17 Aug 2018

What is VPS?

What is VPS?

What is VPS?. A virtual private server (VPS) is a cost-effective way for a small business to gain more flexibility and efficiency than is offered with shared hosting without the expense associated with running a dedicated server. Most small businesses also don’t need all the power of a dedicated server, so VPS provides a good in-between option when you outgrow your shared hosting. Get the power and flexibility of your own server without the cost and complexity of managing outsourced hardware. This is the right answer to what is a VPS or what is VPS hosting.

 

How Does a Virtual Private Server Work?

A virtual private server (VPS) is basically a server running within a server. One physical server hosts multiple virtual servers, each isolated from the others. This is accomplished with software, called a hypervisor, that segments the physical server and keeps each segment separate from the rest.

Each VPS runs its own operating system, independent of the others, creating the illusion that it is actually its own independent server. Each VPS can also be rebooted independently.

 

VPS vs. Shared Hosting

VPS and shared hosting both share a single server’s resources. But with shared hosting, resources are shared equally between all users. This means the bandwidth any user has available will always be in flux, and each user won’t have as much control over how much bandwidth they have available at any given time.

VPS offers a more customized option that includes more control over your data and bandwidth usage. When you select a VPS service provider and plan, you can select one that allows you access to a maximum amount of RAM, bandwidth, and server space, so you can select how much you may need, and all of it will be yours to use at all times.

 

VPS vs. Dedicated Hosting

Dedicated hosting is true to its name. It includes a fully-dedicated host server where 100% of resources are dedicated to your site. VPS, on the other hand, has a dedicated amount of resources allocated to your site from a shared server, essentially giving you a piece of a larger whole. When you have a dedicated server, the entire host is yours to utilize.

 

What Are the Advantages of a VPS?

Continuing with the answer to what is VPS, what is a VPS or what is VPS hosting, every hosting solution has its own advantages and is suitable for different stages of a business. But what is VPS used for? A VPS is good for businesses that are feeling constrained by their shared hosting plans but aren’t ready for—or can’t afford—a dedicated server. It’s ideally used for organizations that are seeking:

  • More flexibility than shared hosting: With a VPS, you can customize your hardware and software configurations and run your own applications.
  • Lower cost than a dedicated server: The hosting company can spread the cost of running and maintaining the server across all businesses operating on a given machine. Depending on your host, monthly fees can be as low as $20.
  • Better security than shared hosting: Because you are not sharing space with others, their mistakes, faulty scripts or resource usage won’t affect the up-time or accessibility of your Web site.
  • Independent FTP and POP access: Again, other users’s use of FTP and POP email don’t affect your access and speed.
  • Root access: Because a VPS functions as an independent server, you get root access, which is what you need to configure and install your own operating system and other applications. Shared hosting only gives you access to a directory on the shared server, which does not allow for software customization.
  • Lower technical knowledge requirement than a dedicated server: In most cases, you access your VPS through graphical user interface control panels, from which you install and configure your applications. Dedicated servers usually require manual configuration.

 

 

vps panels - What is VPS?

Do You Need a Virtual Private Server?

It might be time to consider upgrading from shared hosting to VPS if:

  • Your business is growing and getting more traffic: If your Web site’s resource needs are approaching your shared hosting provider’s premium-level plan, you can often get more resources and flexibility with a VPS for the same cost.
  • You want to run applications your shared hosting plan doesn’t offer.
  • You’re looking for increased security: With multiple sites hosted on the same server, your site can become vulnerable if another is breached or attacked. With VPS, you’ll have a more protected piece of real estate on the server that keeps your data more secure.
  • You need more reliability and uptime: Depending on how much each user is utilizing at any given time, the bandwidth on a shared server is constantly changing. If your infrastructure is going down, your business can’t run. VPS can offer you more uptime on your own allocated portion of resources.
  • You want more control over your server overall: With VPS, you’ll have root access to control your configurations and install any software you need.

 

Choosing the Right VPS Hosting

Here are some basic questions to ask and things to consider when you’re deciding on VPS hosting for your website.

  • Environment: Which environment will you run on? Windows and Linux are two options, which are both quite different, but you will need to start by selecting one.
  • Managed vs. Unmanaged: Do you have an IT person or team to help manage your VPS server? If not, you may want to consider a managed hosting solution where server management is included in the service.
  • Redundancy and Scalability: How will your server back up data? You need to a hosting solution with a failover plan to ensure your data is securely backed up outside of a single server. Also, if your business bandwidth needs to change or you need to scale up, can your hosting solution grow to meet your needs as they change?
  • Cloud-based or Conventional: Will you want your data hosted on the cloud or on conventional servers? Conventional servers tend to have more limitations, whereas the cloud tends to be more flexible and scalable.
  • Customer supportEven the best laid plans go awry, which is why you’ll need support at the ready. Ensure that you select a hosting provider that will offer you 24/7 support. Without customer support available, you risk losing valuable uptime.
  • Price: Most hosting providers offer an allocation of storage and RAM along with a specified data transfer speed, IP addresses, and more. Typically, they charge a monthly fee for the whole package, so compare your options and see who provides what you need for the best possible price. Pricing can start at under $10 a month.

As more and more business is conducted online, an inability to scale digitally could also slow the growth of your business. A VPS solution like Defend Hosting VPS could be the perfect solution for your expanding business. Defend Hosting offers robust VPS with a unique approach that results in high performing cost-effective virtualization and efficient allocation of your dedicated server resources with the ability to add more when available.

This is my answer to the questions: what is VPS, what is a VPS or what is VPS hosting?

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22 Jul 2018

USA VPS and Hypervisor Choice: Xen OpenVZ or KVM?

Best hypervisor for your USA VPS

Which hypervisor is best for your USA cloud or USA VPS solution: Xen, OpenVZ or KVM? It’s one the questions guaranteed to come up in conversations with new cheapest VPS customers, as well as with existing clients.

