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Simple Steps to Secure Your Website   no comments

Posted at Mar 26, 2019 @ 9:00am Web hosting

Secure Website

If you run a personal or business website then it’s vital you take steps to secure your website and protect it from hackers. Criminals have many reasons for wanting to gain unauthorized access to your content, and all of them will impact you and your business in a negative way. By following the steps below, you will not only keep your website and data safe, but also your business.

 

Renaming Directories

When hackers want to take control of your website and to cause damage, they will search for your administration directories. If they can locate them, then the hackers can steal your login details or give themselves access. Many programs are available that will scan websites to find administrative credentials, and you can protect yourself by renaming your directories.

Although this step might seem small, don’t get tempted to overlook it because you must do everything that you can to stay safe. The name that you give your directories is not important as long as you know how to access them when you need to make changes.

 

Complex Passwords

Hackers will sometimes use brute force software to access your administration panel, and they can do anything they want from there. The brute force software works by repeatedly entering different numbers and letters into the username and password fields until it finds the correct combination. You can protect yourself from such attacks by using strong passwords that contain letters, numbers and special characters.

Although it’s still possible for hackers to use brute force software to break into your website, they are not likely to succeed. A complex password can resist a brute force attack for several thousand years before the correct combination is discovered. Unless your website contains extremely sensitive data, the hackers will likely move on to an easier target.

 

Encrypt Your Important Files

Many people store files on their website as plain text, and that makes it easy for hackers to steal and read the information. The problem becomes that much worse when the data contains the credit card numbers of your customers. You can add an extra layer of safety by encrypting your files so that they become all but impossible to read.

An encryption program works by scrambling a file until it’s unreadable, and only the person with the correct decryption key can reverse the process. If your important files are encrypted, hackers will not be able to see them even if they gain access to your website.

 

Update

One of the ways that hackers gain access to a website is by looking for software vulnerabilities. They will reverse engineer software and scripts to find methods to take control of your content and to view your files. To combat that problem, software developers consistently release updates for their programs, which address known weaknesses.

But some webmasters are still reluctant to update their sites because they don’t want to experience any downtime. When you choose not to install recent updates, you are inviting criminals to exploit you and your users. Ensure that you are always using the latest scripts when your goal is to safeguard your website.

 

Backup

When protecting your website data is your No. 1 goal, utilizing a backup solution is a must. However, If all of your files and backups are stored on the same server, you risk losing everything if that server gets destroyed or compromised. The good news is that you can combat this problem by utilizing a Cloud Backup solution. This option involves uploading the data that you want to protect to ‘The Cloud’ – a cluster of servers located in a remote, secure data center.

 

Running a business can be very demanding and it may not leave you with enough spare time to regularly maintain your website’s security. If this scenario sounds familiar, your best bet may be to switch to a Managed web hosting solution. TurnKey Internet offers a complete all-inclusive fully managed service that lets you focus on your customers while running your business – leave the infrastructure, software updates, security, backups, and uptime to us.

We provide a turnkey solution that employs a unique combination of Application and Network Engineers, deep-level performance monitoring and on-going guidance to maintain and optimize your cloud-based hosted infrastructure. You get all-access to our support and network engineers – far more cost-efficient than hiring, on-boarding, and building your own team of tech gurus. As technology changes daily, we’ll keep your systems secure and up-to-date, while you focus on your business. For more information, visit turnkeyinternet.net

 

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Written by David Maurer on March 26th, 2019

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Effective Security Measures For Your Server   no comments

Posted at Feb 26, 2019 @ 9:00am Web hosting

If you run a server, especially for your business or organization, security should be a top priority. Whether the server exists to host files for a website or is networking computers for an office, it needs to be protected from malicious software, exploits and hackers. Failing to secure a server can lead to lost or corrupted data, damage to devices connected to the network and unauthorized individuals getting access to sensitive data. Below are various security measures that you can employ on your server that are extremely effective.

