre space in the region, from all sectors of the market,” said Tanya Duncan, Managing Director, Interxion Ireland. “Our modular build-out approach and lean infrastructure design enables us to offer energy-efficient and cost-effective data centre services, both of which are of great appeal to Irish customers. The quick uptake of our services has meant that we are already at 50 percent capacity in the new facility, which means we have been able to further enhance the PUE for the data centre.”

Interxion’s business in Ireland has grown significantly since its establishment in 2001. A major part of this growth comes from telecoms providers, enterprises and other technology companies that are seeking carrier and vendor-neutral infrastructure combined with a constant focus on customer satisfaction. Interxion is a cofounder of the EMEA Chapter Uptime institute, as well as a contributory member of The Green Grid and The EC Joint Research Centre on Sustainability. http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/interxion_opens_second_data_centre_in_dublin.html

Best SEO Service Providers for April

2010-04-01T08:34:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) topseos.com has named the best SEO service providers for April 2010. The firms on this list were selected from among thousands of applicants seeking to be recognized. These firms showed they were among the best when it came to search engine optimization services.

An assigned research team put each applicant through an extensive evaluation process in order to find the best firms. Each firm is scrutinized based upon their knowledge of the SEO industry. To go one step farther topseos.com then contacts the clients of each firm to ask questions such as, "What are the most competitive keywords you have been able to rank on the major search engines and how long did it take you to achieve those rankings?", "How comprehensive, specific, and useful are the reports that are offered to the client?", and " How many of your top industry keywords rank in the top 10?"

The top SEO services provider for April 2010 is:

1.   Increase Visibility Inc.
2.   WebiMax
3.   SEOP
4.   Slingshot SEO, Inc.
5.   ArteWorks SEO
6.   eVisibility, Inc.
7.   Customer Magnetism
8.   SEO Image Inc.
9.   Intrapromote LLC
10.   ThinkBIGsites
11.   WebMetro
12.   Weblinx Limited
13.   SEO Inc
14.   7strategy Interactive Agency
15.   Bruce Clay Inc.
16.   1st on the List Promotion Inc.
17.   SEO.com
18.   High Position Limited
19.   WebpageFX
20.   Direct Hit Solutions, Inc.
21.   Peak Positions, LLC
22.   Sems
23.   First Page SEO
24.   HighPoint Search Marketing
25.   Elite SEO Marketing
26.   PageTraffic
27.   Mannix Marketing
28.   First in Search Inc.
29.   iProspect
30.   Outrider
31.   White Hat Media
32.   Edit Optimisation Ltd
33.   LeapFrog Interactive
34.   Spark Inbound Marketing
35.   SEER Interactive
36.   Exclusive Concepts, Inc.
37.   ymarketing
38.   Seologist
39.   Qualified Impressions, LLC
40.   Exa Corporation
41.   DDS Agency
42.   Found Search Marketing, LLC
43.   Stickyeyes
44.   Position Research
45.   Red Spot Design, LLC
46.   Leverage Marketing Inc.
47.   e-Storm International, Inc.
48.   97th Floor
49.   Steak Limited
50.   Eyeflow

topseos.com, the independent authority on search vendors, began ranking the top SEO company and other internet marketing services in 2002. A research team was developed to identify and rank the best companies based upon an internally created set of criteria. Soon after, topseos.com expanded to four regions throughout the world including the United Kingdom, Australia, India, and Canada. Over 50,000 visitors come to find the best internet marketing services, new, and other information every month.

Any SEO company that would like to be considered for ranking can apply at:

http://www.topseos.com/rankings/search-engine-marketing-agencies/apply-for-ranking

To view all 50 of the best search engine optimization firms visit:

http://www.topseos.com/rankings-of-best-search-engine-optimization-companies

http://www.gawkwire.com/seo_sem/best_seo_service_providers_for_april.html

Web Host Magazine Awards Server Intellect

2010-04-01T08:33:00-04:00

(Gawkwire.com) Web Host Magazine recently awarded Server Intellect the top ranking for Non-Shared Web Hosting as well as Windows Virtual Servers. Eric Pratt, President and CEO of Server Intellect sated, "In Honor of this recognition we are offering 50% off the second month’s rate to any new clients of Server Intellect who begin their service by April 15th. Server Intellect is humbled to be recognized by Web Host Magazine, a leader in unbiased hosting reviews. We feel this unbiased award and scoring is continued proof of our deep commitment to providing exceptional customer service coupled with our amazing support services.”

Web Host Magazine conducts reviews based on six areas of hosting performance which include Support, Reliability, Features, Value, Network and Industry. Each category, as shown below, is reviewed by independently acquiring, evaluating and scoring the company and its services. The review board gave Server Intellect perfect scores for Support and Value pushing their overall score to a high ninety-two percentile.

http://www.gawkwire.com/web_hosting/web_host_magazine_awards_server_intellect.html