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Tag: hosting security

Cloud Hosting Vs Shared Hosting: Which is better?

Hosting is crucial when setting up your website and emails for the first time – but it can also be confusing. Shared hosting and cloud hosting have three things in common: web hosting provider, servers, and websites. Though shared hosting is deemed to be more popular than all hosting plans, understanding the new features of cloud hosting might give you second thoughts.  

In this blog, we will be looking into each of their key features like uptime, support, security, pricing, performance, and other benefits.  

Shared Hosting  

Shared hosting has long been part of the web history. Its main difference from cloud hosting is that multiple websites are hosted together and share all the resources available. Such resources shared includes disk space, storage, bandwidth, and databases all in one server. It generally requires a dedicated web server. Although this is cheaper and easier to use than cloud hosting, it may not be the best option for websites with a lot of traffic and that are content heavy.  

Cloud Hosting 

Since its inception back in 1996, cloud hosting services has been gaining attention – and rightly so! In comparison to shared hosting, cloud hosting allows your website to be hosted on multiple servers. What’s good about this is that if an issue comes along with one of the servers, you’re safe from downtime as multiple servers will allow your information to be accessible online. Cloud computing technology allows numerous machines to work in synchrony. Aside from its proven flexibility, its ultra-fast speed is also one to look out for.  

Features 

Uptime 

Shared hosting, in its very nature, may assure you 99.5% uptimes but you can expect that when you get a spike in website traffic, you’ll probably experience some downtime. 

With cloud hosting, on the other hand, you’re guaranteed impeccable uptimes despite surges in traffic. 

Support 

Cloud hosting has unlimited everything, from storage, bandwidth, and databases. It may only get more advanced in the following years. Shared hosting, in contrast, has many limits. Overusing its limited resources could cause suspensions.  

Bonuses 

Shared hosting could get the upper hand this time. There are always free bonuses waiting for you if you get shared hosting plans. This can range from free domain names to web transfers and website builders – this would all depend on your preferred supplier. But, cloud hosting, alternately, isn’t really that generous.  

Security 

The security protocols of shared hosting are often based on applications and databases as these are the most vulnerable to hackers. 

 

A hacker that has access to one shared hosting server automatically gives him access to all the websites on it. And once a website is hacked into, the intruder could invade the site time and again. 

That being said, you must keep your computers safe by using reliable antiviruses, strong passwords and keeping your cPanel away from any files on your account.  

Cloud hosting, on the other hand, has usually four major security controls: 

  1. Deterrent Controls 
  2. Preventative Controls 
  3. Detective Controls 
  4. Corrective Controls 

Cloud hosting incorporates encrypted algorithms to further protect your data. It also prioritizes data confidentiality, data access control, and data integrity to protect you from traditional security issues like network eavesdropping, invasion and cloud-specific ones.  

Performance  

Most shared web hosts often struggle in selling this feature to clients. Shared hosting’s limited features impede its speed. You also need to be ready with frequent downtimes and outages. 

With cloud hosting, you can guarantee ultra-fast, auto-scalable and customizable platform. High traffic doesn’t budge the servers. In fact, cloud hosting is highly recommended for sites with high traffic.  

Pricing 

Sharing servers always translate to cheaper costs. So naturally, shared hosting services are the most affordable type of hosting services there is around. This is recommended for start-up businesses or for simple informational or catalogue-type of websites that don’t expect too much traffic.  

While, naturally given the difference in technology and the speed as well as the guaranteed uptime, cloud hosting would generally be significantly more costly. Essentially with cloud hosting, you pay more to get more.  

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Shared hosting is definitely a go to for those who are on a tight budget. If you are a new industry player, shared hosting could be a start. But if you want to advance your security, features, performance and speed, cloud hosting could do that for you.  

If you have an e-commerce site or looking to expand your website into a full system, definitely cloud hosting is the best decision to make sure that you don’t get any downtime with spikes in traffic. With cloud hosting too, you assure users of a faster loading speed on your website.  

If you are having trouble choosing which is better, we’ll gladly guide you through. Drop us a line or shoot us a message today to know more about our hosting services! For more information, visit our website at www.imanila.ph/hosting/. 