 

Review & Modify Default Settings

Programs running on your server, such as control panels (cPanel, Plesk), CMS (WordPress, Joomla, etc.) and even the operating system, contain various default settings  that need to be reviewed and if necessary modified. 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. 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.

 

Active Monitoring

A critical requirement to properly managing a server is knowing what is happening with it at all times. Even the best security software cannot prevent all intrusions, and hackers are constantly figuring out new ways to exploit and 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.

 

Passwords & Permissions

Another important server security measure is to ensure that all passwords, especially the root and/or Admin passwords, are complex 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. It’s also recommended to change your passwords on a regular basis, even if they are robust.

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.

 

Updates

One way that hackers get into many servers is by going through weak points that developers did not notice when creating an application 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 your server is kept up to date. For web hosting servers, that means content management systems (CMS) such as WordPress, and the plug-ins the CMS uses must be kept current. Many operating systems and software 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.

 

For those of you who feel there’s just not enough time in your day to employ these server security measures, or if you just prefer someone else does it for you, at TurnKey Internet we got your back. We offer Fully Managed solutions, such as our Best cPanel Dedicated Server, 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/

 

 

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Written by David Maurer on February 26th, 2019

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WordPress, Joomla, Drupal – Which CMS is best?   no comments

Posted at Feb 12, 2019 @ 9:00am Web hosting

CMS

In the world of Content Management Systems (CMS) there are 3 major contenders: WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal. If you are creating a new website, you may be asking yourself which one is best. All three have their own pros and cons, and all three are free to use, open-source software. Let’s take a brief look at each one to see which CMS is right for you.

 

WordPress

Created back in 2003 and currently running on more than 70 million websites, WordPress is by far the most popular CMS out there. It started out as just a simple blogging tool, but has evolved into a full, feature-rich, content management system. With it’s extremely easy to use interface, you can create a website in only a matter of minutes. Plus, with the endless amount of free themes and plugins available for WordPress, it’s easy to make your website look great. However, popularity does have it’s drawbacks. For instance, WordPress is one of the biggest targets for hackers. It is critical you keep it up-to-date to prevent attacks on your website. Regardless, with it’s intuitive design and countless number of free customizations, this easy to manage CMS demonstrates why it’s a popular choice.

 

Joomla

Considered the second most popular CMS out there, Joomla is also easy to use, but is a bit more complex and requires a higher skill level than WordPress. It has less free customizations when compared to WordPress, however when it comes to E-Commerce sites, Joomla excels and tends to be a favorite choice. It is also considered to have one of the strongest developer communities. Joomla is based on PHP and MySQL, giving more advanced developers the ability to create a powerful web application. With a minor amount of effort into learning Joomla’s terminology and structure, you can go on to create a fairly complex website. If you are looking for something still fairly easy, but with more flexibility than WordPress, Joomla might be the one for you.

 

Drupal

Drupal is ranked as the third most popular CMS in the world. It is regarded as the most complex, with the highest learning curve of the three. Drupal has a greater amount of free customizations and themes available when compared to Joomla, but less than WordPress. It is considered to be one of the most versatile and robust content management systems available today. When it comes to websites that contain a large amount of complex data with heavy visitor traffic, Drupal is an excellent choice due to the speed and strength from its advanced structure. However, all of this comes at the cost of needing more experience and expertise to truly utilize this powerful, developer friendly CMS. If you are looking for an enterprise-ready CMS that will scale with your growing business, look no further than Drupal.

 

Whether you are a beginner looking to start a blog, an expert developer creating a complex, versatile site, or somewhere in between, one of these three CMS applications will definitely get the job done. Best of all, they are free to use and support simple one-click installations. So if you are currently hosted on TurnKey Internet’s shared cloud platform or have a cPanel dedicated server, getting started couldn’t be any easier! The question then becomes not which one is best, but instead, which one is best for you.

