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Intel’s McAfee Acquisition

Wednesday, August 25th, 2010

If you wondered how critical security is to hardware, look no further than last week’s blockbuster acquisitions. Intel acquired McAfee for $7.68 billion just days after HP acquired Fortify Software for an undisclosed amount. Earlier this year, Symantec acquired PGP and IBM acquired BigFix.

Intel’s headline-making McAfee acquisition enables a combination of security software and hardware from one company to ultimately better protect consumers, corporations and governments as billions of devices — and the server and cloud networks that manage them — go online.

“The whirlwind of acquisition activity in the security market signals the need for secure computing solutions,” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager at ServerPronto, a discount dedicated server provider in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “We think the McAfee acquisition will spur continued innovation in dedicated server security through Intel products.”

ServerPronto, and its sister company CloudPronto, has always focused on providing dedicated server customers with a combination of security software and hardware. ServerPronto offers all customers the opportunity to select a managed firewall for only $16.95 a month. A managed firewall offers additional security for your dedicated server and offers 24/7 monitoring of your dedicated server.

A managed firewall is an information security system that is constantly monitored and updated by the company’s computer analysts to abate and repel active threats and unwanted intrusion. ServerPronto also takes responsibility to ensure each dedicated server is patched and updated with current software from companies like Apache, ISC Bind, Sendmail, and Microsoft when the server is delivered to the customer.

“Renée James, Intel senior vice president, and general manager of the group, said hardware-enhanced security will lead to breakthroughs in effectively countering the increasingly sophisticated threats of today and tomorrow,” Diaz said. “I wholeheartedly agree with James, and would add that a layered approach that includes a managed firewall is the optimal way to keep your dedicated server secure.”

About ServerPronto
ServerPronto is part of the ‘Pronto family’ of companies with MailPronto, ColoPronto and CloudPronto which have been leading a low-cost revolution in the hosting industry since 2003. Following in those footsteps, ServerPronto is breaking the price barrier for dedicated hosting in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, lightning fast fiber connections, and 24X7X365 support from a staff with more than 10 years experience building and maintaining servers and computer networks. To learn more, visit http://www.serverpronto.com.

Posted in Dedicated Server Security | 7 Comments »

WikiLeaks Incident Reminds Enterprises About Data Security

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

It’s appalling. That’s the sentiment from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen about the leak of tens of thousands of Afghan war documents that are posted on WikiLeaks. Mullen said the military would do everything possible to avoid leaks like this in the future.

Could the leak of 90,000 U.S. Army and Intelligence documents relating to the war in Afghanistan have been avoided in the first place? Although employees are often to blame for the most prominent security concerns facing businesses today, sometimes data leaks are initiated from the outside. Risk management is imperative for any company storing sensitive data on servers.

“Server security requires a layered approach,” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager at ServerPronto, a discount dedicated server company in Ft. Lauderdale. “It starts with your server provider, but there are also steps you can take to mitigate server data leak risks.”

ServerPronto offers server security with a managed firewall. This offering is an information security system that is constantly monitored and updated by the company’s computer analysts to abate and repel active threats and unwanted intrusion. ServerPronto also takes responsibility to ensure each dedicated server is patched and updated with current software from companies like Apache, ISC Bind, Sendmail, and Microsoft when the server is delivered to the customer.

On the low tech side, Diaz recommends practicing good password hygiene. Hackers love passwords that contain dictionary words because they are easy to crack. Strong passwords are at least eight characters long and use a strategic combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.

“Security issues should be top of mind for any Web site owner. Ultimately a dedicated server is more secure than a shared server,” Diaz said. “And remember, the most secure dedicated server providers don’t maintain access themselves, ensuring that only you have root privileges. ServerPronto offers you reliable, secure and flexible dedicated server packages.”

Tags: Data Security, security, Wikileaks
Posted in Dedicated Server Security | 15 Comments »

ServerPronto Offers Lessons From Facebook Privacy Controversy

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Facebook updated its privacy settings, but some privacy advocates still aren’t convinced that personal information is safe and sound on the leading social networking platform. In fact, the whirlwind of privacy and security controversy around Facebook also has some questioning the wisdom of shared servers.