IMPORTANT REMINDER: How To Spot Spam And Phishing Emails

In the recent days, we’ve received a lot of inquiries and concerns from clients regarding spam and phishing emails.  

You’ve probably heard of “spam” or “phishing” before. On a regular basis, companies big and small often send out precautions to their employees and tips on how to avoid this. This is because most of the time, our emails are the targets of these scams and oftentimes, we don’t even know it! A single click of a button may cause big trouble if we unapologetically continue to ignore these types of emails. Here we’ve listed down some important tips to avoid your emails from being compromised and what you should do if you’ve suddenly become a victim!   

Tips on how to avoid being a victim 

By being meticulous with our emails, we can determine which are spam emails and which are phishing emails. Here’s important tips to keep in mind especially if you’re the type who likes to keep a clean inbox on a daily basis:  

  • Check your email account to see if you have a tool to filter out potential spam and phishing emails; if so, channel them into a bulk email folder. 
  • Never reveal personal or financial information in an email as this is an opportunity for criminals to get further into your email account. 
  • Always check the security of a website before entering sensitive or personal information online. If Google Chrome doesn’t allow you to enter the website, it’s probably best that you don’t!  
  • Pay attention to the website’s URL because malicious websites usually look identical and these URLs use variation in spelling or a different domain. 
  • If you’re unsure if the email is legitimate or not, try contacting the company and ask if they’re sending out emails heavily for a large amount of contacts including yours.
  • Diligently inspect the email address of the sender since some phishing emails tend to show that their email address is legitimate. 
  • Do not instantly open emails from unknown or suspicious senders. 
  • Do not open or download suspicious email attachments with suspicious filenames. 
  • Immediately delete suspicious emails and remember to empty your trash. 
  • Use strong passwords, please.
  • Ask your IT Admin to secure your computers with the latest OS versions, patches and security software.
  • If you are using email clients, make sure you are using Secure SSL/TLS settings.
  • Scan your cPanel or hosting account for malware using Virus Scanner tool.

 

What to do if you are a victim 

If you’ve fallen and have unavoidably become a victim of spam or phishing, take these security measures into action immediately to avoid future problems: 

  • When you receive emails from your bank containing activities you haven’t done, call your bank to block your card/s immediately. 
  • Change your password and other confidential information in an instant if you’ve received notifications for an account in an online service.
  • In the event that you clicked a suspicious link or downloadable malicious software, use antivirus software to scan your computer and quarantine any viruses.
  • You may contact the nearest IT professional in your company to help handle the situation and to ask for guidance on how to go about the problem.
  • Report malicious content to authorities if possible.
  • Be an online informer and spread precautionary information to everyone to avoid scams and phishing in the future. 

 

For any clarifications or concerns please do not hesitate to email our Technical Support Team at support@imanila.ph or to contact us in our mobile numbers at +63 947 427 3011 or +63 947 427 3012 or in our new trunkline number at (+632) 8876-1925. Our Technical Support Team is open to help you with your website and email concerns from Monday to Sunday from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.  

To learn more about how to manage your cPanel and emails, visit our iManila Help Center at https://imanila.ph/help/.  

Introducing the #iManilaHelpCenter

With the global pandemic keeping us within the confines of our homes and our workplaces, one thing we’ve found among our clients is an increase in email usage, an increase in website traffic, and to some extent – an increasing demand for technical support assistance. Despite the continued service of our brave frontliners – our Technical Support team, we also saw this time as an opportunity to further help and support our clients. With this, we’re happy to introduce our #iManilaHelpCenter. 

The #iManilaHelpCenter is available to anyone who needs detailed support in managing their cPanel. This is available and FREE for anyone by simply visiting www.imanila.ph/help. 

The main objective of our newest Help Center is not only to educate clients about their cPanel accounts, but also to give detailed instructions and steps on how to properly use, control and manage their individual hosting accounts. By visiting the Help Center, you’ll be able to find solutions to your Hosting concerns arranged according to the root of your issue whether it be relating to your: cPanel Dashboard, Databases, Domain, FTP, Files, Emails, etc. 

