Profiting from the Cloud!

Posted on February 21, 2011 by Terry Myers

Cloud hosting is one of the fastest growing marketing in the technology sector, with new products being established daily. VPS.NET has setup multiple programs that allow you to take advantage of our cloud infrastructure to launch your business into the cloud.

Affiliate Program
Our affiliate program pays out a whopping $85 per referral. This program can be implemented in any fashion you want - whether it be through the utilization of a text link through a review of VPS.NET or banners advertised on your site, we'll make sure you get paid your referral commissions. To get started with our affiliate program you can simply sign up inside of the VPS.NET control panel under the "affiliates section." If you'd like to advertise all of the UK2Group brands, you can use our affiliate manager, Aff.biz. If you choose to use banners to advertise VPS.NET's services, we do have some already created for your use. Just as a note, it is NOT necessary to be a VPS.NET customer to be an affiliate of ours (though we'd definitely appreciate if you were).

Reseller Program
Our reseller program is one we've worked to make extremely competitive, and easy to setup. As a VPS.NET reseller, you're able to resell all of our services, including the CDN. There are no setup fees or up front bulk commitment costs. Instead, you only pay for the services that you've already sold. Best of all, we've worked with Blesta, CannyBill, HostBill and WHMCS to create modules that uses our API to completely automate the sale and management of our VPS services. This allows you setup the nodes automatically for your customers, and also give them a control panel to manage their VPS; they'll essentially have all the power of a direct VPS.NET customer.

We tend to work very close with our resellers, so there's no automated signup form to get started. Instead, you can email me at resellers(at)vps.net and our team will walk you through the initial steps of launching your new product.

Start your site out right, with a Cloud VPS from VPS.NET

Posted on February 18, 2011 by Terry Myers

I've been building websites since 1997 -- I was 12 years old at the time. Most of my friends were amazed; "Doesn't it cost a ton of money to do that?"

Of course not. I was using various free web hosting providers - Spree, Tripod, Angelfire, Dencity... etc. You name a free web hosting provider, and I probably used them. Occasionally I did well, and made a site that was worth something, and was able to sell it to someone else for a few days worth of lunch money. Sometimes I turned around and bought a new site that interested me. Regardless, one of the first things I learned was that your hosting provider may be the very single most important part of your website (besides the topic of course). Features, flexibility, and reliability are all three that were important to me back then, and are still the most commonly asked questions we get in the pre-sales queue at VPS.NET.

A Cloud VPS from VPS.NET is able to accomplish all these, while also having several other value addons, like the scalable technology, which when combined with the high availability aspect of the cloud, is something every site could certainly benefit from.

Features
The ease of performing certain tasks ranks high for a lot of users. Having to deal with a hassle is never fun; we've attempt to bring in a number of outside features that'll add a tremendous amount of value for our clients. We offer free billing programs in Blesta and HostBill, free CodeBase accounts and free SSL certificates. Along with that, you can purchase Server Density licenses, a number of control panel licenses (cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk), along with cool tools like CloudLinux and KSplice.

Flexibility
With any VPS, you have the flexibility of a dedicated server, being able to install any services or features that you need. You're able to run your Cloud VPS as necessary for your site. Not only can you install the necessary services, but unlike a dedicated server, you have the flexibility to pay for only the resources you need. With the ability to scale your resources up and down on demand, you can give your site as many resources as it needs at the time. This will not only save you money, but also, if your site ends up receiving a significant amount of traffic, avoid a lot of downtime.

Reliability
Our Cloud VPS product is built from the ground up for reliability. The way we're able to offer this is through the auto-healing aspect the cloud is able to offer. If at any time the server hosting your VPS experiences a problem, it is migrated over to a new server. This benefits you in comparison to a dedicated server, as you would wait for the server to at least be rebooted, if you're lucky don't have to wait for a hardware replacement . We also utilize redundant SANs (storage area network), which means your data is stored across multiple storage arrays. If one of the SANs experiences a problem, the other SAN will take over the work, and your website will carry on with no problem.

Creating a CloudLinux Cloud VPS with KSplice on VPS.NET

Posted on February 15, 2011 by Terry Myers

We've already gone over what CloudLinux does, and who should be using it, but more importantly, lets go over how to maximize your use of CloudLinux. In this post, we'll walk you through the steps of creating a CloudLinux VPS, and utilizing the free KSplice license at VPS.NET.

Creating a New VPS with CloudLinux & KSplice
To get started we're going to go to the new VPS page of the VPS.NET control panel. From there we'll choose how many nodes we're going to use for this Cloud VPS. In my example, I'm going to choose 4 nodes, located in our Atlanta datacenter. I've also chose to use Snapshot and Rsync backups, along with cPanel, RVSkins, Softaculous and LiteSpeed. They're not necessary for CloudLinux or KSplice, however I certainly recommend them as they add considerable value to the hosting experience.

Once you click the create button, you're all good to go with CloudLinux. We still have a few steps to go in order to get KSplice, which allows for rebootless updates, installed.