In this blog, we wanted to provide more detail on the three open source hypervisors supported in the Defend Hosting EURO VPS and USA VPS platforms, and the use cases for them.

In future posts I’ll follow up with more insights, such as the history of Xen, OpenVZ and KVM, benchmarks, and views on new updates that come along. But first, let’s get back to the question: Xen, OpenVZ or KVM?

Cheap windows VPS and linux cheapest VPS hypervisor comparision

xen logo 300x138 - USA VPS and Hypervisor Choice: Xen OpenVZ or KVM?Xen

The Xen Project began around 2004 at a time where there was no existing open source virtualization.  Outside of containers (FreeBSD Jail, Virtuozzo, Solaris Jails), this kind of thing really didn’t exist.

There were some really nice scalability advantages to using a Jail/Container – but there were inherent weaknesses that prevented further innovation.

Here enters Xen, which is a Type I Hypervisor – which means it sits a single layer above bare metal.  It’s like a stripped down operating system, and it uses a function called “pass-through” to connect directly to PCI devices like RAM/CPU/NICs.

OpenVZ

OpenVZ can ONLY host Linux operating systems, while KVM is more flexible and can host Linux, Windows, and custom OS options. ovz transparent - USA VPS and Hypervisor Choice: Xen OpenVZ or KVM?

Both a pro and a con of OpenVZ is the complete sharing of resources it allows. OpenVZ uses a shared kernel with a layer of virtualization on top of the actual Linux OS. Since this kernel is shared by all VPS users on this node, the kernel is not customizable. Once you have hit your allocated RAM provided to you by the host, the remaining RAM becomes a free-for-all for users on the server. This is not a problem if you run small applications, but you may be in trouble if you are running something more resource intensive.

The risk of overselling: Overselling is where a host will overcommit resources to certain accounts hoping that not every account uses up all those resources. While everything can be oversold, beware of shady hosting companies overcommitting OpenVZ systems and putting you on a system with too many containers. KVM can also be oversold, but it’s better isolated. Since OpenVZ hosts are often oversold, OpenVZ servers are typically a cheaper cost than KVM servers.

OpenVZ provides the end-user with speed and scalability, and it’s more affordable. KVM offers private virtualized hardware including network card, disk and graphics adapter, and guaranteed resources for increased reliability and customizability. KVM packages are ideal for serious resellers, game servers, small businesses, and medium-sized enterprises.

kvm logo 300x95 - USA VPS and Hypervisor Choice: Xen OpenVZ or KVM?KVM

KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) was originally written by an Israeli software developer called Avi Kivity, while he was working at a company called Qumranet – which was acquired by Red Hat in $2008, for the princely sum of $107 million.

KVM is a Type II Hypervisor, which means that it is one layer above the OS.  So you have a bare metal machine, install an OS, and THEN install KVM. In Linux it is installed in the form of a Kernel, and this kernel then turns the bare metal machine into a Hypervisor.

KVM is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V). It consists of a loadable kernel module, kvm.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor specific module, kvm-intel.ko or kvm-amd.ko.

Using KVM, one can run multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images. Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware: a network card, disk, graphics adapter, etc.

KVM is open source software, great for a cheap windows vps solution. The kernel component of KVM is included in mainline Linux, as of 2.6.20. The userspace component of KVM is included in mainline QEMU, as of 1.3.

Which is best?

So, what’s the big deal? Aren’t they basically the same?  Well, not really.

Yes, they are open source, and all supported by large communities and large enterprises. And yes, they do the fundamental job of virtualization. The differences are found in support for innovation, and in application integration, application awareness and performance.

Xen tends to be more stable. It is older, is more mature and offers near native drivers for OSs like Microsoft Windows, whereas KVM is weaker in those regards. However, KVM does very well when you compare Linux vs Linux against Xen.

From 2010 to about 2014, all we heard from Defend Hosting customers was Xen, Xen Xen. No one wanted to touch KVM, but because Red Hat put its muscle into development, the fledgling new virtualization method has enjoyed much more success in the last couple of years, and is growing pretty fast.

Until 2014, very few people had the confidence to use KVM as a real-world solution. Today, I rarely hear the Xen-only mantra from customers.

Our take:

If you’re pushing a lot of Linux-based solutions, I’d go with KVM. This doesn’t mean Xen or OpenVZ are bad. It’s just that chances are, you’ll find KVM will offer better performance with the Linux OS. Ballooning works FAR better on KVM then Xen, which is why our Xen users don’t use this function – as Xen takes unused RAM from another VM and tends NOT return it afterwards.

If you sell a lot of Windows-based cloud servers, there are probably more advantages to hosting on KVM too because of the new near native drivers.

KVM is true virtualization where the VPS operates as its own server, independently of the host node. OpenVZ is a container style of virtualization which relies on the host node’s kernel. KVM has no restrictions in terms of functionality, but it has more overhead than OpenVZ. OpenVZ is constrained by the host node kernel, but it has less overhead in the containers themselves. KVM is generally more stable than OpenVZ.

KVM VPSs are not dedicated environments. Both virtualizations share host CPU and network port among all VPSs. Only our VPSs include dedicated CPU.

In future blogs, I hope to provide some benchmarks to illustrate some of these performance differences. Click to learn more about the Defend Hosting cloud management platform!

If you need, Defend Hosting provides USA based dedicated servers and Europe based dedicated servers.

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13 Jun 2018

SaaS vs. On-Premise: Which CRM Solution is Better For You?

SaaS CRM, CRM free, CRM software…?

While several new business software technologies are catching the media buzz – including social CRM, Hosted CRM, open source CRM, customer experience management, mobile CRM, CRM free, SaaS CRM, crm software and business intelligence solutions – none seem to match the confidence in continued growth as the combination of software-as-a-service and cloud computing.

“Cloud Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings continue to grow impressively,” affirms Ahmar Abbas, SVP, remote infrastructure management of CSS Corp., a global IT company. “SaaS-only vendors have risen in all key software domains and have successfully challenged the packaged software application companies.”

