Round Tale

(The Hosting News)  – The Planet, the global hosting leader, and Web Hosting Talk, the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet, today announced the beta development of a free, online cloud benchmarking tool designed to save businesses time and money when selecting a cloud provider. The new service, known as Bench the Cloud (http://www.benchthecloud.com), gives visibility into the performance of cloud or virtualized server platforms, and provides standardized performance feedback and comparisons.
The site was co-developed by Web Hosting Talk and The Planet. Web Hosting Talk will own and manage the site, and The Planet will become a charter member of Bench the Cloud’s advisory board.
Bench the Cloud is built on a suite of open-source benchmarking tools and measures three key criteria essential to running cloud applications: CPU performance, disk read and disk write speed. Further information about these three performance indices is detailed in an individualized dashboard. Users can sort and filter the public benchmarks according to provider, virtualization status, total RAM and CPU cores. The application can also be used to test non-virtualized machines, and can be downloaded onto any Linux-based machine.
“One of the many popular discussion topics on Web Hosting Talk is how to accurately compare cloud providers based on a standard set of measurements,” said Kevin Gold, director of marketing for iNET Interactive, owner of Web Hosting Talk. “We hear from our community members that it’s difficult to make informed cloud buying decisions. As active members of Web Hosting Talk and an industry leader, The Planet approached us about co-developing a community-driven benchmarking tool that would bring the transparency the global community is seeking.”
“We contributed real-world feedback into building this industry-first tool with Web Hosting Talk,” said Carl Meadows, senior product manager for cloud solutions at The Planet. “We’ve seen first-hand from our customers the time spent researching various cloud providers, and the amount of confusion and misinformation that exists in the marketplace. Our goal in participating is to provide additional value to customers by offering a quick, transparent view of the strengths, weaknesses and performance of solutions – a virtual ‘Consumer Reports’ for the cloud. Customers can now objectively compare solutions before purchase, and make their first pick the right one.”
Web Hosting Talk will hand out invitations to participate in a limited closed beta for Bench the Cloud at its booth at HostingCon 2010, which begins July 19 in Austin, Texas. Stop by booth 134 to receive an invitation, or visit http://www.benchthecloud.com for more information.

About Web Hosting Talk
Web Hosting Talk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com) is the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet with over 240,000 registered members and over six million posts generated. It is one of many social media properties owned and operated by iNET Interactive.

About NET Interactive
Founded in 2002, iNET Interactive (whttp://www.iNETinteractive.com), owner of Web Hosting Talk, is a social media company operating prominent online communities for Internet professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its vertically focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally produced content.

About The Planet
The Planet is the leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 18,000 small- and medium-size businesses and 12 million Web sites worldwide. Customers have the power to choose from the broadest range of hosting solutions in the industry, from dedicated servers, Managed Dedicated Servers, Managed Hosting and data center colocation, all backed by 24×7×365 support. With the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class service, backed by state-of-the-art data centers and an enterprise-class network, The Planet turns IT into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to grow their businesses. For additional information, visit http://www.theplanet.com.
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Source: Web Hosting Talk and The Planet Unveil Cloud Benchmarking Tool

(The Hosting News)  – The Planet, the global hosting leader, and Web Hosting Talk, the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet, today announced the beta development of a free, online cloud benchmarking tool designed to save businesses time and money when selecting a cloud provider. The new service, known as Bench the Cloud (http://www.benchthecloud.com), gives visibility into the performance of cloud or virtualized server platforms, and provides standardized performance feedback and comparisons.
The site was co-developed by Web Hosting Talk and The Planet. Web Hosting Talk will own and manage the site, and The Planet will become a charter member of Bench the Cloud’s advisory board.
Bench the Cloud is built on a suite of open-source benchmarking tools and measures three key criteria essential to running cloud applications: CPU performance, disk read and disk write speed. Further information about these three performance indices is detailed in an individualized dashboard. Users can sort and filter the public benchmarks according to provider, virtualization status, total RAM and CPU cores. The application can also be used to test non-virtualized machines, and can be downloaded onto any Linux-based machine.
“One of the many popular discussion topics on Web Hosting Talk is how to accurately compare cloud providers based on a standard set of measurements,” said Kevin Gold, director of marketing for iNET Interactive, owner of Web Hosting Talk. “We hear from our community members that it’s difficult to make informed cloud buying decisions. As active members of Web Hosting Talk and an industry leader, The Planet approached us about co-developing a community-driven benchmarking tool that would bring the transparency the global community is seeking.”
“We contributed real-world feedback into building this industry-first tool with Web Hosting Talk,” said Carl Meadows, senior product manager for cloud solutions at The Planet. “We’ve seen first-hand from our customers the time spent researching various cloud providers, and the amount of confusion and misinformation that exists in the marketplace. Our goal in participating is to provide additional value to customers by offering a quick, transparent view of the strengths, weaknesses and performance of solutions – a virtual ‘Consumer Reports’ for the cloud. Customers can now objectively compare solutions before purchase, and make their first pick the right one.”
Web Hosting Talk will hand out invitations to participate in a limited closed beta for Bench the Cloud at its booth at HostingCon 2010, which begins July 19 in Austin, Texas. Stop by booth 134 to receive an invitation, or visit http://www.benchthecloud.com for more information.

