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Is HostGators Hosting Service A Good Choice For Newbies?

HostGators hosting services are frequently recommended as they are one of the top hosting companies. There are located in Texas but have customers throughout the world. Founded in 2002 they have grown to the point where they host four million domains.

A range of hosting packages are on offer starting with basic shared hosting and including reseller hosting, virtual private server hosting and dedicated server hosting. This means that there is an upgrade path as a site gets busier and that HostGators service is good for personal and business users.

It should be noted that until you get to the dedicated server level HostGators service is Linux based. Generally it is best to go for Linux unless there is a particular reason to use Windows based hosting (such as having a site developed that uses Microsoft technologies).

HostGators entry level plan is available from $4.95 per month (which requires payment for 36 months upfront). However, one key attraction of HostGator is that they do actually allow monthly payments, at a higher price, and you can still cancel at any time.

Like most hosting companies these days HostGators packages include resources such as bandwidth, disk space, email accounts etc. on an “unlimited” basis, which at least keeps it simple. The only limitation of the entry level plan is that only one domain can be hosted.

Most new users of hosting are seeking a service that:

* Is user friendly – HostGators service offers cPanel with Fantastico which makes it was to install software such as WordPress.
* Is always available – a 99.9% uptime guarantee is provided, some maintenance is always required so no host will offer 100%. Whilst maintenance is generally undertaken at night local time this can occasionally be at inconvenient times in other parts of the world.
* Loads pages quickly – In my experience this is no problem with HostGator.
* Provides excellent support – This is an area where HostGators reputation is good and my own experience has been very positive. They offer support 24/7 by phone, chat and email. This may not seem like a top priority to a new user of hosting but I can tell you from past experience how frustrating it is to have problems and be unable to get proper support.

HostGators service meets the above criteria and I would recommend it to new users. I have noticed that HostGator seems to be the choice of many internet marketers and if it is good enough for them.

Is HostGators Hosting Service A Good Choice For Newbies?

HostGators hosting services are frequently recommended as they are one of the top hosting companies. There are located in Texas but have customers throughout the world. Founded in 2002 they have grown to the point where they host four million domains.

A range of hosting packages are on offer starting with basic shared hosting and including reseller hosting, virtual private server hosting and dedicated server hosting. This means that there is an upgrade path as a site gets busier and that HostGators service is good for personal and business users.

It should be noted that until you get to the dedicated server level HostGators service is Linux based. Generally it is best to go for Linux unless there is a particular reason to use Windows based hosting (such as having a site developed that uses Microsoft technologies).

HostGators entry level plan is available from $4.95 per month (which requires payment for 36 months upfront). However, one key attraction of HostGator is that they do actually allow monthly payments, at a higher price, and you can still cancel at any time.

Like most hosting companies these days HostGators packages include resources such as bandwidth, disk space, email accounts etc. on an “unlimited” basis, which at least keeps it simple. The only limitation of the entry level plan is that only one domain can be hosted.

Most new users of hosting are seeking a service that:

* Is user friendly – HostGators service offers cPanel with Fantastico which makes it was to install software such as WordPress.
* Is always available – a 99.9% uptime guarantee is provided, some maintenance is always required so no host will offer 100%. Whilst maintenance is generally undertaken at night local time this can occasionally be at inconvenient times in other parts of the world.
* Loads pages quickly – In my experience this is no problem with HostGator.
* Provides excellent support – This is an area where HostGators reputation is good and my own experience has been very positive. They offer support 24/7 by phone, chat and email. This may not seem like a top priority to a new user of hosting but I can tell you from past experience how frustrating it is to have problems and be unable to get proper support.

HostGators service meets the above criteria and I would recommend it to new users. I have noticed that HostGator seems to be the choice of many internet marketers and if it is good enough for them.

Proper Data Security And Storage Methods (Page 1 of 2)

The PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requires that any merchant who accepts, processes, stores, transmits sensitive credit card information must do everything possible to protect and guard that data. Proper data security and storage, however, can be a difficult thing to do in-house.

Data security and storage comprise a major portion of the PCI DSS and is also a necessary part of maintaining trust with your customers. In an age where personal information is a valuable commodity, customers need to know that their transactions are secure and you have a priority on guarding their personal data.

The third requirement of the PCI DSS states simply: “Protect stored cardholder data.” This may be a simple thing to say, but that doesn’t necessarily make it an easy thing to implement, nor does it downplay the importance. There are quite a few individual security controls that are required before you can say that you have created the proper data security and storage environment.

The first step is encryption. If you must store sensitive information on your own system you must encrypt it. This is a basic step because if a criminal intruder should happen to bypass all the other security measures that are in place, all they will find on your system are strings of random gibberish that are useless without the encryption key.

The next step is to limit the amount of cardholder data on your system. This includes only keeping the data that is absolutely necessary for legal, business, or regulatory purposes. When you don’t need it anymore, get rid of it. The less you have that is worth stealing, the less of a target you become. There are also a few things you’re not allowed to store at all. These include the full contents of any track from the magnetic stripe (like the card verification code or PIN verification value), or the three or four digit validation codes or personal identification numbers.

Of course, even if you’ve taken the steps to electronically protect data by encrypting it, there’s still the possibility that someone inside the company could steal or wrongfully employ the encryption keys. For that reason, the third requirement of the PCI DSS also mandates protecting those keys against misuse and disclosure.

Access to these keys must be restricted to the fewest number of people possible. These keys must also be stored in as few places as possible. Backups are, of course, necessary, but if you end up backing it up in too many places, you’re likely to forget where they all are, or accidentally place one where someone with criminal intentions can get a hold of it.

Requirement numbers seven, eight, and nine also deal with limiting physical access to cardholder data. These mandate that you restrict access to this data by to business need-to-know, and that you assign unique IDs to each person with computer access. These are measures that help ensure that you can trace the source of your problem, should a breach occur.