Linux managed server or Windows managed server: Which is more apt for you?

If you are running a business, you would surely like to maximize the scope of profit. In order to achieve this, you need to maximize the scalability, value and performance of the infrastructure that you are using. At the same time, you should also be careful enough to improve the user experience. If you are puzzled to run a lot of critical applications, you should opt for managed hosting server. It’s a solution that has been designed in a way so that it works for specific business needs and the particular infrastructure of a business.

Wondering why you should opt for managed hosting server? Well, there are multiple reasons. With these services, you don’t need to worry about managing the platform, and you can also access the latest technological advancements without paying the upgrade costs. While the benefits of managed server are quite obvious, you need to choose between a Linux based solution and a Windows managed server. While choosing between these two, you need to consider which would be more relevant for your business and the jobs that you are going to perform.

Here are some of the factors that you need to consider while choosing between these two –

·        Security – One of the most important aspects that you need to take care of while choosing a server is security. Both Windows as well as Linux managed servers need very strong security protection. Hence, make sure you investigate what security measures are provided by the service provider. Before you sign up for the service of any service provider, be sure to check the security measures thoroughly.  

·     Cost-effectiveness – Finally, this is another most important feature that you need to keep in mind. Quite obviously, cost effectiveness has always played a major role whenever it comes to opt for a service or buy a product. Remember that for using Microsoft products, you need to pay a certain amount while you can use Linux for free.

·      Scalability – If you need to choose between these two software, you should check the scalability of both the models. For instance, keep this in mind that software that are Linux based are not necessarily compatible with the different Microsoft technologies like .NET. On the other hand, software that are Windows based are usually compatible with Linux features like MySQL and PHP.

·        The language of development – While choosing any of these two servers, you should keep in mind the development language. Most of the Linux hosting environments generally use a MySQL database. If you are planning to use applications that are based on ASP .NET or SQL server, you should opt for a Windows managed server. Make sure whichever you opt for, you check the minimum hosting requirements that are required for running the application. Consider asking your team of developers to specify the minimum requirement.

Once you consider all these, you should be able to determine the more suitable solution for your business. Apart from these factors, you should also check out the performance issues and stability of both the solutions. 

Follow these 3 tips while choosing a cloud service provider for your business

Over the past few years, the entire IT industry has witnessed a huge revolution, in terms of storage and cloud computing. With the increased amount of data, it has become almost impossible for businesses to store the required data on their own and this is why they prefer to opt for cloud based solutions. While the benefits of cloud computing are quite obvious, you might not be able reap the maximum possible benefits if you can’t choose the right cloud service provider. It’s undoubtedly true that opting for a cloud storage solution helps improve the productivity of the developers and also boosts up the time-to-market. But then, finding the right service provider is important in order to ensure the best possible benefits.

While looking for a cloud service provider, you should keep your exact requirements in mind. Not all businesses have the same requirement and this is why you should opt for a solution that fits your requirements best. Here are some helpful tips that you should follow in order to find the right cloud service provider –

• Mitigate the risks – First off, you have to accept the fact that your data is not completely safe anywhere. This is why it’s essential to define the level of risk that you can afford and ask the potential providers whether or not they will be able to satisfy it. Most of the standards and qualifications are quite transparent and these can be easily audited. Make sure the service provider offers PCI and HIPPA compliance. You should definitely check your individual requirements as well. Be sure to sign the deal with a service provider who will be able to minimize the risks to a great extent.

• Find out the right locations – Try to figure out where exactly you would require the Infrastructure as a Service. If your business application crunches the data of customers who are largely based in a particular location, you might consider hosting the data differently. In some situations, there are certain legal implications that you have to take care of. Hence, while selecting the cloud service provider, make sure you are clearly aware of the location well in advance. This will help you avoid the legal hassles in future.

• Be sure about the SLA – Service Level Agreement or SLA is one of the most important factors that you should check for on the very first go. You should note that cloud SLAs vary to a great extent. This is why you should take the SLA as the very starting point and get it clarified by your legal team, section by section. Consider using the customer references and their individual experience with SLAs. Be sure to have a list of questions related to the SLA and treat it as a negotiation.

These are some of the most important tips that you should keep in mind while choosing a cloud service provider. Apart from these, you should also calculate and compare the price that the service providers ask for.

