contents - Ping! Zine Web Tech Magazine

contents 

7.4 

PING! ZINE 

3 

041 047 

026 036 

048 053 

056 

062 

026 

BUSINESS BUILDING 

USING TWITTER 

It might not come as a surprise that many of the world’s 

top CEOs still are not onboard with the whole social 

networking thing. What is most interesting though is the 

percentage of CEOs who don’t care. Two CEOs from 

Fortune Magazine’s Top 100 Companies have Twitter 

accounts. Does this mean that Twitter has no future in 

successful companies? You make the call. 

031 

Hostingcon 2009 Scavenger Hunt 

036 

The Problems With Using Hardware To 

Compensate For Slow Software 

041 

Constant Evolution: 

HostingCon, Be there! 

047 

3 Uncommon Seats For Your PC Desk 

048 

business of green 

053 

Part 2: Helpful Web Design 

Recommendations 

056 

Product Review: Prevent DDos 

Attacks with Black lotus 

060 

Ping! Zine Service Directory 

062 

Crime and Punishment 

004 | Ping! Zine magazine

BITS & BYTES 

7.4 

PING! ZINE 

012 014 

016 018 

020 

012 

BRITNEY SPEARS IS DEAD? 

013 

Denver’s NEW DATACENTER 

014 

Wikimedia Foundation Receives Grant 

to Grow Wikimedia Commons 

Parallels Announces First EMEA 

Partner Roadshow 

016 

i/o Data Centers Opens its Phoenix ONE 

Data Center 

Andy Burton Appointed CEO of 

FastHosts 

018 

.ME Domains Enjoy Record 

Growth in 2009 

019 

SafeNet NAMES New CEO 

YAHOO! UNVEILS SEARCH PAD 

020 

Twitter’s lack of security 

022 

The Planet names Senior Sales exec. 

022 

Steve Jobs Undergoes Transplant 

023 

Internet Databases Celebrates 

Ten-Year Anniversary 

023 


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Ping! Zine magazine | 009



its & 

bytes 

BRITNEY SPEARS 

NOT EXACTLY KIDS! 

IS DEAD? 

Britney Spears hack highlights risk of 

weak Web 2.0-based service passwords 

“Mildly alarming as reports of Britney’s premature 

demise were, they also came in the wake of incorrect 

Web reports from New Zealand of the actor Jeff 

Goldblum also having passed away,” said Rob 

Rachwald, Imperva’s Director of Marketing. 

“What the complex online events leading up to the 

incorrect reports of celebrity deaths spreading around 

the Web show us, however, is the sheer power of the 

Internet in terms of potential reputational damage,” he 

added. 

According to Rachwald, since Twitter’s picture service 

currently only has a four-digit numeric password 

system, a brute force attack would be able to hack 

into the account in a matter of hours. 

And, he says, as new Web 2.0 services evolve on the 

Net, the effort and focus of the application owners 

is going to be devoted to the fast availability of new 

features and commercial models. 

As a result, he explained, the new services’ IT 

security protection is likely to get left behind and will 

almost certainly not be integrated into the application. 

For this reason, he went on to say, as well as being 

careful when it comes to setting secure passwords 

on these next-generation services, companies need 

to implement Web application firewalls alongside the 

services so as to afford better overall protection. 

“The key issue here is that companies need to install 

additional security technology at the same time as 

when they deploy these new Web 2.0-based services 

in their organization,” he said. 

“This is because Web application firewalls and other 

protective Internet security systems are becoming 

more and more important, as they can compensate 

for internal security control issues,” he added. 


DENVER’S 

NEW DATACENTER 

New Datacenter Will Provide Multiple 

Layers of Connectivity, Redundancy, 

and Security for Clients in Late August – 

Corporate Office Space Also Part of Project. 

Hosting.com, the first name in managed hosting and 

colocation solutions, announced that it is expanding by 

opening a 30,000 square foot datacenter and 13,000 

square foot corporate complex in the Denver metro 

area in late August. Company owners Art Zeile and Joel 

Daly have operated three successful high-tech firms, all 

headquartered in Denver, including InFlow, Inc., sold to 

Sungard in 2005. 

The demand for secure, reliable colocation space in 

Denver continues to outpace availability. Art Zeile, 

Hosting.com CEO, commented, “We are excited to serve 

a very large need in Denver with this new datacenter. 

Colocation space with our high level of service and 

support is absent from downtown.” He continued, “We 

will grow aggressively over the next 24 months through 

a national platform of managed and secure services; we 

are excited that Denver is at the center of our growth.” 

Hosting.com will occupy a historic Ford Model T factory 

retrofitted to their specifications for the expansion. 

The location takes advantage of a strong network 

topology, multiple power grids, and close proximity to 

fully redundant fiber feeds from Tier 1 providers. The 

datacenter will incorporate Hosting.com Smart Design 

Standards and provide up to 10 Gb/sec of redundant 

connectivity for bandwidth routing optimization as well as 

200 watts/sq ft of power and cooling. It will be the only 

datacenter of its kind in downtown Denver. 

In addition to hosting and colocation services, the new 

facility will support Hosting.com’s new cloud hosting 

platforms, Cloud Enterprise and Cloud Private. Hosting. 

com currently operates SAS 70 Type II certified 

datacenters in Irvine, CA; Louisville, KY; Newark, DE; 

and San Francisco, CA. Hosting.com’s cloud and 

virtualization solutions coupled with a geographically 

dispersed datacenter network allows their clients to take 

full advantage of their services for redundancy, fault 

tolerance, and disaster recovery solutions for their Web 

enabled businesses and technology infrastructure. 

Joel Daly, Hosting.com COO, noted, “By operating 

five datacenters from coast to coast, we provide our 

clients with unparalleled solution and service options. 

Our business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) 

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its & 

bytes 

“WIKI” 

GRANTED 

Wikimedia Foundation Receives Grant to 

Grow Wikimedia Commons 

The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit 

organization which operates Wikipedia, has received 

a $300,000 Ford Foundation grant to make it 

easier for people around the world to participate 

in Wikimedia Commons, the Internet’s largest 

repository of high quality, freely reusable educational 

illustrations, photographs, maps, sound, and video 

files. 

Available in 85 languages, Wikimedia Commons 

is a global community dedicated to sharing 

media. The Wikimedia Commons also acts as the 

central multimedia library for Wikipedia. The Ford 

Foundation grant will support interface and work-flow 

improvements to make it much easier to contribute 

freely reusable content. 

“The global community that is building Wikimedia 

Commons is setting the standard for the way that 

video and images are uploaded and shared through 

the Web,” said Jenny Toomey, a program officer 

for the Ford Foundation. “The whole process is 

simplified, promotes collaboration, and is driven by 

consensus among the community. Ultimately, this 

approach and others like it can help ensure that the 

Internet remains a rich and open space for learning, 

expression, and participation.” 

Since Wikimedia Commons was founded in 2004, 

a strong community of international volunteers has 

formed to support its growth and development. 

Wikimedia Commons currently hosts more than 

4.5 million freely reusable educational media files. 

Its files are used in thousands of educational and 

informational initiatives around the world, including in 

mass media and books. 

The grant will fund a project team to study challenges 

faced by new participants in Wikimedia Commons, 

as well as to identify best practices from other media 

sharing websites. Following a research phase, the 

team will design and implement a simple upload 

work-flow, enabling users to easily upload files, select 

licenses, and provide descriptions. 

