CloudLinux

The operating system on nearly all servers has been changed to utilize the first Linux Operating System specifically designed for shared hosting environments. CloudLinux OS is a revolutionary OS that takes each shared cPanel account and drops it into an almost VPS-like container called a Lightweight Virtual Environment™ (or LVE). The LVE will help manage resources on each cPanel account and, by extension, optimizing resource use and population balancing for the entire server. You can now see your site’s resource usage within your cPanel
by clicking the “Resource Usage” icon.

Please note that while bandwidth and space are “unlimited”, CPU and Memory resources on the server are not. Currently, all accounts are allowed to fully utilize a portion of the CPU and up to 1 Gigabyte of memory at any given time. If your site is using more than that consistently, or if you max out your resources, your site will begin to slow down and, eventually, will stop serving altogether until the resource usage comes down to a normalized level while the server continues to serve your neighbors. In other words, your site may appear “down” though the server is up if you max out your resource container.

Should this happen, please take a look at your history in your cPanel and take steps to optimize your site with caching, optimization, and so on. If you are unable to do so, or your resource usage is consistently higher, submit a ticket to support and we will work with your site to find where it’s resource needs are and work with you on a price for that higher container or, if necessary, help transition you to a VPS if your site has outgrown a shared server environment.

Microsoft FrontPage Extensions Disabled

HostNine has made the decision to disable Microsoft FrontPage Extensions across all servers. The last release of Microsoft FrontPage was in 2003, and the software and extensions for the servers were actually “End of Lifed” in 2006.

What an End of Life Date means is that the company that releases the software is stating to anyone that uses that software that they should stop using it on that date. FrontPage extensions were utilized quite a bit beyond it’s EoL cycle because they were in widespread use and changes made to other server technology wasn’t particularly incompatible.

The landscape has significantly changed with regard to extensions – they have never been tested with the operating systems being used today or with current versions of the web server software. Furthermore, they are not being monitored for security issues. Since this is a closed-source product, these issues are not being addressed and security patches are not begin published. As there are higher security risks and far more attacks being perpetrated on web sites than ever before, and these extensions represent a serious liability.

While we urge our customers to cease using Microsoft FrontPage, please note you may still publish a FrontPage designed site, though some advanced aspects will cease to work. The lack of server extensions only limits some of the advanced features of the product. We suggest using the Find feature within FrontPage and search the source code of all you pages for “webbot” without the quotation marks. This will highlight each instance where the code relies on the server extensions. Publishing can be done with the built in FTP application
within FrontPage.

Previewing with /~userid Removed

The ability to see a site at /~userid is intended to be a temporary feature to allow people to preview their site before changing DNS. One of the drawbacks of this is that the traffic is assigned to the server name, and not the cPanel account, we have become aware that some on HostNine’s servers have been using this to “steal bandwidth”. As it also works with any domain name on the server it also allows people to steal bandwidth from their fellow hosting shared server neighbors.

While HostNine allows unlimited bandwidth, many of our Reseller customers do not and do implement a bandwidth limit on accounts, and unfortunately, many people have chosen to utilize this preview feature to permanently load content on another site from the HostNine servers without having this bandwidth counted against their usage. In addition, malware infected sites can potentially show up in your domain name structure and get your site banned and flagged on Google even though your site is innocent if this feature is enabled.

We have disabled this preview feature to both ensure that customer sites are not inadvertently tagged as hosting malware if their neighbor is infected, as well as to ensure all bandwidth use is registered to the correct account.

If you need to preview the site to work on editing it, you can change your hosts file so that you can “move” the domain for *you* before you move it for everyone else. If you are unsure how to do this, please let us know and we’ll be happy to send you directions for your operating system. Just let us know which one you use.

If you are attempting to serve content from a cPanel account without a domain name, you will need to install a domain name or subdomain into the cPanel site for that to take place. If you don’t wish to change the original installed domain name, you can do this by parking a domain name and creating an A Record where your current DNS is hosted to point to the IP of your site, and it will function with the parked name after propagation.