There are solid reasons for such widespread and enthusiastic adoption rates.

“The virtues of a hosted solution are legendary,” says Bill Johnson, CEO of Jesubi. “SaaS providers hardware is consistently upgraded and amortized against thousands of other customers; software upgrades happen dynamically with no involvement from the end-user; response times allow for end-user success; and there are no incremental service fees to manage the hardware infrastructure or break-fix issues.”

“It’s too common-sensical in today’s economy to do anything other than a hosted solution,” suggests Johnson.

It appears that companies from large to small are quick to seize these advantages and learn from the experience. “According to our most recent survey, cloud and SaaS are still gaining market share, and a lot of the myths are being shaken off,” explains Shari Lava, senior research analyst for Info-Tech Research.

“The total cost of ownership (TCO) is about the same after three years – so don’t make your decision based on that,” she advises. “And SaaS products have nearly equal functionality.”

Considering myths have been busted and the old rules of thumb have been given the finger, how is one to know whether or not to thumb a ride on the cloud computing and SaaS CRM bandwagon?

Info-Tech’s Lava breaks it down this way:

Choose CRM SaaS if …

  • There is a lack of executive support or CRM strategy and you need a departmental solution right away.
  • You need to speed up the customer relationship management implementation process.
  • You need a business software solution right now that can grow with you as needed. A lot of companies that went through a failed big-bang CRM project are trying SaaS CRM, but are doing so cautiously and want to see results before they continue their roll outs.
  • You have too few IT staff available to support and administrate the business system over the long term.
  • You have no disaster recovery plan for CRM so keeping it on someone else’s locations seems smart.
  • Little offline capability is needed.

Choose On-Premise or Hosted CRM if …

  • There is a legislative or regulatory requirement to host your own data or keep it in a certain jurisdiction.
  • You require complex system integration with large data volumes. Info-Tech’s survey suggests that customers are still having some trouble getting the kind of tight integration mid-size and large companies need. Solving this challenge is key for SaaS CRM solutions to continue to move up market. Data integration can be tricky enough to begin with, but there are several factors that complicate it further, such as large data volumes integrated across the web and firewall configuration issues.
  • You want to align CRM software with your existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system and the on-premise product is different or superior.
  • Heavy offline capability is required.

In Defend Hosting we provide both types of solutions:

 

logo incomecrm trans - SaaS vs. On-Premise: Which CRM Solution is Better For You?

Top 5 Rewards of SaaS CRM

  1. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). It’s no coincidence that the last SaaS risk may actually be a SaaS reward. SaaS entry costs are certainly lower and SaaS converts capital expenditures into operational expenses (capex to opex). Studies form analyst firms such as Yankee Group and Gartner have illustrated that even with the recurring nature of the SaaS subscription model, the cumulative effect of subscriptions may still be much less than the one-time capital expenditure associated with on-premise CRM systems.Verification strategy: As suggested, to determine whether SaaS TCO is a risk or a reward, create a multiple year cash projection that is reflective of your organizational environment. For on-premise systems, don’t shortchange the calculation by failing to include real world expenses such as computer hardware, redundant systems, platform software (such as databases, operating systems, backup programs, etc.), application software annual maintenance fees, and labor associated with system administration, database administration, near annual system upgrades, information security and IT trouble-shooting. Also remember that hardware must be upgraded or recycled about every three years. Realistic cost projections should also include the management time involved with operating in house information systems.
  2. Focus on Core Competencies. It’s been my observation that this SaaS reward varies in importance by region; being a top purchase criteria in America and one of a top 3 or 4 in the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. In a conversation I had with Gartner’s Rob Desisto, he commented that cost is not the primary decision criteria for SaaS, instead limited resources and time to market are the most influential factors. Clearly, outsourcing a non-core competency such as business software administration to outside experts removes what is often viewed as a headache function and reallocates management time to more critical areas.Verification strategy: SaaS providers manage the IT infrastructure, delivery platform, maintenance releases, new version upgrades, backups, disaster recovery and information security. Even though these functions are handled by the provider, IT buyers are wise to understand these processes and in particular their frequency and how they may affect the customers utilization of the application.
  3. Predictable Expenses. SaaS pricing models are normally per user per month subscriptions. This type of utility based pricing is simple, predictable and reduces cost surprises and overruns.Verification strategy: The caveat here is to avoid shelfware, or maybe its now called cloudware. Vendors often require customers to prepay SaaS subscriptions in order to secure aggressive discounts. While such a move may be financially worthwhile, it is generally cost ineffective to pay for user subscriptions prior to the go-live cut-over or before those users come online. Instead, defer most user subscriptions during the implementation period and agree to a schedule whereby subscriptions are activated as users begin using the system.
  4. Accelerated Time To Market. With no hardware to implement and no software to install, SaaS deployments are much faster than on-premise CRM software implementations. Due in part to their browser-based interfaces and intuitive navigation, on-demand systems often also achieve a shorter learning curve and more successful user adoption.Verification strategy: Implementation consultants are very valuable, but expensive. A time and cost implementation comparison between SaaS and on-premise deployments will reveal the cost savings.
  5. Business Agility. SaaS applications permit companies to scale up or down their user count or software utilization on-demand. This is a big change from on-premise systems which require IT departments to purchase, implement and forever manage expensive IT infrastructures ‘just in case’ they’re needed – and provides no refunds or credits if the company doesn’t grow according to projections or reduces staff.Verification strategy: Make sure you don’t turn this SaaS reward into a risk with a vendor contract that imposes minimum user counts or penalties for subscription reductions.

Focusing on risks and rewards which deliver bottom line business impact, and not getting sidetracked into the nebulous techno jargon, will aid business and IT buyers in determining whether SaaS CRM software systems make the best business sense for their organisations.

