The Pros & Cons of FaaS

FaaS, the abbreviation for Function as a Service, is a type of a cloud service model. Before discussing the pros and cons of FaaS, let us touch upon cloud services and Function as a Service.

Cloud Services

“With the cloud, individuals and small businesses can snap their fingers and instantly set up enterprise-class services.” This quote reflects the trend towards a consistent shift of enterprises to cloud-based technology for carrying out their business operations. The popularity of cloud adoption by enterprises stems from the fact that it has a slew of benefits to offer, such as, enhanced functionality, productivity and scalability along with simplified IT management and a substantial decrease in costs. Cloud services are scalable and are provided through a remote cloud computing server. These services are delivered on demand to clients over the Internet.

Cloud servers are hosted in data centers and are managed by third parties. There is no need to manage the physical servers by the users of cloud services. Cloud servers enable any device with an active Internet connection to be used for accessing files from any location. Cloud services entail the use of the Internet by users for accessing computing services that have to do with analytics or networking. These services are meant to provide easy access to resources as well as applications. The main models of cloud services are IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), PaaS (Platform as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service) and FaaS (Function as a Service).

To digress, cloud technology is used in cloud hosting (a type of web hosting), wherein a website or an app is hosted on the cloud rather than on a single machine. Cloud technology enables data to be present on multiple servers that are interconnected and exist in a virtual environment. Cloud hosting is provided as a web hosting service by web hosting companies for the purpose of making websites accessible over the Internet. The “Top Cloud Hosting Company”, the “Best Windows Hosting Company”, the “Best Web Hosting Company” etc. are used to refer to the most efficient web hosting service providers.

Function as a Service

As mentioned previously, Function as a Service (FaaS) is one of the types of cloud service models. FaaS includes a category of services that utilize cloud computing and allow a code’s execution as a response to an event. It provides a platform that enables customers to develop, run as well as manage application functionalities without having to build and maintain the necessary infrastructure. When FaaS is availed, it becomes the cloud service provider’s responsibility to take care of the virtual machine operating system, the web server software management and the physical hardware. This helps the FaaS client to solely focus on his application code’s individual functions.

Benefits of FaaS

There are many benefits of Function as a Service, which is an extremely useful tool for migrating applications to the cloud efficiently as well as affordably. One of its main benefits has to do with it being a cost-effective solution. This is especially true with regard to dynamic workloads and scheduled tasks. Moreover, FaaS enables a client to pay for only those resources that are used and as and when those resources are used. In FaaS, a client doesn’t have to pay in advance for any specific amount of bandwidth, which is the case with vendors that use a server allocation model. This helps to eliminate the probability of incurring additional costs. 

Function as a Service makes it possible for applications that are built on FaaS platform to scale up or down instantaneously, automatically as well as independently, based on requirement. This benefit of scaling is managed by the vendor and not by the developer. Additionally, FaaS offers high availability and it can be deployed across many regions without letting one incur incremental costs. Another advantage of FaaS is that it provides the option to either upload a single function at a time or one’s entire application. Moreover, it facilitates writing independent functions’ backend code. By enabling one to focus on the app codes rather than on the infrastructure, it aids in significantly reducing the TTM (time to market). Since FaaS gets applications ready swiftly and enables carrying out modifications easily, it results in faster time to market. FaaS decreases latency when its vendors run applications closer to their end users. All these pros of Function as a Service make it a highly sought-after cloud service model.

Downside of FaaS

Before opting for FaaS it is important to consider its drawbacks. One of the major downsides of Function as a Service has to do with vendor lock-in, which might make it difficult for a client to change vendors in the future. Another drawback that is often encountered depends entirely on the vendor and entails a client facing challenges in the creation of a test environment for his application. Moreover, for certain types of applications even a delay of a few seconds in the execution of a function can adversely impact such applications.

Security can be another concern as it is one’s vendor’s responsibility. To make matters worse, one might not have the visibility that is needed to ensure that one’s vendor is complying with the necessary regulations that govern one’s storage as well as usage of certain types of data.

Conclusion

For the success of any cloud service model, including FaaS, it is essential to take stock of its pros and cons and then take a decision that is based on one’s business’ needs and strategies. In the event that an organization has zeroed in on FaaS as its ideal solution with regard to cloud services, then it will be beneficial for it to follow certain best practices. These best practices not only aid in deploying FaaS easily but also render it more effective.

