Introducing…The All New HostUpon.com
HOSTUPON Website Update
We’re excited to present the launch of the new HostUpon.com! Be sure to check out the new website, which includes a ton of new resourceful content – including even more detailed descriptions of our products and services, and an incredibly useful header and footer which makes navigating a breeze.
New Products
We have further grown our industry leading product line and introduced more competitive price points to help our customers find the perfect plan! Check out all of our new plans:
…and introducing our brand new Cloud Hosting, designed for customers with high-traffic websites that are looking for scalability+security, that might not have the technical know-how to manage a VPS or Dedicated Server – think of it like a managed hosting service.
Existing plans: Don’t worry folks, our original plans are still our legacy plans and as current subscribers you will remain on your plan with unaffected rates. If you do want to switch to a new plan, simply submit a ticket, and we’ll take care of the rest.
New Features
To compliment the overhaul HostUpon has undergone, we are proud to present the following new features, that we urge all of our customers to take advantage of:
New Live Chat – We’ve unrolled a new live chat system, which is faster, more intuitive, and extremely easy to use, which makes contacting us much more efficient.
Account Addons – We’ve made it much easier to order addons to your existing plans. You can simply visit our Account Addons page and order additional services.
And don’t forget, we offer Softaculous for free, a 1-click auto installer that gives you access to over 295 scripts…for free! You can find it inside your cPanel control panel.
Hostupon Automated Website Backup Service
Keeping an up to date backup of your valuable data is extremely important and we advise all customers to make regular backups of their website files and databases. Being prepared with an up-to-date backup is essential incase any sort of unforeseen disasters occur by means of human error or server issue.
With that being said we also wanted to offer a solution of our own. Our Premium Backup Service for hosting customers was introduced to ensure clients who subscribed to the service had automated backups of their entire account including website files, emails and databases. Every aspect of your hosting account with us would be backed up nightly for up to 5 days. Backups are done using R1soft Enterprise software to a remote server in a different data center. We’ve offered this service for over a year now and the feedback has been amazing. Clients who have been hacked or deleted files accidentally have benefited with automated restores upon request. The time and money you invest in your website is invaluable. Knowing that your website is backed up using our service will allow you to focus on building your site and business.
Clients are be able to restore a single file/folder or entire account as far back as 5 days or anywhere in between (Be it 3 hours or 4 days etc). Once a week we test the backup system with real life scenarios to ensure the backups are taking place.
You can read more about the service and signup here: Premium Website Backup Service
We also have an FAQ page to answer some of the most common questions regarding the service which you can read here: Premium Backup Service FAQ
Our Premium Backup Service can be added to any of our shared hosting, Reseller hosting, Private hosting or VPS hosting plans. Once you signup for the service there is no further action needed on your end. We begin the initial backup that same day and then you’re all set moving forward.
To request a restore simply submit a support ticket and let us know what content you wish to have restored and to which date.
You can be confident that your data will remain safe, secure and up to date with our innovative automated Backup Solution!
HostUpon partners up with SiteLock
HostUpon is proud to announce our latest partnership with SiteLock LLC, a global provider of website security technology and products for online businesses. This latest partnership brings to the table SiteLocks renown website security services, including the patent-pending 360-degree security scanning, reputation management, and expert hardening services, to name a few elements.
Not only will HostUpon be utilizing SiteLocks industry leading enterprise protection, further enhancing the level of security we offer our clients, all existing and new clients will have the chance to take advantage of the value and security SiteLock has to offer.
Designed specifically for small and midsized companies, SiteLock scans your site for malware, injections, and a plethora of other threats that could potentially harm your business. More recently, SiteLock announced a state of the art technology called SiteLock SMART (Secure Malware and Removal Tool), the companies most comprehensive malware scanning package yet (http://www.sitelock.com/news-smart-product.php).
In addition to all of these elements, SiteLock provides malware removal, spam black-list removal, database and network security, identity theft protection, virus protection, and more. SiteLocks Daily Vulnerability Scanning protects visitors against a wide array of threats, from SQL injections to backdoor vulnerabilities.
It’s simple to use, incredibly powerful, and will give your users the added security they are looking for. Once you sign up for SiteLock through HostUpon, you’ll have access through your cPanel to set it up. You’ll be able to display the official SiteLock logo on your site, which will help gain conversions and deliver additional credibility – not only will the SiteLock service protect your site from a 360-degree perspective, it will also instill confidence in your visitors that you’ve taken the necessary steps to insure your site is safe to use, further increasing your business.
We’re thrilled to be adding the additional layer of security SiteLock offers, beyond the existing suite of added value options we currently have. Try it out now, your clients, users and visitors will be more than appreciative that you’ve taken a step further to securing their environment.
If you have any questions or concerns about SiteLock and our partnership, feel free to contact us via email, chat, or phone at any time.
