New server updates take root

I am pleased to let you all know that we have recently fully upgraded PHP to version 5.2, and Apache to version 2.

There was a little bit of chaos after the initial upgrades (due to lack of configuration), but as of now everything is smooth sailing, and all problems that occurred as a result of the upgrade have already been fixed or are currently under active investigation.

All users can now rename their .php5 extensions to standard .php files, as there is no difference any longer after the full 5.2 update. If any software on your server can NOT run with PHP 5.2 under any circumstances, please e-mail technical support and .php4 extensions will be installed ASAP.

All users will most certainly notice speed increases on their servers following the premiere release of Apache 2 at HostingChoice, as it handles loads better and overall makes things run faster.

If anyone has any issues whatsoever as a result of these new upgrades, please do not hesitate to contact us so they can be fixed immediately.

We look forward to serving you in the future!

Posted in News, Development | 1 Comment »
The “Core™ 2 Duo Difference” and the birth of a better HostingChoice

I’d like to start this entry by saying that in the past few months, HostingChoice has grown from a tiny particle in a galaxy of web hosts to what appears to be a medium-sized moon. Who knows, we may even become a registered planet (LLC) in the next few months.

Our growth has been stimulated by enormous interest in reseller plans, which have been made available to the general public. These plans have already been a huge success to the corporation and growth is now exponential as more and more people take interest in them.

All of our recent success has resulted in a strategic, somewhat dramatic, extremely sudden change in our business model. We now feature a “wide array” of Core™ 2 Duo servers for absolute maximum performance in a shared hosting environment. You can read about “the difference” here. We are ecstatic about this new change, and have received positive feedback from clients who talk about “increased speed, 200% faster MySQL queries, incredible responsiveness”, and overall “one hell of a server”.

The upgrade to the Core™ 2 Duo Difference was tiring and annoying (I could go all day), but 100% worth it. It was followed by software upgrades, security patches, and .php5 extentions for extended functionality in the realm of PHP.

As of now, everything is working flawlessly and all the maintenence we have been performing has come to a finish. Things are finally going well, and there is nothing ahead of us except growth.

We look forward to serving you in the future :)

-Sam

Posted in Information, News, Corporate | No Comments »
Pro-rating. Yes/no/maybe?

Our billing team has been debating over the issue of pro-rating hosting plans, so every client would pay on the first of every month. Clients would essentially pay for the remainder of their current month (from whenever until the 1st of the next month, and then for a full month after that) plus any other items they order. By doing this, we will be able to manage billing easier, and clients would only have to take care of any billing on the first of every month. We would like to hear some feedback or opinions on this, so let us know. Thanks!

Posted in Personal | No Comments »
Do you like it?

I added a nice little client login form on the index. Just a simple random addition. Hope you like it!

We are planning and implementing other customizations as you read this. Stay tuned, further posts containing updates will be made in the near future.

Posted in Miscellaneous, Development | No Comments »
Small issue with affiliate software integration

Since our billing software (ClientExec) does not directly support affiliate software, we are trying to integrate it ourselves.

Right now, affilate sales are tracked IF customers pay through credit card, but not with PayPal. When our affiliate script was integrated with our PayPal plugin, users were receiving errors when they tried to pay.

If you refer a client, and they pay with PayPal, e-mail our techincal support team and the comission will be manually added.

Thanks for your patience in this matter. We are expecting results sometime within the near future.

-Sam

Posted in Personal | No Comments »
Another little one

Last night / this morning, I also upgraded our billing software, and began official work on FraudReview.org (description can be found below). Security upgrades were performed on other areas of the site and everything is running smooth.

I took one more RSS2 feed, from our billing software, and added it to our client support area. This can be seen at http://support.hostingchoice.net - located under “welcome” box.

I am proud to announce that HostingChoice is growing bigger every day.

Oh yeah, props to bwb, for leaving the first comment on our corporate blog (we haven’t had it for that long).

Cheers.

Posted in General, News, Development | 1 Comment »
Major updates completed

Tonight / this morning was a big day for HostingChoice. Much was done to various pages.

We have integrated and installed our affiliation software, iDevAffiliate, and it is now accessable through any page on the HC network. In addition, we have fixed our support center and re-enabled piping. We removed our IPB forums and added a new system, called Vanilla, which is open source, simple, and easy to use. An official NOC (Network Operations Center) blog was created for the sole purpose of our servers’ status. We updated our pages, including the index, which now has live RSS2 feeds from our NOC, blog, and forums.

We are also currently undergoing graphic changes, new images are being created to replace some of the old ones on our site. Stay tuned, there is certainly more to come in the future.

Posted in News, Corporate, Development | 1 Comment »
FraudReview.org project is now underway

Ever since HostingChoice was founded (in January of 2006), we have taken online fraud extremely seriously and actively do all in our power to prevent it.

Well, a few of us had an idea. The most effective way to combat fraud on the internet is to work with one another and combine resources to effectively identify those who use fradulent techniques and blacklist them.

This is where I would like to introduce project FraudReview.

We aim to create a community where individuals and webmasters of all types can unite for one common purpose: to learn about and prevent fraud through a variety of different methods. These methods include but are not limited to databases containing IP addresses (and other information) used in fraudulent sign ups, databases containing IP addresses used by forum spambots (for ban filter use), active forums containing links, tutorials, and articles on how to identify fraud, prevent fraud, and appropriate actions to take when you have been affected by it, current techniques used by fraudulent individuals, as well as stories and testimonials of individuals who have had encounters with fraud.

Anticipated Features:

-Two databases, one containing profiles used in fraudulent sign ups at web hosting sites and another one containing IP addresses associated with forum spam bot accounts

-ClientExec integration to screen clients for fraud based on profiles in our database

-A standalone executable for adding, downloading, and reviewing our anti-fraud databases that will also display news and updates

-Forums with tutorials on how to identify fraud, protect yourself from fraud, and actively deal with a fraud encounter, as well as other discussion

If you would like to take part in the community before we open the doors to the public, please send an e-mail to sam.levin@hostingchoice.net regarding what you would like to help with and why.

http://www.fraudreview.org should be available for public use by late February.

Posted in News, Development | No Comments »
New Slogan Goes Live

Don’t be held back.

Four simple words; one powerful meaning.

In the hosting industry, there are several hosts who offer more bandwidth and diskspace on a monthly basis than your average customer would use in a year.

My point being, these days it is all about the features … and at HostingChoice, we understand that. At HostingChoice, we don’t hold you back.

Posted in Information, News, Corporate | No Comments »
Josh Warren Retires After One Year

Josh Warren, the HostingChoice Vice President, has left the company after approximately one year of service. Earlier this afternoon, Josh and I had a lengthy conversation which ended with his withdrawal. In the end, he realized that web hosting wasn’t for him and he didn’t feel as if he had a future in the industry. All exit procedures have been performed and company operations will suffer no impact as a result of his withdrawal.

Posted in News, Corporate | No Comments »

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