What is Domain Hijacking and how to Prevent it?

May 23, 2009 – 10:56

Losing a domain is an incredibly frustrating experience for domain owners. This article will help explain how this happens, and how you can keep it from happening to you.

There are three main ways that people lose domain names:

1. An owner allows the domain registration to lapse.
2. A domain is stolen after a hijacker gains access to the registry record.
3. An owner does not keep up-to-date contact information in their record and their record is deleted after the registrar concludes that contact with the owner is not possible.

The good news is that there are steps you can take to keep this from happening to you. The most basic way to avoid losing your domain is to keep track of expiration dates and maintain your contact information. One smart way to do this is to consolidate your domains at one high-quality registrar. This allows you to manage a domain portfolio more easily and comprehensively. But remember, your domain can be deleted if your contact data is out of date. Registrars now have to verify ownership annually.

 

A second and related tip is to make sure that you are listed as the Administrative Contact. If it is a corporate domain name, then make sure the business owner or a senior executive is the Administrative Contact; this person is authorized to modify the website hosting, the records and he or she can change the domain’s ownership.

 

Next, it is important to use a paid email account for your Administrative Contact email address whenever possible. Free email addresses can be suspended or deleted. If this happens, you will not receive notices from your registrar for renewal, and someone else could register that email address and then use it to request a domain transfer.

 

You can also place a registrar lock on your domain. This can help prevent it from being transferred, modified or deleted by a third party. It is also important that you make sure your registrar gives you the ability to unlock your domain at any time without having to call or email them (at DS-Hosting Solutions you can lock/unlock your domain at any time). Otherwise, when you sell a domain name you will have to wait for someone at the registrar to process your request, and then the transfer will take more time and most importantly, it will take more time for you to receive your payment.

 

It is also important for you to be an educated email user. Never respond to emails that ask you to click on a link or respond without investigating the source and fully understanding the e-mail’s contents. Be especially careful with domain-related emails that look official but are from an unknown source. Contact your registrar to find out what is happening and if the email is from them. Domain hijackers have been known to send out mass transfer requests hoping that a small number of people will actually accept the transfer request. Do not let yourself fall prey to this type of scam.

 

Another step you can take to make sure you do not lose your domain is putting your registrar on your email list of "approved senders". This will ensure that you receive emails from your registrar, including the all important registry renewal notices.

 

Finally, on a related note, it is a good idea to renew your domain early and for long periods of time.

Protect your domains by following these guidelines:

1. Keep track of expiration dates and keep your contact information up-to date. (Consider domain consolidation.)
2. Make sure you are listed as the Administrative Contact so that only you can modify the domain record or change ownership.
3. Try to avoid using free-email addresses.
4. Make use of registrar locks over which you have control.
5. Be an educated email user: investigate email senders and email contents.
6. Place your registrar on your "approved sender" email list and have emails from them go straight to your inbox.
7. Renew your domain early and for long periods of time.

Filed under Domain Names, eMail Questions |

Do your web hosting packages support the SourceGuardian PHP Encoder?

May 22, 2009 – 07:39

By default, SourceGuardian is not installed on any of our web hosting packages. However, that does not mean that you are not able to host any scripts that are encoded with SourceGuardian!

SourceGuardian does tell you to upload there encoders to the scripts folder and it will load the files as long the php function dl() is enabled as part of the installation. And unfortunately we have to dissapoint you once again, dl() is disabled for security reasons on all web hosting packages.

 

Below we will explain you how to get the scripts to run properly, this is possible since we run suPHP.

 

First you need to create a new .htaccess file in your public_html folder if you haven’t done already. Otherwise you need to edit your current .htaccess file.

In your .htaccess file under your public_html folder, add the following:

 

suPHP_ConfigPath /home/user/public_html
<Files php.ini>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>

 

Note: Make sure to change the user text above to your account user name.

 

Then create a php.ini file under your public_html folder and add the following (or edit the current file if you have a php.ini file):

 

extension_dir=/home/user/public_html/extensions

 

[Zend]
zend_extension=/usr/local/ioncube/ioncube_loader_lin_5.2.so
zend_optimizer.optimization_level=15
zend_extension_manager.optimizer=/usr/local/Zend/lib/Optimizer-3.3.3
zend_extension_manager.optimizer_ts=/usr/local/Zend/lib/Optimizer_TS-3.3.3
zend_extension=/usr/local/Zend/lib/ZendExtensionManager.so
zend_extension_ts=/usr/local/Zend/lib/ZendExtensionManager_TS.so
extension=/home/user/public_html/extensions/ixed.5.2.lin

 

Note: Make sure to change the user text above to your account user name.

Zend Optimizer and IonCube loaders are added as well so you won’t drop the support for them with your new php.ini file.

