2142 dedicated server Reviews & News
Fighting Comment Spams - There Gotta Be A Better Way
Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:35:21 +1000
People usually associate spams with unsolicited commercial emails that try to either sell you the “little blue pill”, or Nigerians phishing for your bank account details. There are many techniques fighting email spams, either at the server side or at your email client. However if you run a blog or a forum on the Internet, you would also have experienced fighting comment spams (unless, of course, that you run a spam blog yourself :). I have been blogging since 2001 and have employed various techniques to keep the spams at bay. Some of them worked well — at the beginning — but sooner or later spammers got smartened up and they can almost slip in a few spammy comments.
When I launched this blog 2 years ago, it was running Akismet for Drupal, and recently changed to Mollom, one of Dries’ startup company/project. It has been effective (except for the last few days). Mollom is sort-of similar to Akismet that it (1) uses a classifier to determine the likeliness of incoming comment being a spam (2) acts as a centralised database to collaboratively identify spams. Mollom does a few extra things when the comment is in a “not-so-sure” state, but discussing this would be beyond the scope of this blog post.
Another interesting feature for Mollom is its Flex based statistics panel, showing the number of spams verses the number of legitimate comments. This is mine over the last 12 days:
As you can see the ratio between noise and signal is huge — there are many more spams than real comments. By the way, even for many real comments I am still not so sure about their legitimacy especially those one liner generic comments. As you can see there was a big jump today, because quite a few spams slipped through.
Although the ratio seems to be inline with most studies online, it still surprises me, when I compare it with the SNR of my email spams. I am running my main MTA at home with Postfix 2.4, and spams are filtered with DSPAM, a fast and light-weight email classification system that yields pretty good result (99.12% currently for my account). Here is the analysis graph over the same period of time (generated by dspam-web).
As you can see from the graph — there are only around 20% more email spams than legitimate emails! Not huge difference in the case of this blog’s comment vs. spams.
Now, do we actually get relatively less email spams than comment spams? Not really. But what we do have is better email-spam fighting techniques that block out most email spams before they reach the classifying system (DSPAM in this case). Therefore what DSPAM gets is already a filtered subset of all the incoming email spams. A few techniques deployed:
- Greylisting (see my previous article on this subject). I actually don’t put greylisting on my primary MX anymore due to undesirable delay. However I found by putting greylisting on my secondary MX it is just about as effective, as most spambots pick the last MX entry in DNS to send spam to.
- DNS-related filtering. For example ensuring sender has a FQDN, and a valid hostname, etc. I am surprised to see how many spams are actually filled with invalid sender addresses.
That’s about it, but many people I know also employ RBL, domain-key, etc. At least in my case they have effectively reduced the work for the classifier, which also result less spam getting into my INBOX at the end.
There gotta be a better way to fight comment spams — something between the web server and the actual application that filters out the obvious spams. Bad-Behavior? Mod_Security? They also increase undesirable false negatives though.
Any more thoughts?
Thinking outside of...Oh they got rid of the Box...I'm Growing Green
Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:26:00 -0400
I have been reading some great data about web host firms going green. Power from alternative energy sources, buying those carbon thingies. Wind, rain, gravity, solar winds, being more efficient, telecommuting, all those enchiladas.
The US Government is building a massive data center in the bottom of a quarry in West Virginia. After its complete, gravel will be back filled in and apparently natural water will circulate. A great way to off load all that data center heat and shield yourself from a nuclear incident at the same time, a twofer. Green I would say.
At home we have gone greenish. My wife has me using those cloth bags at the grocery, holds 12 packs of Moosehead really well, square no sag, strong handles and some insulating properties. We use a sailboat vs. motorboat.
It is hard to find a way for a company like mine to go greener. The A/C is already up to 80, the hot water heater is turned off (In the summer you can do that in Florida) and we turn off the printer at the end of the business day.
So I want to buy a new green CAR…which is why I wrote this blog...so you would click on the word CAR.
We are all learning how to dump the box.
More about Tom:
At HostingCon attend my M&A seminar "Flip that Hosting Company"
Godaddy
Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:52:16 +0000
GoDaddy.com is the world’s largest domain name registrar and is the flagship company of The Go Daddy Group, Inc. The Go Daddy Group of companies also includes Wild West Domains, Inc., a reseller of domains and domain-related products and services; Domains by Proxy, a private registration service; Starfield Technologies, a research and development affiliate; and ...]