PARALLELS 

HITS THE ROAD 

Parallels Announces First EMEA Partner Roadshow 

Virtualization and automation leader Parallels, presents a series of 

premier European hosting events dedicated to Parallels’ partners 

and other hosters and cloud services providers looking for 

virtualization and automation technology. The Parallels Partner 

Roadshow provides the partner community with a unique forum to 

learn how to leverage cloud computing as a software and service 

delivery model. The forum also lets partners and prospectivepartners 

connect with hundreds of decision-makers and Parallels 

executives, to share real world experience and to obtain the 

guidance necessary to succeed in this challenging economy. 

The 2009 Parallels Partner Roadshow will be take place in: 

Stockholm, September 1; Amsterdam, September 3; Warsaw, 

September 7; Cologne, September 10; Paris, September 14; Madrid, 

September 17 and London, September 21. To register for any of 

the events, or for more information, please visit www.parallels.com/ 

emea2009. The partner events will offer a broad array of content 

designed to help attendees evaluate everything from virtualization to 

applications to automation– everything a business needs to refine/ 

start laying-out its plans for cloud computing. 

Parallels has over 200 partners in Western Europe – representing 

90% of the top EMEA hosters who rely on Parallels technology 

to drive success, especially with white label reseller programs. 

White Label Reselling lets hosters delegate service plans to their 

customers to resell and offer a wider array of applications. White 

label resale offers an indirect sales channel and lets resellers 

maintain their unique brand independence, as well as retaining 

client loyalty. 

“VeriSign looks forward to participating in the Parallels Partner 

Roadshow,” said Michael Lin, Vice President and General Manager 

of SSL at VeriSign. “Together, VeriSign SSL Certificates, user 

authentication products, and domain name services offer Parallels’ 

partners and Web hosts around the globe a trusted online 

environment to conduct business.” 

“Our goal is to provide Parallels’ partners a continual growth path 

to help expand business,” said Jack Zubarev, President, Service 

Provider Division, Parallels. “The Parallels Partner Roadshow will 

educate partners and demonstrate how they can utilize Parallels 

virtualization and automation products to power their hosting and 

managed services offerings.” 


INTERNET 

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its & 

bytes 

NOW OPEN 

i/o Data Centers Opens its Phoenix 

ONE Data Center 

i/o Data Centers held a grand opening ceremony 

for its 538,000 square-foot Phoenix ONE 

Data Center facility. The Phoenix data center, 

located in a recently-refurbished building, is the 

company’s second Arizona-based data center 

and is the largest commercially-available data 

center in the United States. 

i/o Data Centers has grown tremendously over 

the past year. In addition to bringing the Phoenix 

ONE facility online the company has added 

a number of operations, sales and marketing 

positions to further the company’s expansion 

plans. “The team we have brought on board this 

year will help us take the company to the nextlevel,” 

said George Slessman, i/o Data Centers’ 

CEO. “We are pleased with the progress we 

have made over the past few years and look 

forward to continuing our success.” 

The Phoenix data center, although recently 

completed, is already home to a number of large 

corporate customers. “Because of the success 

we had with our Scottsdale ONE facility, we 

were able to pre-sell some space at this new 

facility,” said Wanger. “There is a lot of interest 

in Phoenix ONE and we are excited with the 

prospects we have had so far.” 

Andy Burton Appointed CEO of FastHosts 

Fasthosts Internet Ltd. announced Andy Burton has been 

appointed as new CEO of Fasthosts Internet Ltd., as well as of 

the company’s subsidiary in USA. In his new position, he takes 

charge of Fasthosts’ direct sale, reseller web hosting, dedicated 

and managed server operations. His appointment will further 

support the company’s development and international expansion 

strategy. 

Andy Burton said, “I join Fasthosts at an exciting time in its 

development, and look forward to playing a part in building its 

services further and sharing its excellent propositions with new 

markets”. 

Burton further added, “There is a significant and increasing 

demand for IT services and operations to be hosted and 

Fasthosts represents a significant opportunity for its customers 

by enabling them to control costs, reduce risk and improve 

service levels in a trusted partnership”. 



dOMAIN .ME 

.ME Domains Enjoy Record Growth in 2009 

To celebrate one year of the official live launch of the 

popular .me domains, Brands-and-Jingles has issued 

a white paper on how “me”-branded names are used 

in marketing. In its effort the advertising agency wants 

to congratulate the .me registry team, registrars, the 

developers and Internet users with another important 

milestone of jingling online marketing and wish the one 

year old .me domain baby many happy returns. 

The document summarizes the first year of .me domain 

names as well as provides an exhaustive overview of 

“me” advertising with numerous examples. 

“In less than a year .ME domains became more 

popular than .asia, .jobs, .coop, .aero, .int, .mil, 

.museum, .name, .pro, .tel, .travel, and other 200 

country code top-level domains,” notes the document. 

.ME enjoyed record auction sales: Date.Me was sold 

for $70,000. Another very attractive domain name 

Insure.Me scored an impressive $68,000. Some other 

big sales include: Love.Me - $32,500; Ask.Me, Hug. 

Me, Kiss.Me, and Teach.Me - $20,000 each; Match. 

Me, Rank.Me and Buy.Me - $17,500 each; Verify.Me 

- $16.000; LasVegas.Me, ChatWith.me and Korea.me 

- all above $15,000; Solve.Me - $13,116; Picture.Me - 

$10,240; and Recruit.Me - $10,155. 

The word “me” can be found on every fourth web page. 

It is used by thousands of companies for their brands 

and marketing campaigns to steer the consumers into 

buying their products. Apple’s “Mobile Me”, Microsoft’s 

“It’s all about me”, the famous British “Model.Me” 

beauty brand, “23andMe” the genetics testing company 

co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Sergey Brin 

(Google co-founder) - the list is practically endless. 

Not only are .me web sites novel and easy to 

remember, they also attract many online customers: 

Notify.Me - helps its users manage real-time updates, 

YouAnd.Me - a top free dating site with nearly 70,000 

members and the fastest growth in 2009, PicFor.Me - 

new popular photo sharing site, DressUp.Me - games 

for girls, etc.

SafeNet 

NAMES New CEO 

SafeNet, Inc. announced that Mr. Mark 

A. Floyd has joined SafeNet as Chief 

Executive Officer (CEO) 

YAHOO! 

UNVEILS 

SEARCH PAD 

Mr. Floyd joined the executive management team at 

SafeNet July 1st, assuming a position that had been 

vacant since October of 2006. 

“Mark brings more than 30 years of executive 

leadership to our company, with experience that 

complements our management team and company 

goals superbly. His successes range from founding 

his own company to running multi-billion dollar 

technology organizations to public offerings,” said 

Chris Fedde, President and COO, SafeNet. “This is a 

true case of adding strength to strength, with Mark’s 

expertise and understanding of growing business 

building on SafeNet’s position in the information 

security market. This is the combination that will meet 

our strategic goals for SafeNet’s future.” 

Mark Floyd commented, “What really attracted me 

to SafeNet was the unique combination of scale 

and intellectual property advantage along with an 

extremely talented management team and employee 

base. The company is truly a leader in a dynamic 

sector, selling the most important products to the 

most security conscious commercial and government 

customers in the world. With that platform, I think 

we can do incredible things to drive and grow this 

business and I feel very fortunate to be part of the 

team to lead this effort.” 

