Archive for Microsoft
The Resurgence of Apache
Posted by: | CommentsEvolution occurs at such a lightning-fast pace on the World Wide Web that almost nothing maintains dominance for very long. Things like Google as a search engine and Flash as a primary video streaming service are the exception rather than the rule. Even then, Flash just took a severe body blow, as support for it is suddenly being abandoned in the wake of HTML 5′s emergence.
To have any sort of dominance on the World Wide Web for just a year or two is amazing. That is what makes the run that the Apache Web Server has had all the more breathtaking. They first hit the top spot in web server technology in early 1996. They haven’t given it up since.
They did come close recently, though. Microsoft finally took their gloves off and put real effort into their web server technology. This resulted in a surge in Microsoft web hosting that, at its peak, gave it a third of all web hosting serve technologies in 2008, just a step behind Apache.
So close, yet…
That surge ran out of fuel, though. By the time of its November 2011 web server survey, Netcraft showed that Apache’s share of web server software was back up to a dominant 65% of all web sites. Microsoft had fallen back down to just over 15%, and even Google so far is stuck in low also-ran single digits. Relative newcomer nginx was third with about 8%.
So why is this dominance so pervasive? What is it about the Apache web server that gives it such an unshakable place in the web hosting world? Is there any indication that this will change any time soon?
The flexibility of modules – especially open source modules
Through the use of modules, which are essentially plugins to the Apache web server, the web host is able to configure Apache to their specifications. These modules allow smooth cooperation with other applications, including other web hosting software packages. Several dozen modules have been released by the Apache Software Foundation, and several dozen more have been developed independently.
This hints at the thing that gives these modules that bit of extra power: Apache is open-source. This leads to the usual benefits that attend all open-source packages: individual flexibility, expansiveness of user support, rapid development and bug tracking and fixing, high efficiency, and so forth.
High portability
Another benefit to Apache’s open source nature is that it has been developed for a wide variety of operating systems. Naturally it works on just about every major UNIX and Linux variant. But it has also been ported over to Windows, Mac OS, AmigaOS, OS/2, and a few others that you’ve probably never even heard of. This alone should make it clear why, until they change their philosophy, Windows Server 2008 and whatever variants follow won’t even have a prayer at competing. It is even available in 10 spoken languages.
Other advantages
- Cost: We could have probably put this into the list of open-source advantages above, but it deserves reiteration in its own right. In addition to all of the obvious advantages that this entails, consider this also: this makes the barrier to entry so low that anyone so dedicated can run a web hosting service from their basement (Indeed, a lot of people do. Well, some of them probably use other rooms as well).
- Specific features: There are a few nicely built-in advantages to the Apache web server that only adds to the above list. Load balancing is one, which is why most Apache web hosts guarantee such high uptime percentages. Virtual hosts, meaning the ability to create subdomain.domain.com, is another, and a very popular one.
- Security: Again, this almost goes without saying. It bears asking though: 20 years into the World Wide Web, how many major Apache security incidents can you name? Can anyone name any at all? With some software packages and operating systems all but assuming that break-ins will happen, this is no mean feat.
What are the competitors up to?
All of this said, all empires eventually end. One can certainly not expect either Microsoft or Google to just roll over and play dead. So what are they doing instead?
Microsoft released this year Windows Home Server 2011, the latest in its own attempts to bring web hosting server technologies to home PCs (reference the basement web host above). Unfortunately, they shot themselves in the foot right from the start. Microsoft’s Home Server technology, starting from 2007, had included a feature called “Drive Extender”. This enabled a few key server abilities, namely multi-disk redundancy, a single folder name space, and the ability to extend storage to any type of hard disk in any combination.
Thus, it was with astonished incredulity from its user base that Microsoft suddenly removed this service, as it was considered one of the server’s main selling points. The outcry resulted in Microsoft promising to utilize RAID technology instead. This, however, has not much placated the masses, and third parties have worked to fill the vacuum. In short: don’t look to Microsoft’s fortunes in this area turning around any time soon.
And the others?