 

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22 May 2018

Freepbx | 3CX | Vicidial | Elastix – Hosted PBX solutions by Defend Hosting

3CX vs. FreePBX

We all know the capabilities and endless feature set of Asterisk (i.e. FreePBX). It’s a powerful, software based PBX, that’s possibilities are endless. Asterisk is distributed in a number of ways, the first being the open sourced distribution that is command line driven. 3CX is a software-based, open standards IP PBX that offers complete Unified Communications, out of the box. 3CX makes installation, management and maintenance of your PBX so easy that you can effortlessly manage it yourself, whether on an appliance, on your servers or in your cloud account. Elastix and Vicidial are great options too.

 

The Flavors of Asterisk-FreePBX

Then we have your open sourced asterisk-based distributions freely available to the public for download. These versions would include trixbox CE, Elastix, FreePBX, PBXinaFlash, and Asterisk Now, which just names a few. The separator between these software applications as compared to the command line asterisk distribution is that while asterisk source code is running in the background, the majority of configuration changes can be made via a Graphical Web GUI interface from both a user and administrators perspective. These software applications also allow for asterisk cmd line access or CLI access in order to make changes if required. Companies such as these have taken the asterisk source code and “rounded” it to their own unique application.

And last but not least, we have our commercial asterisk based PBX’s. Most notability would be Switchvox SMB or SOHO software which is asterisk based, but no access is granted to the asterisk CLI. Rather all configuration changes are done via a web GUI interface. Software from Switchvox is considered a “paid” commercial product, which distinguishes itself from any of the open source based distributions mentioned above.

With all flavors of asterisk, each meets its own unique need and fulfillment in individual VoIP deployments. When it comes to purchasing an IP PBX, you have your choice of asterisk software and also hardware to go along with it. In all regards, whether you choose the free open source cmd line version of asterisk or pay for Switchvox’s award winning SMB software, all solutions present you with a powerhouse feature set and customization to meet your unique business needs. A short list if asterisk’s feature sets can be found here . The list is too long to fit in this blog.

Linux is a Dominant Force

Until most recently, the majority of IP PBXs being deployed were of an asterisk flavor based on a Linux operating system. While companies such as trixbox, Elastix, Switchvox, and many others have made great efforts to take the Linux programming piece out of the picture, the solutions are still Linux based meaning when it came time for your choice of hardware or server to run your asterisk solution, you needed to make sure the motherboard and peripheral components were compatible. See my previous blog posts relating to Open Source Hardware Requirements for more information. If you were not designing your own server platform, of course you could always purchase a Switchvox appliance for your SOHO or SMB solution, or a Rhino or Phoneboch’s appliance preloaded with your desired version of trixbox CE, Elastix, or other open sourced based software. This however adds to the cost of your solution.

3CX Compared to Asterisk

3CX is a Windows based IP PBX platform that is becoming very popular in the VoIP world. A few benefits of 3CX include, “its windows based”, most of us are used to Windows based operating systems and applications; it is completely software based and allows you to use existing Windows servers in your existing environment if available. For a complete list of compatible windows based operating systems, see here. Below are a few more benefits, 3CX has to offer:

  • Windows Application Integration support– applications such as Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Unified Messaging , Microsoft CRM , and SalesForce CRM are all fully supported on 3CX version 9.
  • Feature rich- functions and feature sets of 3CX version 9 are very comparable to an Asterisk distribution. See here for a complete set of features. Please look at the “paid commercial” versions.
  • Free and Paid commercial versions- are available to experiment with and test. Free versions of 3CX software are easily upgradable to any commercial paid version located here, through a unique activation license key provided to you via email after your purchase. You can then apply it directly from the 3CX admin GUI configuration. Updates are instantaneous after you apply them. They are based upon the maximum number of concurrent calls you will have on your solution, and can be easily upgraded to higher amount of simultaneous calls if needed. Once again, changes are done via the web GUI and are instantaneous.
  • User Dashboards– the 3CX assistant provides each 3CX user a PC based presence application where they can easily set their calls rules, answer calls; listen to voicemails, and chat..
  • Hotel Billing and PMS integration- On top of their paid software platforms, administrators can add the 3CX Hotel Billing, or the full-blown Hotel PMS integration module to easily integrate Hotel PMS platforms with 3CX. This is a huge hit in the hospitality industry. More information on this support can be found here.
  • Non proprietary, SIP Standards based- Since the 3CX solution is based upon SIP protocol, administrators have the ability to use any SIP based endpoints such as IP Phones, Gateways, ATA’s ,and DECT Phones . Furthermore 3CX has fully tested a large number of these endpoints and offers full support including auto-provisioning. If you are looking to add some PCI cards to the solution, you will want to go with a Sangoma PCI FXO or T1 Netborder Express card with echo cancellation.
  • Smartphone Apps- 3CX offers and fully supports a soft-phone application specifically designed for Android, and is beta testing a new app for Apple products such as the iphone, ipod, and ipad running IOS 4 or higher.

freepbx 3cx vicidial compare - Freepbx | 3CX | Vicidial | Elastix - Hosted PBX solutions by Defend Hosting

Which Software is Better? 3CX Phone System or Asterisk?

Which solution is better? 3CX Phone System or Asterisk? As usual, the question is not “Which software is better?” but “Which software is right for your needs and budget?”. Neither of these two VoIP software is necessarily “better” than the other. Both offer industry-leading features and a scalable platform, as well as the ability to custom-build a unique solution with optional modules. If you would like to get quotes or having trouble deciding which VoIP is the right for you, we’d love to help.

 

 

Hosted IP PBX phone systems are installed and serviced by Defend Hosting

polycom 300x235 - Freepbx | 3CX | Vicidial | Elastix - Hosted PBX solutions by Defend Hosting

Hosted IP-PBX phone systems give businesses of all sizes the most productive phone system calling features traditionally available to only the largest enterprises. No in-house systems or software to buy, manage and maintain is require for the phone system to work. Our hosted IP-PBX phone systems are a superior alternative that any others based IP PBX system. It delivers a productive set of business-grade calling features and integrates all your local, long distance and Internet access services over a single network connection. This way, you can take advantage of all the calling features anywhere in the world.  We offer Hosted Cloud PBX phone systems for restaurants, grocery stores, offices, car dealerships, & startup businesses.