Top 3 Facts of Cloud Security That You Need To Remember

Security is one of the most integral aspects of cloud computing and if you are planning to invest in it, you should have a clear knowledge of all the probable security issues of cloud computing. In fact, in the present scenario when most of the business owners are not sure about whether or not to invest in cloud, security is one of the biggest concerns that they worry about. Till date, there are many business owners who think that on premise is a safer and better option as compared to a cloud based solution. In fact, there are also many entrepreneurs who think that cloud is probably the least safe place on the earth to store one’s important documents.

However, talking about cloud security, it depends on the perception of the individual organization and the leadership skills of the leading professionals of the organisation. It’s the responsibility of the management professionals to determine whether or not a cloud deployment is the right strategy for the organization. In general, cloud adoption is growing at a rapid rate and hence, it’s important to know the different aspects of cloud computing security.

·         Cloud security is one of the top concerns of 2015 – According to the studies, conducted during 2015, cloud security has been one of the major concerns of the IT executives, over the past few years. Apart from these, a number of researches were conducted which show that thirty six percent of the IT executives mentioned security as their first priority, while thirty one percent of them mentioned cloud to be one of the first initiatives that they would like to take.

·         Public vs. private is not the end of the story – One of the major concerns regarding cloud security is the level of security offered by the public cloud and private cloud. While it’s true that a public cloud environment offers more control over the data and better compliance to PCI and HIPPA standards, there are also certain advantages of opting for a public cloud environment. Basically the security issues get determined by the overall cloud strategy that an organization adopts and also by how the managers are using the technology.

  

·         The growth of cloud security market – According to the market report that has been created based on multiple researches, the market for the different security services and products is growing at an exponential rate across the globe. At the same time, it has also been found that the demand for cloud-based security solutions is leading the industry. According to the prediction of the industry experts, the market size for cloud based security solutions will reach around $9 billion by the end of 2019.

These are the major security concerns of cloud computing that every business owner should be aware of. Apart from these, it should also be kept in mind that over the past few years 43% of the companies experienced data breaches, and they had to suffer the obvious consequences of this data loss as well. This is why it’s important to be aware of the ongoing market trends and take a wise decision.

Reference URL - http://www.techrepublic.com/article/cloud-security-10-things-you-need-to-know/

What is The Smart Way to Find the Best Yet Affordable Dedicated Server in India?

There are certain signs that indicate the success of an online business. These include huge volume of traffic, high transaction volumes and increased number of customers. These clearly indicate that the business needs to scale up to a great extent. If your business has been undergoing such a phase, and you are still struggling with a shared server hosting, it might hamper the growth of your business to a significant extent. In a situation like this, opting for a dedicated server is the best possible solution for each and every business. This is a new age hosting solution which is considered to be perfect for e-commerce websites and large scale businesses that experience heavy traffic. The dedicated web servers are powerful solutions for all the requirements of your online business. It offers a robust and unparalleled hosting environment for all the critical websites and complex e-commerce applications.

With the help of lots of hosting service providers, it’s no longer difficult to find an economical as well as a good quality dedicated server in India. If your business is based in India, and you are looking for affordable dedicated server hosting service, it won’t be difficult for you to find one. For different types of hosting services and data centre, India is probably the best place to explore as you can find lots of cost-effective solutions. But then, are you sure that you will be able to choose the most suitable dedicated server solution for your business? Well, here are some of the most useful tips that you should follow while looking for dedicated server hosting service –

• Choose the operating system carefully – While choosing a dedicated server, you have the option between Linux and Windows when it comes to choose the OS. While Linux is ideal for PHP and Java, Windows is considered best for .NET. Hence, you should be careful enough about your exact requirement while choosing a server. If in a doubt, you can always ask for professional help and get experts’ advice for the hosting solution. If you are planning to run a website that is extremely rich with resources, be sure to choose the most powerful and fastest processor that you can afford.

• Look for 24X7 customer support – When it comes to a dedicated server solution, it’s extremely important to look for a solution that comes with thorough technical support. Make sure you will always be able to reach a point of contact who will help you solve any problem that you are facing with the server. Remember that the response time needs to be very quick. Hence, try emailing or calling the service provider before signing the deal. This will help you get an idea regarding how fast they will be able to get back to you.

Be sure to consider other important factors like the annual maintenance costs and service durability of the server before investing. Make sure whichever solution you choose, you would be able to continue with that comfortably enough in the long run.

VPS Hosting: How It Can Be The Best Bet For Business Organizations?