Backup Changes

We have changed backups from Daily to Weekly due to a number of our customers finding issues for which they needed a backup and not noticing they need one until the problem they are attempting to correct has already been backed up, rendering the backup unhelpful for their purposes.

If you need daily backups because your site frequently changes, we can recommend a number of services that will do so for you, and please remember we do require all HostNine customers to maintain their own backup as well. You can take one quickly and easily from within your cPanel.

JUPITER, Fla. (September 1, 2010) – HostNine, a leader in Shared Hosting, Reseller Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and Virtual Private Servers, announced today its soaring affiliate program was ranked #1 among all Web hosting affiliate program by Commission Junction, the worldwide leader in affiliate program management.

In the past three months, HostNine has an overall ranking from Commission Junction of #2 of 63 total affiliate programs. In all affiliate programs (3,226) run by Commission Junction, HostNine ranks #40. Commission Junction ranks affiliate programs based on their payouts and success rates—both of which are key priorities for HostNine. Affiliate payouts from HostNine are in excess of $150 per referred sale for high-volume affiliates.

“We have always viewed affiliate marketing as a vital way to broaden our customer base and maintain widespread brand recognition in the industry. By rewarding our partners generously and tangibly supporting their efforts to generate sales, we have built years of trust and countless loyal affiliates. Commission Junction’s top ranking for HostNine backs up what we’ve been saying for a long time, and it means a lot to our team,” said Taylor Hawes, affiliate program manager, HostNine.

Affiliates can leverage dozens of constantly updated banners and Web marketing assets provided by HostNine. The company also has invested heavily in upgrades to its website, which has reduced the order form dropout rate by a whopping 30%. The substantial enhancements are largely due HostNine’s unique two-step order form, further shortening the sign-up process. Affiliates have already praised the changes.

In May, HostNine introduced sweeping upgrades to its line of hosting plans, adding unlimited disk space, unlimited bandwidth, and other features for its worldwide shared Web hosting. Users can also choose from server locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Asia. In August, HostNine removed all annual payment requirements, extending savings to customers who pay monthly. HostNine now offers unlimited shared hosting for just $3.95 a month on a month to month basis. Other companies require anywhere from two to three years up front payment to receive affordable pricing.

“Honesty and integrity have always been our guiding principles, and we decided that advertising a $3.95 per month hosting plan, which really requires an up front payment of nearly $142.50, isn’t in line with the image we want to portray We’re now one of the only hosting companies that actually offers a $3.95 per month hosting plan for a monthly payment of $3.95. We’re not worried about locking in our customers—they’ll stay with us for years because they love our service, not because we force them to,” said Ben Gabler, operations manager, HostNine.

Reseller Hosting from HostNine is available in five levels, starting at just $24.95 per month, which includes 50GB of disk space, 500GB of bandwidth, and a wide-variety of value-added features, such as the award-winning Reseller Central platform (available on all Reseller Hosting plans). Reseller Central is available exclusively to HostNine customers and provides resellers with unprecedented control of the reseller environment through a single, easy-to-use interface.

Dedicated Hosting and VPS Hosting also offer a wide variety of options and generous allotments of hosting resources.

To learn more about HostNine, please visit http://www.hostnine.com.

To learn more about earning money through HostNine’s affiliate program, please visit http://www.hostnine.com/affiliate-program.

About HostNine

HostNine, LLC is an industry leader in web hosting, reseller hosting, virtual private servers, and dedicated servers. Running all Dell PowerEdge servers located throughout ten different data centers around the world, HostNine provides a 99.9 percent network uptime guarantee to its customers.

Below you will find the new header / quick search bar allowing you to easily search through available functions, domains, packages, feature lists, etc

Below you will find the new list accounts page where you will find a few new features making it easier then ever to manage your accounts.

*Note: The links seen such as Modify, Suspend etc appear when you mouseover a domain in your list accounts page.

Want to discuss Reseller Central v3? Feel free to do so at the following location: http://www.hostnine.com/hosting-forums/version-3-feedback/
Stay tuned! More to come!