Hosted IP-PBX phone systems let you share a number of incoming phone lines among a larger number of extensions, so it’s not necessary to pay for a separate line for every office employee or workstation, which saves money. But the implementation and ongoing maintenance of a traditional or VoIP PBX system requires a type of expertise that your IT staff may not have. And if you go with a commercial product, the up-front costs for the hardware and software may be high. One alternative is to use hosted IP PBX phone system service.

A big advantage of using hosted phone system is that you don’t have to make the initial capital investment in expensive equipment. Further, you don’t need anyone on staff to maintain and troubleshoot it.  All of the hosted VoIP phone system equipment is managed at a data site in Miami, Florida.  Our Hosted VoIP phone system services Miami, New York, San Louis, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, Las Vegas. In Europe we serve from France, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom and Poland. We serve too in Canada, Singapore and Australia.

 

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01 May 2018

WordPress technical support

WordPress technical support

WordPress technical support is one of the services more important for WordPress users. Defend Hosting offers a number of avenues for reaching helpful, individualized support, but sometimes it can be difficult to determine the best place to ask your question.

This document details the various types of support offered for Defend Hosting and Defend Hosting-related services, and how to take advantage of them. It will help you get straight to the right source, so that you can get the quickest, most accurate answer to your question!

  • Assistance with general WordPress website issues
  • Recovering & securing hacked WordPress powered websites
  • Securing your WordPress website from viruses, malware and hackers
  • Assistance with WordPress server migrations, ensuring the safe migration of your website to another web host
  • WordPress template customisation and installations
  • WordPress software upgrades and updates
  • Backup solutions for WordPress sites
  • Installation and support of WordPress plugins & widgets
  • Ad-Hoc & Monthly Packages Available

Where should I go for WordPress technical support?

  • If you have a paid support, please use the “Contact Support” form. If you have a paid support plan (Personal, Premium, or Business) and we have chatters available, you’ll be able to chat with us live. Otherwise you can submit the form and we’ll follow up by email.
  • If you do not have a paid upgrade, please post your question in our community forums.
  • If you specifically need help with CSS (changing the fonts, colors, hiding or rearranging aspects of your theme), please ask for advice in the community forums.
  • For help with a premium theme, please post your question in the community forums.
  • If your comments are being marked as spam, please post your question in the community forums.
  • If you need a self-hosted WordPress site, please use our shared hosting service.
  • You can order our automatic backups to be safe.

If you want to order one of our support packages, please go to prepaid support.

Documentation

Before you reach out to support, you might want to check out our many help resources to see if your question is already answered there.

Our knowledgebase has a lot of great documentation to answer your questions. We have videos, screenshots, and walkthroughs detailing many of the questions and problems users encounter while using WordPress.com. Search through the documentation and you’ll likely learn some extra tips as you go. For tips on how to troubleshoot you might want to check out How To Be a WordPress.com Detective.

Forums

The WordPress.com Forums are a great place to get support as well. Staff are active members in the forums, but there are a lot of volunteers ready an willing to help as well. Most of the forum volunteers are veteran WordPress.com users who started out just like you. They’ll surely have some tips and tricks to help with most questions.

Premium Theme owners, be sure to visit the dedicated Premium Themes forums where theme authors provide customization tips and exclusive support.

For CSS questions, there’s a designated CSS Customization forum. The forum is monitored by volunteers and WordPress.com staff who are especially well-versed in CSS, and this will typically be a more detailed and helpful source of CSS support than the normal support channels.

Be sure to make use of the forum’s search feature to locate previous discussions that could provide the solution to your problem.

Have more questions about the forums? Check out this support document.

Timeline for Answers to WordPress technical support Requests

We answer all questions in the order in which they are received. We try very hard to answer all support requests within 24 hours, but sometimes we do get a bit behind. If you have not received an answer to your question, please don’t submit a duplicate request. We will get to you as soon as we possibly can, and submitting multiple requests slows things down.

To ensure that we’re able to answer your question as quickly and efficiently as possible, please see these tips for contacting support and this article on the art and science of getting good support.

In particular, the more specific details you can provide about exactly what you’re doing and seeing on your end, the better we’ll be able to understand and diagnose your problem. Please be sure to include the following:

  • The URL to the blog you are having trouble with.
  • The URL to any specific post, page, image, or other item you are having trouble with.
  • A detailed description of what went wrong, what you have tried so far, what you were expecting to happen, and what you would like to happen.
  • Your username and the associated email address if you are having trouble with a user account.
  • A screenshot of the problem, if applicable.

Live Chat WordPress technical support

If you own a plan upgrade, you have access to live chat support on business days.

You can access live chat by using the live chat windows and clicking on Contact Us towards the bottom of the page. Fill out the form and click on Chat with Us underneath.

Keep in mind that we may not be available to chat right away if all of our operators are busy chatting with other users. In this case you will see Submit Support Ticket instead of Chat with Us. You can send your request by email or wait for few minutes until you see a pop up message on your screen informing that one of our operators is available to chat. The button will automatically change to Chat with Us. You don’t need to refresh the screen. The message will pop up and the button will be switched automatically once an operator will become available.

Phone Support

We do not provide phone support. All support is done through online communication.

Concierge Support

If you have a WordPress Business Plan, you can schedule a 1:1 screen-share with the ability to talk via voice to a Happiness Engineer.

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23 Apr 2018

Unanswered Questions on What Is It a Dedicated Server

The Ultimate What Is It a Dedicated Server Trick

A dedicated server hosting provider can be the perfect answer for anybody who’s serious about their internet presence. Often the hosting provider will supply you with accessibility to the KVM, and you’ll have shell access permitting you to customize every feature of the server as you see fit. Your hosting provider will inform you exactly what the nameservers ought to be changed to.

