FS Related

I almost made it through the day without a holiday post. With a great post already handled by our CEO, I didn't see the need to provide everyone with a duplicate message. That was until a unique event took place in Chicago and I became filled with "Blog Posting" Energy (it's the same as 3 Red Bulls.

Traditionally, the eve of any major holiday provides our Sales Team the ability to catch up on projects, clear out emails, and prepare for a relaxing holiday season. This year was nothing different and as the first members of the team arrived at the crack of dawn, we spawned a couple small projects to keep busy and organize the remainder of the week.

With just a few minutes left on the schedule, a visitor came knocking at 175 W. Jackson Blvd. (that's our Chicago address). He didn't have a white beard, a red coat, nor did he carry a bag full of gifts, rather he was looking for a managed hosting solution and a proposal for a dedicated server. Without a moments notice the Sales Team did what was natural and sat down with this potential client to discuss their needs.

Having current customers, new potential clients, and vendors visit us is quite the norm, but rarely do we have walk-ins and never have we had one on the eve of a major holiday. It was a warm welcome and a pleasant surprise for everyone.

For those of you that live in the Chicago land area and have last minute shopping to do, I wanted to let you know we are open until 3PM and a group of happy joyful Managed Hosting Specialist awaits your visit. You will be required to knock in order to gain access, but with just 3 hours left you have plenty of time to make sure your holiday gifts can include a Linux dedicated server or even a fully managed cluster solution!

Here are a few tips for maximizing your dedicated shopping experience with FastServers.Net.

1.) We don't officially have gift cards, however we will accept pre-payment and provide you with a fully loaded "account" credit for your future purchases.

2.) Gift wrapping is not possible - this will introduce a fire hazard in our data center. However if you want a picture of your server we will be glad to superimpose a digital image and email it to you.

3.) Delivery of all items sold will take place on Wednesday or Thursday of this week, our NOC and deployment team will have tomorrow off.

4.) A dedicated server makes a great stocking stuffer! While you won't be able to actually put the server in the stocking, I will personally make sure you have a picture to present (see Tip 2).

With that said for more holiday cheer please don't hesitate to read the first and original post from our CEO. With that said, please keep in the holiday spirit when rating both BLOG Posts, while we don't expect 10's --> 8 or higher is appreciated!

It's a question in the back of every sysadmin's mind. What am I going to do if/when I get hacked? Well, in all actuality there isn't much of a choice. Once you've been compromised, the only option is to wipe it clean and restore from backups (you do have backups, right?) It makes perfect sense that we prefer avoiding the situation altogether as opposed to picking up the pieces afterwards. Unfortunately there isn't anything you can do to guarantee your server's safety, but there is a lot that can be done to increase your odds. FastServers wants to help keep you out of a painful situation, and we've just taken a big step in the right direction.

Yes, we really do want you to remain virus/rootkit-free. Granted, we make a bit of cash when customers order the inevitable reinstall, but in all honesty we do not enjoy the due process of a security compromise. For one, our techs don't work on commission. I want you safe and secure because it's a lot of work to reinstall a server. That's why a few of our techs have banded together and created a new software package to help keep you out of trouble.

Ultra-Guard Suite is our new security package specifically designed to greatly enhance the safety of your data. It includes many functions, including a software firewall, brute-force detection, web server protection, and overall system security tightening. We've been working hard on this package for awhile now, and I'm excited to see it in action. I hope everyone's as excited as myself, because we're going to start pushing it out next week. Hackers beware, your days are numbered... in single digits!

The proof is in the pudding. And/or the Sun-Times. Mayhap they messed up the portion on the revenues, and/or we're going to have to let the majority of every employee in each department at FastServers.Net depart at their (our) earliest convenience(s)... but thankfully, surely I jest... just as surely as Jay Mariotti & Co. botched that particular detail...

So I "tried to kill Ian" for a few years. Hahaha. Half-hearted attempts, at best. The kid's still kicking. It's verifiably been a long, long while since the mid-nineties. And really, it has been beyond intriguing throughout, as well as a tremendously rewarding learning experience. We're certainly looking forward to much, much more of the same as we head towards our revenue goal of "billions"... considering that, no article or similar publication could negatively impact the populace's perspective of the sheer immensity of our business.

Hey, they've just fixed the (online) verbiage from "revenues this month" to "revenues this year", alongside a numerical adjustment, thus neutralizing the entire underlying structure of this here post. Pity. The print copies are still infected! But really, FastServers isn't enormous by any stretch of the imagination. That's perfectly fine with me. With all of us. A handful of a thousand boxes does not a clumsy hosting juggernaut create. That's barely english, but I'll continue. Fortunately (by design, perhaps), this "mid-range" industry status allows us to service your critical environments in an ever-increasingly meticulous fashion, while maintaining that personal, everyday touch with each of you. If that critical aspect slips in the slightest (not bloody likely), you'll want to contact me. Immediately.