“More than a year ago, the Board embarked on a 

highly selective executive search hopeful to find a 

great complement to SafeNet’s strong executive 

management team,” said David Fishman, Partner, 

Vector Capital. “With nearly $500 million in revenue, 

SafeNet is the third largest provider of information 

security in the world with leadership positions 

across all segments of its business, including rights 

management and enterprise data protection. We 

believe Mark’s proven achievements in leading 

companies of this size will be valuable as we continue 

to take advantage of the robust growth opportunities 

afforded by this dynamic market. We also believe it 

sends a strong message of commitment to all of our 

employees, customers and partners.” 

Yahoo! Inc. announced Search Pad beta, a Yahoo! 

Search feature that lets people capture, organize, 

save and share information they find while 

researching online. 

Search Pad provides a new search experience that is especially 

valuable for people conducting extensive research in categories such 

as academic, health, jobs, travel, or shopping. 

Today, people conducting online research often use cumbersome 

methods for capturing the information they find in search results, 

pasting snippets into separate documents, taking handwritten paper 

notes, bookmarks, and/or sending themselves emails with links. 

Search Pad simplifies this task by automatically recognizing when 

people are conducting research, and allowing them to easily capture 

information and websites found in their search results. Once activated, 

Search Pad automatically saves recent items, including links in one 

integrated notepad that stays with them as they search. People can 

edit their notes and then print, save, email, or share their Search Pad 

documents with family, friends, colleagues or anyone else, eliminating 

the need for others to do the same research. 

Available only on Yahoo! Search, Search Pad has a host of features 

that make search and research as meaningful and manageable as 

possible: 

1) Automatic Research Detection: Understands research intent to 

initiate note-taking; 

2) Simple Collecting: Tightly integrated into the search experience; 

once research begins, it automatically collects visited websites and 

thumbnails; 

3) Organize: Easily manages research into a coherent document for 

quick reference with capabilities that include free form note entry, drag 

& drop, auto-attribution of the URL for pasted notes, and save/delete 

of notes and documents; 

4) Share: Provides simple and useful ways to share work with friends 

and colleagues via print, email, publish, and a number of social 

networks. 


its & 

bytes 

The Planet names 

Senior Sales exec. 

Twitter’s 

lack of security 

“News that Twitter has been hacked yet again comes as no surprise, 

given the fact that many IT staff and managers are being pushed 

into adopting cloud computing services on a fast-track basis,” says 

Origin Storage, the storage systems integration specialist. 

“Our observations suggest that a number of companies and their 

staff are being forced down the cloud computing route and are 

having to adapt their IT security systems on the fly.” said Andy 

Cordial, Origin Storage’s managing director. 

“We have had concerns about this rate of change in the business 

sector for some time and, with all the data breaches occurring on 

the cloud front, it’s obvious that the chickens are now coming home 

to roost.” he added. 

According to Cordial, this latest Twitter hack appears to be the result 

of the password of a company co-founder being guessable on the 

GoogleApps service which then allowed the hacker access to his 

personal information including details of his wife’s computer. 

It is, he explained, a common problem in IT departments, but one 

that can be solved by applying a sizeable slice of common sense 

and adding a selection of encryption technologies plus policies to 

the mix. 

Adding encryption to a company’s data storage - whether in the 

cloud or not - he said, will ensure that data at rest, as well as on the 

move, is protected from prying eyes. 

And if a secure password best practice is applied on top of 

corporate encryption policies, the resultant multiple layers of 

defence can help prevent human error causing a faux pas like the 

latest Twitter hack. 

“Applying effective security is all about planning and then applying 

that planning, backed up by a set of solid security policies with 

encryption at its heart,” he said. 

The Planet announced the appointment 

of Thomas S. Blair as Vice President, 

Global Sales 

Thomas S. Blair, a 25-year sales veteran, reports to 

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Douglas J. 

Erwin. He will be responsible for the company’s entire 

span of sales activities, including revenue generation, 

customer relationship management and retention, 

business development and sales engineering, as well 

as channel and alliance partnerships. 

“Tom Blair brings to our company a stellar sales 

background, coupled with both an acute understanding 

of solutions selling, and extensive direct and channel 

experience,” said Erwin. “He’s spent his entire 

career with some of the best brands in the industry, 

developing the strategies that make his teams 

successful. As our business has grown, we’ve seen 

a change in how customers purchase products 

from us, and Tom’s expertise provides us with the 

next-generation bench strength to help us grow our 

business.” 

Blair joins the company following a 10-year career 

with Terremark Worldwide, Inc. and Data Return 

Corporation, which was acquired by Terremark 

just over two years ago. With Terremark, he most 

recently served as Senior Vice President for 

Channel Sales and Strategic Alliances, where he 

executed agreements with master agents, system 

integrators, consultancies, value-added resellers, 

solution providers and independent software vendors. 

Blair was vice president for Channel Sales and 

Alliances with Data Return, where he led a team 

that significantly increased revenue and enabled the 

company to increase market share for its managed 

hosting business. As vice president for worldwide 

sales, Managed Services, he was responsible for the 

company’s sales strategy and methodology, which 

included the development and addition of a field-based 

sales organization. 

He holds a B.S. in Business Administration and 

Marketing from the University of South Carolina’s 

Moore School of Business. 

“If Twitter had had this strategy operating at all levels of its 

hierarchy, rather than apparently going for user growth at any cost, 

it wouldn’t be in the embarrassing situation it is now,” he added. 


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its & 

bytes 

Steve Jobs Undergoes Transplant 

Recently, Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis confirmed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had 

receieved a liver transplant a few months ago and that he is “recovering well and has an excellent prognosis.” 

Jobs is now back to work at Apple after a six-month medical leave. “Jobs received a liver transplant because he was 

the patient with the highest MELD score (model for end-stage liver disease) of his blood type and, therefore, the sickest 

patient on the waiting list at the time a donor organ became available,” according to a statement by Dr. James D. Eason, 

the program director of the Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis. 

Jobs has recently been under a ton of speculation regarding his health. While Apple had always insisted that Jobs’ 

health was a private matter, in early January they released a statement that reveled Jobs was suffering from a hormone 

imbalance. 

Jobs had also previously underwent a successful surgery to treat a rare from of pancreatic cancer in August 2004. This 

forced Jobs to take a medical leave from Apple until September of that year. 

It has been questioned over the past year, whether his cancer has returned. 


STILL GOING STRONG 

Internet Databases Celebrates Ten-Year Anniversary 

At a time when the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that roughly six in ten 

businesses do not even make it to the four-year mark, Barry Welch, President, 

CEO, and founder of Internet Databases said, “We are both proud and grateful to 

celebrate this milestone.” 

Internet Databases began as a custom web applications development company 

in 1999 while Barry’s wife, Allison, was pregnant with their second child. “She got 

tired of hearing me talk about starting a business. She supported me 100% and felt 

I would regret it in the future if I didn’t give starting my own company a good try.” 

That year, Hooker Furniture became an Internet Databases client, setting the stage for what would become the focus of 

Welch’s work - developing web-based applications for the home furnishings industry. 

In 2007, he made the switch from solely developing custom applications to releasing his first software product: 

FurnishWEB, an online data management system for the home furnishings industry. In 2008, he added his 20th client, 

Huntington Furniture. 

When asked if there were surprises along the way, Barry Welch said, “I’ve been surprised by the amount of confidence and 

faith put into us by organizations much larger than ours. I’ve been surprised by how differently similar companies in the 

same industries operate. I’ve been surprised that people are interested in our story.” 

Any company that stays in business 10 years is a story.



