Introducing HMS Panel

HMS Panel is an all-in-one control panel designed for Linux server platforms. A multi-server solution, it offers a number of advantages to both the web hosting provider or the customer who needs a more efficient way to manage their dedicated or virtual private server. HMS Panel is secure, easy to use and loaded with an arsenal of features that will surely come in handy for administrators at all levels. Here is the rundown:

Complete Domain Management

HMS Panel provides a complete system for managing domains. Users can add domains and sub-domains to the IP address of their choosing whether it is located on or off the server. Wildcards can be added so that all sub-domains for a particular domain point to a specific IP address. You can also modify domain zone files along with CNAME records, A records and MX records.

Email Management System

Web hosting customers on the client side benefit greatly from features such as HMS Panel’s robust email management system. Users can easily create email accounts and customize their communications with forwarders, catch-all addresses and auto-responders. While customers have access to their messages via the control panel interface with SquirrelMail, they can also integrate Microsoft Outlook Express or their preferred mail client.

.htaccess Management

HMS Panel offers a robust .htaccess management tools that can be used to apply various settings to directories within a particular domain. This includes error handling with custom 401, 403, 404, and 505 redirects, IP and domain blocking, file and directory redirects, hotlink protection, directory browsing and much more. The .htaccess management console utilizes AJAX technology, making it a dynamic and very flexible system. While this system is very convenient, experienced administrators also have the ability to modify .htaccess via the standard control panel interface.

Web Application Management

Similar to most control panels on the market today, HMS Panel is integrated with a facility that enables customers to perform one-click installations of various pre-installed software applications. The software management console makes it easy to incorporate programs such as WordPress, phpBB, phpAdsNew, Gallery, Drupal and osCommerce among several others. These applications are mainly available due to user request, but the HMS Panel control panel offers the ability to install many more third-party scripts.

Advanced Security

HMS Panel was developed with advanced web technologies and security mechanisms. The software utilizes sophisticated API authorization to ensure that server communications remain protected. By leveraging an enterprise-grade authentication system, HMS Panel is able to better assure that web applications and network security features are properly configured. The software also uses process isolation, a technology that allows administrators to isolate web applications from one another, making it so that potential issues with one application do not affect others running on the server.

A Complete Control Panel Solution

Now on version 3.5.1, HMS Panel is quickly evolving to be one of the most remarkable control panels on the market. It has all the basic capabilities offered by other panels with a few qualities that make it stand out from rest. If you are in search of a new control panel for your server, give HMS Panel a shot with the free 30-day trial license.

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Bandwidth And Web Space – What’s The Difference?

When it comes to web hosting, it is always better to have a proper understanding of all the important terms so that you can put your web hosting resources to the optimum use. Among the various resources offered, web space and bandwidth are the most crucial aspects of a hosting package. When it comes to selecting the right web hosting package, it is important to do this on the basis of various parameters, however even if you have the basic understanding of these two important factors, you will be able to select the perfect web hosting package for your website.

Web Space / Storage Space

Storage space is the total amount of space available on the server that can be used to store files, specially the ones that are used for creating your website. These files might be of any type like images, HTML files, email and website scripts. Some people also like to utilize the storage space in order to log the backup files, for storing the old copies of the web pages or even the backup files from their home computers.

You can think of the storage space as the filing cabinet. For instance, like an office environment, a filing cabinet requires more space to grow when you start adding more information or files to it. It’s the same with the web space; it is generally recommended that people take website expansion into consideration when it comes to web space while selecting the web hosting package.

With complete understanding of the web space, you will be able to select the right web hosting package and thereby you will feel secure about the online availability of your uploaded content.

Bandwidth

In simple words, bandwidth is the amount of data transfer that takes place between your website and the end users. Estimating the bandwidth requirement of your website will be easy if you have an idea about how large your web pages are and a rough estimate of the number of people you think will visit your website on a daily basis. If your website offers downloading of the files, it is also important to take the spectrum of downloads into consideration before finalizing on the web hosting package.

When it comes to bandwidth, it is wise to consider the ability of the web host in terms of accommodating your website needs in case they grow more than expected. The web hosts charge a specific amount on the bandwidth requirement in case it exceeds the limit provided with the web hosting package. If the website exceeds the monthly bandwidth limit, you will have to buy more bandwidth. With careful planning, you will be able to avoid getting into this kind of situation.