There's plenty on tap, as the summer expires.
Here's a taster of what's on deck...

1) CentOS/RHEL 5.x... now offered for all "Managed" environments.
2) UltraGuard Suite (UGS) rollout for D1/D2 clients!
3) PHP 4.x.x shall be upgraded or destroyed before spring '08.
4) The Chicago Cubs shall be marginalized before autumn '07.
5) Major networking advancements (CHGO/IOWA)... nearing completion.

More to come...
Until then, love him or hate him, it's time to yield the floor to a certain Olbermann, Keith, who will now unveil his latest salvo of truthocity, if I may be so bold. You cannot blame a dude for telling it as it quite probably is. Dissenters are welcome, to be sure. This is the U.S. of A, after all.

No?
Yes...

If you have read my bio on FastServers.Net, you know that I enjoy music…almost to a fault.

Lately, I have been taking guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music and recently took a “Proto-Punk” ensemble class. Ensemble classes are a little different than regular Old Town classes because they include people playing a full range of instrumentation…guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. In essence, it’s like being in a band…with 8 guitarists. A few weeks ago, I had the first time ever thrill of playing and singing a Television tune in front of a live audience. It was great. All I need now is a Bowflex. Then I can say that I’m (censored) years old, in a rock band and in the best shape of my life. Yeah, right!

Enough about living the rock star dream (30 years later). What does this have to do with FastServers.Net, you ask? Recently, we gained a new customer, Korg. At first, it didn’t ring a bell, but I soon realized that the company sells keyboards, tuners, DJ tools, etc. I wish I had a dollar for all the times I was standing in a club waiting for the band to start, staring at the big white letters KORG on the keyboard onstage.

With this keyboard manufacturer as one of our latest customers, I got to thinking about the other music related organizations that rely on FastServers.Net’s managed dedicated servers. Need drumsticks? Pick up a few pairs from Vic Firth. How about some guitar strings? When I snapped my E string recently, I reached for a set from D’Addario. There’s that old joke about how you get a rock guitarist to quit playing? Answer: Set some sheet music in front of him. Yep, you can get sheet music and instruction books for all sorts of string instruments at Stringletter Publishing. Got all your gear together, your songs recorded, your Faces shag haircuts? Ready to hit the big time? Get your music out to the masses on Dream Makers or MyTracks.

What do we still need in our hot FastServers.Net rock ‘n’ roll band? How about some drum and guitar companies? Oh, and we could use some mike and amp providers. Fact is, after over 10 years on the circuit, FastServers.Net is definitely not a one-hit wonder. We can do it all, from the one-man band to the full orchestration of servers. Whether you want to sing a cappella or thrash it out, FastServers.Net has the solution for your gig.

Considering our commitment to the perpetual evolution and enhancement of our datacenter operations, it is necessary that we conduct routine environment cleansing, policy changes, inventory and overall operational consolidation to better streamline and perfect the services provided to our customers. Therefore, beginning June 29, 2007, and throughout the entire weekend ending July 1, 2007, FastServers will be performing mandatory datacenter floor maintenance to our Fremont facility. These activities will consist of the realignment of all FS-owned and operated servers, switches, and routing cores within the hosting facility in question. The purpose of this dispatch is to alert all of our Fremont customers, dedicated or co-located, of these planned events occurring at the end of June 2007.

It is imperative that all customers are aware of this maintenance as there will be multiple outages that will occur during our planned maintenance within this facility. At this time we cannot schedule around any particular customers' server operations, nor minimize the amount of downtime for a specific client; it is almost impossible to say when, precisely, we would handle a client's server during this operational window. FastServers will do its best to ensure that any downtime that occurs due to our mandatory maintenance shall have the least amount of impact on customers' hosting environments.

Customers who are interested in migrating to one of our other facilities, to ensure operations stay online for their hosting needs, should speak with a sales representative immediately to begin collectively working on a migration plan for their hosting needs. Our sales representatives will provide all of the necessary elements for customers wanting to upgrade/migrate to another facility to continue operations before this maintenance period is upon us. Please note that that if you choose to migrate to one of FastServers' other facilities, existing IP allocations will *not* be portable. This means that new IP addresses will need to be distributed to your solution within a new facility. Again, this is only for customers housed within our Fremont datacenter: by receiving this email, it's apparent that you have one or more servers housed within our Fremont hosting environment. In addition, customers running outdated operating systems, control panels, etc., will be *required* to upgrade to the latest releases supported by FastServers; co-location customers excluded, if a migration to an elsewhere facility is preferred.

