Servers for the Information Age

Handling the ‘Data on Demand’ needs of a New Generation!

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Your #1 online success tool is a listserver. If you don’t
have one you are NEVER going to succeed online. Here’s
why.

A listserver is a handy piece of software which enables
you, at the press of a single button, to deliver a message
to every single person on any given list. The listserver is
important because the list it delivers messages to is
important. Indeed, I’ll go so far as to say: the business
is your list, the list is your business.

Companies which are making money online are making money
because they’re 1) building their crucial email list and
2) using a listserver to deliver regular messages to it.

What can these messages be?

* a company newsletter
* information about products and services
* usage information, so that customers get more value from
what they buy
* specials, sales, offers, discount coupons, etc..

In short, the listserver enables you to run the most customer-
centered business imaginable, keeping your vital information
in front of prospects in ways impossible in the “real world”
and for a trifling cost.

When you’ve got a listserver, you’re able to wake up in the
morning with a dandy idea for motivating your prospects…
sit down at your computer and write your client-centered
message (or reuse a message that has worked for you in the
past), and, by hitting a single button, get that message out
IMMEDIATELY to every single person on your list. Want to
update prospects in the afternoon? No problem! Create another
message and send it out to your list! Your prospects will
have it in minutes!

Is this spam? CERTAINLY NOT! A listserver serves a
SUBSCRIPTION list! People need to request to be on your
mailing list. It’s easy to add them — or they can add
themselves. It’s equally easy to delete them if they don’t
want to be on your list anymore, so you’re NEVER spamming
anyone!

When you’re using a listserver, you’ve got your #1 Profit Tool
for connecting with prospects, bringing vital information to
their attention when YOU like, both sending it with your
listserver and directing them to whatever area of your website
you want them to see.

Speaking personally, the apt use of listservers is what has
turned our company — Worldprofit, Inc. at
http://www.worldprofit.com — from a back bedroom enterprise
into a multi-million dollar operation. That’s why we include
a listserver as standard equipment in our very popular
ready-to-move-into, professionally designed e-properties at
http://www.trafficcenter.com/properties

Let me make myself perfectly clear: IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A
LISTSERVER, YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO SUCCEED ONLINE; listservers
are THAT important!

Go get yours now at http://www.trafficcenter.com/properties
For personal assistance, mailto:drjlant@worldprofit.com with
“I want a listserver” in the subject, along with your name,
company, and phone number.

With your listserver, you’ll finally begin to capitalize on
the incredible economies and speed of online business. What
are you waiting for?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dr. Jeffrey Lant is Co-Founder of Worldprofit at
http://www.worldprofit.com For a FREE subscription to
Worldprofit’s online business development newsletters,
go to http://www.worldprofit.com/ezines For web design
assistance, go to http://www.worldprofit.com

Handling the ‘Data on Demand’ needs of a New Generation!

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My site is hosted on an Apache web server. Why is that? Because, in my
humble opinion, Microsoft’s IIS web server is in no way qualified to service
internet web sites (it is excellent as an intranet and applications server,
however). Another reason is the vast number of security issues that seem to
pop up day after day.

In point of fact, the Gartner Group has recommended “that businesses hit by
both Code Red and Nimda immediately investigate alternatives to IIS,
including moving Web applications to Web server software from other vendors
such as iPlanet and Apache”.

http://www4.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=101034

But what about those of us who are already hosting their sites on Apache
servers? I’ve seen lots of articles about how to protect, detect, cleanse
and prevent the worms from attacking IIS servers. While the worms do not
penetrate Apache security, they do cause damage.

Some of the damage includes:Server logs get filled with junk - The Nimda
worm alone created over 20,000 entries in a 2 day period in my log files.

The server is made very busy - This is especially true if you’ve got a
custom 404 error page, as I do. This means that every time the worm attempts
a penetration, then entire 404 page is returned (in my case, that’s about
40k). That adds up to a lot of wasted bandwidth.

I thought about this issue for a while after examining my logs and seeing
thousands of 404 errors from attempted worm penetrations. Surely there was a
way to at least reduce the impact of these things? As I saw the 404 error
count increase, I realized that a significant portion of the bandwidth that
I was paying for was being thrown away.

An examination of the log files produced several thousand attempts at each
of the following URLs. Obviously each of these is the address of a possible
weakness in an IIS server.

/_mem_bin/..%5c../..%5c../..%5c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/c/winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/d/winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/..%2f../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/..%c1%9c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/..%%35%63../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/ .%%35c../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/..%c0%2f../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/scripts/..%c0%af../winnt/system32/cmd.exe
/MSADC/root.exe

The Apache web server provides a feature called .htaccess, which provides
commands to control a web site. This file is very obscure and extremely
useful when used properly. You have to be careful when editing .htaccess
files, as a small mistake can make your web site stop working. What I like
to do is immediately test the site to be sure it works.