Y david dunlap 


BUSINESS BUILDING 

USING TWITTER 

It might not come as a surprise that many of the world’s top 

CEOs still are not onboard with the whole social networking 

thing. What is most interesting though is the percentage of 

CEOs who don’t care. Two CEOs from Fortune magazine’s top 100 

companies have Twitter accounts. Does this mean that Twitter 

has no future in successful companies? You make the call. 



According to Hitwise research, Twitter sends traffic to social networks. In fact, it can almost 

be considered a social networking search engine. Search engines send less than 10% downstream 

clicks to social network sites, while Twitter drives around 20% of its visitors to social 

networks. So what does this mean? If you have a blog, wiki, Flickr, Facebook account for 

work you should have a Twitter account as well. It therefore follows that with the development 

of your Twitter network, you can develop your social networking platforms. 

Building and Developing Your Twitter Network 

Twitter networks go though stages and when comparing these stages it is not unlike cultivating 

a garden. When growing flowers, you don't dump tons of fertilizer and water on them. 

You slowly nurture them over the course of weeks, if not months. Making a successful Twitter 

network requires time, but it does not require a large amount of work. 

Ben Says: 

When it comes to 

choosing a name for 

your twitter account, 

remember smaller 

is better. Your name 

is your calling 

card and should 

be synonymous 

with your company 

brand, but needs to 

be short to ensure 

proper re-tweeting 

(the resending of a 

message someone 

else sent, basically 

it’s like forwarding 

an email). 

The first stage of your network is getting your initial 50 to 100 followers. Your account 

should include your picture or your company logo (if this is a company account). Your Twitter 

profile page should be linked to your most important site (personal blog or company 

site; index page, basically whatever is on your business cards). When it comes to choosing 

a name for your twitter account, remember smaller is better. Your name is your calling card 

and should be synonymous with your company brand, but needs to be short to ensure proper 

re-tweeting (the resending of a message someone else sent, basically it's like forwarding an 

email). 

Promote your Twitter account by adding the profile to your forum, blog, and email signatures. 

This right here is the gift that keeps on giving. If you are already a prolific writer or 

social networker you don't have any extra work to do in this aspect. When you do add 

tweets make them useful and timely, but do not over do it. Having no tweets and then slamming 

the channel with 30 tweets in a row is overkill. 

Now that you have your followers, it's time to keep them. Take an active role in those who 

follow you and those who reply to your tweets. Follow those who follow you, if they link to 

places then go ahead and read them. This is all about common courtesy and since they are 

trying to hold on to their followers as well, you will probably find something useful. If you 

especially like the link, link to it with your blog. This is networking after all. 

On a special note, using cool scripts to update Twitter is nice, but those who follow you on 

Twitter probably follow you on other social sites and having something spam multiple sites 

can be a put off. Essentially it tells your network they aren't worth your time to address. If 

you want consolidation, then by all means use something like Ping.fm, but post separate 

messages on your different sites, even if you are posting about the same thing, make different 

messages. The extra steps will be rewarded. 

Now the final stage is basically maintenance of your Twitter network and using it in constructive 

ways. I want to stress that Twitter is two way street. If you want value out of Twitter 

you need to put value in it. Up until now, we have been interested in gaining Twitter followers 

and keeping them. As you go, you have been discussing things that you are doing with your 

company, while providing useful information about yourself, your company, and things you 

find interesting. Now is where we kick it into high gear, not just for your site, but for your 

followers. 

Basics for Twitter Networking 

If you have a company Twitter account, make sure to have a few employee accounts as well. 

These can show the human, and most likely a far more interesting side of the company. It's 

important to have a few. If your only Twitterer gets sick, goes on vacation, gets fired, quits, 

etc then there will be others who can pick up the slack. It also spreads the work around. 

Some people pick up Twitter and can't stop while others see it as a chore. By spreading 

responsibility around the office, less people will view it as a chore. 


The fun Twitters do not answer what, how, or why. They simple talk about what has their attention 

at the moment. Things such as you just read an awesome blog, or your desk is way too 

cluttered, or you managed to jury rig two computer fans and a fan control and built your own 

house fan with it. These things can be far more interesting and timely then saying something 

like I am working. Talk to your network; treat it like you have friends over for a get-together. 

How to Use Your Twitter Network 

Your Twitter network should be mutually beneficial. At its most basic, Twitter can be used to 

direct traffic to various links and in this manner send traffic to your social networking sites. 

This is the obvious usage and if you are using Twitter then you should be taking advantage of 

this facet. However, there are many more uses to Twitter and all of them can be quite useful 

for your business. 

Ben Says: 

“Another great thing 

about Twitter is that 

you can use it to 

look for yourself 

and see if people 

are talking about 

you. By searching 

for yourself or your 

company you can 

see who is unhappy 

with what and 

conversely what 

people like about 

your company.” 

Twitter can be used to bounce ideas and brainstorm. This is especially good when you are 

using a private Twitter network (say for your company or maybe for a professional network). 

The ability to bounce off ideas around the world from something as convenient as your mobile 

is a very powerful thing. Along with brainstorming there are many project platforms such as 

Hudson that have Twitter plug-ins. So you can be alerted when a new build or version of your 

project is completed and then talk about it with your network. 

You can use Twitter to perform research. Marketing, product, technology, and company research 

can all be performed using Twitter in either a private or public network format. You can 

also use it for Q&A’s of which there are many examples that have worked wonders. 

Most blog software allows tweets to go straight to the comment section. Blogs are already a 

hot topic for linking from tweets; with a little moderating you build a symbiosis between linking 

a blog in tweet allowing you network to discuss the blog in tweets. 

Twitter can also provide the ultimate in transparency in customer and company feedback. Say 

you had a server and you had 50 clients on it. You give them all a twitter account to hookup to. 

For the sake of being generic, we will call it Server110. Now all the clients on that server are 

on the Server110 channel. If the server has a problem, the technician can tweet an update here 

saying the server has a hard drive problem. Since many phones have plugins for Twitter, the 

technician can give a status report to everyone on the server. Other people can do an 

@ Server110 and say tweet about a support problem. In this manner, a constant line of communication 

between the technician and the clients is opened. 

Twitter is used to make introductions for talking to new people. Some employers have used 

these opportunities to find prospective employees. On the other side of the fence, many 

employees have used Twitter to build up networking for job opportunities. By using Twitter 

searches, people can look directly for job openings. Or, like normal networking, by becoming 

a trusted user in a network (someone who is helpful, cheery, even funny) you can open the 

door for such opportunities. 

Another great thing about Twitter is that you can use it to look for yourself and see if people 

are talking about you. By searching for yourself or your company you can see who is unhappy 

with what and conversely what people like about your company. So setting up alerts with 

Twitter can greatly aid your marketing staff. Remember, Twitter may be an open forum for bad 

publicity but it is documented and can be studied. 

Lastly, Twitter can be used for live news coverage such as for events, conferences, or just 

crazy things as they unfold. 

I hope by now, if you weren't of the opinion already, you are all beginning to see the power of 

Twitter and why this is not something that a successful business should blow off. Instead, I 

challenge you all to develop your Twitter networks and find new ways for one of the fastest 

and most convenient ways to communicate in the world today. And while you’re at it, drop me 

a line at my Twitter account, David_WHM. 

P! 