“Shared servers are kind of like having complete strangers for roommates. Yes, they’re probably trustworthy, but would you leave your wallet on the kitchen table? How about your customers’ credit card numbers?” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager at ServerPronto. “With so much focus on privacy and security, it may be time to migrate from a shared server to a more secure dedicated server.”

Security issues should be top of mind for any Web site owner. Consider this equation: limited access equals greater security. In fact, the most secure dedicated server providers don’t maintain access themselves, ensuring that only the customer has root privileges. On a dedicated server, customers can use the firewall that best meets their needs and configure access policies that are right for them instead of allowing a shared host to make this critical security decision.

With a dedicated server, companies don’t have to worry that another site will slow down or crash their server. Neither do companies have to be concerned about exceeding shared bandwidth allotments and getting slews of bouncebacks on their latest e-mail campaign. In other words, dedicated servers offer greater reliability than their shared server counterparts.

“Your slice of a shared server’s hard disk may be safe — you chose a strong password and disable the applications that might allow a security breach. But did everyone else do the same?” Diaz asks. “A dedicated server can lower your privacy and security risks.”

About ServerPronto

ServerPronto is part of the ‘Pronto family’ of companies with MailPronto, ColoPronto and CloudPronto which have been leading a low-cost revolution in the hosting industry since 2003. Following in those footsteps, ServerPronto is breaking the price barrier for dedicated hosting in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, lightning fast fiber connections, and 24X7X365 support from a staff with more than 10 years experience building and maintaining servers and computer networks. To learn more, visit http://www.serverpronto.com.

Tags: Data Privacy
Posted in Dedicated Server Security | 11 Comments »

ServerPronto Helps Companies Avoid Twitter-Like Outages

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Server reliability has been in the media spotlight recently with outages of blockbuster social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn. As membership on these sites grow, sometimes usage outstrips bandwidth, posing an inconvenience to users.

That inconvenience becomes a full-blown business interruption when your web site is hosted at a company prone to server outages. In May, server management clients at ThePlanet, a dedicated hosting company that runs more than 40,000 servers, saw outages that prevented visitors from accessing their sites.

“Emotions can run high when your e-mail suddenly stops working, your site is offline and you rely on the Internet to generate leads and revenue,” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager at ServerPronto, a leading dedicated server provider in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “ServerPronto has built in redundancies that allow us to offer customers a 100 percent uptime guarantee.”

ServerPronto, the world’s most reliable dedicated server provider, has taken measured steps to avoid outages that cost its customers time and money. ServerPronto offers fault tolerant network devices that link data centers to upstream providers and multiple Tier 1 backbones connected via dynamic routing protocols.

On the power redundancy front, ServerPronto also offers multiple uninterruptable power sources to feed all network attached equipment, along with highly efficient diesel generators to backup commercial power sources. The world’s most reliable dedicated server provider also employs 24×7 monitoring for network performance and availability.

“Even if you are already using a competing dedicated server host you are happy with, it’s a good idea to partner with ServerPronto so you have redundancy,” Diaz said. “Our dedicated server prices are so affordable — and our hosting service is so reliable — that most businesses can afford to use our servers as backup without blowing their IT budget. One major outage could make you wish you had.”

About ServerPronto
ServerPronto is part of the ‘Pronto family’ of companies with MailPronto, ColoPronto and CloudPronto, which have been leading a low-cost revolution in the hosting industry since 2003. Following in those footsteps, ServerPronto is breaking the price barrier for dedicated hosting in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, lightning fast fiber connections, and 24X7X365 support from a staff with more than 10 years experience building and maintaining servers and computer networks.

Posted in Dedicated Server Operating Systems, Dedicated Server Security | 10 Comments »

Get Two Months of Free Dedicated Hosting with Spring Migration Promo

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

With spring less than a week away, it’s time to do some spring-cleaning on the technology front — and that could mean migrating to a more affordable, more reliable dedicated server provider.

Migrating a dedicated server, hosting service or virtual private server from one provider to another isn’t rocket science — but it does take time. We are now giving new customers time to migrate — at their own pace — with this Spring Migration Promotion. Customers migrating from a competing provider receive two months of free service with a six-month commitment when they choose quarterly billing with the promo code SPDB100303.