Be sure not to make the mistake that I made once - I browsed to my site, saw
that the home page came up, and went to work. Later, I found it was not
working but appeared to work because the home page was stored in my browser
cache. Thus I learned a simple lesson the hard way: always hit the refresh
key of the browser when testing .htaccess changes.

I did a little research and testing, and added the following lines to my
.htaccess file.

redirect /scripts http://www.stoptheviruscold.invalid
redirect /MSADC http://www.stoptheviruscold.invalid
redirect /c http://www.stoptheviruscold.invalid
redirect /d http://www.stoptheviruscold.invalid
redirect /_mem_bin http://stoptheviruscold.invalid
redirect /msadc http://stoptheviruscold.invalid
RedirectMatch (.*)cmd.exe$ http://stoptheviruscold.invalid$1

These lines did exactly what I wanted them to do - they stopped the virus
from creating 404 errors in my log file, and they prevented my 404 error
page from being triggered, thus creating lots of useless bandwidth
utilization. There is still some bandwidth used, obviously, but it is far
less than it would have been. The load on the server is also considerably
reduced, which should make my web hosting company happy.

Note that log file entries are still made by the various worms as they
attempt to penetrate the server. These entries do now show as errors, which
makes it easier to pick out real errors from the logs.

About the Author

Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at
http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read
over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your
internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.

Handling the ‘Data on Demand’ needs of a New Generation!

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Shared versus Dedicated IP Hosting - what is more effective?

TORONTO, ON - July 20, 2005 - In today’s World Wide Web - website designers and webmasters around the world must know the difference between shared and dedicated IP addresses. Most web hosting companies do not offer dedicated IP addresses for their clients. Why? Before we can attempt at answering this question, we should further define and clarify the differences between the two.

Shared IP Address - Every web server around the world is assigned an Internet Protocol (IP) address. An example of an IP address would look something like: [126.703.4.151]. Most websites on the world wide web are hosted on shared IP addresses, meaning that one server with one IP address can hold several domain names.

In the not so distant past, every domain used to have individual IP addresses. Recently, the allocation of IP addresses has been stricter due to the fact that there is a finite amount of addresses in existence. Now servers have the ability of determining a domain request through name servers. Example: www.dimarcogolf.com is found by NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM where the name servers are tied to a specific IP address.

Dedicated IP Address - A dedicated/unique IP address is not shared by other domain names; it is unique to your domain name and your space on the server. This means that if someone types in the numeric form of the IP address the same domain will always appear in the browser. Dedicated IP addresses are considered to be premium real estate on the internet and most web hosting companies charge extra for their client to have one. “We saw this as real eye-opener in the industry. Instead of asking our customers to pay for a dedicated IP, we have included it with every package we sell.” Marc Boudreau, co-founder of Rebel Networks

Usually dedicated IP addresses are used for large web sites, secure e-commerce web sites, or other individuals that are willing to pay for such a premium. Dedicated IPs give websites the ability for complex hosting and offer more flexibility. The benefits of having a dedicated IP address are:

- Private SSL Certificate - SSL certificates are needed for accepting credit cards online. Most web hosting companies usually offer a shared SSL certificate where clients can share the web host’s server-wide SSL. This is not recommended if you intend on having a very secure online store.

- Anonymous FTP - Anonymous FTP is a method of sharing files on the Internet. Anonymous FTP means a server will allow anyone using an FTP software access to a public directory. This service is called Anonymous FTP because the user name used to sign in is “anonymous.” To enable anonymous FTP many web hosting companies will require a dedicated IP for the anonymous FTP function to work properly.

- Private Domain Name Server - An example of a name server would look like this: [NS.REBELNETWORKS.COM, NS2.REBELNETWORKS.COM]. Since all web hosting companies provide you with their DNS servers, you don’t need to have your own. But if you choose to have your own name server you will need to have a dedicated IP address to do so.

Another benefit of a dedicated IP address is that website will have more control over their search engine results. Presently, search engines along with many telecom and internet service providers around the world have been fighting to block spam activity. This has been accomplished through blacklisting IP addresses that have spammed in one way or another. Since shared IP address users are mixed together on the same server IP with many others websites, innocent web sites have been blacklisted from search engines.

In short - individuals who would like full control over their website, e-commerce web sites who need their own SSL certificates, and individuals who want to fully optimize their website for search engine results should consider a Static IP address.

About Rebel Networks:

Rebel Networks is a Leading Provider of Outsourced Internet Infrastructure and Managed Website Hosting Solutions. Rebel Networks provides Managed Dedicated Servers, Colocation Services, Shared Website Hosting, E-Commerce Solutions, and Domain Name Services. Operating within its high-security Internet data centers (Toronto & Baltimore), Rebel Networks has Internet connectivity via OC-3, OC-12, and Gig-E connections from three different Tier 1 Providers.

www.rebelnetworks.com

Contact Information:

Rebel Networks - Public Relations

pr@rebelnetworks.com

www.rebelnetworks.com

About the Author

Marc Boudreau is the co-founder of http://www.rebelnetworks.com - managed website hosting and managed server company.