030 | Ping! Zine magazine 

Writer's Bio: David Dunlap has been both a Web host industry analyst and commentator for the past nine years. Prior to his 

active writing career, David was a network and communications technician for four years for the U.S. government. He currently 

is the Editor-in-Chief for WebHostMagazine.com





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Y pingdom.com 

The Problems 

With Using 

Hardware To 

Compensate For 

Slow Software 

Are you a programmer? Want to do 

something for the environment and 

even make the world a better place? 

Then start optimizing your code! 

It seems like today the solution to 

most software performance issues is 

to throw more hardware at the problem 

instead of making the software run 

faster on existing hardware. Doing 

more with less is a forgotten mantra, 

and Wirth’s Law continues to ring true: 

“Software is getting slower more 

rapidly than hardware becomes faster.” 

Jeff Atwood has an interesting article in his Coding Horror blog (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/ 

archives/001198.html) regarding the value of code optimization versus just buying more hardware. His 

argument is that since hardware is cheap compared to programmer salaries, the first step to make software 

run faster should always be to buy more hardware. We recommend you read the whole thing (it’s an 

interesting read). 

He rounds off the article with this recommended approach: 

1. Throw cheap, faster hardware at the performance problem. 

2. If the application now meets your performance goals, stop. 

3. Benchmark your code to identify specifically where the performance problems are. 

4. Analyze and optimize the areas that you identified in the previous step. 

5. If the application now meets your performance goals, stop. 

6. Go to step 1. 

This makes perfect sense if you actually go through all the steps and really do optimize after the initial shortterm 

fix of buying more hardware. 

HOWEVER, it is all too common that companies don’t take code optimization seriously enough and never 

go beyond step 3 above. The solution will more or less always be to throw more hardware at the problem. 

In addition to this, a lot of programmers simply assume that it’s ok to demand more powerful hardware for 

their software to run well and don’t put much effort into doing more with the same resources. 

These two things combined give us an environment where increasing amounts of increasingly powerful 

hardware is being used as a crutch to compensate for the poor performance of our software. [continued] 


Offer More. With Parallels Automation. 

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your business and empower your customers, from a single software 

platform. Parallels increases your revenue per user by enabling the 

widest set of automated services including hosted Microsoft 

Exchange with many add-on services, shared hosting, Microsoft 

SharePoint, virtual private servers, SaaS and more. 

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Four BIG problems 

Here is why today’s tendency to simply throw more hardware at software performance problems 

is unhealthy and shortsighted: 

1 You do not leverage anywhere close to the full potential of your hardware. 

2 You end up with more hardware, which consumes more electricity, which will cost more in 

the long run (especially if you run a large-scale operation). 

3 Using more electricity is not just a cost issue, it’s bad for the environment. 

4 More hardware means more components, which in turn is bad for the environment. 

Saving costs is often used as an argument for not putting in the time to make code run faster, but there are plenty of costs 

on top of the purchase price to take into consideration when you add more hardware; increased power consumption, sysadmin 

resources and future scaling issues should also be taken into account. 

The implications of more efficient code 

What if we could double overall code efficiency? (Don’t say it 

isn’t possible). That would mean a huge reduction in the amount 

of hardware that companies would need to run their operations, 

especially on the server side (since office workers would still 

need a computer each). 

Imagine your web servers being able to handle twice the requests 

they are today. Imagine modern top-of-the-line software running 

fine on modest, even old, hardware. It’s a nice thought, isn’t it? 

Hardware manufacturers might not be all too happy with that 

development, though… But here is why we shouldn’t care about 

that: In 2005, servers consumed as much power in the United 

States as televisions (http://royal.pingdom.com/2007/03/08/ 

servers-consuming-as-much-power-as-color-tvs/) , and that was 

four years ago! We don’t know what the full carbon footprint of 

the world’s servers (and other hardware, it’s all running software!) 

actually is today, but it is bound to be significant and growing. 

Why needing less powerful hardware 

is a Good Thing 

There is another very important benefit that would come from 

a more efficient code base: The faster our code is overall, less 

powerful hardware is needed to run common applications, 

which in turn would make it possible to create more affordable 

computers. This would be a huge benefit to third-world and 

developing countries, not to mention less fortunate people in the 

industrial nations. 

Please get that old-school mentality back 

Huge gains in performance can be made from effective, 

competent optimizations of algorithms and code. Even when you 

think your code is fast, it can usually be made to perform several 

times faster with the right approach. 

To give you some examples, just look at the impressive 

performance gains between first-generation games for game 

consoles and those released a couple of years into the life-cycle 

of that same console, or the things coders were able to make C64 

and Amiga computers do back in the day. These are examples 

where software performance was improved by leaps and bounds 

without resorting to hardware upgrades. 

The Coding Horror article we mentioned above has a quote from 

Patrick Smacchia (from CodeBetter.com http://codebetter.com/ 

blogs/patricksmacchia/archive/2008/12/01/lessons-learned-froma-real-world-focus-on-performance.aspx 

), where he observes 

how Amiga programmers were able to increase software 

performance by an incredible 50 times in the time frame of just a 

few years by continuously challenging themselves on the same 

hardware. 

Do more with less 

If doing more with less was a more valued mindset in software 

development, we would all reap substantial long-term benefits. 

We would need less (and less powerful) hardware, we would 

save money, we would save power, and in doing so, we would 

help save the environment. P! 

Think about that. 

Article Source: http://royal.pingdom.com/2009/07/15/the-problemwith-using-hardware-to-compensate-for-slow-software/ 


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Today’s small 

web hosts may 

be doomed to 

fail unless they 

continue to 

innovate. Industry 

experts foresee 

the web hosting 

industry moving 

away from small 

hosting providers 

and favoring 

the large data 

centers in the 

future. The giants 

with unlimited 

resources will 

someday squash the 

mom-and-pop providers 

unless they get used to 

continuous innovation. 

This theory may provide an 

answer to the question: Why 

should a small web host attend 

HostingCon? 

3 

Constant 

Evolution 

hostingcon. 

be there! 

Small web hosts often become the target 

of sales pitches by larger companies hoping 

to win their business, rather than targeting their own 

market segment. The “small host” should not expect to make many, if any, direct 

sales when attending or exhibiting at HostingCon. However, they should consider 

the benefits of a front seat at HostingCon alongside the heavy hitters. The ability 

to mingle, listen, brainstorm, interact, and study the ideas and innovations of the 

industry leaders cannot be reproduced anywhere else. The valuable information 

web hosts can pick up at HostingCon may become that all-important defense 

needed to dodge the industry onslaught that culls the rest of the herd. With this 

mindset, a small webhost may find it worth more than gold to attend HostingCon. 

bY evan kamlet 

Every day, start-up web hosts and even established companies like mine that have been in business for the better part of a decade, 

chug forward without knowing what lies around the next corner. If you are really dedicated to making your small hosting business 

succeed, just as I am, you probably lose sleep at night. Nightmares routinely conjure up images of obsolete hardware, falling profit 

margins, plummeting bandwidth prices, surging power prices, and even nightmares on if your business model will be able to survive 

all of the variables in such a highly competitive industry. 


6 

Inevitable Obsolescence 

The evolution of mankind has its foundation in the ability to learn and conquer the environment. 