 

Now create a new folder called "extensions" in your public_html folder and download the required loader at http://www.sourceguardian.com/ixeds/ixed4.lin.x86-64.zip

Then extract the zip file and upload the file "ixed.5.2.lin" to your created folder "extensions"

You may choose another folder to upload the SourceGuardian loader to but remember to have the folder name reflect the one you typed within your php.ini file.

 

Full details about SourceGuardian can be found at there website, located here:

http://www.sourceguardian.com

 

Congratulations, you have just installed SourceGuardian in your web hosting account and your script should now run properly!

Filed under Linux Web Hosting, PHP Hosting, Server Security, Web Hosting Services |

What is the difference between hits and visits in stats reports?

May 20, 2009 – 06:17

Any request made to the server is considered a "hit". A request can be for any object, an html page, a graphic image, an audio file, a CGI script, etc. So, "hits" are the total number of requests that were received during the specified report period.

A "visit", on the other hand, is a series of "hits" that are deemed to have come from the same browser within a certain amount of time. A "visit", therefore, represents a browser that came to your site for a while and then left.

 

Each "visit" is composed of many more "hits".

For example, when a browser requests one page on your site, webalizer will report one hit for the page request, plus one more hit for each image or other object (flash object, javascript file, etc) that was referenced on that page. That is why hits are always greater than visits.

 

Visits are also grouped by time. Webalizer does this by looking at the IP address of the browser and calculates the amount of time since a visitor’s last requested a page/file (if any). If the time difference is greater than a pre-configured ‘visit timeout’ value (or has never made a request before), it is considered a ‘new visit’.

 

We deliver our web hosting accounts with detailed statistics to keep track of your websites visitors.

Filed under cPanel/WHM, Linux Web Hosting, Web Hosting Services |

The differences between Add-On Domain and Parked Domain explained

May 19, 2009 – 14:40

Addon domain:

Addon domains allow you to have more than one independent website sharing the resources of your hosting account. Addon domains hosting is similar to virtualization. You can host multiple domains or multiple websites on a single account which are basically setup as sub domains on the main domain but the domains you add as a addon domain gets parked on top of the subdomain. You can see website of the sub domain when you type your addon domain in your browser but the URL never changes as it continues with your addon domain in the browser.

 

Parked domain:

You can have multiple domain names pointing to your site. This is a great way to increase your online visibility. Parked domain on main domain shows the website of the main domain. Similarly parked domain on the subdomain would show the website of subdomain.

 

Examples of parked domains are:

• ds-hostingsolutions.com/kb/differences-addon-and-parked-domains-explained/
• ds-hostingsolutions.biz/kb/differences-addon-and-parked-domains-explained/

 

Apache configuration needs to know what directory to call when someone opens a particular website in the browser and in case of addon domains, it will load the subdomain. Your addon domain is added as an alias for that subdomain.

 

From a user perspective, an addon domain functions just like any other domain. You can register and set up an addon domain under your existing web hosting account. So when your visitors type “http://www.yourdomain.com” in their browser, they will be transported to the new site. The difference between a parked domain and an addon domain from a web user’s perspective is that with a parked domain the URL in the address bar will change to the physical location of the page as the page loads.

For example, if you type http://www.abc.com, that domain won’t remain in the browser address bar, but will change to “http://www.domain.com/abc/index.html” as soon as the page is displayed.

 

DS-Hosting Solutions allows you to add or park as many domains on your web hosting account you need.

Filed under cPanel/WHM, Domain Names, Linux Web Hosting, Web Hosting Services |

How to increase PHP limits

May 18, 2009 – 09:20

In your .htaccess file under your public_html folder, add the following:

suPHP_ConfigPath /home/user/public_html
<Files php.ini>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>

 

Note: Make sure to change the user text above to your account username.

 

Then create a php.ini file under your public_html folder and add any of the following that are needed:

upload_max_filesize = 12M
post_max_size = 16M
memory_limit = 32M
max_execution_time = 60
upload_tmp_dir = /tmp

 

Information below will not work at DS-Hosting Solutions, use the above method instead because we are running suPHP.

 

For servers running normal PHP you can increase the PHP max upload size for your account by adding the following to your .htaccess file:

php_value upload_max_filesize "12M"
php_value post_max_size "16M"
php_value max_input_time "60"

Filed under PHP Hosting |

HTTP Error 500 – Internal server error

May 18, 2009 – 07:56

If you are receiving the error 500 it will be due to one of the following issues:

• .htaccess

Check your .htaccess file for php_ commands. If you have any, add a # in front of the line or delete them. Then test your webpage. If you still have the error try removing everything from your .htaccess file. If that resolves the issue add the .htaccess lines back one at time until you find the bad line.