An entrepreneur who has just embarked on an online business may not be familiar with the terms associated with Web hosting as well as with a Website. A webmaster newbie may not be aware what a cpanel is. Actually when you sign in with a Web hosting company, the Web hosting package will include a control panel which you will use in managing and maintaining your files and your domain. Of course there are other control panel options but cpanel is most favored by internet marketers due to several reasons.
December 2005
Mon, 12 Dec 2005 13:31:09 -0400
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Easy CGI Announce Linux VPS Hosting Plans & Windows 2008 Shared Plans
Wed, 14 May 2008 18:47:59 +0000
At the time of our last Easy CGI hosting review , the company were only offering shared Windows
They have now expanded their services to offer Linux VPS Hosting. Take advantage of the latest VPS product offering by Easy CGI. Featuring the Plesk Control Panel and Fedora Core 7, this new line of services provide a cost efficient and powerful hosting solution. VPS Hosting provides the most cost efficient solution for server administrators and web hosting companies looking to resell hosting services. Host unlimited domains and manage your websites with Plesk 8.2 Control Panel. These servers are so versatile that you can even set up Game servers such as Counter Strike or Half Life easily with the Plesk Control Panel. Easy CGI has also added two more Windows VPS hosting plans to its already popular product offerings.
Easy CGI Now Offers Windows 2008 Hosting. Take advantage of the latest Windows Server platform, Windows 2008. Featuring an even more secure platform, FastCGI for optimal performance of PHP scripts, and the .Net Framework 3.5 with ASP.Net 2.0/1.1. This new hosting platform is for the elite programmer as well as the novice designer.
Hosting Features
- Windows 2008/2003 Server Hosting
- PHP 5.2.4
- ASP.Net 1.1/2.0 and ASP.Net Framework 3.5
- Script Install Tool (DotNetNuke, Community Server, PHPBB)
- Free Web
- SitePal Talking Avatars
With these latest improvements and hosting deals, EasyCGI will have a far wider appeal and with prices for the VPS deals starting at under $40 the new Linux package looks even more attractive.
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As part of its Green Initiative, ServInt announced that two of its most popular hosting services are now its most environmentally responsible offerings. ServInt’s SuperVPS and UltimateVPS services feature low per-capita energy consumption through efficient virtualization. These services also make exclusive use of Dell low-voltage server hardware, which provides high-performance while operating with a much smaller carbon footprint.
Featured 2142 dedicated server Items
General Impression
IX Web Hosting has been in business since 1999 and has recently made a
remarkable appearance with the opening of their new data center in Hopkinsville,
KY.
With a highly professional website and very attractive hosting plans, they have
managed to be added to the list of companies that web-hosting-top.com is
reviewing. As the months passed by, IX WebHosting continuously improved its
performance in both reliability and customer service, resulting in extremely
quick loading websites and high customer satisfaction and consequently mastered
to be rated by our review team.
With over 170.000 domains hosted is more then obvious their value!
Price & Cost Effectiveness
IX Web Hosting's plans give you an excellent value. Regardless of your needs,
their plans allow you to save money right away - but the savings are even
greater if you need to host multiple domain names. Their billing cycles run from
quarterly, semi-annual to annual and 2-year billing cycles, the choice is yours
on most plans. The longer the billing cycle, the higher the discount that is
provided.
When hosting more than one domain name (multiple domain names or sub domains),
you can host them all on a single plan (Expert Plan and higher). You will save a
great deal of money since there are no fees at all for adding, removing, or
changing hosted domains and subdomains. You can manage it in real-time via the
control panel.
There was not a single billing issue with any of our anonymous test accounts, we
have always been treated with great respect and fairness. There were no over- or
unexpected extra on any of our hosting accounts. What is more important - when
we requested a refund for 2 accounts, we were granted a full refund without
questions asked. 100% money-back - including setup fees. An impressive approach
towards customer satisfaction.
They will help you with CGI scripts, upload problems, even if you don't know how
to use FrontPage - we were assisted kindly via telephone and their Live Chat
service. This is an important aspect for a web master maintaining multiple
websites, as for a busy website, there is a constant need to change your site's
content and scripts used. Where else can you get 200,000MB web space for
$3.95/mo, or unlimited disk space with multi domain hosting for $12.95/mo,
paired with a zero-risk 100% money back guarantee.