Installing KSplice
Before we can install KSplice, we first have to license it inside of the VPS.NET control panel. KSplice is totally free, so there's really no reason not to use it. To license it, simply go to the KSplice section of the VPS.NET control panel. From there, click on the Add KSplice license and then follow the steps as outlined on the KSplice page.

Once that is complete, you've successfully setup your first CloudLinux VPS with KSplice.

The art of building a relationship.

Posted on February 14, 2011 by Terry Myers

It's Valentines Day. And while we, as your web hosting provider, likely rank rather low on your list of "valentines," we want you to know that our relationship is still important.

Your relationship with your web host is an important one - you might make your living online, depend on critical emails getting through, or simply run a personal site that is important to you. Unlike most relationships, your relationship with your web host depends on a leap of faith. There's no first dates, no prior meetings, rather, at best, you might fire off a few emails back and forth answering the most basic questions. But how do you know what we're selling you is what you really need?

Here's a few ways we try and foster a relationship with our clients; suggestions that you can use with your clients, and in business in general.

Real People. Real Friendly.
I absolutely hate when I call a company and a robot answers. It's frustratingly painful to use and get the help I need. When I need help, I want to be able to discuss my options with a real person, so why do we so frequently use pre-written scripts, that not only sound fake, but also force us to typically sell the customer something they don't need? Our responsibility is to understand your needs, and find the right solution for you - a solution that works now, under your current budget. We're glad to do that, and love the challenge of designing a complex cloud vps hosting arrangement that can adequately serve your site. At no time during this process should it ever be a problem for us to do so - as our customer, you're our lifeblood of our business - the people that put food on our table, and allow us to enjoy the pleasant things in life we do.

The Value of Transparency
They say curiosity killed the cat - I like to say curiosity killed the sale. It's frustrating as a consumer to be left out in the cold, not knowing the people behind the company you're putting your trust in; not knowing what they're doing to make their service even better; not knowing whether they're even going to be around tomorrow. We strive to be as transparent as possible, sharing details from our personal life, while also filling you in on the latest happenings at VPS.NET. We're proud of who we are both personally and as a company, and you should have that same pride. When a customer asks us how long we've been around, it's always enjoyable to tell them that UK2Group has been around since 1998, and then it's even more fun to tell them about the future growth plans we have. So while you might not have the longevity that UK2Group and VPS.NET does, you might have just as bright of a future - share that. Your customer will be fascinated by it.

Never forget your current customers
What's the value of a relationship if the only time you talk to them is in pre-sales? Some of your potential largest customers are your current customers, and they're typically your EASIEST sale. They already have established a trust in you, already know your infrastructure, and finally, they've already chosen you before. Keep in touch after the sale, because they might just be your next sale. In today's world of technology, new websites and services are being rolled out by the day, and you certainly don't want to miss out on any of that. Use a CRM tool, like SugarCRM, or SalesForce to keep in touch with your customers. It'll not only strengthen the relationship you already have, but also bring in welcomed additional revenue.

Finally, being happy with having just a satisfied customer isn't enough. We want a loyal customer - one who freely, without being asked, writes testimonials about us - recommends us to their friends. A loyal customer is one who has vested interest in us, and that's what we want. Customers who want to be successful, with a successful company.

Should I be using CloudLinux?

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Terry Myers

CloudLinux is an extremely powerful operating system built on top of the open source operating system, CentOS. We're proud to offer it - and it works tremendously well on the VPS.NET infrastructure. Just recently our sister company Midphase switched their shared hosting servers over to CloudLinux, and have seen loads drop dramatically on their servers. Does that mean that CloudLinux is right for you?

Do I have to run CloudLinux with VPS.NET? Does CloudLinux make me a cloud provider?
Despite its name, CloudLinux is not required to be used on cloud hosting infrastructure, nor is it required to be used on VPS.NET. We offer multiple operating systems, including CentOS, FreeBSD, Ubuntu, Windows and many more. CloudLinux can also be used on dedicated servers, and traditional VPS servers without problem. As well, using CloudLinux does not make someone a cloud hosting provider. Cloud hosting is single-handedly derived from the underlying infrastructure; typically cloud hosting requires that there multiple servers working together to provide resources on demand, however a formal definition has not exactly been defined.

Is CloudLinux right for me?
Depending on how you're using your cloud VPS from VPS.NET determines whether you really need CloudLinux. While it's an extremely stable operating system, with numerous security enhancements it may not be something that is necessary for you to run. CloudLinux really shows its value when you're hosting multiple websites on the same server. It does this by placing each user inside what it calls a LVE (Lightweight Virtual Environment). This LVE limits the amount of available resources to each user, which makes it so one single user cannot bring down the entire server. The actual resources limited include the CPU, RAM, and the total number of processes running by the user, like PHP scripts. The amount of resources that the user is limited to is completely definable by you, so CloudLinux actually makes it possible to offered structured shared hosting plans based of CPU/RAM usage, instead of the usual disk space and bandwidth. When a user reaches the defined resource limits, a 503 error is displayed to the website's visitor, preventing the user from using up additional resources.