“Some of the biggest reasons people don’t migrate a dedicated server is because they dread the pressure of configuring a new server, switching DNS records, and moving all the data quickly,” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager for ServerPronto, a leading dedicated server provider in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “ServerPronto’s Spring Migration Promotion lets you take your time.”

There are many reasons to migrate. Dedicated server providers may pull critical features or discontinue the support of operating systems companies rely on. It could be that downtime becomes an issue, customer support is poor, or hardware fails too often. Or perhaps the dedicated server provider doesn’t offer enough flexibility or scalability for growing companies.

We continue to optimize our products and services, and offers safeguards such as a 60-minute hardware replacement policy, a 100 percent uptime guarantee, and best of breed, performance-oriented dedicated server hardware mounted in a world-class, temperature-controlled data center.

“Migrating a dedicated server doesn’t have to be a stressful experience,” Diaz said. “ServerPronto makes it easy to migrate with free set-up and two-hour activation on customized dedicated server packages — and our Spring Migration Promotion gives you two months of free service so you can migrate at a speed that’s comfortable for your schedule.”

About ServerPronto

ServerPronto is part of the ‘Pronto family’ of companies with MailPronto and ColoPronto which have been leading a low-cost revolution in the hosting industry since 2003. Following in those footsteps, ServerPronto is breaking the price barrier for dedicated hosting in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, lightning fast fiber connections, and 24X7X365 support from a staff with more than 10 years experience building and maintaining servers and computer networks.

Posted in Dedicated Server Basics, Dedicated Server Best Practices, Dedicated Server Operating Systems, Dedicated Server Pricing, Dedicated Server Security, Getting Started with Dedicated Servers | No Comments »

ServerPronto Rolls Out New Dedicated Server Packages

Monday, March 29th, 2010

A recent HP study reveals that 80 percent of senior business decision makers recognize a need for greater flexibility in their approach to business and technology. Our new dedicated server packages are designed with flexibility — and scalability — in mind.

We had reconfigured our dedicated server packages to meet the evolving needs of the marketplace, adding more RAM and HDD capacity across the board. Our new packages give businesses more powerful dedicated servers — without more cost.

“Hardware trends in the dedicated server sector are constantly evolving,” said Octavio Diaz, Operations Manager at ServerPronto. “From virtualization to cloud computing and beyond, ServerPronto gives you access to latest server technologies with prices you can afford and reliability you can trust.”

Our upgraded offerings allow businesses to grow in unpredictable times with new flexible dedicated server packages, including the Power package and the Pro Storage package. The Power package includes 2GB of DDR2 RAM, 2500 GB of bandwidth, and has been upgraded to 500GB SATA for only $77.95 a month.

The Pro Storage package offers 4GB of DDR2 RAM, 4000 GB of bandwidth and has been upgraded to 4TB HDD for only $222.95 a month. We also offers businesses the ability to custom configure dedicated servers with a wide selection of operating systems, control panels and other options.

“Our new packages give you the flexibility to easily scale to the growing demands of your growing business,” Diaz said. “Existing customers are always eligible to upgrade to a new package, free of charge. New customers can benefit from free set up when they choose quarterly billing on any of our new dedicated server packages.”

In addition to these upgraded packages, We will soon roll out CloudPronto, for customers who want instant scalability, redundancy power and performance.

About Us
ServerPronto is part of the ‘Pronto family’ of companies with MailPronto, ColoPronto and CloudPronto which have been leading a low-cost revolution in the hosting industry since 2003. Following in those footsteps, ServerPronto is breaking the price barrier for dedicated hosting in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, lightning fast fiber connections, and 24X7X365 support from a staff with more than 10 years experience building and maintaining servers and computer networks. To learn more, visit http://www.serverpronto.com.

Basic Tips for Better Linux Security

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

With more Linux options that any other dedicated host, ServerPronto receives lots of questions regarding best practices for Linux security. Below are 9 basic tips to help you keep your server a bit more secure than the standard install. These were written for the Red Hat edition specifically, but the concepts are similar across most linux platforms.

