If you are in the market for business web hosting, you probably already know how many options are out there. While large, established businesses may need a dedicated server to meet their needs, most small to medium-sized businesses may find that a Cloud Hosted VPS or virtual private server is the best match. A Cloud VPS is a sub-section of a dedicated server. It’s a guaranteed amount of space that is completely isolated from the rest of the server. This means you get a private, guaranteed portion of a server without the risks of shared hosting (in which potentially hundreds of people are using the same machine) and without the expense of a dedicated server. Lets discuss the various reasons why Cloud VPS technology is a good choice for your business.

1. Potential for Growth

When you’re shopping for a cloud or hosting solution for your business, it is essential that you consider your business’ potential for growth. You don’t want to buy server space, get your website up and running and start selling only to exceed your server’s capacity. If that happens your site goes down. If your site goes down, you lose money! A Cloud VPS offers the instant capability of allocating a large amount of space and resources so your business can grow unfettered.

2. Support

Good VPS Hosting comes with robust support. This means you always have a resource if you run into problems. If your site goes down, you have a real person to call. Make sure your VPS Host or Cloud provider has online chat support, a phone number and a ticketing system (TurnKey has all three). There are many hosts out there that do not offer 24x7x365 support. Often these hosts don’t own their hardware and are not always reliable. Do some research before choosing a host to make sure you will get the kind of customer service your business deserves.

3. Security

Cloud VPS hosting offers unique IP addresses alongside password protection, firewalls and security software managed by your hosting company (if you choose the right host). This means your data is secure, regularly backed-up and protected from potential attacks. A Cloud VPS is an excellent choice if you are concerned about data security.

4. Value

If you are concerned about controlling business expenses (and who isn’t!?) a Cloud VPS is an extremely economical choice. You get nearly all of the benefits of a dedicated machine without the large monthly bill. Of course, if your business grows quickly and you find you need more resources, you can easily upgrade from a Cloud VPS at that time.

Our TurnKey Cloud-Hosted Virtual Servers (VPS) offer the highest level of service and the ultimate combination of performance, value, security and ease of use for your hosting needs. Our VPS’s are far more flexible than other hosting options giving your organization full control over the security settings, choice of operating system, control panels, software configuration, and applications. For more information, visit turnkeyinternet.net/cloud-hosted-virtual-servers-vps

Need even more SPEED? Check out TurnKey’s Pro Series Cloud VPS featuring UnMetered 10Gbps Bandwidth! Click Here to learn more.

Many online business owners make the mistake of overlooking the importance of having a fast website. When you want to get the most from your online presence, the loading speed of your content is one of the most important factors to your success. Your prospects have a lot of distractions fighting for their attention, and you must compete with their friends, family and other advertisers if you want to make any progress.

Web users don’t have much tolerance for slow websites, and most will navigate away if your content takes longer than a few seconds to appear on the screen. So every step that you take to increase your website’s performance will help you attract and retain customers, and you are about to learn how to get moving down the right path.

Content Delivery Network

One of the benefits of working online is that you can reach a worldwide audience, and doing so is one of the best ways to enhance your profitability. But when someone downloads your content or accesses your website, the speed at which the content loads will depend on that person’s location. For example, if your hosting server is located in New York, someone who lives in China will encounter delays when trying to access your website.

If your prospects are forced to wait too long, they will often opt to find a local business that can offer them efficient download speeds. You can overcome that problem by using a content delivery network, or CDN. When you have a CDN, your content is stored on several servers around the world. When someone accesses your website or tries to download a file, the CDN will send the files to them from the server that is closest to that person’s location.

Reduce Image Size

When crafting great content, including valuable and engaging information is not always enough when you need to attract readers and to keep their attention. When you want to keep your audience’s focus, including images is a great way to reach your desired outcome.

But having too many images on your website can impact the loading speed in a negative way, causing you to lose prospects. Although many people try to remove most of the images from their website, doing so is not your only option. You can try converting your images to a web format to reduce their size without harming their quality.

Check Your Scripts

You can find many scripts that will help you captivate and engage your audience, but using too many of them can decrease the loading speed of your website. If you want to speed it up, take a look at each plug-in to determine if you need it and how much it is impacting your site. Disable one script at a time to determine if the changes make a difference in the amount of time that it takes for your content to load. If one of your scripts is causing a lot of harm, consider removing it, but you can also check to see if the developer has released any updates.

Upgrade Your Hosting

If you have tried everything of which you can think to improve your loading speed, then you might want to take a look at your hosting provider. If you have a basic plan, then you might not have access to the amount of bandwidth and resources that you need to improve the speed with which your audience can access your content.