To attain the full benefits of Function as a Service, it needs to be ensured that each function isn’t performing more than a single action. Moreover, each function should not carry out more than one task in response to an event. Additionally, the codes need to enable swift loading and execution of functions. Another best practice is to use the least number of libraries in one’s functions to avoid rendering functions slow and difficult to scale. Last but not the least, FaaS’ value depends on the isolation of functions and this should be taken care of to ensure the efficiency of Function as a Service.

Source: https://htshosting.org/blog/2021/03/the-pros-cons-of-faas/ 

How to Launch Reseller Hosting?

Reseller hosting is a type of hosting that helps you to run your own web hosting business. Reseller hosting is a way of renting out server space. In simple words, you rent out web hosting, server bandwidth, etc. You allow consumers to rent your resources to generate profit.

If you are working as web developer and designer. Then adding reseller hosting options in your website can help your consumer to one stop-shop for all things. By adding reseller hosting you can earn better profit.

Follow below startup guide for reseller hosting: -

• Find out your target audience – You are fully setup with your business. Now it’s time to find your audience. Your audience can be web developers, bloggers, designers, online entrepreneurs, etc. Once you have figured out your target audience, you can present your reseller hosting plans. Once you have figured out, define your business to grow your business and consumer base. With all requirement you can select reseller hosting package from parent web hosting company.

• Find your parent hosting company – Choosing your parent hosting company is the most important part for your business. The features and specifications offered by your parent hosting company. It must align with your consumers that what should be offered by hosting company. Generally, consumers require consumer support, pricing, software applications. These are the suggestion you should take care before choosing any hosting company. For choosing right hosting company. You can start with checking reviews on the social media platforms, talking with customer support and other review resources.

• Set your budget – To run a successful business you don’t require big budget. All you need is to invest properly. Find your reseller hosting plan that suits your budget. Go with simple started plan and then to pro reseller hosting plan.

• Fix your price – The most important part for your business. If you are providing higher price than your competitor or you are setting low price. You will end-up in loss. With higher price you will either lose your consumers or you will end up in loss. Make sure that all prices are in the range to get consumers and profit. After proper establishment in the market you can increase price.

• Business promotion – Marketing is another important step to find consumer. Once you have done with your website and all the other required steps. Add the relevant the information so that it is discoverable on all search engines. Trying using SEO based keywords to get search engines indexing and rankings.

Conclusion: -

Thus, connect with HTS Hosting to earn profit with minimal expenditure. We also provide different plans corporate web hosting, Linux dedicated hosting, and Windows shared hosting.

Source:https://www.htshosting.org/knowledge-base/reseller-hosting/59/how-to-launch-reseller-hosting

Advantages of SAN (Storage Area Network)

“It’s not that we use technology, we live technology.” This famous quote makes it evident that technology plays an important role in our lives. In this day and age technological progress is happening by leaps and bounds and for any new development to stand the test of time, its advantages need to outweigh its disadvantages. In this blog we will touch upon the advantages of Storage Area Network (SAN).

SAN (Storage Area Network)

SAN is the abbreviation for Storage Area Network. SAN is a computer network. Access to consolidated, block-level data storage is provided by it. A SAN is mainly used for the purpose of accessing devices that have to do with data storage. It is a dedicated network of storage devices and can’t be accessed through the LAN (Local Area Network).

A Storage Area Network is an independent, dedicated, high-speed network of storage devices for not only interconnecting but also delivering these storage devices’ shared pool of storage space to multiple servers. Every SAN has three essential components. These are network infrastructure, servers and storage. These integral components of a SAN consist of certain key elements, which are storage arrays, node ports, cabling, SAN management software and interconnecting devices that include FC switches or hubs. The storage system and the switch that are on a SAN need to be interconnected.

In the context of servers being an important component of SAN, let us touch upon servers briefly. A server refers to either a computer hardware or a computer program (software) that is meant to provide functionality to other devices or programs, which are knows as clients. Servers can be of many types, such as application servers, mail servers, DNS servers, file servers, print servers, database servers, virtual servers, proxy servers, web servers etc. Let us take the example of the servers that are used by web hosting companies. These servers store the files of websites and deliver those files on request over the Internet for the purpose of making websites accessible. There are many types of web hosting services and the most reliable ones are often referred to as the “Best Windows Hosting”, the “Best Website Hosting”, the “Top Cloud Hosting” etc.

Returning to our main topic, SANs are usually used for enhancing the availability of applications, improving the performance of applications, augmenting utilization and effectiveness of storage and for improving data security. Additionally, SANs are important for a business’ activities that are related to BCM (Business Continuity Management).