Unless you think that mankind will one day give up its quest for progressive knowledge and technology, 

the entire web hosting industry as we know it is inevitably going to become obsolete. For 

example, there is no doubt that bandwidth will become cheaper and more accessible. Someday, 

bandwidth may even be free. How can you continue charging more for light that blinks that much 

faster in a fiber? Copper cable once limited bandwidth due to attenuation and losses but it is quickly 

becoming a distant memory. 10Gbps, 100Gbps, 1000Gbps speeds are becoming easier and easier 

to obtain and limitless bandwidth may be on the horizon. The idea of bandwidth in general may 

become obsolete when everything travels at light speed. How will it affect your hosting business 

when every home has a connection measured in terabytes? 

Today some children are publishing their first websites at the age of 10. They are growing up with 

technology. The knowledge and expertise that now separates your company from the competition 

may someday be commonplace. A future network engineer may be nothing more than a present 

day Roto-Rooter technician. 

Companies like Google push for open airwaves, free wireless, and the dream of unlimited Internet 

access. When every city, state, cell phone, traffic light, microwave, and toaster oven has limitless 

connectivity to the net, how will that affect your hosting business? How can you provide a hosting 

service when every kid on the block may one day host websites capable of handling nearly unlimited 

traffic from their iPhones? Maybe the focus will shift towards wireless value-added-services or 

application hosting. 

The hosting industry as we know it is going to die a drawn-out and painful death. The big fish 

like Google, Microsoft, large telco companies, and a handful of other giants with the resources to 

quickly adapt and innovate will readily eat the smaller, resource-starved hosting providers. They 

are the behemoths that are fueling the evolution of technology as we know it. To them, small hosting 

providers are nothing but speed bumps on the superhighway. When will they run you off the 

road? That is the big question. [continued] 

042 | Ping! Zine magazine3 

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as we know it is going 

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36 

come to HostingCon 

with your mind facing 

the future and not 

focused on immediate 

gratification. 

Writer’s Bio: Evan Kamlet was employed by a local upstate New York ISP and web-design firm in 1999 and 2000 and 

went on to own and operate Host4Yourself Internet Services (H4Y Technologies LLC and formerly Host for Yourself 

LLC) since it was founded in 2001. He has more than a decade of experience in all aspects of the hosting industry 

including marketing, business operation, engineering, and information technology. 

HostingCon and Delaying the Inevitable 

Sure, you can read about Google’s ideas in Ping! Zine. You can research Microsoft’s latest technology 

and beta test their future products. But where, other than at HostingCon, can you bounce around one 

room and get up close and personal with representatives from Google, Microsoft, ARIN, Parallels, 

cPanel, and other industry experts that feed the ever-changing world of web hosting? The knowledge 

that will fuel the inevitable evolution of technology and hosting is all contained at the exhibit halls and 

networking events. For a couple hundred clams worth of tickets, your whole company can talk shop 

with the CEO of Parallels or mingle with the top techs of cPanel. 

If you are attending this year, don’t be bashful! Stick your nose into other people’s business. Use the 

information you learn to get a jump start on what might be the next up-and-coming industry moneymaker. 

Attend the keynote speeches and luncheons. Don’t just attend, but listen, and take notice of 

any topics that come up more often this year than at last year’s show. Look for the trends and patterns 

that the big boys seem to focus on. Try to decide which direction you should go at the next fork in the 

road. The knowledge you pick up might just keep your small hosting company in business that much 

longer! If you don’t get a head start today, and if you think the snazzy reseller hosting packages you 

offer today will continue to bring in the money throughout the next several years and decades, you 

may as well throw in the towel now. 

There are two possible reasons to attend or exhibit at HostingCon depending on your situation. You 

either provide services to web hosts and wish to present your sales pitches and pick up leads, or you 

are a hosting provider looking to gain useful knowledge and maybe spread your name around town 

a bit. Web hosts are not going to be signing up busloads of new clients at HostingCon. Instead, you 

are going to be the target of just about every other salesperson attending. Keep this in mind and take 

HostingCon for what it is. On top of the wonderful time you will have socializing, partying, and hanging 

out with the regulars that attend HostingCon every year and on top of the good food and drinks and 

free trinkets, there is a much greater value to HostingCon. For a small web host, the value may not 

be in the business you might win at the event. Instead, the value is in the fact that you may learn what 

the future may bring in this crazy industry, all in one place. The time spent at HostinCon may arm your 

business with extra defenses, innovative ideas, and an attack strategy to counter the steamroller of 

progress set forth by the very giants who may someday wipe out the mom-and-pop hosting providers. 

Small hosts have one-time, unrestricted access to all this information - only at HostingCon. 

The web hosting industry of tomorrow will never be the same as it is today. It is caught in the strong 

current of change on a giant ocean of evolving technology. The industry as we know it today will collapse 

and mutate into something else in the future. Before that happens, come to HostingCon with 

your mind facing the future and not being focused on immediate gratification. Given a journey with the 

only destination being eventual obsolescence, we can only try to enjoy the success we may experience 

along the way. No one knows for sure what lies ahead, but with vision and innovation, you can 

stay on that scenic route while watching your competitors fall by the wayside. Attending HostingCon 

will definitely help make your journey more enjoyable. P! 




Y mitch keeler 

3 Uncommon 

Seats For 

Your PC Desk 

When you are working in front of your computer for 

most of the day, where you sit becomes a big part of your 

life. Web hosting people suffer a lot from this, because no 

matter if you are a remote tech working from home, or a 

system administrator in front of a server, you need to stay 

comfortable. Now, most people might have the normal rolling 

office chair – however, others are getting a little more creative 

about where and how they sit. 

For the Unique Sitting Situation 

The art of using an exercise ball was introduced to me by 

watching Leo Laporte’s TWIT broadcasts and podcasts. It 

seems like it might be a good way to stay active while still 

sitting down. I have even seen some that come with a built 

in chair base so you can mix the benefits of the ball with the 

functionality of your normal office chair. 

For the EXTREME System Administrator 

For the extreme system admin, I have one more goodie. The 

Tank Chair looks like your office chair with tank wheels, Found 

at TankChair.com, it is a custom off-road wheelchair that can 

go anywhere outdoors. Not sure how well it would do at your 

computer desk – but if anybody wants to give it a shot – send 

me some pictures of you in action. 

For Your Laid Back Web Hosting Techs 

I have a Sumo Sac, which I picked up from SumoLounge.com 

that could easily be used to do a little remote web hosting work 

from the comfort of your own home. The only problem about 

trying to use it in front of a computer desk, is it might be a little 

hard to get up and away from the computer. 


Y Cheetah Power 

business of 

green 

Being Green is not just Kermit’s theme song anymore. It’s every 

one’s. Green tips are top of mind, everywhere we turn. 

So, when we think of project management, how can we apply 

some “green thinking” to our projects? 

Here are our top five ways to bring some green ingenuity to your 

every day project management. 

1 

Green 

Materials Maven. Are you using materials that 

have been recycled and are you recycling the materials 

that you’re currently using? Regardless of what industry 

that you work in, just a little research can make a big 

difference, in your project’s carbon footprint. 

2 

Packing 

Green. Packing materials for products can 

produce a lot of waste. Can you use recycled materials 

for packing like old newspapers? There are also 

biodegradable packing peanuts and environmentally 

friendly soft foam. 


3 

Packing 

Green. There are hundreds of ways to make 

your office greener here are just a few to get you started: 

Use coffee mugs instead of paper or Styrofoam 

If you are a small or home-based office, you can produce your 

own energy. Visit www.cheetahpower.com for more information. 

If you can’t produce your own energy, look for a supplier that is 

producing green energy in your area. 

Put automatic timers or sensor lights in your bathroom, conference 

rooms or spaces that are not occupied the majority of the 

day. 