Google, to put it shortly, doesn’t look yet to be really putting that much effort into this yet. Their focus seems to be using web server technology to serve its own needs. Granted, these needs are growing with leaps and bounds, but it doesn’t look to be that of all-purpose web hosting anytime soon.
Nginx is the more interesting case. Most of its market share has been achieved in the last 3 years. There are specific reasons for this. nginx can support up to 10,000 simultaneous connections and MP4 streaming.
A hardening monopoly
Nginx has still not yet achieved the broad respect that Apache has. Then again, it itself is an Apache fork, meaning that most of the former’s advantages are already built into it. Though that being the case, some would say there’s no point really considering it a “competitor” so much. Combined, these two own ¾ of the market share, and growing.
In short, as amazing as it may seem, it appears that one of the main parameters of what makes the World Wide Web function, the underlying web hosting technology, is something that is not only not going to change anytime soon but, unless some really meteor of a competitor comes in out of nowhere, is going to solidify even harder. In a world where technologies change on an almost hourly basis, this is an astounding statement.
Related posts:
SharePoint’s Affect on Information Management
Posted by: | CommentsFor many years content management systems have faced the challenge of a lack of discipline with regards to users effectively controlling the scope of the effort. It is easy to take advantage of any product immediately released. However, the launch of Microsoft SharePoint may be able to properly scope company initiatives.
Although SharePoint will not solve all of a firm’s problems because it is only a resource, the content management system has enough features that can provide increased business value over the previous method. On the other hand, many established vendors have additional features that Microsoft must compete with.
On that note, is primarily used for file sharing and the distribution of information across many departments. Due to its popularity, the system has grown and become extremely critical for many groups within an organization. In its simplest form, SharePoint is a transparent records management system that archives data from today, last week or a year ago. Many other content management systems offer the same task with plenty of other features.
However, where SharePoint shines is that the system is an excellent starting point for any initiative. Although it can be replaced by a more feature rich system, the platform answers the true needs of its users. For instance, there are several advantages to the system including:
- Records management
- Process automation
- Invoice processing
In many organizations records management is a priority. Therefore, Microsoft SharePoint was designed to enhance the existing architecture of any system without the user being aware of the change. Users can create, delete, edit and perform many tasks common to records management.
Also, when developing the system, Microsoft determined that many processes needed to be automated. Therefore, a simple analysis determined that 87 percent of processes can be implemented into SharePoint with minimal effort. The remaining processes only impact a small amount of the work force.
At any organization, there are thousands of invoices processed every year. Therefore, procurement departments can easily manage all of them within the SharePoint environment. Therefore, the system can managed these documents regardless of size, file type and fax type. As a result, organizations do not need to purchase a separate software license for a program to manage the files and integrate them into SharePoint.
Microsoft SharePoint has been an extremely successful content management system that has been implemented into many major organizations across the globe. Although it may not have many of the other features found in its competitors, the system relies on simplicity for the average user.
Related posts:
Top 5 Cloud Storage Service Providers
Posted by: | CommentsThere continues to be a growing demand for cloud computing services, especially among small business owners seeking reliable hosting services. With the plethora of cloud providers currently available, for many entrepreneurs looking for a reputable service it’s difficult to choose the best cloud host to accommodate hosting needs. There are five cloud hosting providers, however, leading the industry when it comes to delivering quality hard drives in the cloud on a tight budget.
Amazon Web Services
Despite Amazon’s recent outage, the company continues to offer attractive cloud storage features tailored for small businesses. Amazon is a top choice for small business ventures because customers are not required to purchase hardware. Instead, users pay a small fee each month to access Amazon’s infrastructure in a cloud computing environment. Customers have the ability to order computing services and storage on an as-needed basis to meet individual hosting needs. Amazon places computing power in the control of the customers as they can add or remove processing power and storage space in real time as well as delivering several layers of security to protect valuable data. Amazon is a great pay-as-you-grow cloud hosting option.
Office 365
Microsoft just recently threw its proverbial hat into the cloud ring introducing Office 365. Small business owners opting for Office 365 have access to all of MS Office’s applications without the need to install the actual software on computers or servers. Users are granted access to documents, contacts, e-mail, and calendars to devices connected to the Internet. Office 365 is available for a very affordable $6 per month. It’s best suited for small businesses employing less than 25 employees and don’t have an IT employee on staff. In addition to the 25 GB mailbox, users benefit from the ability to edit documents and spreadsheets simultaneously. Additionally, users have access to PC-to-PC audio, instant messaging, and video calls.