 

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Written by David Maurer on February 12th, 2019

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Redesigning Your Website in 2019   no comments

Posted at Dec 31, 2018 @ 9:00am Web hosting

website redesign

Redesigning your website might be one of the most important business moves you make as 2018 gives way to 2019. A redesigned site can mean more visitors, more sales conversions and a positive impact on your bottom line. Of course, redesigning your website may also be one of the most time- and resource-intensive tasks you undertake this year. That’s why planning ahead is essential. Creating a detailed plan for your site redesign ensures that your efforts will be both time and cost effective, and it helps to ensure that your site truly meets your business needs too. Here are seven steps to take as you develop your website redesign plan.

 

1. Evaluate Your Current Site

Taking an honest look at your current website design is the very first thing you should do if you’re planning a redesign. Start by making a list of what works on your website. Then, make a list of everything that isn’t working. You’ll want to consider basics such as site color, visual layout and your company’s logo. You’ll also need to take website functionality when it comes to navigation, contact forms and e-commerce tools into account. Ask your staff for their opinions about the current site, and be sure to take a second look at any feedback you’ve received from website users too.

Part of evaluating your current site is looking at important metrics. Be sure that you’ve considered:

  • Overall site traffic
  • The bounce rate for visitors
  • Your site’s current search engine ranking
  • Your site’s performance ranking
  • How visitors spend their time on your site
  • The conversion rate from lead to customer for your site
  • The total monthly, quarterly and yearly sales generated by your site.

 

2. Create Goals for Your New Site

Once you’ve evaluated what does and doesn’t work on your existing site, you can start setting goals for your new site. Maybe you want to attract more consumers in your local area, or perhaps you need to redesign your site so that it accommodates visitors on tablets and smartphones. Create both aesthetic and use-related goals to direct the general redesign process.

In addition to creating these general goals, you should also create specific goals based upon current website metrics. For example, you might aim to increase traffic by 50 percent or to improve the search engine ranking of your site. Creating clear goals based on metrics will make measuring the success of your site redesign much easier.

 

3. Get to Know Your Audience

You might think that you know your website audience, but there’s no room for error when it comes to investing in a redesign. Work with your internal marketing team or hire an outside consultant to do research on your target demographic. Understanding who is likely to visit your site and what tools they hope to find on your site will be invaluable during the redesign process. Be sure that you’re also looking at the keywords that visitors are using to find your site so that you can target them during the redesign process.

 

4. Take Stock of the Competition

In addition to getting to know your audience, it’s essential that you get to know your online competition too. Start by reviewing the websites of any major, brick-and-mortar competitors. How are their sites organized? What are they doing to convert visitors into customers? What kinds of resources are they offering to visitors?

Once you’ve evaluated local or real-world competitors that you know about, conduct keyword-driven searches to identify online-only businesses that might be competing with yours. Evaluate these sites using the same criteria you used to evaluate other known competitors. As you evaluate your competition, jot down ideas of how your website can set your business apart from others.

 

5. Identify Your Content Strategy

A visually striking website is important, but a redesign is useless unless you also have a strong content strategy. Decide what types of photos, graphics and text you’ll use to attract visitors to your site and engage them once they’re there. Evaluate the current content of every page of your site, and determine how it can be improved or built upon. Think about the strength of your site’s current SEO strategy and what can be done to improve it.

If your website doesn’t currently feature a blog, now is a good time to consider adding one. Ensure the success of your blog by deciding:

  • How often you’ll create new posts
  • What type of information posts will include
  • Who will write your posts or how you’ll source them

 

6. Make the Big Design Decisions

Once you’ve determined your overall website goals and have decided what type of content you’ll include, you can start making aesthetic decisions. Consider the overall layout of your website, what colors it will use and whether your logo needs to be redesigned. Remember that making your website an extension of your branded image is essential.

Of course, you’ll need to make technical decisions as you make design decisions. These include the framework on which your site will be built and how you’ll meet mobile optimization needs. Be sure to go over site security concerns with your design partner too. Preventing hackers from accessing customer information is essential to building confidence with web visitors.

