Monitor traffic and protect your servers - the firewall

When dedicated server setups are running a critical task and serving your businesses online presence, its important to remember to take precautions just as you would in every day life…

Protecting yourself in a dangerous environment is human instinct, protecting your servers over the Internet requires a smart person to apply the correct level of protection to the amount your online presence is valued. If it’s a small shared hosting package or a large enterprise level clustered server setup you have, you are vulnerable to the internets nasty attacks and intrusions.

Luckily CWCS Managed Hosting has the ideal network infrastructure to eliminate such intrusions way before any potential problems could ever reach your server. With a complex network setup and strict firewall rules, you can rest assure general attacks will be excluded with constant monitoring of the networks traffic.

Larger multiple dedicated server setups and colocation often requires a very strict and custom set of firewall rules, which can be changed and configured on a regular basis. The Internet is changing all the time and network traffic is getting bigger with more advanced attacks and exploits out there. For the extra assurance and full control over the firewall gateway we recommend investing in your own dedicated hardware firewall.

CWCS Managed Hosting always offers the right hardware suitable for your setup, its important to have the right level of security protecting your servers and equipment. Our firewalls are manufactured by Cisco, which offer production level hardware suitable for data centre environments. The cost is kept to the minimum we are able to offer and support for the firewall is included.

How the firewall works?

In a nutshell, the firewall basically filters traffic by separating the good and bad requests. It can be used to separate a public network such as the Internet from a much smaller private network. It also is used to divide different segments of a large network; acting like a fire door in a practical real life situation you can imagine why this device was given the name ‘firewall’.

Different types of firewalls are available including software firewalls, to find out what is required to protect your business. Contact one of our sales advisors who will happily look into what you have and what we can offer to give you the security you need over your equipment.

Tel: 0845 203 1000
Web: http://www.cwcs.co.uk

Cheap does not always mean cheap with web hosting

Finances are tight for everyone, so when a web host offers cheap dedicated server packages it is very tempting to jump at the opportunity. If you are shopping around for a dedicated server you will know the advantages that it brings. The exclusivity of not sharing a server, the greater bandwidth, better storage and memory as well as customisation options. A dedicated server logically is more pricy that a shared server package.

It is thus in your own interest to make sure of exactly what is included in your quote for dedicated server costs. It is too late once you get the first bill and find out you were charged more than you were expecting.

Uncover hidden costs

It is your responsibility to thoroughly go through the terms of service to make sure what the web hosting package includes. This means checking on hardware, licence fees, software included as well as the fees for the management of the control panels. Make sure of the details whether you are signing up for a managed dedicated server package or not. Not everyone is aware of the differences between fully managed and partly managed dedicated servers.

Then there are also options for self managed and unmanaged dedicated server packages. It is top priority to educate yourself on exactly what these different packages entail. It is in the best interests of your business to not go simply with cheap and end up with inadequate services.

It is far more economical most of the time to take an average priced dedicated server package. The price is not the deciding factor; the quality of service and benefit outweigh the actual monthly costs, which is why at CWCS, we pride ourselves on superb customer service and the quality of our web hosting.

Web hosting on a budget

It is not easy to choose a web hosting company, no matter the size of your business. There are a huge number of companies offering web hosting packages. What makes it so difficult to choose amongst all the web hosting companies, is that you need one that meets your needs.

So when it comes to choosing budget web hosting, there are specifics that must be verified to make sure that all is above board and that the company is reliable. To do this you need to compare the services and prices of several companies before you make a decision.

Do your homework

First of all evaluate the web hosting company by viewing their websites to see if everything looks above board and that they appear professional and most importantly, what contact options they give. It is very important that the company has a support number. Check to see if the company openly offers good guarantees as we do here at CWCS. If they do not, walk away.

Then check on the percentage uptime they guarantee and calculate the downtime over a year. A business cannot run at an optimum level with too many down hours per month. It is most important to check what type of after sales support the company offers. What are the resources they offer and what type of marketing tools do they make available to their clients?

If they cannot offer you top service, good quality and several features, you should look elsewhere for budget web hosting. CWCS offer all of this and more so check out our web hosting packages to find the one which suits your needs best.

Quality assurance with managed hosting

To get your website onto the internet you need web hosting services. There are many different options for web hosting services and a myriad of different packages to choose from. This means when choosing a service and package you should have knowledge of what your chosen option means to you and your business.

