Graeme’s Blog

Lets Host are currently looking for a helpdesk technician - full details here

An article profiling LetsHost has appeared in the Irish Times on 16th January - to read the article, please click here

We’ve all seen various template-based web site design tools. Most of the programs out there are poorly architected, difficult to use and very limited in the end-product that they are capable of delivering. Understanding that most people have had a bad experience with web site building tools in the past, LetsHost has gone to great lengths to ensure that our web site builder delivers the highest levels of site quality and allows users the flexibility to build a truly customised and functional web site.

We feel that the most important aspect of the LetsHost Web Site Builder is its flexibility to build web sites of various functionality levels – and to price the various levels reasonably. Whether you’re looking for a simple business card web site, or a web site that offers complete eCommerce support for online transactions, our web site builder will provide what you need. In addition to the ease of use of the web site builder, first-time web site owners and new business owners can also register their Irish .ie domains or simple .com names through our domain registration service.

Most new web site owners are unsure of the type of web site that will work best for their particular business model. As a result, many new entrepreneurs find themselves paying outrageous fees to unscrupulous web site designers and eCommerce providers who are essentially taking advantage of unknowing customers. And while we acknowledge that professional web site design firms and web development companies can deliver tangible advantages and results to established companies, it’s rare that a first-time web site owner needs to incur those types of expenses.

That is why the LetsHost web site builder is such a great tool for new business owners who are in need of a professional, but cost-effective business web site. In our cost-friend pricing tiers, the most basic business card website can be built for only €5.99 per year. And to reiterate our commitment to providing an affordable solution, we should tell you that even our most advanced eCommerce web site package is still a very reasonable €69.99 per year. If your web business requires an eCommerce platform, that price should leave you with more than enough room to grow your profits and expand your business.

And because we know that there are so many inferior web site building products out there, we allow our customers to take a free test drive of our web site builder. Feel free to explore the more than 10,000 design templates and try out any number of the tool’s capabilities. There are simple functions to create web-based forms and even upload and manage photos and images for your web site. For eCommerce web sites, integration with the most popular payment processors is also very simple and our web site builder will walk you through every step along the way.

Whether you are launching your first business web site or if you have simply had enough of the hassles and over-charges of dealing with web site designers, the LetsHost web site builder gives you the power to create the web site that you know will work for your business and your budget. If you have any questions about our web site builder, call us at 1890 719 461 or take a test drive today.

When choosing a web hosting company, there are several primary concerns. Cost, of course, will always be an issue, as will allotted server space and up time. Behind the scenes, however, the operating system and programming language(s) utilised in a hosting environment are both extremely important factors and should always be considered when making your choice.

Options abound with regard to operating systems, including Unix/Linux and Windows as well as Solaris and Mac OS. Likewise, there are many scripting language choices, including PHP, ASP/VBscript, .Net, Perl, Python, JSP (Java Server Pages), among others. Deciding which of these options to use, not to mention which web server software and database management system you’ll use, can be daunting if you’re looking to start your first website or if you’re not a programmer by trade. Luckily, there is a nearly perfect option for newbies and hard-core programmers alike that offers many advantages. That solution? LAMP.

LAMP is an acronym that stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, a “software stack” that bundled together forms what may be the perfect hosting environment for everything from the simplest website to the most complex multi-server web application. Though the advent of cPanel and other web hosting control panels makes it relatively unimportant for the average website owner to fully understand his or her web hosting arrangement, understanding the basics is very helpful. Here’s a breakdown of the LAMP environment, by components:

Linux: The operating system, Linux is often described as “Unix like” in nature. It differs from Windows, the second most popular web hosting operating system, in a variety of ways, though one major advantage is the ability to customise Linux installations to your specific hardware (the web server, in this case).

Apache: This is the actual Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) server. It’s open source, meaning that you don’t have to pay anything for it (thus keeping hosting costs down). It’s also a perfect compliment to Linux in a hosting environment.

MySQL: This is the database element, and is owned by Sun Microsystems. MySQL can be downloaded and utilised for free also, and is powerful option for any database-driven website.

PHP: This is the scripting language that allows so much flexibility in modern websites. It allows the creation of dynamic web pages, whereby the user’s web browser executes a program on the web server prior to serving the file or “page” that the user is requesting. PHP scripting interacts with a database to perform these executions (“queries” of the database) and is most often coupled with MySQL.

Now that we know exactly what LAMP is, it’s also worthwhile to know WHY it’s an excellent choice for your hosting environment. While there are many reasons to use the LAMP stack for your web server or hosting account, here are the primary advantages:

• Runs efficiently and quickly and is generally less taxing on server hardware than other options, including Windows/IIS.
• There is a large talent base to draw from in the event that you require custom coding for website or application.
• Open Source means that the LAMP stack is free or inexpensive, so licensing fees for each element (operating system, web server, database and scripting language) are minimal or non-existent.
• Many popular, easy-to-use applications that small website owners frequently use are coded to work primarily with LAMP. Among these are WordPress, vBulletin, phpBB, Drupal, Mambo, and a wide array of others.
• Works well with cPanel and other control panel setups that allow users to easily manage their websites.

