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Industry-leading open-source blogging platform WordPress was hit by a major Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack on Thursday, March 3^rd, 2011. The report released by “The Register” states that the attack caused major disruptions and performance issues for sites that totally rely on the platform for creating and publishing content.

The Largest DDoS in Company History

Another web hosting source, TechCrunch, released further information stating that WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg claimed this DDoS attack was by far the largest he had seen. He believes this strike was politically motivated against one or many of the non-English speaking blogs. However, there is no evidence to the reason. This assault was so large; it affected all three of the company’s data centers in Dallas, San Antonio and Chicago.

The Size was Incredible

According to Sara Rosso, a representative for WordPress, the company is being targeted by large-scaled DDoS attacks affecting the connectivity to many blogs and websites. The sheer size of the harassment was multiple Gigabytes per second and tens of millions of packets per second. This is definitely in the record books of being one of the largest DDoS attacks ever on a content management system.

Quick Turnaround Time

According to Lloyd Budd, the WordPress.com VIP hosting services lead, Rosso released this statement to the public at 3:30 PM on Thursday with the site being 100 percent functional with no connectivity issues by 7:30 PM the same day. That is an extremely quick turnaround following such a major assault.

VIP Sites to have Priority

The upstream service providers have been working on preventing these types of attacks in the future. The company also announced they will be giving their VIP sites priority following the recovery from an attack such as this.

10 Percent of the World’s Websites

The WordPress platform currently services over 30 million publishers making them responsible for almost 10 percent of all websites in the world! WordPress.com boasts over 300 million unique visits each month. Therefore, when a disaster such as the aforementioned occurs, the results can be devastating.

DDoS attacks can have a major impact on the site or network they are attacking. Since this type of assault freezes or shuts down the server due to overload, it is difficult to defend against and impossible to predict. The best defense is being able to switch web accounts to a different server as soon as this occurs thus minimizing downtime and continuing to uphold performance.

VEXXHOST web hosting company has announced to offer Ruby on Rails 3 support on its cPanel for its web hosting clients. The company has been testing and trying its compatibility for the last few weeks and is now pleased to offer a brand new feature to its clients. The plan is priced at $3.99 and allows all new and current clients to operate any Ruby on Rails 3 application.

Established in 2006, VEXXHOST has been offering its customers with Linux and reseller webhosting plans with maximum uptime. VEXXHOST has been known for being a trend setter in offering latest technologies in shared web hosting and has proved itself once again with the inclusion of Rails 3 in its webhosting plans. No other cPanel web host supports such a feature.

Generally, the backend supporting Rails content is Mongrel, yet, Mongrel does not serve any Rails 3 application as of now, because it has been ported to be a Rack application. VEXXHOST uses a strong and reliable Ruby on Rails back-end in the form of Passenger to support its Rails content.

Every website online is hosted on a leased web server that is included with a web hosting plan. Also included with a web hosting plan is a control panel, which is basically the user-friendly interface used by the webmaster when managing their websites and web server. Since each control panel carries its own benefits for different types of webmasters, and the majority of hosting plans have preinstalled control panels, it is important to consider this aspect when choosing a web hosting provider.

Control panels are specifically designed to facilitate administrative functions such as database creation and management, e-mail account creation and management, FTP account and client management, subdomain creation, domain forwarding, creating server backups and much more. Although nearly all control panels include these basic features, there is a significant difference in the way the user interface looks and functions. The following are several factors to consider when choosing a web hosting plan based on the control panel.

Web Hosting Experience

The most commonly used control panels on the market are (in order from most to least popular): cPanel, Plesk, Vdeck, CubePanel, and Hsphere. While each of these control panels have very unique interfaces and overall functionality capabilities, they are all capable of accommodating the requirements of nearly any webmaster. However, some control panels provide additional functionality and therefore have user interfaces that are more difficult to navigate (because they contain more options and modules). Perhaps the easiest control panel to use (which most novice webmasters begin their online endeavors with) is cPanel, so it is not surprising that it is also the most popular. Thus, while inexperienced webmasters may opt for a hosting plan that includes a preinstalled those with more experience that would like to expand their current capabilities may want to consider a more corporate solution like Plesk.

Operating System Compatibility

It is also important to note that certain control panel are only compatible with specific operating systems. For example, cPanel is used within the Linux operating system, while Plesk can be installed within both Windows and Linux. Thus, individuals that would like to utilize cPanel operating system will be restricted to Linux Web hosting plans. However, recently the makers of cPanel have introduced a Windows compatible control panel known as Enkompass, which has a user interface that is very similar to cPanel’s.

Learning Curve and Demo Modes

Every control panel comes with a bit of a learning curve, which is basically the amount of effort and time that you will need to put forth in order to learn to use it effectively. Fortunately, some control panels (such as cPanel) will allow you to use a demo mode before purchasing a web hosting plan that has this control panel installed. If you are a novice webmaster it is not advisable to use control panel that does not have a demo mode, as you could be wasting a significant amount of time trying to learn how to use the control panel unnecessarily.