To acquire the SSH protocol work you will need a server, installed on a host, and a customer. Actually, what you’re doing is leasing a server from web-hosting carrier for a specific period of time. The servers also supply backup facility which needs a good deal. Simply speaking, it’s a server that functions with a different server. Basically, dedicated server hosting is web-hosting solution that lets you have a full server. Dedicated servers have a costly price tagand in case you don’t specifically have the demand for one, there may be better options. The dedicated servers aside from controlling your hardware ought to be able to accommodate volumes of traffic.

Your server can be ready to go in a few minutes. Basically, here the whole server is hired by some client that’s different than shared hosting where only a single server functions as a host to many different customers. Dedicated server hosting is perfect for the users when they have to build larger business. Dedicated server are primarily chosen by the person or the business who need to upgrade their server plans. To raise and expand your organization, dedicated servers are the very best choice for those clients. Secure The dedicated server offers maximum up-time for the site.

All you need to do is choose the dedicated server with a specific package that satisfies your particular needs. You should look at a dedicated server when you see that the visitors to your site has increased substantially and your website is taking an excessive amount of time to load. To begin, you will require a dedicated server running Ubuntu Linux. The dedicated server cannot be hacked easily since it’s owned by a single organization. It is the most powerful hosting option. It can also act as a great way of creating a private playground. When and if you choose a dedicated server for your web hosting, you need to have a fair comprehension of dedicated servers.

What Is It a Dedicated Server – the Conspiracy

There are 3 main kinds of servers, in addition to managed WordPress hosting. If you select an affordable server, it’s good for your company since you will receive all the benefits with no compromise on the standard of the services and you’ll also decrease the expense of operations. When you get the dedicated server from Server cake there is not any need of resource sharing and you may enjoy maximum up-time of your site.

The newest security computer software solutions will be set up on the server, and there’ll be continuous server upgrades. Dedicated servers also enable for unrivaled customization. A dedicated server also makes it possible for us to setup the own control panel and really can handle the website as you need your site to look. A dedicated servers are easily customized during the procedure, so that as per your requirement you are going to be in a position to have the proper resources to be contained in your Dedicated Server which can help you to make the excellent value money in most circumstances. It is probably ideal here. It is personally a choice of large business setup. Reliable Dedicated server is totally owned by a single organization so there isn’t any demand for resource sharing.

The server doesn’t enable the customers to earn everything public. Whereas in dedicated server, it’s in a tangible server. Scaling a digital server may encounter budgetary concerns as you will require bigger nodes in some months as soon as the occasion arises. It shares its host with other accounts. Virtual servers are the ideal choices for little and medium-sized businesses. Because, dedicated servers aren’t shared with any other person therefore, it is going to be harder for the man to obtain access to the files, or the passwords or some other information that is required. Linux dedicated server hosting is the correct choice for your business if you require a dependable and affordable hosting platform to deal with the huge stream of traffic your company is generating.

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23 Apr 2018

What is virtual private server (VPS) or virtual dedicated server (VDS)

You are able to think about purchasing a Linux VPS server hosting system simply to discover it does offer you a total abundance of features including accessibility, security and cost effectiveness. Even for those who have a slow computer you will enjoy greater execution speed. Virtual Desktops makes the process a great deal simpler The idea of Virtual Desktops is quite easy.

Every server has an ID that is unique and it’s identified employing the IP address. For example exactly the same server can run both Linux and Windows. If you discover that it’s unsuitable then you could switch to your preceding server with no hassle. Reliable Virtual server is fantastic for email marketing because it gives the reliability of installing the necessary software with control panel or from root access.

In a web business, servers are the main requirement. If you pick an affordable server, it’s best for your company since you will receive all the benefits with no compromise on the standard of the services and you’ll also decrease the price of operations. Dedicated servers are a favorite choice because they are totally dedicated to 1 client. A dedicated server can be particularly hard to manage and you might need extra training for the exact same. All you need to do is choose the dedicated server with a specific package that fulfills your particular needs. You don’t need a dedicated physical server if you are simply starting out. On one side you get a cheap dedicated server from an excellent supplier and on the flip side, you are in possession of a high-level configuration in VPS.

A VPS provides you much of exactly the same power without the additional cost. A Xen VPS is perfect for websites that are only starting to outgrow their needs for shared hosting but are still not prepared to face the costs and hazards of dedicated hosting. On the other hand if you are searching for something cheap you ought to think about the cheap Linux VPS.

The Definitive Approach to What It Is a Virtual Private Server

Finding an offshore dedicated server company is not going to be a simple decision though since there are a great deal of them out there. Therefore, if you’d like your business to be successful online one of the absolute most important facet is choosing a dependable Web Hosting Company. If you’re fresh in your company and need to come up with a site then virtual private server or shared hosting server are the proper alternatives for your startup enterprise. If your company is determined by a Windows based platform, you might not locate a Linux based platform advantageous. If it is currently growing, the benefits of VPS hosting may allow you to focus more of your energy on growing your business than worrying about your website’s uptime. A reseller business with the proper infrastructure ensure smooth running of the company and may be an attractive proposition to prospective customers.

What It Is a Virtual Private Server Can Be Fun for Everyone

Choosing a shared server doesn’t incorporate a great deal of technical work so, it’s easy for every single new site or a blog owner. There are a lot of organizations offering VPS hosting in USA or Europe. Though you cannot find a lot of instances of digital server attack, you still ought to take preventive measures. The very best attribute of dedicated server is you don’t need to shell out loads of money to purchase any equipment and it’s still true that you get plenty of benefits.

Where to Find What It Is a Virtual Private Server

Every one of the servers has to be booted and rebooted separately. So if you’re having shared hosting server and now you feel your website is getting much heavier traffic then you ought to switch over to Dedicated Server in Pakistan whenever possible because now, it’s the suitable option. What’s not so easy is to spot the ideal server. Shared servers give a great way to begin a web site at low price. The most important server is normally designated NS1, as it’s the very first and main server. These days, virtual servers play a considerable part in the company settings. Since the digital private server is controlled by the host, it’s entirely under the look from the company.