VPS hosting has undoubtedly become one of the most popular web hosting services that businesses opt for. Since the virtualization technologies help increase the functionality and performance, it’s quite likely that the popularity and demand of VPS hosting will continue to increase. There are several reasons why organizations should choose VPS hosting as a service to host their applications or websites. Right from achieving a lower carbon footprint to ensuring utmost scalability without any hassle, a VPS hosting service offers you a lot.

If your business is based in India and you are looking for a reliable VPS hosting service, you can be rest assured of getting high quality services. This is mainly because for VPS hosting, India is considered to be one of the most reliable places as there are many hosting service providers who offer VPS hosting and you will get to choose the services from a wide range of options. If you are also looking for Windows VPS, India is the right place to explore. You can always check the offerings and quotations of multiple service providers and then choose one that seems to be the most economical.

If you are still wondering why exactly you should opt for a VPS hosting service, here are some of the reasons –

• Scalability as per requirement – If your business website can experience different flow of traffic at different points of time, smooth scalability is something that you must opt for. When you host your website or application with a VPS hosting account, the entire environment is hosted within a container. As this container is allocated a definite amount of resources, you can easily make use of those resources as and when required. For instance, if you need to upgrade the RAM quickly, in order to handle a heavy surge of visitors, you can easily do that with just a few clicks.

• Environment friendly option – Over the past few years, green hosting and environment friendly technologies have become quite popular and there are reasons for that. When possible, it’s important to do whatever you can in order to reduce the carbon impact and the overall detrimental impact on the environment. With the help of a VPS hosting account, you will be able to do the same. Moreover, with a VPS hosting server, you will also be able to make better usage of all the resources.

• Cost effective solution – Over the course of time, VPS hosting has become quite cost effective and therefore, small and medium sized companies can easily opt for it now. Since the virtualization technologies have advanced a lot, the prices have slashed down to a great extent and the same trend is expected to continue in the future. Even if you are just starting with a brand new website, you will be able to opt for this smart solution. However, be sure to check out the prices quoted by different service providers and the offerings they are providing. Sign the final deal only after comparing different price ranges.

These are some of the most important reasons why VPS hosting is considered to be the best bet for organizations of all sizes.

Choosing A Dedicated Server: A Detailed Study

The benefits of a dedicated server is well accepted by all the business owners, no matter whether they are owners of SMBs or they run large scale organizations. When it comes to scale up your business, dedicated server is probably the best possible hosting solution that you can opt for. But then, choosing the most suitable yet cost-effective dedicated server for a business often turns out to be a complicated task. In fact, it also takes a lot of time to search through the different available options and then figure out the most apt one. However, even if the task is time consuming and quite complicated, it’s of crucial importance to make the right selection. After all, investing in a dedicated server is indeed an expensive affair and that’s why, you need to be extremely attentive to all the details.

Right from technology and business requirements to compliance and budget, there are thousands of factors that one needs to consider while making a selection for a dedicated server. It’s expected that most business owners are familiar to this process. But then, are they aware of all the minute details that are integral part of this planning? Here is a detailed study regarding the several aspects that business owners should consider while choosing a dedicated server –

Business requirements – To begin with, it’s an established fact that no two businesses have similar requirements and hence, every organization should focus on their own specific requirements while making any kind of investments. However, there are some requirements that are common with most of the organizations. For instance, disaster recovery, high uptime, security and e-commerce are few to mention.

• Security – While storing your mission critical data in a third party dedicated server, you should check its security thoroughly. It should be equipped with software and hardware firewalls. It should also have protection against the different types of distributed attacks.

• Disaster recovery – No business would like to lose their mission critical data due to a disaster and hence, checking the disaster recovery plan well in advance is extremely important. Be sure to check whether or not the hosting service provider follows a proper disaster recovery plan and if the other team members are aware of that plan properly.

• High uptime – If your website or application is accessed by a large number of visitors, high uptime is going to be a vital business requirement. Make sure the service provider will offer high uptime.

• E-commerce – If you have been running an e-commerce website, you need to be a little more specific about your requirement. Be sure to check if they will offer safe and secure access to dedicated servers and complete integrity of data.

Budget – Well, this is undoubtedly one of the most important factors that you need to think of right at the beginning of the plan. But then, there are several types of costs that you will experience while purchasing a dedicated server. Moreover, there might be a significant difference between the initial cost and the Total Cost of Ownership. Hence, it’s advisable to check out all the break-ups minutely.

• Setup fees – Although most of the service providers configure the servers for free, it’s advisable to count this cost within the budget.