If your hosting plan is the source of the problem, then you might want to upgrade to a better hosting solution, such as a dedicated server, or even a better provider. Although you likely wish to avoid spending more money than needed, the enhanced speed of an effective hosting plan is an investment that will pay for itself over time.

Those who don’t take steps to optimize their website’s loading speed are likely losing more customers than they realize, and you don’t want to repeat the same mistake. Putting in a little effort can go a long way when it comes to keeping your prospects engaged and focused on what you have to say. Optimizing your website is a good place to start when you want to make your content load with enhanced efficiency. But if that step does not help, then upgrading your hosting plan or provider is sure to get the job done.

When your website loads quickly, your customers’ experience will not be interrupted, and they will be that much more likely to make a purchase as a result. The speed with which your content loads is also a reflection of you and your products. When you prevent delays, you are also showing your customers that you care about your reputation, and you will start to earn their respect. Follow Us :
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If you manage or host a cloud or dedicated server, it’s essential that it is secure and protected. Whether the server exists to host files for a website or is networking computers for a business, it needs to be protected from malicious software, hackers, and threats. These threats can include a variety of harmful programs, such as ransomware, viruses, and rootkits.

Failing to secure your server can lead to lost or corrupted data, damage to devices connected to the network, and unauthorized individuals getting access to sensitive data. There are a number of ways that you can protect your server, and they go beyond simply having a suite of security applications in place.

Anti-malware Software

Even if you’re renting server space from a third-party, you still need protection against malware. If not already installed, consider downloading and configuring firewall, antivirus, and anti-spam software on your server. You can find many options available as plugins for your preferred CMS, such as WordPress, or web hosting manager, such as cPanel. The main thing is that you have a complete set of software that protects against intrusion and will scan files for malware and the like.

Keep Your System Updated

One way that hackers get into many systems is by going through weak points that developers did not notice when creating a piece of software or an operating system. This is why both computers and mobile devices need regular updates. Along with offering new options, updates close off back doors and holes in the security of software.

Therefore, it’s important that all software hosted on a server is kept up to date. For web hosting servers, that means even content management systems and the plugins the CMS uses must be kept current. Many operating systems and applications can be set up to update automatically, but if you’re not comfortable with that, it’s important that you have some way of being notified when important changes are available.

Change Default Settings

There are a variety of default settings that come with programs and even operating systems. They include everything from preset usernames and passwords for admin access to default connection ports. Anything that is left as set up by the software manufacturer may be used as a way to gain easier access to a system.

If you can change, without causing problems for the system, addresses, folders, logins and port settings, you should do so. Even leaving the URL for admin access to a server or programs on the server can make it easier for hackers to get in. There are hacking tools that specifically scan websites and servers for default URLs and folders, so changing default login locations is important. On this same basis, it’s a good idea to make sure that directories are protected so that people cannot see their contents.

Use Robust Passwords and Keep Track of Permissions

Another important part of keeping a server secure is to ensure that passwords are robust and that people are only given access to areas that they need to do their job. Aside from malice, giving an intern administrative access to databases could lead to major problems through simple error.

Two key parts of keeping a server secure in relation to passwords are ensuring that simple passwords are not in use and that passwords are changed on a regular basis. There are a number of ways to tackle the issue of making sure passwords are complex enough, including using computer generated passwords or using passphrases. Computer generated passwords normally require certain characters, length and require a combination of upper and lower case letters; passphrases are combinations of words, and they tend to be easier to remember and more secure than passwords. There should also be a set time that passwords expire, which will require users on the network to change them on a regular basis.

Along with ensuring that people are only given access to parts of a server that they need to have, it’s important that permissions are updated when people leave a job or move to a different part of the company. This can be done with proper database management and doing occasional audits to ensure that access levels are appropriate.

Employ Brute Force Detection and Active Monitoring

Another important part of keeping a server secure is knowing what is happening with it at all times. Even the best anti-malware software cannot prevent all intrusions, and hackers are constantly figuring out new ways to circumvent security systems. Therefore, it’s important that activity on a server is always being monitored.

Things that normally indicate a problem include incredibly high data transfer or processing power use as well as multiple failed login attempts. Brute force hacking involves trying to login to a system over and over again with different login and password combinations. In addition to draining system resources, it can also eventually allow a hacker to find a combination that lets them into your system. Real-time monitoring can help detect these issues and alert the appropriate people, and it can also shut down brute force login attempts.

Encryption

There are a number of types of data that you should be encrypting when they are transferred through a server. Logins, personal information and database information need to be encrypted, and it’s important that the highest level of encryption that works with the system is used. Lower level and older types of encryption are easy for many hackers to break through, so while they’re better than nothing, they’re still not providing proper protection for your server’s data.