Web Space vs Bandwidth

Web space is the amount of server space that your website is entitled to for the file sharing needs, while bandwidth is the amount of the data transfer that can be done from the server to the other locations on the internet. Bandwidth is always greater than the amount of web space for quite a bit so that the transmission of information from the website to the website visitors is smooth. Knowing the difference between the two will enable you to select the most appropriate web hosting package that will perfectly support the functioning of the website.

Web Space And Bandwidth Recommendations

* If you are operating a small website with less web pages, you don’t intend to sell any product and if you are not targeting heavy traffic, then little disk space and bandwidth will be sufficient.

*If your website has a good online visibility and ranks well in the search engines with a large number of affiliates and is generating a large amount of traffic, then having high bandwidth becomes necessary.

* If you have a large website that has more number of web pages, approximately 15-20 pages, you will need to select a web hosting package that provides with the required web space and bandwidth. The ideal hosting solution would be shared hosting.

* For those websites that are focused on a niche topic and are regularly updated with new content and resources, a great amount of web space and bandwidth will be required. Such websites might not require much web space and bandwidth in the beginning, however as the traffic will increase, website requirements will also increase.

* In case you have a website that is extremely popular and contains a lot of files for downloading, such as an eCommerce website or a gaming website, then you will surely need a large amount of disk space and bandwidth. Dedicated server would be an ultimate solution in this case.

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Difference between Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and Transport Layer Security (TLS)

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer while TLS stands for Transport Layer Security. Both Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security are the protocols used to provide the security between web browser and web server.

The main differences between Secure Socket Layer and Transport Layer Security is that. In SSL (Secure Socket Layer), Message digest is used to create master secret and It provides the basic security services which are Authentication and confidentiality. while In TLS (Transport Layer Security), Pseudo-random function is used to create master secret.

There are some differences between SSL and TLS which are given below:

SSL	TLS
SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer.	TLS stands for Transport Layer Security.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) supports Fortezza algorithm.	TLS (Transport Layer Security) does not supports Fortezza algorithm.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is the 3.0 version.	TLS (Transport Layer Security) is the 1.0 version.
In SSL( Secure Socket Layer), Message digest is used to create master secret.	In TLS(Transport Layer Security), Pseudo-random function is used to create master secret.
In SSL( Secure Socket Layer), Message Authentication Code protocol is used.	In TLS(Transport Layer Security), Hashed Message Authentication Code protocol is used.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is complex than TLS(Transport Layer Security).	TLS (Transport Layer Security) is simple.
SSL (Secure Socket Layer) is less secured as compared to TLS(Transport Layer Security).	TLS (Transport Layer Security) provides high security.

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What is Virtual Private Server(VPS)?

A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual machine sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. The virtual dedicated server (VDS) also has a similar meaning.

A virtual private server runs its own copy of an operating system (OS), and customers may have superuser-level access to that operating system instance, so they can install almost any software that runs on that OS. For many purposes, they are functionally equivalent to a dedicated physical server, and being software-defined, are able to be much more easily created and configured. They are priced much lower than an equivalent physical server. However, as they share the underlying physical hardware with other VPSes, performance may be lower, depending on the workload of any other executing virtual machines.

Virtualization

The force driving server virtualization is similar to that which led to the development of time-sharing and multiprogramming in the past. Although the resources are still shared, as under the time-sharing model, virtualization provides a higher level of security, dependent on the type of virtualization used, as the individual virtual servers are mostly isolated from each other and may run their own full-fledged operating system which can be independently rebooted as a virtual instance.

Partitioning a single server to appear as multiple servers has been increasingly common on microcomputers since the launch of VMware ESX Server in 2001. The physical server typically runs a hypervisor which is tasked with creating, releasing, and managing the resources of "guest" operating systems, or virtual machines. These guest operating systems are allocated a share of resources of the physical server, typically in a manner in which the guest is not aware of any other physical resources save for those allocated to it by the hypervisor. As a VPS runs its own copy of its operating system, customers have superuser-level access to that operating system instance, and can install almost any software that runs on the OS; however, due to the number of virtualization clients typically running on a single machine, a VPS generally has limited processor time, RAM, and disk space.