Reliability
During our extensive hosting experience with IX Web Hosting, we have had hardly
any server outages. It would be a lie to say none of our 23 anonymous test
accounts have never been down - however, the uptime track record for our test
accounts is impressive.
The question is not IF downtime happens, the question is when it happens and how
quickly your hosting company can resolve the problem. Quick problem resolution
is a must, so your site will be back online in no time.
Our overall reliability experience with IX Web Hosting is positive. They claim
to provide 99.9% uptime for all hosted accounts and they have a guarantee on
their website proving their track record. We had 100% uptime for the majority of
hosted accounts, however - 2 out of 23 accounts only had an uptime of 99.2% due
to a server glitch. The glitch was resolved quickly (within 90 minutes), however
the uptime amount of these two accounts did not reach 99.9% this month. After
inquiring with their billing department, we have been reimbursed for the
downtime that occurred with two free months of hosting service. We found this to
be an adequate compensation for 60 minutes of downtime.
Data Center (toured)
As the title indicates, we have personally visited and "examined" IX Web
Hosting's data center. The importance of doing that is obvious. You might have
heard of the "story" that 80% or more of the web hosts are just resellers, and
another 10% are just co-locating in some other data center, without direct
physical access to the machines. Unfortunately, that story is plain reality. We
have personally verified that IX Web Hosting's data center facility actually
exists by paying them a visit in Hopkinsville, KY. As the 16th data center we
visited, it was a rather pleasant surprise that they actually HAVE the equipment
they list on their website, as well as the security mechanisms, firewalls and
CISCO state of the art routers.
IX Web Hosting currently employs five redundant fiber-optic loops to connect
their data center. The fiber-optic connectivity is provided by Bell South,AT&T,
Verizon and 2x bandwidth is redundantly served by Qwest Communications. They are
currently busy upgrading their connectivity for future expansion.
Customer Service
In my entire career as professional web master, I have never seen more
responsive and technically sound support staff. I am thoroughly impressed by the
technical skills of the IX Web Hosting customer care team.
Regardless of which artificially created problem I have prompted them with,
everything was resolved within 24 hours: PASIV FTP issues, CGI scripts with
programming errors, PHP coding issues, ASP ODBC database connectivity, MSSQL
Enterprise Manager troubles, domain-lock and expiration tricks - we were not
able to fool them.
The support provided can be rated as above excellent, especially the 24 / 7 LIVE
CHAT feature. We have submitted a total of 450 support requests so far in the
past several months, and on 400 requests the response has immediately solved our
problem. The other tickets had to be reworked to send more details to the
technician. We called in via Live Chat at 3am and 5am EST several times and our
requests were answered promptly and courteously. Unlike other hosts, IX Web
Hosting is providing It is a true 24 / 7 chat service.
Control Panel
The basis of their control panel is H-Sphere, however IX Web Hosting's
programmer staff have modified it heavily. Both LINUX and WINDOWS hosting based
accounts are provided and the control panel functions flawlessly with accounts
on both platforms. The control panel they provide allows you to add, remove and
manage your domain names, subdomains, FTP accounts, email accounts, mailing
lists, auto responders, email aliases, MIME Types, Apache Indexes, PHP / ASP
configuration, mySQL, PostgreSQL and MSSQL databases, SQL database users,
cancelling and resuming your subscription and reporting trouble tickets from one
interface. In addition to the comprehensive functionality listed above, they
also offer an online file manager, an web design program called Site Studio as
well as Web Mail. All these features along with the senseful customizations IX
Web Hosting's programming department has applied to the control panel software
have made us rate this category with an astounding 100%.
You will find now a brand new billing system, outstanding from all points of
view.
The usage of the control panel it's self is very fast and reliable. The
administration of your whole account is very user-friendly and IX Web Hosting
provides an extensive customer guide with detailed explanations on how to use
your hosting account.
Contact Information and Support
Phone
24/7 sales and support available.
+1-270-707-2051 International
+1-800-385-0450
Click Here to go to ixwebhosting
website.
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posted by Jordan Smith23 at 10:32 AM
1 Comments:
Thanks.
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