When hackers can break your server’s encryption, they may be able to gain access to a variety of sensitive information, which can include login details. As with everything else, encryption upgrades may need to be done periodically to ensure that you’re using the latest and most effective methods available.

For those of you who feel there’s just not enough time in your day to maintain your server’s security, or if you just prefer someone else does it for you, at TurnKey Internet we got your back. We offer Fully Managed solutions that include Server Hardening. We’ll take care of securing and protecting your server so you can focus on running your business. For more information, visit https://turnkeyinternet.net/managed/ Follow Us :
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Both large and small businesses are faced with a wide variety of choices and options when it comes to finding a web hosting solution for their website, company email, and data. One option is shared hosting, in which a single server’s resources are shared by a number of different websites and users.

However, if you’re looking for more power, control, and flexibility, the solution for you may be a dedicated server. With a dedicated server, you and your business have exclusive access and use of that server’s resources. You also have the flexibility of customizing the server’s CPU, RAM, and disk space based on the needs of your website and business.

Let’s take a look at 4 specific advantages of choosing a dedicated server:

1. No Shared Resources

When using a dedicated server, every bit of power, storage, and bandwidth is exclusive to you and no one else. Not only will this give your business more room to work with and expand, it will also prevent issues with your site caused by other websites. For example, if you’re site is hosted on a shared server where there is another website that is being attacked or hogging up resources, this can affect the performance of your company’s site.

2. Flexibility & Customization

A dedicated server allows your business to customize the hardware and software based on your company’s unique needs. Things like CPU, Memory, Hard Drive, even the speed of the server’s network port, can all be customized and upgraded on dedicated servers. With shared hosting, you are limited to the software already installed on the server, and sometimes it may lack a requirement or feature your business needs. But with a dedicated server, you have full flexibility over which software the server runs, even down to the Operating System.

3. Administrative / Root Access

Another downside of shared hosting is the lack of Administrative or root access to the server. This limitation affects what software you can install as well as the settings and options that you can configure on the server. This can greatly impact the potential of what you are able to do with your website. Another advantage of administrative/root access is the ability to better monitor and troubleshoot your website, with full access to the server’s logs.

4. Dedicated IP Address

Each dedicated server comes with its own dedicated IP address. With shared hosting, your site may be sharing an IP address with multiple websites. If your website happens to share an IP with a site that spams or contains malware, this can cause multiple problems. Your website can end up getting blocked, your email rejected as spam, even your search results can be affected. Another thing to consider is whether or not you’ll be running an e-commerce or selling things on your site. If so, you will need to have an SSL for your site, which in turn requires a unique dedicated IP.

TurnKey Dedicated Servers

Now if you’re worried that you’re not tech savvy enough to run your own dedicated server, consider the option of going with a Managed Dedicated Server solution, which will provide many additional benefits on top of what’s listed above. Also if cost is a concern, check out TurnKey Internet’s ‘Best Value’ Dedicated Servers. There are countless other advantages to using a dedicated server, however the 4 above are some of the most notable. So before you decide to host your website on a shared server, consider the added flexibility, reliability, and performance that only a dedicated server can provide. Follow Us :
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If you are like other business owners and managers, you are looking for a way to grow your business and expand your reach to the next level. While you can use many methods to obtain your goal, having a high-quality, trusted website is one of the top ways to achieve impressive results. Your customers will instantly view you as an expert if you have the proper elements on your site, and they will feel excited to buy your products or services as a result. Building a website that has a positive impact on your audience will take some time and effort, but you will enjoy the rewards for years to come as long as you follow the right process. You can track your progress to see the difference that a compelling website can have on your bottom line, and the following guide will point you down the correct path.

Reputation

Your reputation is one of the most important factors when it comes to attracting and retaining loyal customers. Before you try to impress people with your accomplishments, get to know your audience and the factors to which they are the most likely to respond. If your company has been serving customers for many years, including that fact in your sales page can increase your reputation in no time. Having a large number of followers on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites will also play a role in the amount of trust that you can earn from your potential customers. When people see that others are interested in you and what you have to offer, they will not hesitate to buy from you.

Testimonials

Advertisers from around the world place ads online, on the side of the road, in newspapers, on television and on the radio. No matter where you go or what you do, you will find someone trying to sell a product or service, so you will need a way to make your business stand out from the rest. Anyone can promise that their product or service will solve problems and make people’s lives a little easier, but adding testimonials to your website will grab attention and inspire people to believe in your product or service. Sprinkle your testimonials throughout your sales page if you want to get a positive response from your prospects. If you would like to enhance your results, try including a picture of your customers in their testimonials.