Alternatively you can start by visiting our SiteLock KB, or sign up now for this great service on our SiteLock information page here.
PHP 5.3 Hosting Now Available At HostUpon
Generally when a patch or upgrade to PHP is available, we try to install it immediately since there’s usually very good reasons for those patches. Most often, minor patches are either bug-fix releases or security patches. However usually it’s safe to upgrade from one minor version of PHP to another minor version as long as the major version number doesn’t change. For example, going to PHP 5.2 from PHP 4, is a major upgrade.
The reason I mention this is that major version upgrades such as the example above aren’t reverse compatible with each other. You can’t upgrade from 4 to 5 without also upgrading the site script files running on your website.
Now this is a fairly clear-cut example, and technology was actually invented to address this issue – The ability to run both PHP 4 and PHP 5 at the same time – so it wasn’t as big a deal. In fact it was addressed long enough ago that it was never a problem for HostUpon. But what if you wanted to go from the extremely popular and widespread version of PHP 5.2 to PHP 5.3? No big deal right?
Imagine our dismay when we found out that this relatively ‘minor’ version upgrade was not reverse compatible with itself. This meant that we could not upgrade our servers to PHP 5.3 since we have quite a few customers on our servers running scripts that would fail under that version. To make matters worse, that technology I mentioned above to run two different versions of PHP wasn’t designed to be able to tell the difference between PHP 5.2 and 5.3, so we couldn’t set it up to run both of these versions.
But there is some good news.
We set up a completely new server specifically so it could use PHP 5.3 instead of version 5.2. It is otherwise identical in configuration to all our other services so it can run all the same websites if they are compatible with this version of PHP. We have had this server running with a few users who have been interested in it for a few months now, and we’re pretty happy with how it’s been handling itself. PHP 5.3 has been out long enough to all of its major kinks worked out and even most of the minor ones.
At this time, anyone may ask to be moved to a PHP 5.3 service. It doesn’t cost anything extra, and there’s no fee to be moved to this server. All that is required is a ticket submitted to support, or if you’re setting up a new account let our Billing staff know ahead of time that you want 5.3 service for your site.
If you have any questions about this new service, You can contact us by phone, chat, or our ticket system at any time!
Cloud Linux Hosting
At HostUpon we’re always looking for way to improve server stability and uptime. We’ve now added Cloud Linux technology to all of our shared hosting servers.
What is Cloud Linux?
CloudLinux is the first commercial Operating system that meets the specific criteria and demands of web hosting providers. CloudLinux providers a stable environment for each shared hosting client by allowing us to set limits for each account individually. This means that no one user can monopolize resources such as CPU and memory. At HostUpon we allow each client to burst up to 10% of the CPU on the server.
Cloud Linux also provides greater security by running all processes under the user in their own container. By doing this it adds additional security to prevent hackers or poorly written scripts that can drain the servers resources.
Using Cloud Linux
Cloud Linux has been integrated in to cPanel allowing our customers to see exactly how much CPU and memory they are using at each our of the day. There is an icon inside the cPanel called ‘Resource Usage’ which provides details information on how much CPU and memory is being used and also allowing you to visually see if you hit your limits with statistical information and graphs.
in the event that your website receives a large number of visitors or is using too many system resources, Cloud Linux will automatically adjust to try and accommodate the demand. If however you’re exceeding your limits, your site will be slowed down temporarily to prevent any outages for other customers on the server. All other customers sites will continue to work at full speed.
How do I know if my site has been limited by Cloud Linux?
You can log into your cpanel and click on the Resource Usage icon under the Logs section. From there, you will be able to see if your website was limited. You will see an indication such as: “CPU resources were limited for your site” or “Memory resources were limited for your site”. Click on [Details]. You will be able to see indepth details on why your site was slowed down. Any values in RED will indicate that you exceeded the limit, which is what caused the slow down.
To avoid being limited by Cloud Linux here are some tips:
Update any scripts you use to the latest versions. For example if you use WordPress or Joomla make sure they are up to date and the latest release.
Update any plugins or themes you use on your site.
Disable any plugins you no longer use as some plugins tend to use a lot of resources.
Delete any scripts or software on your account that you no longer need or use.
Contact your developer and see if he or she can help optimize your script and code.
Overall Cloud Linux is great technology and gives our clients the confidence of knowing that no other client on the same server can cause issues for them. Segmenting each user to avoid one client effecting another has been a struggle in the shared hosting environment until now and HostUpon is proud to offer Cloud Linux hosting!
WordPress Themes
While we have thousands of clients using hundreds of open-source solutions, there are inevitably the blogging and CMS heavy hitters that emerge quickly as the most popular. Today we are going to discuss WordPress, one of the most well known and powerful blogging tools available, for free!
More specifically, we are going to go over some very easy and simple ways to dress up the otherwise boring look and feel of a WordPress run site.