Use as much natural light as possible in the design of your office 

space. 

Use energy saving light bulbs. 

Switch off computers, photocopiers and other equipment when 

not being used. 

Buy office equipment with the best energy ratings. 

Use green materials when building out a new office, like bamboo 

instead of wood flooring 

Use refillable vs. disposable pens 

4 

Make 

a Commitment To Green. When you make green 

more than a passing fancy, you show your team, and 

your customers that you mean business. You’re not just 

being trendy; you’re making changes that impact the world 

around you. 

Buy green products for your office – everything from toilet paper 

to recycled paper for printing 

Promote a “reuse” mentality and lead by example 

Promote “think before you print.” 

Use environmental or natural cleaning products. 

Support and buy the products of other vendors and suppliers who 

are eco-friendly. 

Support virtual office employees or support car-pooling and ride 

sharing if in a suburban area. 

If you’re in a rural area, can you create a wildlife trust around 

your company’s property? 

5 

PR 

With Heart & Soul. Let’s face it, there’s a lot of bad news out 

there. Your customers do want to hear about the good things that 

you’re doing. So, if you have a green initiative or a project with a 

green heart and soul, talk about it. Get the buzz going. Green PR is 

only bad, when it’s insincere. 

Michelle LaBrosse, MSME, PMP, Founder Cheetah Learning and Cheetah Power 

Michelle LaBrosse is an engineer and an entrepreneur with expertise in both aerospace and mechanical 

engineering. She started her career as an Air Force officer in the field of aircraft structures 

and vibrations; a challenge that resonates today with some of the technical challenges encountered 

with wind power. 

Erica Edmond, CAPM, Cheetah Green Team 

A marketing intern for Cheetah Learning and Cheetah Power, Erica is Cheetah’s go-to resource for 

all things green. She researches and writes the Cheetah Power newsletter and is also a research 

assistant for a communication professor at the University of Portland. 


050 | | Ping! Zine Zine magazine


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Y MARK DRAKE 

Helpful 

Recommendations2 

Web Design 

Let’s recall that a website is the marketing tool for an 

online business. It goes without saying good websites 

must be attractive and able to grab the attention of a 

large number of visitors. 

In fact, the truth is that good web designing is an art 

that requires knowledge of programming and how 

your visitor will interact with the website. So, it is very 

important for you to make the website user-friendly. 

What is even more valuable is that you should create 

it in such a way that search engines can consider you 

to be original and unique and find you organically. 

After all, your aim is to compete against the first 10 

competitors for your keyword and search engine 

optimization is how to do this. [continued] 


Let’s come to the main part of the issue. You should keep 

in mind that the most important rule you need to follow for 

a website is the KISS formula – Keep It Simple Silly. Do not 

lose your visitor with a whole lot of fancy stuff if you want 

them to find your product or message. 

1> 

First and foremost you need to ask yourself a question: 

“What do I want my website to do for me?” You need 

to answer this question since you need to design your 

website according to this question. If all you want is a 

simple squeeze page then design a simple squeeze page. 

If you want to convey some kind of information then keep 

it simple and convey that information, as fancy graphics 

and other distractions are not conveying what you want to 

present to your visitor. 

2> 

The second point that should be taken into 

consideration is planning the web design. For this purpose 

you must take a piece of paper and plan what you want 

on the web page and mind bear in mind that this point 

can not be omitted as it is very important for your website 

success. It will be much easier for you if you are doing 

your own research on other websites on the material you 

want to convey to your visitor. You can be sure that it will 

give you awareness for how to design your site. 

3> 

Thirdly, you should plan your theme and layout for each 

page. Actually you can look at your competitors and see 

whether you find their theme attractive. You can include 

interesting ideas from those sites that you know will 

attract your visitor and later design those ideas into your 

website. 

4> 

The fourth point to take into consideration is that 

navigation around your site needs requires a site map. 

Keep in mind that it is rather important that your visitor 

can easily navigate around your site. It should be also 

added that there is a need to implement normal links for 

moving around and placement of those links together like 

an index for your website. You should understand that 

it is important that your visitor does not get frustrated 

while navigating around your site because if this is the 

case; they will simply leave your site or click away. 

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5> 

The fifth factor that should be pointed out is that 

download time is important. It gets frustrating to the 

majority of visitors if they have to wait for a page to 

download. That’s why overuse of graphics and images 

should be considered as they increase the download time. 

It will be helpful for you to know that, ideally, a complete 

page should not exceed 30KB since this ensures that most 

visitors will see your whole page in about 5 to 6 seconds 

at the most. 

6> 

The last but not least thing to mention here is that you 

should not allow your visitor the opportunity to click away 

on a link on your web site that leaves your domain as it 

has been proven that you generally have lost that visitor 

and a potential customer. 

In conclusion, it should be mentioned that you need to 

remember that it is about presenting the information in an 

elegant, decorative, user friendly and timely manner. So, 

follow the tips that were mentioned above when dealing 

with the web design in the future. P! 

For more tips on website design go to www.edynamo.com 

the most 

important 

rule you 

need to 

follow for 

a website 

is the KISS 

formula

Y DAVE YOUNG 

PRODUCT 

REVIEW 

Have a server or a website? Are they protected from distributed denial-of-service 

(DDoS) attacks? If you have a server or a website and they are important to your organization, 

you need to do everything you can to protect them from major DDoS attacks. You may have 

heard the acronym DDoS over the last several years, but do you know how to protect your 

website and server from major failure and downtime? Meet Black Lotus. 

“Every site and server is inherently vulnerable to DDoS,” says Jeffrey Lyon, president of 

Black Lotus. “Employing your own countermeasures or using a DDoS protection provider 

only enhances your chance of survival.” [continued] 



““As a startup in 1999 we were 

much like any other hosting 

business but we quickly found 

our niche in distributed denial 

of service protection (DDoS)” 

says Lyon. “By 2003 we were the 

dominating force in protection 

service as many of our customers 

and the former customers of CIT/ 

FOONET (which had a DDoS 

protection service) were asking us 

to change our focus.” 

“ 

“Our customers enjoy our services as we monitor the 

overall health of their site or server while allowing them 

to focus on their business,” says Lyon. “Each of our 

customer resources has a one minute uptime monitor 

through HyperSpin and we collect outage notifications and 

proactively attempt to solve the outage, whether or not 

DDoS related, to ensure the customer is notified promptly.” 

Lyon explains that Black Lotus is selling experience and 

peace of mind. “We’re not aware of any competitors that 

offer this level of individual attention at anywhere close to 

a decent price.” 

With another hosting provider? 

Black Lotus offers a proxy service specifically designed 

to protect your server even if you are hosting with another 

provider. DDoS protected proxy service can be setup 

quickly to screen and mitigate malicious traffic before 

handing it off to a customer’s server. “Our product differs 

from the competition as it is significantly lower in cost and 

completely screens the request before handoff ensuring 

that there is absolutely no accidental leakage of attack 

traffic,” says Lyon. 

The company also offers a lightweight version of the proxy 

product for customers who want to screen requests for 

malicious behavior such as SQL/XML attacks. Recently 

Black Lotus discovered another benefit of their proxy 

service. “Now we have the ability to immediately stop 

affiliate spam by shutting down spam offenders within the 

proxy itself,” says Lyon. “We used this just last month to 

stop an affiliate ‘Joe Job’ attack against a very prominent 

casino customer that could have caused them to be 

shutdown elsewhere.” 