If you’re considering switching web hosts, or doing research as you decide where to host your website or what type of hosting you need, keep in mind the back-end environment offered. LetsHost proudly runs our web servers using the LAMP software combination.

The LetsHost company blog has now been moved from a blogspot domian to its very own blog.letshost.ie domain.

I currently have over 500 domain name registrations, and decided to do a clearout - over 100 domain names will now be allowed to expire at renewal time. 

LetsHost have launched a new website with information regarding the status of all servers and associated services. 

 This new site - http://www.letshoststatus.com should be the first port of call for any service affecting issues, and will be constantly updated should there be any service affecting issues.

I have just set up my personal email to go through my companies  recently launched Spam Titan spam filter system.  Whilst I always used the traditional Spam Assassin, and it did a reasonable job at removing spam, a fair amount of spam still got through. 

With the LetsHost anti spam system, all mail gets filtered through a separate server and is checked for viruses.  If there are no viruses, the email is then passed through a rigorous set of tests including keyword scoring, RBL list checks, etc., and only if it passes all these tests is it then sent to the inbox.  If it fails the tests, the email is delivered to a quarantine section on the server for later retrieval if neccessary.

 I am amazed at the accuracy of the system, and even more amazed at the amount of junk spam emails that people and bots try to send.  Over 90% of email sent to my private email inbox is spam.

From a business perspective, although the solution is not free, it saves so much time and effort that I think it has to be  a must have for any business who uses electronic mail today.

LetsHost (www.letshost.ie), announced today a further reduction in the cost of .ie Domain registrations. This  price fall brings the current LetsHost price of 24.99 down to the lowest ever price of 19.99.  .ie Domains have never been as low as this before.Letshost has led the way in bringing the price of a .ie domain registration down. Only 2 years ago the average price of a .ie domain name was around €65 + vat. LetsHost have developed a fully automated API link to the Irish Domain Registry, allowing then to process the application for a new .ie domain name within minutes of receiving an order on their online ordering system.

To take advantage of this excellent offer you can log on to the LetsHost website at www.letshost.ie, and select Order Hosting from the menu. From there, enter your chosen .ie domain name and complete the contact form. Once verified for completeness by LetsHost staff, your order will be automatically processed through to the domain registry, and you will receive confirmation by email.

Another new feature launched by LetsHost is the ability to manage DNS name server changes and DNS zone management using the new LetsHost Domain Management or DNS zone management system - from the Support menu on the LetsHost website, simply select the Domain Management option you wish to use, and you can update the DNS information without even having to contact the LetsHost support department - this fully automated process allows Letshost to continue to offer the lowest .ie domain name registrations in the country.

In 2007, LetsHost registered more .ie domains than any other company, bar one.

Business Owners are at constant risk from theft, viruses, system crashes, stolen or misplaced backup tapes, etc.,  A recent study has shown an estimated €4 billion will be spent in 2010 on data protection and backup systems – a growth of 30% from 2005. Recent advances in internet technology have resulted in more and more hard disk based backup systems becoming available.  Instead of worrying about changing that tape, losing it in the street, or burning it up in the sunshine in your cars glove compartment, all files can now be backed up to remote locations by using high speed internet lines.  At specific timed intervals throughout the day and night, a snapshot can be taken of all changed files on a particular server, and these can be transported through a high bandwidth internet connection to an off site server.  In addition, file compression makes the whole process much faster, reduces the amount of bandwidth needed to transport the file and takes up less space on the backup server. One company that has deployed this technology is Irish based LetsHost (www.letshost.ie).  They have implemented a multi Terabyte backup server in a data centre in another location hundreds of miles away, and this takes 6 hourly snapshots of all production web servers.  Copies of the last 10 days backup snapshots are maintained, allowing an almost unbelievable combination of files that can be restored.  Even if a single file was lost, for example at 3pm, five days ago, the system will allow the restore of this file.  In addition, and probably the most remarkable of all, is the ability to recover databases using the same technology.  The system is so granular that a single table in a single database can be recovered from any of the 42 snapshots. To add to this, weekly backup snapshots are also taken, and kept for 6 weeks.  A user control panel allows the user to log on and recover any files he or she wishes, without the need for intervention by LetsHost staff.  This makes the entire process extremely cost effective and efficient.   In the event of a total server and complete server failure, LetsHost can recover the entire server in a matter of hours, bringing it back to life with a maximum data loss of only 6 hours.  Server recovery can even take place to a different server in a different location if necessary, so even in the highly unlikely event of the entire production data centre being cut off due to unforeseen circumstances, LetsHost can recover their clients data to servers in a different location within a few small hours.   The improved internet technology in terms of speed and reliability is bringing the whole area of backup to new heights and ultimately securing the future for many businesses who in the past would have been prone to serious issues in the event of server production server failure. With such new technologies coming on-stream, the total cost of managing a business critical backup may actually come down, and the accuracy and reliability of the solution will improve significantly. LetsHost5^th February 2007

LetsHost is a web hosting company based in Dublin, Ireland.  Formed in 2003, the company currently hosts in excess of 11000 domains, all of which are protected using CDP – Continuous data protection.  LetsHost welcomes any press or contact from interested parties wishing to know more about the technologies used to deploy this backup solution