Further to this, the newest addition to our iManila website also features a wide knowledge base from frequently asked questions to common problems such as How to Access My Website or My Webmail or the definitions of Different Website Errors and many more! 

It is with our hope that the new iManila Help Center will not only help our clients, but empower others in learning something new and hopefully in line with our vision to continue to improve lives through technology. 

For any support-related concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us through [email protected] or via Chat here on our website. #iManila

Website Must-Haves: How to Reach your Full Potential Online

You can’t deny that modern technology has affected the way companies do business. Today, most successful businesses have grasped the importance of having an online presence. While a website is good place to start, it is not enough, and you definitely shouldn’t stop there.

To help you out, here are some factors that you should be keeping an eye on to make sure that your business will thrive in the digital age.

Site Security

Imagine that your website is your house. Now, you don’t want intruders easily accessing and coming into your house, right? So you put up a gate and filter what comes in and out of your house. That is precisely what an SSL Certificate does. SSL or Security Sockets Layer is the standard security technology that functions to establish an encrypted link between a web server and a browser. The link ensures that all the data or sensitive information that have been submitted or collected through the web server and the browser will remain private, confidential, and secure. You have to keep in mind that security builds credibility among your website visitors, thus, making your business look more legitimate and trustworthy. It is best that you secure your website by purchasing an SSL certificate from an authorized provider.

Better Google Ranking through Paid Ads

Aside from frequently uploading relevant content on your website, another factor that Google uses to help your website rank is PAID ADS. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) plays a vital role to reach a wider audience, drive more traffic to your website, and can potentially generate leads. The catch is making sure that your ads are relevant to your target audience. Google’s algorithm pushes your ads to users who are more likely to engage with it. Meaning, your ad should target a specific need of your audience so they will really click on it. Make sure you use the right keywords so you also reach the right audience.

Digital User Experience

Is your website user-friendly? Does it take less than a second to load? If yes, then great job on providing users with a good digital experience! Forbes defines ‘digital user experience’ as something that encompasses all aspects of person’s interaction with your website, including behavior, actions taken, perceptions, and satisfaction. However, if you are experiencing high bounce rate because your site is taking too long to load, then there might be a problem with your web host. On average, a user will leave your site if it takes more than 10-20 seconds to load. A good hosting provider will help you beat that time and successfully retain your audience.

Going digital has opened so many opportunities for businesses to reach their full potential. It’s important that you invest in the right marketing tools and strategies to keep your online presence afloat.  Now it’s all up to you. Will you just wait in vain while your competitors surpass you, or will you take the leap and go digital today?

Partner with a reliable digital marketing agency to cater to all your digital requirements. Here at iManila, we provide services that will help your business succeed in the digital world. We offer Web and App Development, Digital Marketing, Hosting Services, and 24/7 Technical Support. For inquiries, visit our Contact Us page or get in touch with our team at (02) 490 0000 or (+63) 917 845 6005.

 

Why Is Client Support Essential in a Hosting Service?

 

Client support, for a fact, is the core of most service-type of business for both B2B and B2C. Its importance is widely adopted and used even with consumer durables. Electronics, vehicles and even gadgets are applying the same principle to keep their product loyalists and earn more clients in the long run.

Hosting service is in any way not an exemption to this kind of business principle. Not all marketers, managers, senior executives, and directors are tech savvy. They all rely on their tech guys too. And in most cases, their tech guys are not round-the-clock ‘bots’ that can check every “bit” lurking in their information system.

There are many errors that clients cannot solve on their own.

One thing is for sure, not every difficulty can be handled well by the client. Even with IT guys around, there are times when things go out of hand and the client may feel that they’re in the dead end in some situation.

Now here are some instances which explicitly show that clients really need client support.

  • When the website’s page loading time is slow like a slug.

This is, in fact, the duty of provider to make sure that things are in the optimal condition for their website to load properly. There are some IT professionals employed by the clients who may opt not to meddle with the server so as not to jeopardize the situation further. And normally, in this kind of situation, providers need to step in to help the client.

  • Mailing difficulties related to the server.