Get a server, get DDoS protection 

Black Lotus offers managed website hosting and both 

managed and unmanaged dedicated servers. “Generally, 

when a customer contacts us we recommend a server 

package with full management as this will allow us to 

evaluate and mitigate threats at both the network and 

server level,” says Lyon. “Server packages also offer the 

most bang for your buck when it comes to sheer power 

and protection.” 

What is DDoS? 

Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) is when a person or 

a group of people carry out specific attacks on a server, 

making it unavailable. DDoS attacks are generally caused 

by hackers who scan home and office computers for 

vulnerabilities, root those systems, and install attack 

drones. Drones are then controlled by the hacker, often 

using internet relay chat (IRC) as a command line, 

who then launches attacks for personal entertainment, 

extortion, or leases the botnet out to others who wish to do 

the same. 

Some hackers will also launch attacks against their 

business competitors. Hackers also use viruses that have 

a payload designed to DDoS a particular target, generally 

aimed at large corporations. 

First and leading, there’s a reason 

Early this year Black Lotus launched their new slogan 

“First and Leading” to accurately describe their position 

in the industry and the quality they want to achieve with 

the Black Lotus brand. “We have unparalleled experience 

in the industry given that we have a six year jump start 

on our competitors,” says Lyon. “We are one of the very 

few companies offering a premium bandwidth blend in 

conjunction with DDoS protection.” 

Lyon says today’s normal practice is to find the cheapest 

providers with the best deal on ingress bandwidth such 

as Cogent or AboveNet – completely opposite of what 

Black Lotus offers its customers. “We’ll use the higher end 

bandwidth even if the cost is prohibitive in order to ensure 

the quality of our network,” he says. “Our new Enterprise 

network is based almost entirely on PEER 1 transit and 

private peering relationships.” 

Get more with a seal 

Black Lotus offers a DDoS Protection verification seal 

program identifying that a website is protected from DDoS 

attacks. “DDoS Protected logos are not a new concept, 

almost every provider offers one but we stepped it up a 

notch and started using PHP code that queries a customer 

database to verify whether or not the domain where it’s 

being hosted is in fact protected by our service,” says 

Lyon. “The seal program is incredibly important in the 

DDoS protection business since a lot of claims made 

by providers range from somewhat frivolous to outright 

scams.” 

DDoS protection starting at $35 a month 

Many companies try to take advantage of customers 

who need DDoS protection services. Competitor prices 

can range from $5,000 - $11,000. More customers are 

discovering more affordable, leading services such as 

Black Lotus. “We actually operate two brands. The Black 

Lotus brand has 1 Gbps protection packages starting 

at $229.00,” adds Lyon. “We also have our BLCC Gold 

brand (http://www.blccgold.com) which has protected 

web hosting packages as low as $35 per month for 

customers who only require entry level service and are 


not wishing to invest in the full Black Lotus Elite or 

Mitigation Critical Service.” 

DDoS protection for everyone 

More companies and website owners are beginning 

to see the advantages and needs for DDoS protection 

services. “Initially, DDoS protection was only 

something that those involved with IRC or some type 

of dubious activity might need,” says Lyon. “Around 

2000 – 2003, we began seeing legitimate businesses 

seeking protection. This includes web site template 

providers, casinos, payment systems, and other such 

businesses that may find themselves the target of 

extortion.” 

According to Lyon, casinos have become a major 

part of the company’s client roster as the potential 

for monetary loss when a casino is attacked can 

be devastating – significant dollars could be lost 

as a result of not having DDoS protection. Black 

Lotus has also experienced significant growth in 

Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, and Asian 

markets by offering alternatives to credit cards or 

PayPal – all require strict verification to close a 

sale. Instead, Black Lotus offers payment systems 

like Liberty Reserve or Russian payment processor 

WebMoney, which close sales in these markets more 

effectively. 

Getting started with DDoS protection services 

Getting started is incredibly easy. When a customer 

sends an inquiry to sales@blacklotus.net, Black 

Lotus DDoS technicians respond promptly to ensure 

customers get the answers and information they need 

to keep their websites and servers protected. 

For emergencies, Black Lotus has set up a chat 

feature on their website at http://www.blacklotus. 

net. “Customers with an emergency can let our chat 

operator know that they have a DDoS emergency,” 

says Lyon. “The chat operator will immediately put 

you in touch with an on-call network engineer to 

ensure an expedited setup.” 

Black Lotus is featured in Ping! Zine web hosting 

magazine and Gawkwire. The DDoS protection 

company will have a booth set up at HostingCon 

2009 in Washington, DC. Black Lotus specialists will 

be playing Call of Duty on the Xbox 360, challenging 

contenders to a game or two. Get all the answers you 

need to protect your website and server from DDoS 

attacks by stopping by the Black Lotus booth. P! 

Writer’s Bio: Dave Young is a professional writer, marketing consultant, SEO guru, and founder of Young Copy, a leading promotional and technical writing 

services firm. Visit www.youngcopy.com to learn how you can boost your company’s revenues. 

versaweb 

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Y DAVID DUNLAP 

So I am going off the page today. Instead 

of discussing something within the 

industry I want to take a look at the latest 

RIAA court case. It was a retrial of Jammie 

Thomas-Rasset who shared 24 songs on 

Kazaa. In the original trial, the fine was 

only $222,000. In a surprise move, the fine 

levied at Jammie was a full $1.92 million 

($80k a song). Talk about the punishment 

not fitting the crime. 

You don't even get fined that much for 

going in the store and stealing the CDs, 

then copying those CDs and selling them 

on the street corner. A single song’s street 

value is $1.29 at iTunes (this as good a 

measure as any I figure). So for there to 

be $80k damages sustained by the RIAA, 

each song would have to be distributed 

62,015 times… each. What is more likely 

(though still high) would be 1,000 times 

each and that would come to $30,960 for 

the lot. Add court fees and an extra sum on 

top of that (emotional accountant distress, 

repayment for time spent agonizing over 

the problem, the fact that a fine is always 

a lot more than the actual damages, etc), 

and you still don’t hit nearly $2 mil. 

For some odd reason though, the whole 

thing reminds me of a 1950s infomercial 

we use to watch in high school. I can 

just see it now..... 

Crime and Punishment 

Starring Harry Butts as 

Announcer 

Starring Dickie Rubright as 

Timmy 

Announcer: Timmy, you are not thinking of putting 

your music online for others to steal are 

you? 

Timmy: Gosh Mister you scared the bejeezus 

out of me! 

Announcer: Did you know in a recent trial one 

evil, lowdown, dirty, scumbag was fined $1.92 

million for placing 24 songs online? 

Timmy: Wow, that's more money than even Old 

Man Crow has Mister! 

Announcer: That's right Timmy! You know, you 

would have to steal 128,000 CDs to get the same 

sort of fine you would face with giving 24 songs 

to your friends online. 

Timmy: Jeepers Mister! 

Announcer: And did you know that even if you 

stole 20 CDs a day, it would take you 17 and a half 

years. 

Timmy: Golly, I'm only 10 years old now, 17 and a 

half years is a long time!! 

Announcer: That's ok, you are young and have a 

whole lifetime of criminal debauchery ahead of you. 

So you can either spend the rest of your life stealing 

music, or just take the ten minutes it will take to put 

a handful of songs online! 

Timmy: Mister? 

Announcer: Yes, Timmy? 

Timmy: What does debauchery mean? 

Announcer: Shut up.

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