Change the port ssh listens on.
Edit the ssh configuration file.
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Locate the line “Port 22”.
Comment out this line by adding a “#” before it. (Good practice when modifying any file)
Insert a new line below it “Port ####” (Replace #### with a number between 1024 and 65535).
Save the file with “ctrl+o” and exit the editor with “ctrl+x”.
#### is the port sshd will listen on after the next restart of sshd.

Restrict ssh access to accounts which are not root.
Edit the ssh configuration file.
nano /etc/ssh/sshd_config
Locate the line “PermitRootLogin yes”.
Comment out this line by adding a “#” before it. (Good practice when modifying any file)
Insert a new line below it “PermitRootLogin no”.
Save the file with “ctrl+o” and exit the editor with “ctrl+x”.

Create alternate user account.
Use the adduser command to create a new user with ssh access.
“adduser –G wheel ?????” (Replace ????? with a username 5 or more characters long).
Set the password for the user.
“passwd ?????” follow prompts to set the password.

Open new ssh port in the firewall.
Edit the iptables configuration file.
nano /etc/sysconfig/iptables
Locate the line which contains “–dport 22”.
Comment out this line by adding a “#” before it. (Good practice when modifying any file)
Insert a new line below it exactly the same except replace “22” with the number you replaced #### with.
Save the file with “ctrl+o” and exit the editor with “ctrl+x”.

Make new user accounts easier to use.
Import a functional profile for all users with ssh access.
Create a file “nano /etc/environment-common”
Add the text “${EXPORT}PATH${EQ}/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/usr/local/bin:” to the new file without the “s.
Save the file with “ctrl+o” and exit the editor with “ctrl+x”.
Open the profile file “nano /etc/profile”
Add the text “EQ=’=’ EXPORT=”export ” . /etc/environment-common” at the end of the file.
Save the file with “ctrl+o” and exit the editor with “ctrl+x”.

Test user account.
Using your ssh client open a new connection to the server on port 22.
Login with the user you created.
Check super user access by typing “su” and entering the root password for the server.
Type “exit” twice to logoff of this test session.

Restart changed services.
“/etc/init.d/sshd restart”
“/etc/init.d/iptables restart”

Test new settings.
Using your ssh client open a new connection to the server on port ####.
Login with the user you created.
Check super user access by typing “su” and entering the root password for the server.
Switch to the original session logged on as root.
Type “exit” to logoff of this session.

Optional sudo (Super user) settings.
Use “visudo” to remove the comment from the line “%wheel ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD: ALL”
Type “:wq” to save and exit this program.

Other helpful tips.

Ensure all password meet strong password requirements.
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/passwords/checker.aspx
Never disable the software firewall.
Change user account passwords on receipt of server details.
Do not run a mail server daemon unless you intend to configure it for internal use.
Disable all daemons and software packages you do not intend to use.

Tags: Linux, linux security, security
Posted in Dedicated Server Security | 2 Comments »

Novell Launches Subscription Managment Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

Novell released SUS Linux Enterprise 10 Service Pack 2 (SP2). The service pack offers contaienhancements in virtualization, management, hardware enablement and interoperability.

“This service pack for SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 has something for almost everyone – customers, partners and developers,” says Holger Dyroff, vice president of outbound product management for SUSE Linux Enterprise at Novell. “The benefits of Linux in the enterprise are becoming well known, and Novell’s focus is on continuing to simplify the customer’s experience, always with an eye to reducing costs. Reliability, security and interoperability don’t need to break the bank. That’s the ongoing value Novell provides with SUSE Linux Enterprise.”
Novell also unveiled the Subscription Management Tool for SUSE Linux Enterprise, designed to help customers better manage their SUSE Linux Enterprise software updates.

The Subscription Management Tool (SMT) for SUSE Linux Enterprise aims to help customers manage their SUSE Linux Enterprise software updates while maintaining corporate firewall policy and regulatory compliance requirements. SMT is a package proxy system that is integrated with the Novell Customer Center and provides Novell Customer Center capabilities locally at the customer site. It provides, for example, a repository and registration target that is synchronized with the Novell Customer Center, thus maintaining all the capabilities of the Novell Customer Center while allowing a more secure centralized deployment.