A powerful control panel should facilitate the completion of complex Web hosting tasks within a simplified user interface. Vdeck does this successfully while also providing a robust feature set that is unmatched by equivalent competitors. This control panel is perhaps one of the most versatile on the market, having compatibility with virtual private servers, shared hosting configurations, and dedicated servers. All of the actions that webmasters are expected to perform on a daily basis can easily be completed within the Vdeck administrative interface, which is neatly categorized and organized into efficient modules that centralize various web hosting duties. The following review briefly discusses some of the most appealing aspects of the Vdeck control panel.

Flexibility and Compatibility

Although popular control panels such as cPanel are mostly known for their ease-of-use, and are therefore commonly used by novice webmasters, Vdeck differs in this respect because it is flexible enough to be a perfect solution for nearly any size business. Whether you’re a small business owner or the CEO of a large corporation, Vdeck can accommodate your needs and preferences effectively. Vdeck includes all the tools and resources needed to efficiently manage an entire online store, or a small business portfolio site, without the need for any additional modifications or plug-ins. Vdeck is also compatible with a variety of operating systems, and can be used in nearly every hosting configuration . Since Vdeck can be used with any hosting type, it is possible to carry it with you throughout the years as you progress in your online business endeavors.

Traffic Analysis and Promotion

Vdeck improves webmasters’ ability to thoroughly analyze traffic statistics and trends, by providing several integrated traffic analytics software that can easily be installed on websites within the control panel. By having the ability to analyze and monitor web traffic in real-time, and generate monthly, weekly, and daily reports, it is possible to maximize the efficiency of a marketing campaign and improve overall promotion efforts. Vdeck includes a simplified script installation utility that can be used to quickly and easily install web hosting scripts, such as content management systems, with a single click of the mouse. Many of these scripts will aid in administrative tasks such as performing search engine optimization duties and organizing website content.

Expandable Functionality

Although Vdeck is considered to be a control panel, it has the open-source expandability that is commonly seen in content management systems such as WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal. The functionality and features of Vdeck can be expounded upon using custom scripts and extensions, many of which are already available for free through Vdeck developer’s forums. Vdeck makes it easy to add custom Cron jobs that automate repetitive server and site administration tasks such as posting content, clearing comments, and creating site backups. Vdeck is also easy to learn how to use, because there are a lot of helpful tutorials and videos posted online by experienced Vdeck users. By networking within the Vdeck community you can gain access to programmers that are capable of creating custom modules within Vdeck for specific website and server management purposes.

Reseller web hosting plans include all of the necessary tools and resources to build, maintain, and market a successful web hosting business. This unique type of hosting provides server resources at wholesale cost, which can be split up and allocated to clients by the reseller in various sized plans for maximum profits. A crucial aspect of soliciting new customers is setting yourself apart from your provider and other competition within the web hosting industry. Most people do not want to purchase web hosting from a reseller knowingly, as they feel that they are purchasing a service of less value for the price because the sale is being mediated by a party that is basically collecting a commission. Thus, it is imperative to set yourself apart from your provider and other web hosting companies in the industry by utilizing branding, unique web hosting plans, a professional web hosting site, and customized control panels that accommodate the specific needs of your clients.

Control Panel Branding

The control panel is the main interface that your clients will interact with when they log in to their web hosting account. Thus, it is important to make sure they are satisfied with the overall appearance and functionality of this administrative tool. Fortunately, you can enhance the professionalism of your web hosting business by branding your control panel with a custom logo. When your web hosting customers log into the control panel, they’ll see your company logo in the top corner, giving them even more confidence to continue using your hosting service, and conduct other business with you in the future as well. Something as simple as this logo can significantly heighten client morale, and may be all that is needed to separate your business from the rest.

Choosing the Best Control Panel

Although the majority of web hosting providers include a specific control panel with each of their reseller hosting plans, some plans give you the freedom to install any control panel you’d like for your clients. Plus, you have the option of either adding additional functionality to the existing control panel offered by the reseller hosting provider, or you can install a new control panel that is a more enterprise-level solution than the conventional control panels such as cPanel. Since most control panels are open source applications, they can be expanded upon and improved by developers to create a custom solution for your clients based on an industry-standard platform.

Customizing and Improving the Control Panel

Providing your customers with detailed video tutorials and instructions on how to utilize all of the modules within their control panel is also an important step in setting your web hosting business apart from the competition. Make sure the control panel includes a simple installation utility such as SimpleScripts, in order to facilitate the process of installing scripts such as content management systems and site builders on your clients’ websites. As a reseller you have the ability to allocate a specific amount of server resources to each control panel interface, so it is important to ensure that every client is given all of the basic necessities to accommodate their level of online business.