This one is probably the most frequent thing hosting providers like iManila usually deal with daily. There are times when clients fail to monitor email activities of their employees and forgot to remind them to always clear their email trash – or to delete old emails that no longer bear importance. This could congest or bloat their current server space that may lead to some glitches with other software and/or applications hosted on the same server.

  • Hacking incident

There are gateways for hackers to intrude servers and some of those are usually available and vulnerable, to which is no fault of the hosting provider. Though this one may pose a lot of questions and arguments on both sides, hacking remains to be the top issue that needs client support.

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Let’s face it, customer support is one of the criteria that sets a great web hosting provider apart from the lousy ones. And even in the coming years, customer support will remain a vital business aspect that will continue to drive growth for businesses.

iManila is a trusted provider of both reliable hosting services and tech support service that surely covers small and medium businesses IT concerns. Our lines are open 24/7 and our sales executives are available Mondays to Fridays to assist you with your web, IT, and digital marketing queries.

Emails: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

Telephone numbers: (02) 490-0000, 01, 03 or at (02) 959-4807

Mobile number: (+63) 917-8476005

Your Online Brand Starts with a Reliable Hosting Service

 

I heard this a lot from potential clients asking our tech support about our hosting packages. These potential clients are looking for a reliable hosting service provider. However, some of them are not quite knowledgeable. Perfect examples are those who are hesitant to know more about the hosting service they’re inquiring about. Most of them are marketing professionals believing that they need to focus more on growing the brand and creating a solid marketing strategy online. That is why they are passively asking inquiring because they simply need it – or just because they’re asked by their IT peers.

This is usually the pitfalls for some marketing executives. Not being able to understand the parameters and limitations of your hosting server usually lead to disaster.

As we always say, your brand online always starts with a reliable hosting service. And here are the reasons why.

  • Hosting server is your primary business data repository

All the information and files you upload to your website (and the website itself) are all housed inside your server. Whatever happens to your server will definitely happen to your website and your web applications such as your in-house CRM and ERP (if there are any).

Even if there are other factors affecting your website performance, your hosting server also takes a crucial in dictating its performance.

Your server’s specifications have something to do with the efficiency in retrieving data from folders in your server going to your website. Factors such as the bandwidth and processing speed have something to do with the loading time. If you are really uploading large media files such videos, you might need a better and bigger server.

Your business brand online is dependent on the content you upload online. Interactive mediums are usually bandwidth and space-hogging files. Often times, good marketing branding depends on the authenticity and creativity of the content created and uploaded on your online assets. And usually, the most effective content format these days are motion graphics and videos.

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  • Security of your hosting server says a lot about your data’s longevity

This digital age treasures, not just paper bills and bonds, but also data. Whatever we post online about our business, plus the things that we gained from it such as lead list, mailing list database, client lists, and even transaction histories are undeniably valuable business assets that should be protected.

Negligence and complacency can open doorways for hackers to get in and mess up with your valued database.

Find a hosting service provider who can give you security options to keep your peace of mind is the next best step that your company needs to do.

 

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No matter how we try to justify that hosting servers don’t matter that much in online marketing – it will always come back to haunt us just like our past mistakes. A server keeps everything visible online, it is, in fact, the foundation of all online efforts. Undermining it is like claiming to build a tower without a solid foundation.

iManila is a trusted provider of both reliable hosting services and tech support service that surely covers small and medium businesses IT concerns. Our lines are open 24/7 and our sales executives are available Mondays to Fridays to assist you with your web, IT, and digital marketing queries.

Emails: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

Telephone numbers: (02) 490-0000, 01, 03 or at (02) 959-4807

Mobile number: (+63) 917-8476005

Security Questions to Ask Your Hosting Providers

 

Your suppliers and agency partners are also your business partners. At the very least, they should earn your trust. As service providers, your suppliers should think like you, and should value your business they way you do – and your hosting provider is not an exemption in the list.

The truth is, not all hosting providers are made equal, and definitely, not all of them can empathize with you. To make sure you are getting what you exactly need, below are the things you need to ask your hosting provider in terms of your hosting security.

Asking your hosting provider about security feature that will fend-off most malware and virus attack is mandatory. Also, it is in your best interest to ask them about how they handle such events and making sure that your data is protected.