• Monthly rental fee – Quite obviously, you should start the consideration with this. Check the different plans along with their monthly traffic. Be sure to include this in the entire budget.

• Price for upgrades – In case you are planning to install some kind of upgrades like additional hard drive or additional memory, you should estimate its cost separately. Moreover, you should also keep in mind the maximum capacity of the upgrade of the motherboard and of the initial chassis. With some of the hosting providers, you might have to check these prices from the sales process.

• Fees for software licensing – It’s advisable to consider certain additional cost for virtualization or database software and proprietary operating system. However, in case you are using an open source environment, this factor should not impact your decision to a great extent.

• Price to manage extra traffic – You might come across certain service providers who will offer unlimited traffic. But then, there will be high chances that they will put some limitations on bandwidth. Don’t forget to check what amount of traffic is allowed in the monthly plan that you are subscribing for. Consider comparing it to that of the expected traffic and then check how much extra you might need to pay for surpassing the traffic limit.

Technology – Technology is definitely one of the most important factors that you should consider while making a choice for a dedicated server. There are several factors that you need to think of –

• Performance – One of the main reasons to invest in a dedicated server is to improve the performance of your website or application, isn’t it? Hence, it’s important to check the efficiency of the server. In fact, if you are planning to conduct virtualization, video transcoding or chat or game servers, it would be advisable to opt for a multi-processor server.

• Database server and web server – The type of server you should choose depends entirely on the technology stack. In case, the architecture is built upon Windows, Ruby, Java etc., you might require a server that has plenty of RAM.

• Bandwidth – In case you are planning to host multimedia like flash videos or high quality images, you should be extra careful for the bandwidth and the uplink speed. If you think what the service provider is offering would not suffice your requirement, consider asking for extra bandwidth and check its price accordingly.

These are three of the major considerations that you need to make while investing in a dedicated server. Be sure to check the pricing and offers with more than one service provider so that you can have a fair idea regarding the ongoing market trend. This will also help you make the best possible decision.

Cloud Based CRM: Best Choice For Continous Business Growth

In today’s time, hosted software applications like SAP, CRM, and ERP etc. are gaining immense popularity. Most of the business owners already know- what is the significance of having CRM software for smoother business operations. The commercial enterprises of variable sizes can enhance their customer prospects in leaps and bounds with such sort of software. But, even after being aware of the advantages, the high cost of the software keeps most of the businesses far from it. If that is the case with you as well, it would be sensible to go for CRM hosting solutions.

CRM, basically, stands for Customer Relationship Management. It is an important topic reported under business education. The hosted CRM software allows businesses to contemplate their customers and get feedback about various significant aspects, especially on the ways they handle expenses. It is internet-based software that doesn’t need to be installed or downloaded for proper utilization.

This is the main reason hosting has become a service that can be utilized as per the requirements. Such software applications are often referred as Software-as-a-service (SaaS). One has to subscribe for the services in order to reap the benefits from the service. Even so, this can be looked upon as a cheaper option as the fees for the subscription is much lesser as compared to the costs of having your own CRM software installed on the system.

Benefits of the CRM Hosted Solutions over Conventional Software Solutions

Being web-based, the hosted applications offer numerous benefits that other systems do not. Some of the most common among them are:

• It is a cost-savvy option as there is no requirement for upgrading the system in regular intervals.
• Also, operational costs are low as a broadband connection is all you need for utilizing such applications.
• The operational speed of the application is much higher than that of conventional means.
• No huge learning or training is required; users can start using the application as soon as they are provided with access to the application.
• As overall costs will be reduced, they will result into much more productive outcome.
• Being more recent hosting service, CRM application tools are much secure. They come equipped with advanced antivirus and anti-malware tools and are integrated with the most secure firewalls for protection of business information.

All these benefits have already convinced 80% of the traditional CRM users to change their loyalties over hosted CRM solutions.
 

Additionally, there is an unavoidable benefit of consistent updates that are available in real time for the users, which is remarkable improvement over the way traditional CRM users get their updates. This makes it possible for them to keep a consistent track of progress regarding request approvals as well as product delivery processes. This helps them to become much more efficient in order dispatch and establish stronger relations with the clientele.
 

Therefore, we can say that CRM hosting solutions are a worthy investment for improved business relations with the end users so that they can be provided with what they actually looking for without making any special requests.

Article Source: https://medium.com/@bhavna/hosted-crm-applications-enhances-your-business-growth-ergonomically-5feabc9f8b56