Advantages of SAN

SANs have many benefits. One of its major advantages is scalability. A SAN doesn’t limit the number of disks that can be attached to a system. Moreover, the performance of a SAN is neither impacted by Ethernet traffic nor by local disk throughput bottlenecks. The data that is transmitted to as well as from a SAN takes place on its own private network, which is segregated from backup traffic, user traffic and any other form of SAN traffic. Data protection is another benefit that SAN provides. Data can’t be copied or stolen by anyone from a shared SAN. Data can’t be seen by SAN admins either. A correctly configured SAN ensures that data exists in zones. This aids in isolating one’s data from that of the others on the same SAN. Moreover, zoning helps to achieve workload isolation by keeping one’s workload separate from the workloads of those that are on the same SAN. Hence, sharing a SAN (when zones exist) doesn’t cause any problem with regard to the performance of applications.

A SAN is more or less unbeatable with regard to assuring cent percent storage availability. No reboots are required by SAN systems for replacing or adding new disks or for configuring RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) groups. Increased performance is a result of SANs capability to stream data among SANs by completely bypassing server systems for the purpose of data backup and recovery. A SAN is a speedy and reliable solution for data recovery. Server systems can go offline but that’s not the case with SANs as these remain available. 

SAN offers long distance connectivity (10 km) which is one of its major advantages. This enables one to consolidate one’s storage into an isolated and dedicated location for storage, which is separate from the systems that are served by it. Additionally, SANs prevent wastage of space and power and cut down on the heat that is generated by numerous partially utilized local disks in a data center. Space is used more effectively by SAN when compared to local storage. When a system needs more storage, it is allocated dynamically by the SAN. Moreover, it is possible to run physical servers that are diskless and boot to the SAN directly for one’s operating system.

Centralized management is possible with SAN. Software management tools have been created by SAN vendors to ensure proper management of a heterogenous environment which has SAN arrays from various vendors. Apart from the benefit of managing multiple vendors, it is possible to centrally manage all the SAN environments from a single interface, enabling centralized storage management that is highly efficient.

Conclusion:

Storage Area Networks are used by organizations as the most efficient storage networking architecture for applications that are business-critical.  SANs deliver high performance, low latency along with lower total cost and many other advantages that have been elucidated in this blog. A SAN stores data in a centralized shared storage, which aids enterprises with regard to applying relevant tools and consistent methodologies for data protection, disaster recovery and security.

Source: https://htshosting.org/blog/2021/03/advantages-of-san-storage-area-network/ 

Why not to Virtualize?

As per reports, there has been an exponential rise in the number of businesses that are opting for virtualization. Virtualization owes its immense popularity to a number of benefits that include augmented IT scalability, productivity and flexibility; overall cost savings, especially with regard to operational and capital costs; a substantial decrease in downtime, along with better disaster recovery; faster provisioning of resources and applications; better responsiveness; better mobility of workload and enhanced availability of resources. Despite its effectiveness as an IT infrastructure solution, there are a few circumstances in which it is beneficial to not virtualize. This blog focuses on bringing to light those scenarios.

Virtualization

Prior to shedding light on those specific situations where the use of virtualization is not an option, let us discuss, in brief, virtualization as a technology, for the benefit of the uninitiated.

 Virtualization is the technology that is used for the creation of a virtual version of storage devices, applications, computer hardware platforms, network resources etc. Virtualization creates multiple simulated environments or dedicated resources from a single hardware. It functions with the aid of a software that makes it possible to install multiple operating systems on a system.

Virtualization can be of many types. Its major types are network virtualization, storage virtualization, application virtualization, desktop virtualization and server virtualization.

To digress, servers are used by web hosting companies as well. The servers of web hosting companies are used to store the files of websites for the purpose of making websites accessible over the Internet. The most reliable web hosting service providers are often referred to as the “Best Website Hosting Company” or as the “Best Windows Hosting Company” or as the “Top Cloud Hosting Company”.

Situations when it’s best to not virtualize

There are certain situations where the best option for any business is to not opt for virtualization and rely on physical servers instead. These scenarios will be touched upon in this section of the blog.

The first of these situations involves the requirement for managing encryption keys. The management of keys can be accomplished easily on physical servers. Unfortunately, the same systems usually don’t work with virtual workloads. There are solutions for it but those solutions need to be looked into before the management of keys can be carried out securely and successfully on virtual machines.