However, as a client, you also need to closely monitor your company email users and their activities, as it will hit your server hard. Usually, malicious files are sent via unscrupulous emails that can sometimes pass through the spam filters. This thing should be dealt with utmost supervision on your end.

Hosting providers that give you support in this case is a plus point. That means that they care for your business.

  • Security Against Digital Attacks

As what we’ve previously mentioned in our former blog entry, hackers work harder to find ways on how to mine important data from various websites that they want to attack. Your server security should work as hard these hackers to safeguard your important business information stored in your database.

But in times, when securities can no longer keep hackers at bay, ask your provider if they have protocols that can help you salvage all files in your database, so as not to hamper your business operations.

It is a plus point if your provider has regular backups of your site to make the impact of the attack bearable for you as a client.

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This may not very a security feature, but this will be helpful for you. A hosting service provider with 24/7 support (either by chat or phone) is a must. The reason is that; perpetrators of malicious activities online are web inhabitants who work round the clock. There are chances that you might get caught in the middle of the night or during the wee hours when most of your IT personnel are off to bed or either out in the office with friends and their families.

The thing is, a 24/7 support feature gives you some sort of insurance that your provider is there to give you support when you need it the most – be it emergency cases of minuscule glitches.

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These are the main things that should be of your concern regarding your business. Other nitty-gritty can be handled by your IT team. If you don’t have one, you can rely on some companies you can provide you consultancy or even the service to keep your IT needs and concern on the check.

iManila is a trusted provider of both reliable hosting services and tech support service that surely covers small and medium businesses IT concerns. Our lines are open 24/7 and our sales executives are available Mondays to Fridays to assist you with your web, IT, and digital marketing queries.

Emails: [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected] / [email protected]

Telephone numbers: (02) 490-0000, 01, 03 or at (02) 959-4807

Mobile number: (+63) 917-8476005

Website Hosting Features You Should Know

 

We have mentioned it many times, and we think, we became very repetitive about it – your hosting service needs tighter security because your primary online presence depends on it.

Imagine your website that took a lifetime to load, or sections of your websites that are vulnerable to attacks and malware – are these the kind of situation that will give you peace of mind? NO, it is not, and it never will. Everything your company owns online is your digital assets. These are the building blocks that you need to mobilize and protect, to keep your digital marketing going.

Now, to kick start your website hosting security feature knowledge, below are the basic web server features you need to be familiar with:

The truth is, your website is potentially under attack 24/7. And as your business flourishes and keeps on growing online, you are becoming an attractive prey to lurking malicious online criminals. With a malware detector feature, you get to secure your website by putting a reliable line of defense against security breaches and attacks.

iManila’s web hosting service provides a malware detector that monitors your website 24/7 for vulnerabilities and attacks. When we say monitors, that means that it screens every aspect of your web presence daily to identify security gaps. It not only checks your website, email, and applications, but also search engine blacklists and spam filters. It doesn’t just monitor; it also notifies your IT personnel about the findings with corresponding fixes to boost your security. That is one less burden on your back, enabling you to focus more on pressing matters concerning your business and the day to day operations.

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Securities are your first line of defenses. But as businesses like yours evolve, so are the hackers. Day by day, these people are working as hard as your online security to find fault and gaps that they can breach. And I mind you, they never stop, and probably they never will.

So iManila is integrating website backup feature to secure the latest backup version of your website. In this way, when your security features couldn’t keep up with these hackers, you can easily restore your website the way it is before the hacking incident.

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You and your company are working round the clock, so should your hosting server. We in iManila understands the worries and pains of businesses like yours – because we are also like you – driven to serve clients and grow as an organization. And all these things in mind will surely stretch you thin.

Important things like your hosting servers should always be secured even if you are not focusing on it all the time. That is why we at iManila has made it easy for businesses to secure the most important data and information in their websites by integrating these security features on our hosting services.

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Need some help? Contact Us right now!

Want some good news? If you do website revamp and transfer your hosting to us, your first year of hosting service is free with these security features.

Sounds good to you? Go ahead and email us at [email protected]