Better Business Bureau (BBB)

If you would like to make your website as trustworthy as possible, overlooking the importance of the Better Business Bureau, or BBB, is a mistake that you won’t want to repeat. The BBB is a trusted company that helps connect consumers with businesses that adhere to certain leadership and customer service standards. If a company registers with the BBB and follows the code of conduct, it can place the BBB badge on its website or sales page. Becoming a member of the BBB and displaying the badge on your content will add a touch of credibility. Businesses that maintain the highest standards will be eligible to receive awards that will help them leave a lasting impression on their web visitors.

Secure Your Content

Stories of cybercrime are becoming increasingly common, and your customers want to know that they are in good hands. When a criminal gains access to the personal data of your customers, the criminal can steal their identity and make their lives much more difficult. When you send information over the internet, it’s easier than you would think for criminals to intercept it, and not having a secure website will turn a lot of potential customers away. Overcoming that issue is simple when you use secured sockets layers, or SSL, to safeguard your website. When you do so, the software will encrypt every piece of information that people submit to your site, making it impossible for criminals to read.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

People do not always trust advertisements that they see online because they know that the marketers are trying to obtain their money. Although the right ad campaign can improve your profitability, using search engine optimization will increase your effectiveness. People know that Google wants to provide relevant and useful content to its users, so they will be much more likely to trust content that appears on the organic search results. When you use SEO to rank your content on the No. 1 page of Google, you will be surprised by the outcome.

Free Trials

If you have followed the other steps in this guide, you are already moving in the right direction, but testimonials and BBB awards can only get you so far. If you would like to get the most from your effort, consider the benefits of offering free trials. As long as you remain dedicated to quality, those who use your free trials will want to buy the full version of your product or service. Since people will judge the value of your other products on the reliability of your free trial, put your best foot forward.

Professionalism

Ensuring that your website is professional will work wonders when it comes to getting your prospects to like and trust you. A clean design, simple navigation and attractive layout are just a few of the components of a professional website. You will also want to use well-written content that engages your audience and is free of spelling errors. Using an optimized code that loads fast will also help you build a professional image with your website, and you will impress your prospects along the way. When you have a professional and captivating website, your potential customers will know that you care about your business and reputation.

The look and feel of your website will determine how much trust and respect you can build with your prospects, and you can’t afford to cut corners. Each step that you take to inspire people to view you in a positive light can enhance your conversion rate and help you increase your earning potential. When you put these tips into action and see what they can do for your business, you will know that you have made a smart choice.

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Failing to protect your WordPress site from potential hackers could leave years of work vulnerable to attack. Malicious users know how to exploit vulnerabilities in unprotected sites, hijack files and plugins for their own use and sabotage functionality.

If you’re not doing all you can secure your site against attacks, it’s time to take action. Use these ten WordPress security tips as a starting point to lock out hackers and protect your web presence.

1. Obscure the Login Page

By default, WordPress users access their login pages via domain names followed by wp-login or wp-admin. Hackers know this and will immediately navigate to these pages when attempting to enter your site. Using a security plugin, you can change the URLs of login and user registration portals. Although this doesn’t prevent hackers from eventually finding these pages, it slows them down and may be frustrating enough to make them give up trying to access your site.

2. Choose Unique User Identification

Using “admin” as your administrator login name is like an open door for hackers. Your login should be distinct to your website and difficult to figure out. One way to ensure your login remains unique is to use the email associated with your WordPress installation instead of a username. Email addresses are harder to guess and offer better authentication for administrator logins.

3. Be a Password Juggler

There was a time when you could stick a few numbers on the end of your dog’s name and call it a reliable password, but in today’s volatile Internet landscape, you need much more than that. Use a password generator to create strong WordPress passwords, and change them on a regular basis. Good passwords include uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols in various combinations. The more complex your passwords, the more secure your site will be.

4. Enable Two-Factor Authentication

Many sites employ a two-step process to verify the identity of each user attempting to log in. Using the same method on your site means it will take a little longer for you to get to the dashboard, but it may prevent hackers from gaining access to your site. Two-factor authentication lets you choose a secret question or a special code to be after the initial password screen. Some methods use a one-time authentication message sent via text to ensure only authorized users can log in.

5. Install a Security “Watchdog”

Hackers need multiple attempts to get into your WordPress site, and plugins like WordFence alert you to this activity while locking down the site to prevent unauthorized access. Such security plugins act like gatekeepers, watching who tries to log in, sending alerts, checking for file changes and banning offending IP addresses. Reports of activity arrive in your inbox immediately and again in weekly summaries so that you can keep on top of any potential problems.