About Web Hosting Talk
Web Hosting Talk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com) is the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet with over 240,000 registered members and over six million posts generated. It is one of many social media properties owned and operated by iNET Interactive.

About NET Interactive
Founded in 2002, iNET Interactive (whttp://www.iNETinteractive.com), owner of Web Hosting Talk, is a social media company operating prominent online communities for Internet professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its vertically focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally produced content.

About The Planet
The Planet is the leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 18,000 small- and medium-size businesses and 12 million Web sites worldwide. Customers have the power to choose from the broadest range of hosting solutions in the industry, from dedicated servers, Managed Dedicated Servers, Managed Hosting and data center colocation, all backed by 24×7×365 support. With the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class service, backed by state-of-the-art data centers and an enterprise-class network, The Planet turns IT into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to grow their businesses. For additional information, visit http://www.theplanet.com.
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Web Hosting Talk and The Planet Unveil Cloud Benchmarking Tool

(The Hosting News)  – The Planet, the global hosting leader, and Web Hosting Talk, the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet, today announced the beta development of a free, online cloud benchmarking tool designed to save businesses time and money when selecting a cloud provider. The new service, known as Bench the Cloud (http://www.benchthecloud.com), gives visibility into the performance of cloud or virtualized server platforms, and provides standardized performance feedback and comparisons.
The site was co-developed by Web Hosting Talk and The Planet. Web Hosting Talk will own and manage the site, and The Planet will become a charter member of Bench the Cloud’s advisory board.
Bench the Cloud is built on a suite of open-source benchmarking tools and measures three key criteria essential to running cloud applications: CPU performance, disk read and disk write speed. Further information about these three performance indices is detailed in an individualized dashboard. Users can sort and filter the public benchmarks according to provider, virtualization status, total RAM and CPU cores. The application can also be used to test non-virtualized machines, and can be downloaded onto any Linux-based machine.
“One of the many popular discussion topics on Web Hosting Talk is how to accurately compare cloud providers based on a standard set of measurements,” said Kevin Gold, director of marketing for iNET Interactive, owner of Web Hosting Talk. “We hear from our community members that it’s difficult to make informed cloud buying decisions. As active members of Web Hosting Talk and an industry leader, The Planet approached us about co-developing a community-driven benchmarking tool that would bring the transparency the global community is seeking.”
“We contributed real-world feedback into building this industry-first tool with Web Hosting Talk,” said Carl Meadows, senior product manager for cloud solutions at The Planet. “We’ve seen first-hand from our customers the time spent researching various cloud providers, and the amount of confusion and misinformation that exists in the marketplace. Our goal in participating is to provide additional value to customers by offering a quick, transparent view of the strengths, weaknesses and performance of solutions – a virtual ‘Consumer Reports’ for the cloud. Customers can now objectively compare solutions before purchase, and make their first pick the right one.”
Web Hosting Talk will hand out invitations to participate in a limited closed beta for Bench the Cloud at its booth at HostingCon 2010, which begins July 19 in Austin, Texas. Stop by booth 134 to receive an invitation, or visit http://www.benchthecloud.com for more information.

About Web Hosting Talk
Web Hosting Talk (http://www.webhostingtalk.com) is the largest, most influential web hosting community on the Internet with over 240,000 registered members and over six million posts generated. It is one of many social media properties owned and operated by iNET Interactive.

About NET Interactive
Founded in 2002, iNET Interactive (whttp://www.iNETinteractive.com), owner of Web Hosting Talk, is a social media company operating prominent online communities for Internet professionals and technology enthusiasts. Its vertically focused communities incorporate user-contributed ratings, reviews, and discussion augmented with professionally produced content.

About The Planet
The Planet is the leading provider of On Demand IT Infrastructure solutions, hosting more than 18,000 small- and medium-size businesses and 12 million Web sites worldwide. Customers have the power to choose from the broadest range of hosting solutions in the industry, from dedicated servers, Managed Dedicated Servers, Managed Hosting and data center colocation, all backed by 24×7×365 support. With the best choice of servers, software tools and world-class service, backed by state-of-the-art data centers and an enterprise-class network, The Planet turns IT into a powerful competitive advantage that enables customers to grow their businesses. For additional information, visit http://www.theplanet.com.
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Web Hosting Talk and The Planet Unveil Cloud Benchmarking Tool

HMS Panel is an all-in-one control panel designed for Linux server platforms.  A multi-server solution, it offers a number of advantages to both the web hosting provider or the customer who needs a more efficient way to manage their dedicated or virtual private server.  HMS Panel is secure, easy to use and loaded with an arsenal of features that will surely come in handy for administrators at all levels.  Here is the rundown:

Complete Domain Management

HMS Panel provides a complete system for managing domains.  Users can add domains and sub-domains to the IP address of their choosing whether it is located on or off the server.  Wildcards can be added so that all sub-domains for a particular domain point to a specific IP address.  You can also modify domain zone files along with CNAME records, A records and MX records.