 

7. Create a Project Completion Timeline

Once you’ve made major redesign decisions, you should create a timeline for your website relaunch. Your chief priority here should be to minimize site downtime and ensure that visitors can still use your site during the redesign process. As your redesign progresses, be sure that you’re meeting your timeline goals. Doing so is essential to budget control and allows you to alert website users of coming changes in a timely fashion too.

As with most big business decisions, the success or failure of a website redesign depends largely on planning. Taking the time to plan now will ensure that you get what you want from your site redesign and that you’re able to stay on budget while doing so too. Make a thorough plan now so that you can kick back and enjoy the success of your new website when it launches.

 

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Written by admin on December 31st, 2018

cPanel Security 101   no comments

Posted at Nov 8, 2018 @ 9:00am Web hosting

cPanel Security 101

cPanel provides convenient server access and a user-friendly interface for managing your website. However, like any online environment, it has several potential security problems. As a responsible webmaster, it’s up to you to recognize these vulnerabilities and take steps to close any loopholes hackers could use to access your server or site. Take charge and manage critical access points with these eight cPanel security tips.

 

Create 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.

 

Install a 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.

 

Be a “Brute”

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.

 

Stop Anonymous 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.

 

Make SSH Secure

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.

 

Protect Against Hotlinking

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 Your 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.

 

Stay Updated

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.

 

A ‘TurnKey’ Solution

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.

However, one way you can save time and effort is with TurnKey Internet’s all-inclusive and fully managed cPanel solution. We monitor and take care of your server so you can focus on running your business – leave the infrastructure, software updates, security, backups, and uptime to us.

The Best Value cPanel Web Hosting Dedicated Server from TurnKey Internet provides the perfect combination of security, performance, features and cost for the ultimate cPanel/WHM Web Hosting Server. This package offers a complete all-inclusive fully managed service including software licensing for cPanel/WHM, enterprise-grade server backups, and the premium high capacity DEDICATED server with RAID and SSD ultra fast disks. For more information, click here.

 

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How Website Speed Affects Your Business   no comments

Posted at May 15, 2018 @ 9:57am Web hosting

Website Speed Affects Business

If you’ve ever waited for a slow website to load, you know how frustrating it is. It only takes a few seconds – if that – for you to start getting impatient and considering going to another site.

Visitors to your site feel the exact same way. People have grown increasingly accustomed to instant results, and most web users expect web pages to show up on their screen right after clicking or tapping. A slow website can directly, and negatively, impact your sales and ability to draw in new clients.

However, it’s not just sales that take a hit when your website is crawling. Slow load times can result in reduced search engine rankings and depressed conversion rates. Additionally, a slow website is often the sign of a design problem, which may mean that you’re using more bandwidth to do less.

 

The Five Second Rule

According to a recent study, one-third of online shoppers will leave your site if it takes more than five seconds to load. Along with the fact that five seconds is a very short amount of time to work with, the study found that people are getting more impatient; a previous study showed that you had six seconds before people left.

If that weren’t bad enough, a study done by Google that specifically looked at mobile users found that these individuals are even more impatient. More than half of those involved in the study will leave a mobile website if it doesn’t load in three seconds.

What this means is that your website design needs to focus on speed instead of design elements. To ensure that people will go to your website – and stay – your site needs to be fast and streamlined.

 

Load Time Affects Sales

If you’ve got your website loading under five seconds, you may get visitors to stick around, but it won’t necessarily net you a sale. The study that found many people will leave after five seconds also determined that a 2.4 second load time led to the highest conversion rates. This is backed up by data collected by Kissmetrics, which showed that a one second delay in website response time can lead to a seven percent conversion rate drop.

The collected data also showed that people who made purchases from a site but were unhappy with the site’s performance were less likely to buy from the site again. In other words, the bare minimum to get someone to stay may be five seconds, but if you want to make a sale, and keep making sales, your site may need to load even faster.