SMT also allows customers to distribute updates for all SUSE Linux Enterprise devices (server, desktop or point-of-service terminal) that are running Service Pack 2 or subsequent releases. By downloading these updates only once and distributing them throughout the enterprise, Novell says, customers can set more restrictive firewall policies and, where applicable, avoid significant network usage stemming from repeated downloads of the same updates by each device. SMT is fully supported and available as a download to customers with an active SUSE Linux Enterprise product subscription.

The staff at ServerPronto are server experts with over 10 years of building and maintaining servers and computer networks. ServerPronto offers fast, reliable servers with everything you need to operate on the Internet. All Server Pronto servers are housed in secured and reinforced Data Centers with redundant power, and lightning fast fiber connections, as well as 24×7x365 support. Our support center runs 24/7/365 with live operator support. Our Network Operations Center is monitored 24/7. Our team is absolutely committed to your success and satisfaction. Click here to learn more.

Posted in Dedicated Server Basics, Dedicated Server Security | 2 Comments »

Red Hat Beefs Up Linux; Launches New Blog

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

Red Hat released the second update to Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5. As with earlier minor releases, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 comes with a broad set of bug fixes, updated hardware support capabilities, quality improvements, and a set of new software features that have been backported from upstream open source projects to the Enterprise Linux 5 code base.

Specifically, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2 enhancements are primarily focused in six areas:

Virtualization
Laptop and Desktop improvements
Encryption and Security
Cluster & Storage Enhancements
Networking & IPv6 Enablement
Servicability

“Of course, we don’t normally make a big deal about the release of a minor version, but for this update we’ve decided to go wild and issue a pair of blogs,” the company said. “In this one we will talk about the new features and capabilities on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5.2. In the other we will highlight something that we are proud of and applies to all Red Hat Enterprise Linux releases, our software maintenance and lifecycle policies.”

Sounds like Red Hat is pretty serious. Is this the version that truly takes the competition to task?

ServerPronto offers the world’s most affordable Linux dedicated severs. Linux is available on all of our dedicated hosting packages with prices ranging from $29.95 a month to $249.95 a month. Options include Red Hat, Fedora Core, Debian, SuSE, Gentoo, and CentOS. Click here to learn more.

Posted in Dedicated Server Pricing, Dedicated Server Security, Getting Started with Dedicated Servers | No Comments »

What You Need to Know About SQL Server Hosting

Monday, May 12th, 2008

Before you jump into SQL Server Hosting, there’s at least a few things you need to know. This is arguably one of the most sensitive parts of your business, and you need a dedicated server that’s secure, stable and reliable.

It all begins with security. You’ll need the right host to ensure your SQL server is secure. But don’t fall victim to the myth that shared hosting is just as secure as dedicated hosting or you could be in for a rude awakening. Dedicated servers are far more secure because you alone have access to it. Shared servers, by contrast, are shared among many users, as it name suggests.

Stability is also vital to your SQL server hosting needs. Imagine a dedicated server host that couldn’t offer an uptime guarantee. That could leave your web operation in the dark, quite literally, when it comes to your database needs. You need to look for a dedicated server host that offers 99.999 uptime guarantee. With low prices available on the market today, you don’t have to sacrifice quality or performance to enjoy your own dedicated SQL server.

Of course, reliable is also critical when it comes to SQL servers. Dedicated servers are more reliable than shared servers, and the overall performance is superior. If you want to avoid calls in the middle of the night from harried I.T. administrators, your best choice is a dedicated server with a proven track record.

Look for a dedicated server host with Microsoft certification and other strategic partners that demonstrate the company has credibility. And don’t hesitate to ask questions or even seek referrals. If you are dealing with a reputable company for your SQL server hosting needs, questions and referrals shouldn’t be a problem.

ServerPronto offers quality, performance, reliability, security, stability and more for businesses interested in SQL server hosting on a discount dedicated server. Click here to learn more about the ServerPro advantage.

Posted in Dedicated Server Security | No Comments »

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