By working with a great number of distinct varieties of network hardware and software, and obtaining certifications from the big industry players including Microsoft, Cisco and Apple, a skilled network administrator will have the ability to command a greater salary as her or his experience grows. A Linux based hosting system turns out to be perfect for many companies as it accommodates growth without needing to accommodate steep monthly expenses. Fun servers are extremely customized. When you put money into a VPS server, you don’t need to acquire another distinct server or a dedicated server. VPS servers are made by partitioning a potent dedicated server. VPS backup servers can easily reserve the content to make sure your data won’t be lost in any conditions.

The online connection is made possible once the ISP routers are linked to the proxy servers. If you currently have several VPN connections, the option to put in a new VPN connection appears at the base of your list of connections. So, you’ve got access to an exclusive server and increased security. Better Security and Performance Dedicated servers aren’t only dependable but stable too, particularly when you are becoming huge traffic on your site.

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27 Nov 2017

Pay for Dedicated Server with Bitcoin

Pay for Dedicated Server with Bitcoin

First of all now you can Pay for Dedicated Server with Bitcoin one of our Bitcoin Dedicated Server! Bitcoins are taking over the crypto-currency marketplace. They’re the largest and most well-known digital currency. Many large companies are accepting bitcoins as a legitimate source of funds. They allow their online products to be bought with bitcoins. With the extreme facilitation of transfer and earning of bitcoins, it would be a mistake not to accept these new-found online coins as cash. At Defend Hosting we like to see ourselves as early adopters of technology and we are constantly seeking ways to support the tech startup and entrepreneur communities. Of course you can Pay for VPS with Bitcoin. one of our Bitcoin VPS.

Furthermore Pay your web hosting, shared hosting, VPS or Dedicated servers with bitcoin, paypal or credit cards.

Finally, With us you can:

In conclusion, Dedicated Server configurations are available for order below. For your convenience we have divided server hosting offerings into categories. If you are having a hard time picking up the right configuration or options, please contact our live chat operators. We will help you to select the server that meets your requirements best.

 

bitcoins - Pay for Dedicated Server with Bitcoin

Pay for Your Dedicated Server with Bitcoin

 

Bitcoin Dedicated Server

In addition to traditional payment methods, Defend Hosting now accepts Bitcoin as a form of payment for dedicated servers and other services through our site. With the increasing popularity of Bitcoin use (which shows no signs of slowing down any time soon), we believe this payment option will make many of our customers even happier with their decision to trust Defend Hosting with their hosting needs.

Features

  • Rapid & free server provisioning
  • 1 Gbit/s dedicated LAN port
  • Hardware RAID
  • Private networking
  • Virtualization ready
  • 99.9% uptime SLA guarantee
  • 24/7 live support
  • Linux and Windows OS’s
  • DDoS protection up to 400 Gb/s
  • KVM/IPMI provided with every server
  • 15 TB of monthly bandwidth
  • Multi-homed network with multiple tier-1 providers
  • Redundant power source with auto-switchover
  • Reliable hardware by top vendors
  • Privacy policy inspired by USA and Europe data protection laws
  • Enterprise-class Data Centers in USA and Europe

What Is Bitcoin, Anyway?

First introduced in 2009, Bitcoin is a form of digital/electronic currency. Unlike U.S. dollars and other forms of currency, Bitcoins aren’t printed or controlled by a specific treasury. Instead, this digital currency is produced by people on their computers through the use of software that solves mathematical equations.

Therefore Bitcoin was created by a software developer with the goal of having a worldwide currency that would be free of any specific authority, easy to transfer digitally, and allow for low transaction fees. Ever since Bitcoin began being used, it has proven extremely popular. Today, many websites have begun to accept Bitcoin as a method of payment.

Pay for Your VPS and Other Services with Bitcoin

Especially relevant, if you mine Bitcoin on your computer, why shouldn’t you be able to use it to pay for your dedicated server and other hosting services?. As a result Defend Hosting is staying ahead of the game by being among the first hosting companies to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for our services.

Benefits of Paying With Bitcoin

There are numerous benefits to using Bitcoin to pay for your dedicated server or other hosting services through Defend Hosting. For example, because Bitcoin isn’t controlled or processed through any centralized bank, transactions and payments can be completed without being limited by bank processing or standard hours. As a result, you can quickly and easily make your payment and have it post to your account almost instantaneously.

And, of course, for those who have strong mining software, the opportunity to pay using Bitcoin can make affording the hosting package you want easier than ever. There is no limit to the amount of Bitcoin you can use to pay for your services here; we accept Bitcoin the same way we accept any other approved payment method.

Ready to start using Bitcoin to pay for your Defend Hosting services? Great! If you have any questions or concerns, get in touch with our team, and we’re happy to help. In the meantime, we hope you’ll continue to enjoy your dedicated server or other hosting services with us!

Consequently: Pay for VPS with Bitcoin one of our Bitcoin VPS, Pay for Dedicated Server with Bitcoin one of our Bitcoin Dedicated Server.

 

 

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26 Dec 2015

How to choose the best web hosting service

Ok cool, you’ve decided you’re ready to build a blog or a lifestyle business. How to choose the best web hosting service?

Regardless of what kind of business that is, there’s one constant: you’re going to need a domain and you’re going to need hosting (at least eventually).

If you’re just getting started, this can be a scary, daunting process.  All of the services look the same, you have no idea what you should be looking for, and  you don’t know the difference between dedicated and shared hosting – let alone which company is best.

Never fear, this post is the only one you’ll need to make sure you get setup with the right services, as quickly and easily as possible.

In this we are going to cover:

  • The One Thing More Important than Hosting
  • The difference between shared, VPS and dedicated hosting
  • What the pros and cons are of each of the most popular hosting companies
  • What features you should be looking for from any hosting company you choose
  • How and where to buy your first domain

Why is Good Hosting Important?