 

Google Is Impatient Too

Load times don’t just affect whether or not a potential customer stays on your website. They may also play a part in determining if someone ever arrives at your site. This is because Google looks at user experience when calculating search engine rankings.

There are a number of factors that go into user experience, but load time is a significant one. Search engine ranking is very competitive since it determines where your site shows up in search results and if it shows up on the first page. With less than 80 percent of people clicking to the second page of search results, it’s essential that you’re doing everything you can to be on page one.

Google offers a website to check your site’s performance, and according to the search engine, a score of 85 or higher out of 100 means that your site is doing well. Anything below that likely spells trouble when it comes to your search engine rankings.

It’s also important to note that Google has started to give websites that are mobile friendly higher rankings when people do a search from a mobile device. If you have a desktop site that loads quickly but don’t create an equivalent mobile site, you could see a drop in your mobile search rankings.

 

Slow Load Times Could Mean Back End Problems

There are a variety of reasons that your website may be running slowly or simply not loading as quickly as visitors would like. Many common reasons relate to design, such as running too many scripts or filling up the page with large media files.

These problems can be resolved easily by streamlining a website and cutting down on files and scripts that bog the loading process down. Doing this may help to improve the performance of your web server as well. If the media files on your site that are taking up enormous amounts of bandwidth are compressed or if you reduce the number that load on your site, you could see a lot of resources freed up.

 

It May Be Time To Upgrade

However, slow load times, especially if you have optimized your website, may indicate that there’s a larger problem with your server or the network you’re running on. If you are hosting on a Shared Server, it could be that you need more power and system resources. To resolve this, it is recommended that you upgrade to a VPS/Cloud Server or Dedicated Server solution. If your business is utilizing a Colocation solution but still experiencing bandwidth and network issues, it may be time to change your Data Center and/or Cloud provider.

While attractive and innovative website designs may be appealing, if you’re in the business of selling, your focus should be on a website that loads quickly and is easy to navigate. Shaving just a second off of the load time of your site and pages within it could mean a dramatic difference in conversion rates and sales, and it could also improve your search engine rankings.

 

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Written by David Maurer on May 15th, 2018

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3 Ways to Speed Up Your Website   no comments

Posted at Mar 6, 2018 @ 10:06am Web hosting

Website Speed Loading

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.

 

1. Content Delivery Network (CDN)

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.

 

2. Check Your Plugins

You can find many plugins or 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 plugin to determine if you need it and how much it is impacting your site. Disable one plugin 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 plugins is causing a lot of harm, consider removing it, but you can also check to see if the developer has released any updates.

 

3. Upgrade Your Cloud or Web 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 cloud or web 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 web hosting plan is the source of the problem, then you might want to upgrade to 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 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.

 

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Written by David Maurer on March 6th, 2018

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Is Your Website Ready For The Holidays?   no comments

Posted at Nov 7, 2017 @ 10:00am Holidays,Web hosting

Is Your Website Ready For The Holidays?

It’s getting colder outside. It’s getting darker sooner. The time has been rolled back an hour, for those of us living in the United States. Winter is right around the corner and with winter, comes holidays. Thanksgiving is a few weeks away with Christmas coming in a close second and finally New Years. Now, why am I telling you all this? Matter of fact, why am I reminding you of these holidays? Isn’t this supposed to be a blog based on technology and not holiday seasons?

 

Well, I’m glad you asked. This part of the season is busy for us, due to the holiday specials we run. All the way from Black Friday to Cyber Monday. Everything is on sale for a fraction of the price. Everything from Virtual Private Servers (VPS) to top-of-the-line Dedicated Servers. During this time, traffic nearly quadruples to our main site, TurnKey Internet. Everyone wants to get in on the sales. Everyone wants to setup a website for their business. People are just shopping around for hosting providers if you will. Well, with that increased traffic comes increased strain on your servers which brings me to reason I’m writing this article.