Motivation

Ultimately, it is used to decrease hardware costs by condensing a failover cluster to a single machine, thus decreasing costs dramatically while providing the same services. Server roles and features are generally designed to operate in isolation. For example, Windows Server 2019 requires a certificate authority and a domain controller to exist on independent servers with independent instances of Windows Server. This is because additional roles and features adds areas of potential failure as well as adding visible security risks (placing a certificate authority on a domain controller poses the potential for root access to the root certificate). This directly motivates demand for virtual private servers in order to retain conflicting server roles and features on a single hosting machine. Also, the advent of virtual machine encrypted networks decreases pass-through risks that might have otherwise discouraged VPS usage as a legitimate hosting server.

Hosting

Many companies offer virtual private server hosting or virtual dedicated server hosting as an extension for web hosting services. There are several challenges to consider when licensing proprietary software in multi-tenant virtual environments.

With unmanaged or self-managed hosting, the customer is left to administer their own server instance.

Unmetered hosting is generally offered with no limit on the amount of data transferred on a fixed bandwidth line. Usually, unmetered hosting is offered with 10 Mbit/s, 100 Mbit/s, or 1000 Mbit/s (with some as high as 10Gbit/s). This means that the customer is theoretically able to use ~3 TB on 10 Mbit/s or up to ~300 TB on a 1000 Mbit/s line per month, although in practice the values will be significantly less. In a virtual private server, this will be shared bandwidth and a fair usage policy should be involved. Unlimited hosting is also commonly marketed but generally limited by acceptable usage policies and terms of service. Offers of unlimited disk space and bandwidth are always false due to cost, carrier capacities, and technological boundaries.

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Difference Between Public Cloud and Private Cloud

Cloud computing is a way of providing IT infrastructure to customer, it is not just a set of product to be implemented. For any service to be a cloud service, the following five criteria need to be fulfilled –

1. On demand self-service : Decision of starting and stopping of service depends on customers without direct interaction with providers.

2. Broad Network Access : Service must be available to any device using any network.

3. Resource Pooling: Provider create a pool of resources and dynamically allocate it to customers.

4. Rapid Elasticity : The services provided by provider must be easily expandable and quick.

5. Measured Services : Provider must measure the usage of service and charge it accordingly. Tracking of usage is also helpful in improving services.

1. Public Cloud : 

Computing in which service provider makes all resources public over the internet. It is connected to the public Internet. Service provider serves resources such as virtual machines, applications, storage, etc to the general public over the internet. It may be free of cost or with minimal pay-per-usage. It is available for public display, Google uses the cloud to run some of its applications like google docs, google drive or YouTube, etc. 

It is the most common way of implementing cloud computing. External cloud service provider owns, operates and delivers it over the public network. 

It is best for the companies which need an infrastructure to accommodate large number of customers and working on projects which has diverse organisation i.e. research institution and NGO etc. 

2. Private Cloud : 

Computing in which service provider makes all resources public over the internet. It only supports connectivity over the private network. It has only authentic users and single-occupant architecture. Google back-end data of the applications like Google Drive, Google docs or YouTube, etc is not available to the public, these types of data and applications run on a private cloud. 

The infrastructure and services are maintained and deployed over a private network; hardware and software are dedicated only to a private company i.e. members of the special entity . 

It is best for the companies which need an infrastructure which has high performance, high security and privacy due to it’s best adaptability and flexibility. 

Below is a table of differences between Public Cloud and Private Cloud:

Public Cloud	Private Cloud
Cloud Computing infrastructure shared to public by service provider over the internet. It supports multiple customers i.e., enterprises.	Cloud Computing infrastructure shared to private organization by service provider over the internet. It supports one enterprise.
Multi-Tenancy i.e., Data of many enterprise are stored in shared environment but are isolated. Data is shared as per rule, permission and security.	Single Tenancy i.e., Data of single enterprise is stored.
Cloud service provider provides all the possible services and hardware as the user-base is world. Different people and organization may need different services and hardware. Services provided must be versatile.	Specific hardware and hardware as per need of enterprise are available in private cloud.
It is hosted at Service Provider site.	It is hosted at Service Provider site or enterprise.
It is connected to the public internet.	It only supports connectivity over the private network.
Scalability is very high, and reliability is moderate.	Scalability is limited, and reliability is very high.
Cloud service provider manages cloud and customers use them.	Managed and used by single enterprise.
It is cheaper than private cloud.	It is costlier than public cloud.
Security matters and dependent on service provider.	It gives high class of security.
Performance is low to medium.	Performance is high.
It has shared servers.	It has dedicated servers.
Example : Amazon web service (AWS) and Google AppEngine etc.	Example : Microsoft KVM, HP, Red Hat & VMWare etc.

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