Google Apps
Google also offers cloud storage services designed for small business owners. Google is a bit more established than Microsoft, offering cloud apps now for over a year. Google’s cloud services are very similar to Microsoft’s cloud plan. Users are granted customized e-mail addresses, calendar, mobile e-mail, IM access, Google Sites, Google Docs, spam filtering, 24/7 customer support and 99.9% guaranteed uptime. Google’s cloud services are available for an affordable $5 per month.
Apple’s iCloud
Although not currently available as Apple is scheduled to unveil iCloud in Fall 2011. Apple’s iCloud is best described as “an online hard drive on steroids”. iCloud will offer users a vast array of features such as storing music, photos, apps, documents and other data online. Additionally, it will deliver services wireless to laptops, iPad, or smartphones. Similar to Microsoft and Google, iCloud will grant access to e-mails, calendars, and contacts as well as allowing multiple users to edit documents simultaneously.
Dropbox.com
Finally, a newcomer to the cloud industry, Dropbox is a cloud storage service provider to watch. Dropbox allows users to store important files on the provider’s secure website, easily accessible via Windows, Linux, Mac, iPad, Android/BlackBerry phones, and iPhone. Other attractive features include the fact the service is free for 2 GB of storage space, $9.99/month for 50 GB of storage, and $19.99/month for 100 GB of storage. Dropbox also works without the need to be connected to the Internet. Furthermore, users can opt to transfer part of a huge file or manually set bandwidth limits to prevent crashing servers. Like the previous providers, users can also work simultaneously on documents.
Web hosting news and updates delivered to your Twitter — follow WebHostGeeks!
Related posts:
Government Decides to Move Email to Microsoft Exchange
Posted by: | CommentsThe San Francisco county government recently announced that it has decided to move all email to the Microsoft Exchange Online which is a cloud-based system. This will be a major upgrade to the current systems. Unfortunately during the week of May 9th, 2011, Microsoft Exchange Online fell victim to three outages that significantly affected business email customers across the network.
Government Employees Affected by the Migration
As per the press release from the San Francisco government, over 23,000 employees from 60 departments will benefit from the email migration. Since the governmental community is large and diverse, this investment in information technology has many advantages including decreasing costs and improving productivity. Although Microsoft has already begun the transition, the total migration will occur over 12 months.
Collaborative Tools
Microsoft Exchange Online delivers an improvement in collaborative and communicative tools such as calendar and email functions in addition to hosted archiving of emails. The city and county government of San Francisco continues to think toward the future and has always leveraged technology to improve all services. This is another example of a highly beneficial upgrade.
Microsoft’s Statement
The Vice President of US State and Local Government at Microsoft followed-up with a statement highlighting the company’s excitement support San Francisco government employees with the tools necessary to be efficient. Further, this transition will help government employees better serve the San Francisco community.
Benefits of Microsoft Exchange Online
Microsoft was selected due to many factors with the most critical being price. Also, security, functionality and flexibility were concerns, especially with the number of attacks recently hitting major networks. Furthermore, Microsoft boasts a proven track-record of success, features SLA-backed service and can easily integrate with existing infrastructure to minimize downtime.
Migrations from Other Departments
The San Francisco government is not the first area of the government to make the change to cloud-based email system. Several months ago the United States Department of Agriculture began the migration process to Microsoft Exchange. They have seen a major improvement in the email systems.
If this benefits the taxpayers of San Francisco and California in general, it is an excellent move by the local government. As necessity continues to grow across the country; local, state and federal government divisions will require a secure, more robust systematic infrastructure to operate efficiently. San Francisco is one of few to take the first step and move in that direction.
Related articles:
The Age Old Question: Linux vs Windows Hosting: Which is the Best?
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the most difficult problems with choosing a hosting company is making the decision to either use a Windows based server or a Linux based server. While there are a number of choices out there, Windows and Linux make up the majority of all the servers on the internet. Most of the sources you’ll find on the topic are very opinion based, thus making them not very helpful. This article will seek to keep a direct, factual based approach to both platforms.