If these steps do not resolve your issue try the next steps.

• File and folder permissions

Check your files and folders to make sure you don’t have any files with the permission 666 or folders with the permission 777.

 

Those permissions are not needed on our servers. We run suPHP which allows you to make files writable without creating the major security hole that occurs when using the permissions 666 and 777.

 

The correct permissions should be:

Folders: 755

Files: 644

Files that need to be unwritable: 444

• MIME-Types

If you added a MiME-Type to the system in order to run html files as php scripts, you will have to remove it and add an ApacheHandler instead.

 

Log into cPanel, then click on Apache Handlers and add the following:

Handler: application/x-httpd-php

Extension(s): .html

Filed under PHP Hosting, Server Security, Website Development |

How to login webmail directly without acessing cPanel?

May 18, 2009 – 03:39

How to login directly using “webmail.domain.com” in to Squirrelmail, Horde or RoundCube of any account?

 

First you need to create a subdomain that you want to redirect to your preferred Webmail client [Squirrelmail / Horde / RoundCube].

 

Following are the steps to create subdomain.

1. Login in to your cPanel interface.
2. Select the Subdomain option, and create the subdomain. (For eg: webmail.domain.com)
3. Once it has been created, go to the File Manager option of the cPanel.
4. Change path to “public_html” by selecting the folder image beside the text “public_html”
5. Now change the path to folder that was create by your subdomain. (as per our example it would be the “webmail” folder.
6. Once inside this directory [webmail], you will see “.htaccess” file, if it’s not there then you need to create it manually.
   • If it is not there then create new using below steps: (if it already exists proceed to step 10)
7. Create it [.htaccess] by selecting the “Create New File” option.
8. A menu appears in the top right corner of the File Manager interface. Choose “Text Document” and name it “.htaccess” [without quotes]
9. Now refresh File Manager and you will then see your new file [.htaccess] in the listing of that directory.
10. Click on the text title for the .htaccess file on the left side of the screen and a menu appears in the top right of the screen.
11. Choose the “Edit File” option, a new window opens.
12. Add the following lines:

- If You Want To Redirect “webmail.domain.com” to the Squirrel Mail Client: -

 

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^webmail.domain.com$ [OR]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.webmail.domain.com$

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com:2095/3rdparty/squirrelmail/index.php$1 [R=301,L]

 

- If You Want To Redirect “webmail.domain.com” to the Horde Webmail Client: -

 

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^webmail.domain.com$ [OR]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.webmail.domain.com$

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com:2095/horde/$1 [R=301,L]

 

- If You Want To Redirect “webmail.domain.com” to the RoundCube Webmail Client: -

 

RewriteEngine on

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^webmail.domain.com$ [OR]

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www.webmail.domain.com$

RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://domain.com:2095/3rdparty/roundcube/$1 [R=301,L]

 

NOTE: replace “domain.com” above with your actual domain name.

 

Enjoy Direct Webmail Client Login.

Filed under cPanel/WHM, eMail Questions |

What is DNS propagation?

May 16, 2009 – 19:06

Propagation is the process by which name servers are made aware of the changes that you make to your domain name with your registrar (the company you purchased your domain name with).  This process can take between 24 and 72 hours.

 

Why does this process take so long?

DNS propagation takes a bit of time because the "synchronization" is happening amongst hundreds of thousands of servers.  The process may seem to take too long but it is happening quite rapidly on a pretty large scale.

 

Please know that this is under the control of the registry, and DS-Hosting Solutions does not have any abilities to make this happen faster.

However, eNom has developed a revolutionary way to update DNS settings. This allows the user to make DNS changes that will apply within approximately 4 seconds.

Compare that to the "12 to 24 hours" needed for most domain registrars or the "several days" by some ISP’s.

And since DS-Hosting Solutions has partnered with one of the worlds biggest registrar, eNom, you will make advantage of these Real-time DNS updates if we register your domain name
 

Filed under Domain Names, Getting Started |

Is there a limit to the size of MySQL databases?

May 16, 2009 – 18:58

No – your MySQL database can be as large as you have space available on the hosting plan you select.

We also do not limit you on the amount of databases you create. All you need to do is choose a package which suits the amount of disk space and the monthly bandwidth you require.

Filed under MySQL Hosting, Pre-Sales Questions |

Is the Google Apps for Your Domain supported at DS-Hosting Solutions?

May 16, 2009 – 16:27

Yes, you can use Google Apps for Your Domain – http://www.google.com/a/

All you need to do is:

• Login to cPanel –> Mail –> Modify Mail Exchanger (MX Entry)
• Click Change an MX Entry
• Then enter the main MX entry Google provided you and click Change. The other MX records are not needed.

Thats it, your email will now work at Google!

Filed under eMail Questions |