6. Control Other Accounts

Collaborative or corporate blogs require several user accounts, and this can pose a problem for security unless all users understand how to keep the site protected. Be selective when adding accounts, since every new login creates another potential point of vulnerability. Establish rules about password strength and how frequently passwords should be changed, and make sure each user has a distinct login name. Set individual user permissions at the lowest levels possible so that it’s difficult for hackers to do damage should additional accounts ever be compromised.

7. Use .htaccess to Hide Important Files

Editing the .htaccess file can change certain WordPress functions, including the level of security. With the right code, you can:

• Disable directory listings to prevent unauthorized users from accessing file listings
• Hide your wp-config file from malicious users
• Set which IP addresses are granted administrative privleges
• Block access to the PHP files for themes and plugins

Remember to back up the existing .htaccess file before making any changes.

8. Stay on Top of Updates

Themes, plugins and the WordPress core are updated regularly to fix known problems, including security issues. Before installing any plugin or theme, check the last time it was updated. Ensure the developers offer continued updates after installation, and stay away from pirated “free” versions of premium plugins.

Run updates as soon as you can to eliminate vulnerabilities. If you have trouble remembering to update or have a tendency to miss notifications, consider setting automatic updates to run on a routine basis.

9. Don’t Neglect “Spring Cleaning”

Make a habit of going through the plugins and themes stored on your WordPress site whenever you run updates. Delete anything you haven’t used in a while or have replaced with something more functional. You may be surprised how many plugins you’ve accumulated while building your site, and getting rid of unused ones eliminates vulnerabilities.

It’s also a good idea to clean up your database from time to time. Find a reliable database cleaning plugin and run it to remove old file versions and other outdated information. As a bonus, your site should load faster and run more smoothly without the extra files weighing it down.

10. Backup as Often as Possible

No matter how careful you are, there’s always a chance an enterprising hacker could break through your site’s defenses. Creating site backups safeguards all the information on your site, giving you a way to restore everything should your security measures ever fail.

Some hosting companies provide scheduled backups as part of their services, but it’s a good idea to also have your own plan in place. Use a backup plugin or make manual backups on a regular basis, and store the files in a secure place so that you know they’ll always be there if you need them.

WordPress site security isn’t a “set it and forget it” measure. After putting initial protections in place, it’s essential to continue monitoring activity and running updates. Keep an eye out for new, stronger security tools, and implement the best combination of plugins and code changes to prevent the majority of attacks.

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Choosing to host your company’s IT infrastructure and data in the cloud is no easy decision. However, the number of advantages that the cloud offers you and your business can make this change well worth it. The cloud is able to offer you many more features and guarantees for your data than you typically have in your own on-site or in-office server room. Let’s take a look at some of the advantages hosting in the cloud will provide.

1. Reduced Data Loss

This is one of the first things cloud vendors will tell you, and they’ll be right. Many laptops are not safely protecting data with the appropriate encryption. Data is sent here and there and it’s lost here and there. Cloud encryption protects transmitted data every time. And then there’s the obvious data loss issue. How many hard drives need to fail before we all recognize the incredible peace of mind cloud storage can provide? Cloud hosting varies in its security offerings, so look for a host that offers secure firewalls and robust backups.

2. Better Monitoring

Centralized storage makes it easier to monitor and control your data. Yes, this does mean you’re putting all of your data eggs in one basket, but as an IT professional I would much rather know where my data is and focus my security efforts on that location than spread my data all over the place and hope for the best. Besides, “all in one place” doesn’t have the same meaning for cloud servers. Cloud networks are mirrored so data is safe, regardless of what might happen to a single machine.

3. Responding to Problems

If a cloud server is compromised, it’s a matter of seconds to restore all of the lost data from backups. This means you have no downtime, ever. You can restore data remotely, from anywhere, and with your robust cloud monitoring, you’ll know the second a problem arises. With all of your data in one location, you can easily assess the problem and fix it.

4. Improved Logs

Logging is often overlooked, or it’s an afterthought and this means you may not have enough room allocated for your logs. With the cloud, you can index your logs for instant search results. This is true real-time view of your information. If your company is concerned with establishing a server audit trail, you can easily opt-in to allocate resources for extended logging.

5. Improved Security Software Performance

Security vendors are more accountable when their clients are more vigilant. The security concerns so many of us have surrounding the cloud have made many security software companies step up their game. They’re not only making their software more comprehensive and robust, they’re making it more efficient. Cloud clients are watching their billable CPU cycles. They know how much it’s costing them to run software. Visibility equals accountability.