This same concept can also be applied in this virtual world of what we call as internet. In fact there are a number of communities that are present all over the information superhighway which were certainly build with an aim of the interest that are usually shared by each and every member of this network. In earlier days when internet was not so common, these type of social networking may certainly have been a way to meet a number of people who simply share some of the common interests. But with the development of internet this pattern has certainly become one of the most powerful tools for your business.

Ever since man had learned to communicate with each other he has been socializing in his community. Till date all of us are simply bound by this system as all of us do have fiends. So your group of friends can be called as your social network. And when you meet certain new people you make new friends and you develop a network of friends that share same interest. So most of the people who understand the importance of this can certainly consider this as an opportunity and take advantage of this. You can in fact develop a world of trade and business. Most of the companies and firms who simply share the same interests tend to forge tie with each other with an aim to strengthen and develop their business.

So if this concept works offline then it is sure that it will also work online. Internet is a global business center. All the citizens of internet and entrepreneurs have in fact seen the power of this social networking tool. Most of them have also mastered methods to utilize this concept to most of their advantages. This in simple terms can also be called as business book marking which in fact is the variation of social book marking. It simply utilizes all the power of social networking online and applies to their business. It has in fact proved to be very effective for a number of big and small businesses alike as businesses can be conducted on a global platform.

With the help of such social networks your business gets the strength to reach millions of other people online. But just like the networking in the real world the basic principles does in fact apply here also. People should have the same interests because this interest is what actually connects you with others and them with you. So if all simply goes on well then a giant partnership can be established.

You can follow us on:

Facebook and Twitter

That’s right, HostNine is now on Twitter!

Please follow us at: http://www.twitter.com/hostnine

You will always find important updates, network notifications, and much more on our twitter. The main thing being network notifications as it’s not hosted on any of the HostNine networks so in case of emergency you can always check twitter.

As customer service manager (CSM), Crump’s professional responsibilities will include managing employee-customer interactions (through helpdesk, live chat, and telephone), introducing techniques to gauge customer satisfaction and garner qualitative feedback, and developing and implementing strategic change. HostNine will use Crump’s expertise to adhere to more rigid quality control standards, including limits on hold times, ticket response times, and depth-of-response.

“HostNine is in a period of organizational improvement. We have recognized that while we are good at what we do, and our customers are satisfied, we must actively seek to operate more efficiently, effectively, and with a stronger spirit of innovation. Geoff Crump shares our vision and will serve as a catalyst to effect positive strategic and tactical change in the months and years to come,” said Ben Gabler, operations manager, HostNine.

“I look at customer service as a balanced, symbiotic relationship between the customer and the business. No one part can fully survive without the other, and the best results come from a working relationship built on communication and understanding. That’s why we’re here,” said Crump.

Crump previously served as director of customer relations at FastServers.net, and studied Theater at Nazareth College in Rochester, N.Y.

To learn more about HostNine, please visit http://www.hostnine.com.

To learn more about reseller hosting from HostNine, please visit http://www.hostnine.com/reseller-hosting.

About HostNine

HostNine, LLC is an industry leader in web hosting, reseller hosting and dedicated servers. Running all Dell PowerEdge servers located throughout ten different data centers around the world, HostNine provides a 99.9 percent network uptime guarantee to its customers.

This new program is powered by iDevAffiliate which is much better than the software we previously used. With this software we can accurately track and pay commissions without going through custom scripts. The software we were using known as Ultimate Affiliate has not had an update since 2004 so it was very limited to what we could do with it.

Some key features in the new software are the management abilities it provides us with when it comes to your referrals. We can generate invoices and checks on the fly along with simply clicking a button to complete paypal payments. Due to the complex system we were using before we will need you to recreate your affiliate account at https://www.hostnine.com/affiliates/signup.php

If you’re an existing affiliate, once your account is created simply send an email to affiliates@hostnine.com with your affiliate id so we can properly setup a forward to forward from your old affiliate url to the new url that way you do not loose any traffic / referrals. Also, be sure to include if you have unpaid commissions on your account as we will have to manually transfer them over to the new system for you and get them paid!

