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Editors Column

Set up single sign-on (SSO) for SSH with LDAP and Kerberos

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Even without distributing SSH keys, SSH login can be set up as single sign-on – provided LDAP and Kerberos are in place.

If you already have LDAP and Kerberos in the network, SSH login can be set up on multiple servers without a password – without having to distribute SSH keys. However, this requires that all systems use central user administration via LDAP and that the hosts and users have a Kerberos principal. In addition, the host names of client and server must be resolvable via DNS – both forwards and backwards (reverse DNS).

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Clone Your Windows Hard Drive with Ease

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I currently have 2 computers in my house that are quite old, but are working just fine. One is a Dell E4200 Workstation that I bought 6 years ago. Currently my wife uses it as her main computer. 2 Years ago I removed Windows Vista and installed Windows 7 on it. The second computer is a Dell OptiPlex workstation that runs Windows Server as the main OS. It is my main file and print server. It is 5 years old and I bought it as a refurbished unit from Dell. [Read more…] about Clone Your Windows Hard Drive with Ease

How To Speed Up Your Existing Computer Without Reinstalling Windows

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Yesterday evening I increased the performance of my Lenovo T500 laptop with just a few steps. The laptop is now booting up in roughly 23 seconds and after logging in (I have setup profiles and password protection) it roughly takes another 7 seconds before everything is fully operational. In the past it took roughly 3 minutes for the laptop to become operational. Also, if it took 30-45 seconds for Photoshop or Dreamweaver to load, it now takes maybe 10 seconds or so.

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Observations from Microsoft Management Summit 2011

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This is my recap of Microsoft’s Management Summit 2011. This posting was initially written on March 25th, but I had not enough time yet to post it earlier. Here we go: I am in the very last session of the Microsoft Management Summit 2011 event in Las Vegas. This Microsoft centric event is a great resource to get in-depth information on specific Microsoft products. Examples are System Center Configuration Manager, Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, and more. Anyone who is deploying Microsoft System Center related products should definitely plan on going to this event (happening on an annual basis). [Read more…] about Observations from Microsoft Management Summit 2011

ThePlanet.com makes up for it

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A while ago I wrote about my experience with ThePlanet.com when I was trying to reduce my portfolio by one dedicated server. They just kept dragging things and it was cumbersome at times.  I became a little frustrated and blogged about it. Then I became I side-tracked with other things and did not follow up even though I had $320 at stake which is a fair amount of money.

This week I noticed a credit on my credit card, but the transaction was not completed and so I could not tell it was from. Well, it turned out to be my long hoped for refund from the ThePlanet.com. While I never had problems with ThePlanet tech support before, this was my first major experience with their billing department. I know those guys are going through a lot of growth and that might have had an impact on my situation. I am glad they finally got it all worked out and they put the customer first in the end.

So, my overall impression of ThePlanet.com is still high. Yes, there was an obstacle and I think they could have done better, but overall it turned out to be Ok and they treated me fair. Communication could have definitely been better, but at least in my case this seemed to be an isolated incident.

Why did I cancel one server with ThePlanet? Consolidation, stupid ;). I had sold a large website that needed a dedicated server and I was able to move the remaining website off that server onto other platforms and therefore I wanted to reduce my monthly cost. In this economy I think that is a good move (for me, not for ThePlanet.com).

Anyway – if you are in need of a dedicated server, ThePlanet.com still is one of my top choices. Currently I would go with either ThePlanet.com or Liquidweb.com if I would need another server. They both offer great service and great hardware.

PS: You can also see that I am pretty honest with my recommendations. See this posting about my experience with the The Planet. I tell how things are.

ThePlanet.com – Becoming a Joke?

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I have written in favor about Theplanet.com many many times. I have been a long-term customer with them and things worked out great. But since canceling my server many weeks ago due to having the main website I needed that server for sold, I am having my doubts about ThePlanet.com. I have sold a large forum and all my other websites are not that resource intensive that I need a dedicated server, They run fine from a simple reseller account.

First of all I have initiated the cancelation early enough, but have still been charged for another month. Now my refund request is sitting there for days without any action. Now I see a new ticket asking if I want to keep my backup solution. “Hello, I do not have a server with you. Why would I keep a backup solution?!”