If you’re building a business online there are very few upfront expenses that you have to make – at least for the type of businesses we’re advocating on this site.

That said, there’s one area where it’s worth spending a little bit of money: hosting.

Your hosting is the foundation for your entire business. If your hosting goes down, your entire business goes down. If it’s too slow, people will look elsewhere. If it doesn’t have the features you want, you’ll get stressed and frustrated.

Because of all of these reasons, it’s generally worth spending a little bit of time really figuring out what’s right for you.

If you truly have a very limited budget, then the shared hosting solutions we talk about in this post will be fine – after all, thats what I had for years.

But read on, and really think about where you’re at and what’s right for you.

With that let’s jump right into the most important question that’s probably on your mind, what is the best web hosting service for your blog, and how do you know what to look for?

The Only Thing More Important than Hosting

So it’s clear hosting is a really important component to your online.  That said, there’s one thing that I dare say is more important.

WordPress.

If you’re just getting started online, this is the most important word for you to understand.

WordPress is a blog/content management platform that makes it incredibly easy to build and manage a good looking website.  There’s a huge support community, plugins that can do anything you want, and thousands of beautiful themes and templates.

When I first started online I built a site on Drupal, and then Joomla thinking they were the best platforms.  I was an idiot.

Start whatever you’re doing on WordPress and you’ll be glad you did. Most hosting companies have one click WordPress install, so it’s even easier to get going.

Now that I got that out of my system, let’s move onto the next step.

Choosing the Best Hosting Service for Your Blog Needs

There are so many factors that go into this, and things you can get confused by, so I’m going to make this as simple as I can for those of you who are just getting going.

Something you should realize is that most hosting providers are all going to be relatively similar with the same features at the lower level.

Your natural inclination is going to be to go with the value option, something that is affordable, yet has some good features and offers plenty of customer service.

If that’s what you want, go with DefendHosting.  It’s affordable, and our customer service has always been fantastic (a very important thing if you’re just starting out).

However, before we can look at exactly what hosting company to use, it’s important to understand what the different types of hosting are. Let’s take a look at your options.

Free Hosting

This is exactly what you don’t want. Sites like Wix or Weebly, which offer “free online website builders”, will give you zero flexibility, and pretty much make it impossible to actually run a business of your site.

Only use this if all you want to do is create a site that you’ll never update about your uncontrollable love of poodles.

In other words don’t even think about going this route, I promise you it’s not worth it.

Best for: People that don’t know any better.

Shared Hosting

There’s a good chance this is where you’ll want to start if cost is an issue for you.  Shared hosting means that your website is hosted on the same servers as hundreds if not thousands of other websites.

While inexpensive ($1-10/month), this can cause all sorts of other issues.  Namely, it can cause your slight to be pretty slow, can cause issues with email deliverability if you’re using email services through your hosting account, and security isn’t as good due to so many sites on the same server.

That being said, there are quite a few benefits on top of price.  Most shared hosting providers have one click WordPress installs, an easy to manage backend, good support, and limited database access.

Best for: People with brand new sites with growing traffic, are on a budget, and need good customer support.

Dedicated Hosting

With shared hosting you have thousands of sites on one server, dedicated hosting essentially means you have an entire server just to yourself.  It’s fast, expensive, and if you’re reading this article, it’s not for you, so move along.

VPS (Virtual Private Server) Hosting

VPS hosting is a cross between shared hosting and dedicated hosting, and is the next logical step up from shared.

Think of VPS as your own little mini-server within a server.  You don’t have the whole thing to yourself, but you have a portion of it that’s totally dedicated to you and your sites.  So all of the downsides of shared, such as viruses and traffic slow down, don’t effect you as much with a VPS solution.

This is going to be more expensive than shared (obviously) but still isn’t outrageous.

Best for: People who want better speed and reliability from the the get-go.

The best web hosting service for 95% of You

At any given point I’ve heard both very positive and very negative things about pretty much every hosting company in existence.

Except one.

Set aside price for a second, because this isn’t the cheapest option, but for the vast majority of you looking for the best hosting for your site DefendHosting is probably the best choice.

Why?

Well for a variety of reasons.  DefendHosting markets themselves as “managed WordPress hosting” what this basically means is that if you have a WordPress site, these guys make sure everything works perfectly for you.

We have great support, have a support team that actually knows WordPress (believe me, this is big), and is fastest and most secure hosting around.

It’s also very easy scale up.

Their basic plan is $0.99. When your site grows and you need more bandwidth, they just flip a swtich and you’re good to go.

Best for: People with WordPress sites who want the best, most user friendly service possible, and aren’t afraid to pay a little bit more for it.

The best web hosting service

Ok, $0.99 a month still a little steep for you? No problem, let’s look at the key features you’ll want to look for with our best web hosting service and help you decide which one is right for you.

When looking at shared hosting accounts, they should all generally have the following:

  • Cheap domains
  • Unlimited storage
  • No limit file transfer
  • A free domain
  • A lot of emails accounts

Lot’s of very well known bloggers love DefendHosting and use it frequently. For the beginner blogger it has all of the features you’d expect, good customer service, and if I were going to choose the best web hosting service to use today – this would probably be it. We have a very affordable starter plan that offers plenty of features, and wenhave dedicated 24/7 customer service.

 

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26 Dec 2015

How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting?

Often overlooked, web hosting is one of the key component of every successful website. Choosing the best web hosting for your needs can improve your SEO and increase sales. There are various different types of WordPress hosting options available such as Free, Shared, VPS, Dedicated, and managed WordPress hosting. In this guide, we will help you choose the best WordPress hosting for your website.

DefendHosting.com is one of the oldest web hosts started in 2008, DefendHosting has become the largest brand name when it comes to WordPress hosting. We are an official “WordPress” recommended hosting provider. You never have to worry about your website being slow even when there is alot of traffic. We also offer a Free Domain and a Free Site Builder with templates. Not to mention that we have a special offer for WP Beginners.

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