In the end, if you’re concerned about the security of your data, cloud hosting is the best possible option. Best of all, it is designed with businesses in mind—providing the kind of security and accessibility that has never been available before. In addition to all that, it’s cheaper and more efficient than housing your own infrastructure in-house.

Need help choosing the right Cloud solution for your business? Contact TurnKey Internet today for a FREE consultation with our cloud hosting experts! Visit our website at turnkeyinternet.net or call us at 877-539-4638

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cPanel provides convenient server access and an intuitive, user-friendly interface for managing your website. However, like any server application or environment, it can be vulnerable to several potential security problems. As a responsible webmaster or server admin, it’s up to you to recognize these vulnerabilities and take steps to close any loopholes hackers could use to access your server or website. Lets take a look at some of the ways you can secure and protect your cPanel server.

Strong Passwords

From the main cPanel portal to individual email accounts, every login point needs a strong, secure password. Guidelines for length vary, and some sources suggest as many as 14 characters to ensure protection. Longer passwords allow for more complex combinations of numbers, symbols and upper- and lower-case letters. Use a different password for accessing cPanel, FTP, email management and other secure areas, making sure none of them contain obvious information such as phone numbers or birthdays.

If you have trouble coming up with enough different combinations, try an online password generator. A password manager is useful for keeping track of your login information for all of cPanel so that you don’t have to look up each password every time you sign on.

CSF Firewall

A firewall lets you access cPanel while keeping unauthorized users out. Think of it as a border patrol for your server, constantly checking to ensure only the right people get through. ConfigServer Security and Firewall (CSF) is a popular firewall application for cPanel designed to serve this purpose. It scans the system on a regular basis and checks authentication logs to keep your site safe from hackers at all times. CSF also provides feedback on how to make your server more secure overall. Since more is better when it comes to security, check these reports and make any necessary changes as soon as possible.

cPHulk

Although a firewall can prevent hackers from gaining access to your site, it won’t stop them from trying to log in. Brute force protection is a feature of cPanel used to block IP addresses after multiple failed login attempts. Found in the Security Center section, this option is easy to enable and customize. Use the IP Deny Manager to manually input IP addresses known to be malicious so that they’re never allowed to log on.

You can customize the brute force option, known as cPHulk, by setting how many minutes the tool monitors for repeated logins, the maximum number of failed logins allowed and how long each IP ban stays in place.

FTP Access

With anonymous FTP, anyone can log in to your site via FTP with only a username and a generic password. This may be useful for sharing files with a large number of people, but it’s like an open door to hackers. When all users can gain access to your server through such a simple process, every file becomes subject to tampering.

Set your FTP preferences to allow only for SSL logins, and require a password to be entered each time. The setting can be found under FTP Server Configuration in cPanel.

SSH Access

Secure shell (SSH) is a convenient way to access your site from a remote location. Unfortunately, it can also provide an entry point for hackers. Information sent through SSH is authenticated and encrypted to prevent outside manipulation, so malicious users can’t touch it unless they break through your security measures.

The default port of 22 is the most common setting for SSH access. Changing it to another available port and implementing a security key for logins minimizes the risk of being hacked. Switch the settings from SSH1 to SSH2 for additional protection.

Hotlink Protection

Hotlinking is the practice of linking an image or file on one server directly to a page on a remote website. Some people do this in ignorance, assuming the easiest way to embed an image is to use the original link, but it’s generally considered a bad practice. Hotlinked files use bandwidth from your site every time someone accesses them, and this has the potential to overload your servers if too many requests are made.

The Security section of cPanel offers hotlinking protection. Simply enable the setting to prevent third parties from linking to your files. Add an extra layer of security by specifying certain file extensions you don’t want to be hotlinked.

Tweak Settings

While you’re taking care of the larger security issues in cPanel, make sure you don’t neglect less common settings. Open Tweak Settings under Server Configuration to access an entire list of other possible security measures. With this checklist, you can:

• Help prevent the sending of unauthorized emails, including spam
• Shut down potential email attacks
• Block malicious referrals or redirects from hijacking your site
• Stop the generation of proxy domains
• Require IP validation for cookies
• Set up an additional security token for cPanel access

Enabling these supplemental security settings helps address any remaining vulnerabilities and keep hackers at bay.

Automatic Updates

Your web host should have automatic cPanel updates in place. If not, go to Update Preferences in the Server Configuration area and enable the setting yourself. Old versions of software, including cPanel, may contain security vulnerabilities hackers can use to access your server. Automatic updates ensure you’re always running the latest version of cPanel with any associated security patches and bug fixes. Go back and check once and a while to confirm updates are running as they should. If not, update manually and contact your web host to find out why the setting isn’t working.