Another thing you will notice is the payout levels have changed. With the new software we’re able to setup what they call a Performance Reward. This means once you hit 5 referrals in a month it automatically bumps your commissions up to $50 per referral rather than the standard $25. This goes all the way up to $100 per referral! This is something we were limited to and could not properly do with the old software.

On behalf of HostNine I would like to extend my sincere apologies for any payment issues/delays existing affiliates may have experienced due to poor affiliate software we were running previously. I can assure you that there will be no delays or issues when it comes to payments from this day on as this software is VERY powerful and has everything we need. The affiliate management area alone will be surprising compared to the old one. Once again I do apologize for any payment issues in the past but can assure you it will NEVER happen again. We are bringing on a dedicated affiliate manager to run the affiliate program as well as keep things up to date when it comes to banners, special coupons, and ads.

To help our affiliates we will be discontinuing the h9 coupon in the near future and have a coupon generator available that will allow affiliates to create their very own coupon to help boost their referrals. This way potential customers can find you (the affiliate) and get a coupon from you rather than directly on our website. We also have plans to introduce all-new Shared, Reseller, and Dedicated Server banners this week so stay tuned for those.

That pretty much sums it all up. For the time being I will be handling the affiliate program day to day tasks until we can fill the Affiliate Manager position. With that said I look forward to getting everyone into the new system and back up to speed with commissions.

Not an affiliate yet?

With today’s release, resellers can now take advantage of new features designed to help them grow their businesses. In addition to cross-platform support for provisioning and managing Plesk 8.3-based Windows accounts and cPanel 11-based Linux accounts, Reseller Central also saves time in a number of areas. Namely, a fully restructured DNS editor system allows seamless edits of DNS settings, and account management APIs offer greater control over hosted accounts.

“Providing innovative management tools for our resellers has been a strategic goal of ours for many months, and with today’s announcement, we are excited to bring our reseller offerings to the next level,” said Ben Gabler, Operations Manager, HostNine. “We continue to see resellers as an integral component of our business, and will continue to develop software that allows them to expand their businesses in a variety of ways, in terms of both value-added features and platform support.”

Reseller Central also offers integration with WHCMS, a premier billing and automation gateway. HostNine resellers are provided with a free license of the software, valued at $249.95.

HostNine engineers are currently developing the next iteration of Reseller Center, version 2.3, to be released in the coming months. The next version will add support for integrated data protection and Windows Server 2008.

To learn more about HostNine, please visit http://www.hostnine.com.

To learn more about reseller hosting from HostNine, please visit http://www.hostnine.com/reseller-hosting/.

About HostNine
HostNine, LLC is an industry leader in web hosting, reseller hosting and dedicated servers. Running all Dell PowerEdge servers located throughout ten different data centers around the world, HostNine provides a 99.9 percent network uptime guarantee to its customers.

It’s very important to us that we maintain a high level of customer service to ensure the happiness of our customers and smooth day to day operations in our office. We are currently implementing several different methods to improve our service and this is a huge one as it allows customers to not only grade the support the receive but the ability to request direct contact with a manager at HostNine. That’s right! You can simply fill this form out, add in your contact number and best time to call and we will have a manager get in touch with you ASAP.

How do you start? Simply navigate to http://www.hostnine.com/survey/ and submit your review. Please be sure to include the ticket number that your review pertains to so we can follow up with your submission properly.

New Features
-cPanel Skeleton Directory
-cPanel Branding
-PHPSuExec Quick Fix to fix domains having Internal Server errors
-Improved DNS Zone Editor
-SSL Generator
-Major Code Clean up
-Migration History (displays previous migrations done within your account)

Those are just a few of the new features we have on the way for Reseller Central. What we are looking for is a few beta testers to setup test accounts on a beta install of reseller central. Please reply to the post on our forums located at http://forums.hostnine.com/showthread.php?p=8360 if you would be interested in testing.

Thank you