Open vs Closed
Microsoft owns and develops all of the windows operating systems. This means that this source is only updated by Microsoft. That is one of the primary differences between Windows and Linux. Linux, however, is completely open sourced and generally speaking free. This means for a hosting company it’s generally more expensive for the licenses to run Windows machines. This is why you typically see a bit of disparity between the prices of Windows and Linux machines.
All PCs Need Windows
A bad assumption by some new web developers is that if the target audience runs Windows then the server mush run windows as well. This is far from the truth. In fact, the client will never know which server you’re running. As a web developer however, there will be stark differences in the way each system runs and operates. Some may find that Linux is a little too complicated and stick with Windows instead. This is a valid argument.
Reliability is a Myth
One argument against Windows is its reliability over Linux. The main reason Windows gets a bad reputation is the sheer number of users on Windows makes the operating system a natural target for hackers. However, Linux is the most common server platform and has just as many attacks made on it. The bottom line is the security of the server is solely based on the performance of its administrator.
Server Side Code
The primary thing to consider here is what do you want to do with your hosting? It really depends on what kind of site or platform you want to use. Microsoft has a ton of plug in style systems like ASP.Net, Access, Windows Streaming Media and MSSQL that can help with the development of a site. Linux has all of these functions as well, but they are usually expensive and a little less on the features that their Microsoft brothers.
Choosing your server platform really is just a matter of preference. Choose what you’re comfortable with operating as well as what you’re comfortable with building sites in. Everything else is just a mild foot note.
An Overview of Windows Exchange Hosting
Posted by: | CommentsMicrosoft Exchange Server is a powerful enterprise level software that is used to secure business communications, facilitate business management, and mediate online collaborations. This software is utilized by thousands of successful businesses every day, primarily because of its ability to simplify corporate communication and enhance overall productivity. Windows exchange hosting is a type of hosting service that includes Microsoft Exchange Server preinstalled on the web server, ready to be used for no additional cost. Microsoft Exchange hosting is ideal for online business owners that would like to take advantage of Microsoft Exchange Server, without having to invest $1000 on the software. The following information reviews the basics and benefits of Windows Exchange hosting.
Main Features of the Windows Exchange Hosting
The primary focus of the Windows Exchange hosting plan is to provide access to a fully functional copy of Windows Exchange Server, as well as the server resources the software needs to function optimally. Windows Exchange hosting providers offer comprehensive support related to the use of software, administrative server management assistance, and enough bandwidth and disk space to facilitate the creation, storage, and transmission of large amounts of data. With a Windows Exchange hosting solution you’ll be able to start utilizing Windows Exchange Server from day one, without having to pay an Internet technology specialist or tutor to teach you how to use it. In fact, many Windows Exchange hosting services include detailed tutorials and instructions for using the software.
The Cost-Saving Benefits of Windows Exchange Hosting
If you were to set up a Windows Exchange hosting solution yourself you would need to make several significant investments, both monetarily and temporally. First, you have to purchase a license of Microsoft Exchange Server, and install it on your Web server. In order to install such software, you would need to have access to a dedicated or virtual private server hosting solution, both of which are just as expensive, if not more expensive than a Microsoft exchange hosting service. On average, Microsoft exchange hosting providers offer services for about $10 per month per mailbox. Thus, you would have to have more than 200 employees to warrant investing the money for a private Web server and a license of Microsoft Windows exchange.
The Reliability of Windows Exchange Hosting
By choosing to utilize the services of a Windows Exchange hosting provider you are also ensuring the most reliable and stable platform for your business communications. These services usually utilize networks of VPS or dedicated servers, both of which provide extensive server resources and supreme stability. By choosing to purchase a Windows exchange hosting plan rather than host the application on a private Web server, you’ll also gain access to redundant Web server’s and multiple ultrahigh speed Internet connections through the state-of-the-art data center owned by the web hosting company. Thus, if an error occurs with the software or a Web server goes down unexpectedly, your data will immediately be transferred to a working server within the hosting environment.