 

With the holiday season rapidly approaching, you may decide to run a special on your products and services. The number one item that always occurs when running specials is an increased awareness of your product. That means you may have bandwidth spikes from potential customers viewing your website. You may have your products selling like hotcakes, but the question becomes, are you prepared for this? Are you prepared from the increased amount of traffic to your site? If you’re not sure, then you should continue reading.

 

As mentioned previously in this post, you will more than likely have a spike in traffic to your website which brings me to bandwidth. Do you have enough bandwidth ready to accommodate the spike in traffic your site may experience? If not, you should speak with your hosting provider about pricing plans for bandwidth.

 

Next, what about disk space? If you’re selling products online, more than likely you have a database storing the products with the customer information that is purchasing said products. Well if you’re running a special and have a higher than normal amount of people purchasing from you, you would want to ensure that you have enough disk space to accommodate said orders.  The last thing you want is your website to freeze or go off-line due to you running out of space because your database has tripled in size. You should speak with your hosting provider to ensure that you have enough adequate disk space.

 

This brings me to last point. You’ve checked your bandwidth and your disk space and they are more than adequate for your special. What’s next? Well, is your current environment sufficient to handle your increased sales? Let’s say your website is on a basic hosting account and receives a large spike of traffic during your holiday sales. Will your host throttle your account as it could be consuming too many resources? If your account is on a basic shared server, this is very high probability as the server will throttle your account for consuming too many resources. You should be aware of these limitations and speak with your hosting provider to see if they can handle your increased traffic. The last thing you want is a user who can’t place an order because when they view your site, they are seeing Resources Exceeded instead of your website.

 

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Written by David Maurer on November 7th, 2017

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RAID: The Upgrade Your Server Deserves   no comments

Posted at Aug 22, 2017 @ 9:46am Web hosting

RAID: The UPGRADE Your Server Deserves

A Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is a system that utilizes multiple hard drives simultaneously to act as a single storage volume. Using a controller that manages the operation of the hard drives, you can configure a RAID array to do the following:

  • Stripe data across multiple drives, reading and writing data across all drives simultaneously for double the performance — or more — when reading or writing large blocks of data
  • Mirror data across multiple drives so that each drive in the array contains an exact copy of the same data
  • Create Parity blocks on each drive in the array, making it possible to recover the lost information if a drive fails — and to keep the array running while rebuilding the failed drive

RAID has several implementations — or “levels” — that utilize striping, mirroring, parity or a combination of the three. We’ll explain those more fully later in the article, but for now there’s one thing you need to know: If you have a home or business server, you need RAID. RAID is the one solution that can make your server faster, do a better job of protecting your data and continue operating while you rebuild data after disk failure.

Although an exhaustive list of all RAID levels is outside the scope of this article, this brief list should help to explain the features and benefits of RAID in greater detail:

 

RAID 0

A RAID 0 array requires at least two hard drives. In RAID 0, the controller splits all data equally across all hard drives. Each drive works simultaneously during read and write operations, increasing the speed of the volume to far greater than that of a single hard drive.

Strengths and Weaknesses: A RAID 0 array excels in increasing a server’s storage performance. However, all data in a RAID 0 array is lost if one drive fails. You can add additional drives to a RAID 0 array to increase its performance further, but adding more drives further increases the risk of failure.

 

RAID 1

In a RAID 1 array, every hard drive contains the same data and the controller writes to all drives simultaneously. A RAID 1 array provides excellent data redundancy because all of the data survives unless every drive in the array fails.

Strengths and Weaknesses: In addition to data redundancy, RAID 1 can slightly increase a server’s read performance. When the controller requests data, the drive that can access the data most quickly will retrieve it. However, RAID 1 provides no increase in storage capacity past that of the smallest hard drive in the array because each drive contains the same data. In addition, the slowest hard drive determines the write speed of the entire array.

 

RAID 5

A RAID 5 array stripes the data across multiple drives like RAID 0. However, every hard drive also carries parity data for each block written. Using the parity data, the controller can rebuild the entire array if one drive fails — and the array can continue working during the rebuild process.