Another situation where virtualization cannot be a solution is when certain licenses do not allow it. This happens in those cases where the licenses of certain applications prevent them from being run on virtual machines. Moreover, making a sudden move to virtualization without proper planning and without analysing the ins and outs of it, can lead to a complex situation for any business. If an unprepared business makes the move to virtualization then there is the probability of it encountering problems which might cause unnecessary downtime and challenges.

Virtualization is not at all an option for applications that have high I/O characteristics. Virtualization should not be used for distributed SMP applications which require high speed interconnects, databases, grid, apps that are graphics-intensive, applications that need hardware cards or dongles etc. It is important to mention here that desktop virtualization, which is one of the types of virtualization, should not be considered as an option if saving money is the primary motivation for opting for virtualization.

Another circumstance where virtualization will be futile is when there is a risk of having a virtualization loop. A business could encounter problems if it tries to virtualize its virtualization platform’s components. Let us understand it with the help of an example. If one’s virtualization platform and hypervisors depend on DNS (Domain Name System) and AD (Active Directory) and one’s DNS and AD servers are virtualized then the hypervisors will not start. This happens because the hypervisors keep waiting for the AD and the AD doesn’t start because it is waiting for the hypervisor. This vicious cycle needs to be avoided.

Virtualization might not work when high availability is built into an application. Older and mission-critical apps often have built-in high availability. This might not work when virtualized. Another downside is that a virtual machine which is running atop a hypervisor will not perform as swiftly as a physical machine that runs the same OS as well as applications directly.

Virtualization should be ruled out as a solution if time synchronization is critical. The reason for it is that virtual machines run their own clocks and their time will differ from that of the host server’s. If even minute differences are critical for an enterprise, then it is ideal to not opt for virtualization.

Last but not the least, if a business is not ready to bear or capable of bearing the cost that is involved in maintaining virtualization technology then it is better to not initiate the process.

Conclusion:

Without a doubt, virtualization has been the single most adopted technology for businesses in this day and age. It has its share of benefits that have made it so popular but there are certain situations where virtualization is not the way to go, as is evident from the situations that have been touched upon in this blog. It is not only important to know the benefits of virtualization but also to be aware of the challenges that one might encounter when opting for virtualization or the situations which render virtualization fruitless. Having an all-encompassing knowledge with regard to virtualization will help businesses to take an informed decision which aligns with their long-term business plans and is the most productive IT solution for them.

Source: https://htshosting.org/blog/2021/03/why-not-to-virtualize/

Why to Consider Security for your Website?

Security is the necessity for every website. Business owners should definitely consider security on their website. Day-to-day new vulnerabilities are emerging with high level of exploitation. Companies can’t even think that how vulnerable they are. Most developers don’t even know the term of “secure coding”. In 2020, cybercrime has taken worst because cyber criminals were taking advantage of pandemic. There were many data breaches that were making headlines. After seeing such breaches, website owners should definitely consider security for their website.

Common security threats for your business: -

• Cybersquatting – It’s an act of registering domain names that are very familiar with your business name. There are many individuals who purchases domain names and then try to sell domain names on higher prices. If business owners are planning to move online. There is a possibility that they are under threat.

• Social Engineering – The most common method that is used steal sensitive information. Social engineering methods are most commonly used in email. Email is still a legitimate threat to the business.

• Data Breach – Here data is stolen on large scale. Cyber criminals took advantage of the bugs in the website to steal all databases.

• Denial of Service – DOS is the very common attack used to consumer server memory resources. In DOS, large number of packets are sent to the target domain name/ IP address.

Follow these steps to secure your website: -

• Security Plugins – Most of the websites are now running on CMS (content management system). CMS works with lot of different plugins. Using security plugins prevents website owners from different hacking attempts. Most of the security plugins are freely available. Basic plugins are always required for any website.

• Make your Website SSL Secured – SSL (secure socket layer) should be used strictly especially if you are running an ecommerce portal. SSL encrypts all the sensitive information like – card, password, contact information and personal data. HTS Hosting, best hosting company in India provide SSL for a very small fee.

• Install all Latest Updates – It may irritates you to install updates regularly. But it is very important and critical to protect your website. New updates let hackers to find bugs/vulnerabilities.

• Use Passphrases – Data leak incidents are very high and many users can prevent such attacks by using passphrases. It might sound very childish but still people are using “123456” as their password.

• Backups – Backups are really helpful and even helps in outsmarting your security. With full security you cannot take risk. Create regular backups of your website data.