Security is one area of website management where you should never cut corners to save time or effort. The smartest thing you can do is implement proper security measures for cPanel as soon as your hosting account is set up. Don’t wait until disaster strikes or assume the security promised by your web host is enough. Take proactive measures to keep hackers out and stay in control of your cPanel environment.

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While outsourcing non-core business functions to cloud-computing enterprises is a growing trend, many firms still prefer to keep a close eye on their most critical business functions and databases. IT professionals are well aware of the vast server farms that rent dedicated servers to website design firms, cloud hosts, and innumerable other commercial and non-commercial organizations, but colocation providers generally have worked quietly in the background. Still, they continue to offer invaluable services to businesses that wish to retain ownership of the servers that host their core business functions and intellectual property while also outsourcing hardware management and its associated concerns to industry professionals.

For many companies, offloading the care and handling of computer servers onto trained IT professionals at a colocation provider carries multiple advantages. Indeed, colocation services have steadily expanded year after year with leading industry experts expecting the global colocation market to exceed $60 billion by 2022. An in-depth examination shows that five major considerations lie behind the decision by CIOs and other corporate officials to rely on colocation services.

1. Connectivity

Colocated servers are only as good as the internet connectivity that allows them to cram immense flows of data up and down the line, and colocation providers typically subscribe to multiple high-level broadband providers such as Level 3 Communications to establish superior bandwidth redundancy and to encourage competition that results in cost savings for both the colocation provider and server owners. Quite apart from the sheer efficiency of sharing top-tier bandwidth access across innumerable servers, the climate-controlled environment keeps servers within a consistent temperature range to ensure that sensitive network equipment and server components don’t fail from extended exposure to excessive heat.

2. Stability

The impact on productivity from moving corporate offices, encountering a natural disaster or suffering through an extended interruption of electrical power can be disastrous. Even the most efficient company may experience a series of unfortunate events that repeatedly delay its return to full operational status. In the meantime, customers may be yelling about misplaced orders and bungled services, and employees may be left without real work as core business processes fail to function as expected.

More than a few CIOs and other upper-management staffers prefer instead to shield the company’s critical server operations from such potential chaos by entrusting them to an efficient colocation provider with multiple power backups and contingency plans for dealing with everything from earthquakes through cable-chewing squirrels.

3. Security

In an age of brazen corporate espionage by overseas agencies, ensuring physical data security can be a challenge. Even in the absence of foreign or domestic interest in valuable intellectual property held by a business, employee honesty and awareness of basic security precautions aren’t always guaranteed. Hard drives and other computer components sometimes have a habit of walking out the door, and allowing direct physical access to servers located inside open offices also increases the risk of malicious hacking attacks by criminal gangs through the agency of malware-laden USB sticks left lying around in company parking lots.

A well-equipped colocation provider likely will lock down its facilities with multiple security measures, including burglar-resistant, alarmed entry and exit doors; coded access procedures that track all physical access to hosted servers; strategically placed surveillance cameras; biometric scanners to prevent unauthorized access by intruders and even individually locked cages for each client’s servers. Spreading the cost of these high-security measures across hundreds or thousands of servers allows the colocation provider to efficiently offer economies of scale otherwise unavailable to the great majority of small to mid-size businesses.

4. Scalability

As a business expands or contracts in response to unpredictable economic swings and marketplace developments, its computing needs may similarly fluctuate. Managing human resources typically represents the largest expense for the great majority of firms, and the hiring and firing process is invariably expensive and painful. Instead of suffering through unpredictable demand cycles for in-house staff to manage IT hardware resources, business customers may purchase additional servers from the colocation provider or else instruct a responsible staffer to purchase additional custom equipment to be delivered to the colocation provider for installation.

5. Financial Predictability

Maintaining in-house data management facilities typically invites unexpected capital outlays that play havoc with limited quarterly budgets. Many firms prefer the predictability of a fixed monthly outlay that covers the great majority of expenses associated with managing critical IT hardware capability across all corporate functions. Strategic planning and corporate accounting become easier with fewer surprises for the unwary.

Only robust discussion among company principals can determine the ultimate wisdom of outsourcing IT hardware management functions to a dedicated third party. However, the cost savings, significantly improved operational stability and peace of mind offered by the colocation option have proven to be compelling value propositions for an expanding number of commercial enterprises, as well as SMBs and other organizations.

Why Colocate With TurnKey Internet?