So why doesn't it work well for single sites?
If you're only hosting a single site it simply doesn't make sense to a limit the amount of resources available to it. Usually if you just have one site on the server, you want the site to be able to use the whole server, which CloudLinux prohibits. If you're looking for the security and stability of CloudLinux, CentOS is actually a free alternative, and offers an environment just as stable and secure.

How do I get CloudLinux for my VPS.NET Cloud VPS?
If you're ready to build your first Cloud VPS with VPS.NET, simply choose the CloudLinux operating system from the "Build my VPS" screen and everything will be handled for you. If you already have the server built and are using CentOS then go to the CloudLinux templates page, and purchase a CloudLinux license for $7.50 a month. Once there, you'll be able to choose the server to license it to and install the necessary addons that let CloudLinux works its magic!

Coming up next we'll show you how to tweak CloudLinux to your exact specifications, using both command line and the cPanel/WHM plugin.

Make your accountants love you: ShoeBoxed.com

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Terry Myers

I have a confession: I used to be absolutely terrified of the accounting staff, even though we're not even in located in the same state. The nightmares of our CFO, Tim Holland, showing up on my doorstep and laying the smacketh down on me wouldn't go away after trade shows. In order for me to get re-imbursed for expenses related to company trips, I have to turn in receipts related to the purchases. Keeping track of receipts is definitely not something I'd call a strong suit of mine. I tend to lose, or grow tired of them taking up space in my wallet and eventually just throw them away. Receipts are, simply put, annoying.

Thankfully Nick Nelson, the Managing Director of VPS.NET, who struggles from the same disorder as I, recently found a new service that completely organizes your receipts for you, ShoeBoxed.com. I know, affiliate links are lame, but let me explain a little bit more. ShoeBoxed has not only helped me out tremendously (the accountants love me now!), but they've also setup an affiliate program with us. We're not taking the cash and running with it though. Instead, through our Hosting for Good campaign we're going to donate any money earned this month to The Rockstar Foundation. We love the Rockstar Foundation, which was founded by the creator of WooThemes, Adii Pienaar. The Rockstar Foundation is about changing the lives of young women by giving them the proper education they deserve. When we recently heard about the struggles Adii was having at raising funding to expand the program, we knew we had to help. Any money collected from the affiliate link this month will go towards the Rockstar Foundation, so we can help fund future operations.

Why not make friends with the accounting staff by using Shoe Boxed and help change a life by supporting the Rockstar Foundation?

Can we be friends?

Posted on February 4, 2011 by Terry Myers

Coming from the financial industry, something that we were always told was to keep personal and business interactions completely separate. That meant don't friend your co-workers on Facebook, don't friend your vendors on Facebook, and definitely do not friend the investors you were working for on Facebook. I understood the reasons - there needs to be separation between the two, right? Of course, when you're attending the conventions though, what do you end up talking about? Your personal life - your children, the sports you play, and any other activities you engage in, so while I understood the advice, I always felt there was a bit of a contradiction.

When I started at VPS.NET in June of last year, I carried over much of this philosophy - I made some comprises; the basic premise was I would friend the person, as long I had met them in person before. Even with that compromise, I was still extremely closed off compared to a lot of people. As I built relationships with clients from VPS.NET, I realized that maybe my closed off strategy really wasn't the best move; there's a vast difference between the tech. industry and the financial industry. The age gap is no longer there - at the technology conventions we attend, like DrupalCon, the average age is no older 25. All of our clients - they're actually like us. So, the other day when the friend request from a client came in, I took a step towards a change and accepted the request.

There were a lot of reasons for the change. Some business, and some person. One of the primary lines of thought was that if I'm doing something and then putting it on Facebook that I'd embarrassed about if a client saw it, it's probably something I shouldn't be doing in the first place. Secondly, in the line of business we're in, there's not a whole lot of human interaction with our customers. There's unfortunately no way to change that completely, but Facebook can help "humanize" things, and show that despite rumors, I'm not a virtualized robot given the power of life by VPS.NET. It'll not only show my interests outside of VPS.NET but also help me learn yours, and then create the opportunity to share tips, and other ideas. Just the other day thanks to Facebook, I found out that Ditlev is a master of eating with chop sticks, something I've always wanted to learn how to do. At the next convention, I'm going to force him to share his skills -- help me become a bit more cultured.

Before you go the same route I did though, there's certainly some things to consider:

1.) Take a look at your profile. Would your clients be comfortable using your services after seeing everything on it? This includes your posts, friends posts and any pictures you might have. Would you do business with yourself after seeing everything that is up there?
2.) Take advantage of the privacy settings - maybe you want to be friends with clients, but block off pictures and videos. That be easily done by setting up a group and restricting that groups access.
3.) If you still want to live the party boy life style, yet still connect with clients, maybe LinkedIn.com is a suitable compromise.

Ultimately, the decision is up to you - there's no set in stone rule about friending clients. Your decision though can impact your business - use it right, and you might reap the benefits. Use it wrong and an embarrassing picture pops up on a client's news feed, you might want to re-consider the use of social networking.