Email Management System

Web hosting customers on the client side benefit greatly from features such as HMS Panel’s robust email management system.  Users can easily create email accounts and customize their communications with forwarders, catch-all addresses and auto-responders.  While customers have access to their messages via the control panel interface with SquirrelMail, they can also integrate Microsoft Outlook Express or their preferred mail client.

.htaccess Management

HMS Panel offers a robust .htaccess management tools that can be used to apply various settings to directories within a particular domain.  This includes error handling with custom 401, 403, 404, and 505 redirects, IP and domain blocking, file and directory redirects, hotlink protection, directory browsing and much more.  The .htaccess management console utilizes AJAX technology, making it a dynamic and very flexible system.  While this system is very convenient, experienced administrators also have the ability to modify .htaccess via the standard control panel interface.

Web Application Management

Similar to most control panels on the market today, HMS Panel is integrated with a facility that enables customers to perform one-click installations of various pre-installed software applications.  The software management console makes it easy to incorporate programs such as WordPress, phpBB, phpAdsNew, Gallery, Drupal and osCommerce among several others.  These applications are mainly available due to user request, but the HMS Panel control panel offers the ability to install many more third-party scripts.

Advanced Security

HMS Panel was developed with advanced web technologies and security mechanisms.  The software utilizes sophisticated API authorization to ensure that server communications remain protected.  By leveraging an enterprise-grade authentication system, HMS Panel is able to better assure that web applications and network security features are properly configured.  The software also uses process isolation, a technology that allows administrators to isolate web applications from one another, making it so that potential issues with one application do not affect others running on the server.

A Complete Control Panel Solution

Now on version 3.5.1, HMS Panel is quickly evolving to be one of the most remarkable control panels on the market.  It has all the basic capabilities offered by other panels with a few qualities that make it stand out from rest.  If you are in search of a new control panel for your server, give HMS Panel a shot with the free 30-day trial license.

The operating system forms the core of a computer as it enables the hardware and software to work in perfect harmony.  While there only a few systems used in home-based computers, the spectrum broadens when entering the server arena.  This article will weigh the pros and cons on the most widely used server platforms: Windows, Unix and Linux.

Windows

Microsoft Windows is popular in the web hosting environment because it offers a plethora of functionality and a user-friendly interface.  Unlike older systems, almost all critical tasks can be done through a point-and-click method rather than writing DOS commands.  The Windows platform is usually preferred by those that require ASP (Active Server Pages) technology or MS SQL Server databases.

Pros: Maintaining a Windows server is much easier than any other operating system.  The platform is largely supported by software vendors because of its name and domination in the PC sector.

Cons: Versions of Windows Server applications are costly, ranging in the hundreds of dollars per license.  These costs are often tacked on to the price of a web hosting service.  While the platform has been greatly improved over the years, older versions, some of which are still in use, have a higher vulnerability to security threats.

Unix

Many refer to Unix as the granddaddy of all operating systems.  This system has been used as a server platform for decades now.  Known for its stability, Unix is a reliable application mainly used for larger and more complex computer systems.  The software often comes bundled with server hardware made by vendors such as IBM, HP and Sun Microsystems.  These servers are powerful but they are also quite expensive, sometimes climbing into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Those with smaller scale needs typically utilize FreeBSD, a free Unix-like platform that runs on cheaper server hardware.

Pros: The Unix platform offers unparalleled stability and reliability.  It creates a rock-solid server that can thrive for years upon years without memory leaks or needing to be restarted.  Unix was built with security in mind and is therefore less susceptible to security flaws and threats.

Cons: The Unix platform can make for a very costly option.  The system also tends to be more complex and harder to find that Windows solutions.

Linux

The Linux operating system has become a major force as a web hosting platform.  Though it shares many characteristics of Unix, Linux is far more cost effective due to being released as open-source software.  The platform comes in many different distributions and is compatible with a variety of open-source technologies such as PHP and MySQL.

Pros: As a Unix-like system, Linux provides great stability and performance in the server environment.  While it isn’t exactly free, Linux always tends to be more affordable than both Windows and Unix in terms of web hosting.  Due to widespread use, the platform has great support from a community of users and software developers.

Cons: Similar to Unix, Linux requires a special set of skills to work with as most configurations must be performed from a command line.  Though it is becoming more mainstream, the platform isn’t as largely supported by software vendors as Windows.