When considering managed hosting, what are the benefits and what makes this a good option? Managed web hosting means you leave the management of the server in the hands of the web hosting company, such as CWCS. This can be a good idea when the website owner has limited technical knowledge. The reason why managed hosting takes control is to assure quality of service. The user manages his data through tools such as FTP remotely.

All-round benefits

The quality through managed web hosting and having minimal control comes with stopping any user from modifying the server. This prevents huge problems later that could have impact on the business of the client using managed hosting. The benefits of managed hosting are many. Managed hosting is cost effective to use. Users do not have additional costs as the software and equipment used is provided by the web hosting company.

Managed hosting is normally an option offered with a dedicated server package. That in itself holds great benefits with increased bandwidth. Managed web hosting offers increased security, an uninterrupted power supply and information backup features. These benefits are critical in the smooth running of any business, which makes managed hosting the logical option.

Dedication or sharing?

When you are looking for a web hosting company to support your website and the online aspects of your business you will be confronted with an entire sea of choices. Not only will you have to choose the right web hosting company for your needs. You will be facing the decision between using a shared or dedicated server as well. The decision between a shared and a dedicated server is a fundamental choice that will seriously impact your business.

Dedication may be best

Web hosting services utilising shared servers have some drawbacks and can only really service smaller websites with limited web traffic. For larger companies a dedicated server is the best option. It may be a little more costly than shared server but it will save you money in the longer run. A dedicated server offers you the use of an entire server all to yourself. You get to use a server privately and have far fewer worries with a dedicated server.

You do not have to worry about other websites causing your website to suffer downtimes. You need not worry about malicious scripts from other websites affecting your own website and causing problems for you. You will have much faster website response times with a dedicated server.

You are not sharing it so there are no other websites draining your server and slowing you down. You can get a larger monthly bandwidth allowance. This means that you don’t sit with an inaccessible and dead website half way through the month. You can also opt for CWCS managed hosting with a dedicated server. This is where CWCS will take over the maintenance, technical aspects and administration of your server for you.

Simplify your life with managed hosting

Managed hosting can truly make life easier for people who need it. With managed web hosting you get the technical services as well as the administration of your server taken care of for you.

You will also be offered services such as the maintenance of your hardware to provide optimum uptime. Your host will provide networking testing and management, security, maintenance of the system and software installation.

If you run into problems, they will be taken care of. All of this takes a huge weight and an enormous responsibility off of your shoulders. This allows you to get on with your business, knowing that managed hosting is taking care of your server and web worries.

Choosing a managing host

Managed hosting can come with a dedicated server which although more costly, gives you many more features than shared hosting. So it is imperative that you make the right decision from the get go. You need to make sure that the web hosting company, such as CWCS, can meet and even surpass your needs. You need to know that you have the freedom to hand over the reins and your business will be prosper.

You also need to know that the managed hosting on offer can cope with your business needs and offers room for further growth as you progress. You need to look into the service history of your prospective managed hosting. Look for reviews and complaints.

Take all the good and the bad into consideration and then make a decision based on facts. Making the right decision now will help to see your company prosper so take a look now at what CWCS web hosting can offer you.

Know your own web hosting needs

Starting a new business could mean you are not yet really internet savvy. Remember that everyone had to start somewhere and learn, nobody automatically knew all the answers. This means that you will need to use a web hosting company that you can trust - and one that keeps its promises, which is why CWCS are a great place to start.

To help you understand your own needs for web hosting, you need to know the basics. The typical small website normally takes between 10 to 100 MB. Most businesses start out small with the intentions of growing and developing so look at our CWCS web hosting packages that have generous web space. The important thing is to know what your needs are before you start looking at the best packages.

The basics

Find out on average how much bandwidth you will need. This can vary hugely between different types of websites. Check on the amount of bandwidth offered with your package and what the charges will be when you exceed the limit. Another factor to check into is the connection speed. CWCS offer a range of packages with different features so you can have what you need with the minimum of fuss and expense.

You will have customers that do not all use the same manner of connection. Not everyone has access to the most modern technology. Some people still have to connect with a 56K modem.

Make sure that your web hosting company offers a high quality of customer service, as CWCS do, to ensure that you can always contact them if needed and any issues are resolved quickly.