Overall the communication makes ThePlanet.com look very bad in my opinion. Personally I am also very disappointed as it is such a frustrating experience to cancel a server + getting a refund. This is not necessary and why ThePlanet.com is suddenly such a slow responding company is beyond my understanding and will definitely influence a decision for my next dedicated server and how I write about ThePlanet.com.

Hopefully this new week is bringing some action and we can work this out. I would hate to consider a chargeback against the company that earned my business and my respect  over the years. I am really disappointed.

Update 05-04-2008: Please read how the story ended here.

Web Hosting in 2009

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Will there be any major changes in Web Hosting in 2009? 2009 will be a difficult year for many web hosts. The economic hard times will not spare the web hosting industry and consolidation will be a result out of that. Smaller web hosts might be able to survive by trimming costs or by occupying certain niches that are too time consuming for the bigger hosts to pursue. Other web hosts will be forced to sell assets or to shutdown if they are not able to adapt to the new environment out there. Larger web hosts with enough cash flow will be able to grab those web hosting companies that are up for sale and increase their own market share accordingly. Interesting times ahead for sure.

From a consumer standpoint two things might happen. 1) Nothing happens if you are with a bigger web host. Things will be normal and your domain is just cruising along with the wind. 2) Your website is hosted with a smaller web host and the scenarios above might apply. The first thing you should do is to increase your backups to an offsite location (local hard drive or remove FTP site with a different web host). You should also keep an eye on things happening at your web host. If they have a newsletter it might be worth reading it in more detail to discover problems early and to act accordingly. If you are afraid of your web host losing the battle against the economy it might be worth moving your website early to a safe haven. How do you know if you are with a large or a small web host? Well, check their website or ask them. How many domains does your web host hosts? Do they own their own data center? Are they a reseller? The answers might tell you what to do. But keep in mind – not every small web host is at risk of shutting down. So, it is not the time to panic, but to be cautious and to be prepared.

Web Hosting will not go away and the products will grow to be stronger than ever.

Recommended Web Hosts that will most-likely survive this downturn:

ThePlanet.com Server Promotions – No need for Coupon

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Today ThePlanet.com announced the addition of two new Dell servers to their portfolio of servers. They also started offering significant discounts on select server hardware. The new promotion includes huge discounts of up to 54 percent (!) on servers running CPUs like Celeron, Intel Pentium4, Xeon and Dual Xeon servers.

The new additions – the Xeon 3360 and Dual Xeon 5450 CPUs – are included in the pricing discounts, and start with promotional pricing of $169 and $275, respectively. The Dual Xeon 5450 is ThePlanet.com’s most powerful server offering to date. It provides intense computing power and the performance to meet virtually any challenge. The Xeon 3360, with a 2.83 GHz Intel Xeon processor and quad-core technology, is the company’s best-performing server priced under $200.

So, if you are in the market for a new dedicated server, check out ThePlanet.com. These promotional prices might end soon. It’s awesome to see that they not only lowered prices on existing server offers they have, but also on these brandnew boxes. No coupon codes or rebates are need to take advantage of these awesome deals.

Visit ThePlanet.com

The new Face of Web Hosting Resource Kit

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If you are a frequent visitor you will notice the new design. We have redesigned the main website section of the Web Hosting Resource Kit website. The old content management system was outdated and did limit us in how we could grow the website. We are now on a new content management system that allows us to easily add more content and to offer a better visitor experience.

We still have lots of work to do by redesigning stand-alone pages or by moving that content into the CMS, but that is something we will slowly do over the next couple of days and weeks.

It is 2009 and the Web Hosting Resource Kit is going strong into its 5th year of existence. We are proud to be serving the Internet community for such a long time. 2009 is a year many people are looking at with fear. The economy is in the toilet and the future might look dark. Web Hosting will be affected because some customers can no longer afford having their own website or their are forced to downsize. As unfortunate this is, it is not the end of the world. For one it offers opportunity for web hosting businesses to step in and to change with their customers and offer products and payment methods that acommodate the different requirements. There will also be business failure in the industry and some web hosting businesses will falter. The strong market players will pick the pieces and grow even though the economy is shrinking. As a web host it is now very important to watch your cash-flow and to increase the cash holdings as credit might be tight to get.

No matter how things turn out this year, we will be around. We will offer updated web hosting reviews and hopefully we can add more web hosting tutorials and hosting related news and help.

Thank you and all the Best for 2009

Christoph Puetz
Owner Webhostingresourcekit.com