WordPress themes are the most common solution for anyone, from the novice user to the experienced power blogger, who wants a fast, creative, and effective way to dress up their WP site. WordPress is by far the most popular CMS tool available, largely due to its key features. This includes a fantastic plug-in architecture, as well as a formidable template system – which in itself, offers the endless potential for Themes.
You don’t need to be an experienced web designer, a Photoshop guru, or even a slightly creative MS Paint aficionado to have a professional looking WP site. All you need is resourcefulness, and the help of a site like WPHub.com.
Specializing in WordPress Themes, Plugins and Tutorials, WPHub is one of many WordPress resource centers. Think of them as a portal, but for only top quality themes and plugins; a one-stop shop to get your WP site looking as professional as ever. Offering up over 500 themes, WPHub provides everything you need without breaking the bank. They boast some of the industry leading theme providers, including WooThemes, ElegantThemes, ThemeForest, and StudioPress to name a few. On top of all that, they offer a recommended WordPress Hosting provider section!
Don’t get bogged down with worry when piecing together your WP site, as many do. Don’t even worry about hiring an expensive web designer – get resourceful, and explore the countless themes, plugins and tutorials available online, and start with WPHub.com.
Introducing Our Latest Partnership With DesignPax!
Hi all,
After a short break from our Blog (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, we’ve been booming in Q1FY12!), we’re back to announce a new partnership with a formidable New York City based design company.
Introducing DesignPax – a state of the art 1-stop design shop that specializes in web marketing design, and a second-to-none 48 hour turnaround time. Join the likes of Google and AdRoll, to name a couple, who have utilized this incredible fast and simple design solution.
HostUpon fans can now use promo code “DesignpaxCredit50″ for a $50 credit!
Visit DesignPax here
As always, thank you for following our blog. Stay tuned for some exciting news, and the usual special promotions and discounts.
Sincerely,
The HostUpon Team
HostUpon Named “Best Canadian Host”
We are humbled to accept the “Best Canadian Host” award from the well known review site WebHostRanking.com!
From a recent press release via @PRweb:
“The team at Web Host Ranking has had the opportunity to work with and review many of the best web hosting services in the industry. After careful review and consideration, Web Host Ranking has picked HostUpon to receive top honors as the Best Canadian Host. HostUpon has received many awards for providing some of the best web hosting in the industry. Not only do they use some of the best technology and web hosting tools to ensure that their web hosting is dependable but they also guarantee personal, in-house support to all the HostUpon clients.”
Thanks WebHostRanking, we appreciate it!
See the full details here: http://www.webhostranking.com/awards/hostupon-best-canadian-host
AdQuick Web Hosting
AdQuick is a powerful PHP script, which will allow you to easily and quickly setup your own advertising network online.
With AdQuick you can run your own ad network similar to websites such as adbrite.com and buysellads.com
AdQuick allows you to bring together publishers and advertisers all in one marketplace and allows you to monetize your ad network by allowing you to take a cut from every single ad sold through your network.
AdQuick has many great features including, Targeted Ad Campaigns, Set Rates Ads, Multi Language and Currency, Easy template customization and full admin control over your website.
AdQuick supports many ad formats including,
Text Ads
Video Ads
Image Ads
Full Pages Ads
InLine Text Ads
InVideo Ads + Many More
Aswell as allowing you to run your own ad network with ease, AdQuick can also be used for personal use and be run to manage your own ads as your own ad server.
Hostupon is the only official hosting partner for phplemon.com and the AdQuick software, and provides all of the hosting requirements including FFMpeg to allow AdQuick to be installed and maintained without any issues.
Check out the AdQuick Software here: www.phplemon.com/adquick
For AdQuick Hosting check out the following: www.phplemon.com/hosting
Lastly don’t forget to use the coupon code phplemon to get 25% off your entire hosting order at HostUpon!
HostUpon Receives Two New Awards!
HostUpon has received it’s fair share of praise in the past, and the list of accomplishments continues to grow!
WebHostRanking.com has awarded HostUpon.com with the Best Canadian Web Host title (http://www.webhostranking.com/awards/hostupon-best-canadian-host/) , acknowledging our world-wide client base and ability to deliver “some of the fastest and most reliable web hosting available”. We are extremely proud to to receive this award as it signifies another step forward for Canadian start-ups in the tech world, not to mention the rapid evolution of Toronto, Canada as a central Canadian Hub for tech startups.
In a very similar fashion, HostScoreCard.com awarded HostUpon with the title of Top Canadian Host (http://www.hostscorecard.com/awards/hostupon-top-canadian-host/) further cementing HostUpon’s footprint in the emerging Canadian tech landscape.
Last but definitely not least, WebHostingSearch.com has mentioned HostUpon as one of their Web Hosts Top Picks for 2011. We are thrilled to receive this award by such a respectable site.
We here at HostUpon are proud of all of our accomplishments and awards, and would like to sincerely thank everyone that has recognized us. THANK YOU!