TurnKey Colocation is the ideal solution for companies, service providers, small businesses and IT resellers who want a stable environment in which to completely control their assets.

When utilizing our state of the art colocation facility you are able to control your hardware, software and networking to your needs without worrying about the supporting infrastructure. In doing so, you will immediately recognize tremendous savings while also getting peace of mind that your equipment is hosted in a 100% sustainable, green and SSAE-18 audited, secure facility.

Traditionally, customers would create their own localized infrastructure which is costly and inefficient making colocation with TurnKey Internet the ideal solution. By colocating in our facility you are able to focus on your business and not on office networking, power or server issues that plague localized installations and office infrastructure. We provide redundant networking, power and cooling to ensure your services remain online and accessible at all time.

Our facility is redundantly networked with several TIER-1 peers allowing us to offer several connectivity options allowing our customers to reach theirs as quickly as possible and without worry of network downtime, which is completely SLA protected.

All colocation customers have 24/7 hour access to their equipment and also receive network reboots per-port or per-strip at no additional charge. Whether you purchase a single U, multiple racks or an entire cold containment POD, we include rebootable PDU’s or PDU ports with EVERY colocation purchase.

At TurnKey Internet we are available 24/7 to assist you with all your needs. For more information regarding colocation as well as a FREE consultation, visit: https://turnkeyinternet.net/offers/new-york-colocation

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When responding to an email or clicking a link, most people don’t think twice. Sending emails has become so common that users rarely consider the danger of phishing and other fraudulent activity. But those who are unaware of the threat are at an even greater risk, and it will likely be too late for them to take action by the time that they notice the problem. The key to avoiding this trap is to educate yourself and to remain vigilant at all times. Although disregarding safety for convenience is becoming common, it’s a pitfall that can have a lasting impact on anyone’s future.

Phishing is the process of posing as another person or as a company to deceive people into giving their personal information away, and criminals have been known to use emails as a way to reach their goals. Knowing about the threat is not always enough when your task is to keep yourself and your bank account safe, and the attack can occur at any time.

A user will be checking their email as they would on any other day. Suddenly, the user spots an email from the bank that asks the user to log in to the account to confirm a recent transaction. But the email was not from the bank, and the user’s information is now in the hands of an identity thief. If you don’t want to encounter this situation, then the following information will help.

Don’t Share Sensitive Information Through Email

In a common phishing attack, a criminal will pretend to be someone whom you trust to steal sensitive data. The email could appear as though it had been sent by a friend, boss or business contact, and you might be asked for your account information or pin number. But no credible business will request sensitive data in an email, so the request should be your first red flag.

Rather than sending personal details in an email, pick up your phone and call the company or the individual who requested the information. Although this step might seem a little time-consuming, it can save you from a lot of trouble.

Manually Navigate to Web Addresses

Long before sending you a fraudulent email, experienced criminals will put in the effort to clone the website of a bank or business. They will then send an email posing as your bank or another trusted entity, and you will be encouraged to click a link that will take you to a malicious website.

Although the content, logo and other details might appear identical to the real thing, any information that you send will be exposed. Avoiding this type of attack is not difficult. Simply open a separate web browser and manually navigate to the website that you intend to visit.

Look for Spelling Errors

Keep in mind that phishing attacks can come from any location on the planet, so a lot of fake emails are sent by those who don’t speak English as their first language. When someone from another country sends a fraudulent email, the message will often contain obvious spelling errors. Some people dismiss the spelling errors that they find, but they will likely have their personal information stolen as a result. Customer service agents can make mistakes, but using caution is the best way to avoid becoming a victim.

Also, even criminals who speak English fluently can make mistakes when typing an email. If you notice anything that seems odd, call the company or person from whom the email appears to originate and ask for verification. If the email is not legitimate, report it as spam and block the domain.

Don’t Trust Attachments

Downloading and running email attachments is a good way to get a virus or to have other malicious software installed on your device. In the past, hackers would use screen savers and free games to infect their victims, but hackers can even use Word and Excel documents to inflict damage. After a computer is infected, the malicious code will sometimes automatically email itself to everyone in the victim’s address book. If you want to avoid this problem, never download an attachment that you were not expecting.

Having your identity stolen can destroy your credit score, and some people are forced to wait years before they can reverse the damage. Nobody should overlook the threat of phishing, and you can never eliminate the risk entirely. But you can significantly reduce the odds of having your personal information exposed by keeping safety at the front of your mind. Protecting yourself will require some time and effort, but safeguarding your information is always easier than trying to pick up the pieces after an incident occurs. Those who focus on security when communicating online will follow these tips, but they will also use common sense to detect the signs of suspicious activity.

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