Strengths and Weaknesses: The greatest strength of RAID 5 is that it offers increased reliability without sacrificing a great deal of storage capacity. Unlike RAID 1, the total capacity of a RAID 5 array increases each time you add a hard drive. However, parity data does take up some space. A RAID 5 array with four 1 TB hard drives will have a total capacity of about 3 TB.

RAID 5 offers better read performance than a single drive because the striping allows multiple drives to read simultaneously. However, the write performance of RAID 5 is relatively poor because of the extra time required to write parity data.

 

RAID 6

RAID 6 is similar to RAID 5 in design, but it devotes an amount of storage equal to that of two hard drives — rather than one — to parity so it can tolerate the failure of two drives without losing data.

Strengths and Weaknesses: A RAID 5 array can tolerate the loss of any one drive. However, hard drive manufacturers state that about once every 12.5 TB, a hard drive will encounter an unrecoverable read error. If you have a RAID 5 array with four 4 TB drives and one drive fails, the remaining capacity of the array is about 12 TB. If one of the remaining three drives experiences a read error when rebuilding the array, the rebuild operation will fail. If you use more hard drives — or larger hard drives — the chance of failure is greater. So, RAID 6 is far more reliable than RAID 5 for very large RAID arrays. However, because RAID 6 doubles the amount of parity data, write operations are slower.

 

RAID 10

RAID 10, or RAID 1+0, is essentially the combination of RAID 1 and RAID 0. It combines disk striping and disk mirroring to provide redundancy and performance. Due to it’s incredible performance benefits, RAID 10 is one of the most ideal solutions, especially for intense applications and databases.

Strengths and Weaknesses: The greatest strength of RAID 10 is that it offers maximum performance while also maintaining redundancy. The only disadvantages of RAID 10 are that it requires a minimum of four disks and only 50% of the disk space is usable due to mirroring.

 

RAID has become a vital necessity for any business looking for safety and performance when it comes to their website and/or critical company data. If your business is currently running on a server without RAID, you risk not only data loss, but also the added performance that can separate you from your competitors. Now is the time to upgrade your business to a RAID solution.

At TurnKey Internet, RAID upgrades are available on all of our Dedicated Servers. Best of all, our latest Best Value Dedicated Server already includes RAID 10, making your upgrade even easier! Start enjoying the added performance and safety of RAID today.

 

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Written by David Maurer on August 22nd, 2017

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Securing cPanel   no comments

Posted at Jun 20, 2017 @ 10:20am Web hosting

Securing cPanel

cPanel is one of the most popular web hosting control panels available today. With it’s user-friendly graphical interface and robust server automation tools, cPanel is designed to make web hosting as simple as possible. However, like many other popular applications, it can be vulnerable to potential security problems. To prevent your website from falling victim to hackers and malware, it is critical that you manage and routinely check your server’s cPanel security settings.

 

SSH

SSH or Secure Shell, is a common way users access their server or website remotely. Unfortunately, it also provides an entry point for hackers. Data 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.

 

Firewall

A firewall lets users access cPanel while keeping unauthorized individuals out. ConfigServer Security and Firewall or CSF, is one of the most popular firewalls for cPanel. 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.

 

Brute Force Protection

Although a firewall can prevent hackers from gaining access to a website or server, 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 under 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.

 

Passwords

From your admin cPanel login to individual email accounts, every access point needs a strong, secure password. 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.

 

Automatic Updates

One of the easiest ways to keep cPanel secure is to enable automatic updates. 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.

 

Additional Settings to ‘Tweak’

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 additional cPanel security settings helps address any remaining vulnerabilities and keep hackers at bay. But, for those of you who feel there’s just not enough time in your day to employ these security measures, 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 and cPanel so you can focus on running your business.

For more information, visit https://turnkeyinternet.net/managed/

 

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Written by David Maurer on June 20th, 2017

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