Conclusion: -

Online reputation is very important for every business owner. Business organization require high security for making any transaction.

Source:https://www.htshosting.org/knowledge-base/website-security/58/why-to-consider-security-for-your-website

What Things you Should Consider before Buying Any Domain?

 Internet has taken a great rise up. There are many individuals, organizations, corporates, companies desire to work online. They see more profit because internet connects them with large audience. So for starting on the internet they require a good domain name. Domain name is a website address that connects and tell other users about your presence on the internet. Before choosing domain name, you should follow points: -

• Analyze Competition – Before buying domain name, lookout for the competition of your company. Find the domain name that relates your business. Once you come with an idea. Search that domain name and check availability with online tools. You can search domain name in HTS Hosting -

• Easy to remember and type – Users don’t need complexity that’s why they have choose your company. Users can’t remember odd spellings, long words, hyphens after each word or any other special character. Make sure to use easy to remember name, short. Users know how to type as they hear with a brief explanation. If the organizations are running any advertisement over the air how would they say the domain? If they examrtgft3456.com creates far more problem to speak and hard to remember. Instead they should use simple name in the website address.

• Check for Copyright – Before buying any domain name, check out that domain name that it doesn’t have any copyright. You might face a big issue or even penalty. In short, find domain names that copyright free and keep your hands off from copyright domain names.

• Choose Short Domain Name – Short domain names are easy to remember and it helps end-users to guess easily. If there are long and multiple words in the domain name. Users need to remember to type it correctly. Now you won’t find single word domain name but you can find shorter domain name.

• Check Domain Reputation – Reputation is very essential for every domain name. Before buying domain name, make sure to check that name is not negatively publicize. If the name negative than avoid purchasing such domain name.

• Prepare for Your Budget – Budget is the most important part while purchasing domain name. There are different hosting providers who are offering budget domains. Like – HTS Hosting, best Windows Company has different domains. You can also choose different domain extensions. You can start domain name with .com. Or there are plenty of domain extension that you can prefer.

Source: https://www.htshosting.org/knowledge-base/domain-hosting/57/what-things-you-should-consider-before-buying-any-domain

What are the Security Tips for Your WordPress Website?

According to WordPress website around 40% web is using WordPress. Apart from blogging, now organizations are building ecommerce platform on WordPress. Other organizations who are selling services are also shifting towards WordPress. Organizations are migrating because WordPress is easy to manage. Website administrator only have to use drag & drop options. But still with so much usability and reliability there is a potential risk of being hacked. WordPress only offers easy to use management software. For the security part, organizations are responsible. Follow below security tips for your WordPress website: -

• Choose your WordPress hosting provider wisely – On the internet, you will find different hosting providers selling cheapest WordPress hosting. These are all money hungry companies who don’t think about providing support and security. They only want your money. But not with HTS Hosting, best hosting company in India that provides reasonable WordPress hosting.

• Update your WordPress to latest version - Like any other software, WordPress is also build using PHP. PHP is the backbone of WordPress site. Majorly you will find new version for next two years after WordPress was officially released. Day-to-day new bugs/ vulnerabilities are fixed and patched by WordPress Company. But still new bugs are coming. Consider updating your WordPress, whenever you receive new updates. According to sources, around 57% WordPress users are using outdated version. That means they are opened to attacks. It might take some time for business owners to update their WordPress to new version. But they should not risk their website data and update as soon they got notified with new update.

• Use strong passphrase – The most important thing to authenticate any user. Passwords/ passphrases is something commonly used in every login webpage. Use strong passphrases with upper/ lower letter, special characters, and numbers to increase complexity in your password. Don’t use common names and characters because such keywords are easy to find using brute force attacks. The common passwords are: -

• 123456
• 12345
• Qwerty
• Password
• 12345678
• 222222
• Passwords
• 666666
• Moonlight
• Princess
• Studboy

• Create limited WordPress accounts – If you create limited accounts. There are less chances that you are open to any potential risk. Create accounts as per you needs. Do not create unnecessary accounts. Unnecessary account creation could lead to unknown authorization. In many cases, we have seen many attacks on WordPress websites. After making an investigation, investigators find out that unnecessary account creating leads to WordPress attacks.

Conclusion: -

WordPress is a very popular and easy-to-use software used by many organizations. Above tips are easy to follow for WordPress websites.

Source:https://www.htshosting.org/knowledge-base/wordpress/56/what-are-the-security-tips-for-your-wordpress-website