If you have any additional questions about the migration, please contact a support representative who will forward your request to a FastServers.Net administrator for further clarification. If you are interested in migrating your solution prior to the outlined maintenance, please speak with a sales representative immediately.

Your cooperation is certainly appreciated!

Regards,
Terrance Bush
Chief Information Officer
FastServers.Net, Inc.
tlbush@fastservers.net

Our Chicago staff was not alone in ushering in a new season and staff members. We recently celebrated a brand-new office opening in Iowa after completing the move to 1205 Technology Parkway. Located in the Cedar Falls Industrial Park, the space designed and built around our needs is conveniently adjacent to our Midwest Data Center. Friday, employees, family, & friends relaxed Cinco de Mayo style to close out a busy a week that included settling into our new home.

Joining the party in Cedar Falls was new Server Support Engineer Josh Mattson. Former guitarist for a hardcore/metal band and avid World of Warcraft gamer, Josh’s other hobbies include staying atop the most current technologies. That commitment, along with his system administration, networking, and coding experience, makes Josh a perfect fit for his new role.

We also welcomed new Server Support Engineer Nick Shreders to our Chicago staff. The pinball guru & KC Royals fan recently relocated from Kansas City where he was involved with deploying new technologies for an independently owned and operated Video, Voice, and Data provider. In addition to his broad experience in IVR and ACD systems, Nick contributes a strong background in Unix Administration.

As always, we are fortunate to introduce such diversely experienced members to our technical group and are happy to have Josh and Nick on board!

A new feature has been added to pentagon.fastservers.net that allows you to enable "secondary logins" to your account. This login provides a limited access type account for support only based requests.

Prior to this update, pentagon.fastservers.net had only one option for user based accounts in which it provided a full access to all items within your account. This included billing related items, invoices, password changes, and server upgrades. If you are part of a larger organization or outsource you are the perfect candidate to use the Secondary Login feature. When enabled it will provide you with a "support" only based login and password that you can provide to employees, third party developers, or your favorite Outsourced IT company.

Enabling this feature requires you to submit a ticket to our Sales or Billing department with a request and the desired password. If this becomes a popular request it may be a feature we allow you to enable from your main account.

We hope you enjoy this feature and appreciate the user feedback we received in the past 30 days. It was through user based requests that this feature was brought to the front of the development line and escalated!

This week we welcomed Shon Georgie as the newest Server Support Engineer in the Chicago office. Shon joins us from Burbank, CA where he served as a Systems Administrator for Walt Disney Feature Animation. He most recently assisted with production on the movies Chicken Little & Meet the Robinsons - name in the credits and all! Shon has an extensive RedHat Linux Enterprise background and has been in the industry for nearly thirteen years. We’re excited to put Shon’s talent and experience to work for FastServers.

Also joining us in the Chicago office is Yolanda Perkins, Accounts Receivable Associate. In this newly created position, Yolanda will be assisting with account billing inquires, account audits, and general customer support. With over eight years of experience in the customer service and accounting fields, Yolanda is a welcome addition to our billing department!

In efforts to stay atop our [continually] hiring trend, http://www.fastserversemployment.com was released this week. Potential candidates can check out life in the fastservers.net offices and apply online for available positions. Perhaps the result of one VH1 Special or A.E. Biography on Billy Idol/Keith Richards/ Robert Plant too many, I think you can find a little rock star in everyone. Our employees are no exception to this rule, and we’re always looking for additional talented, committed, creative, and progressive individuals to join our staff.

On a side note: Attending HostingCon 2007 in Chicago and looking for places to visit in the city between sessions? Check out http://www.fastserversemployment.com/rock-on-chicago.php for links to museums, dining, and entertainment, along with a few of our staff favorites.

At FastServers.Net we are taking support services to an entirely new level. Introducing DEFCON 6, a new "top secret" support service available to customers at no additional charge. This new support service will help us ensure that your server is monitored to the fullest extent- saving you time, money, and server downtime.

DEFCON 6 is not a choice of support service you can "add on" to your existing server. It's not even advertised on the FastServers.Net website. Instead, it's a tool created for inventory purposes within our data centers. It's used internally to keep track of our customers that fail to notify our technical team of any server password or User ID changes.

Who qualifies?

If you are currently using DEFCON levels 1 through 4, you could automatically receive DEFCON 6. We monitor all servers that utilize DEFCON 1-4 support services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This means our technicians perform regular support procedures including operating system patches, reviews an overall health assessment, and recovery of failed services of your server. What does this do for your server? It keeps it running, allows you to sleep through the night, and know that FastServers.Net is keep closely watching your solution 24 hours a day!

How does it work?

When a service fails or updates need applied one of our Server Support Engineers logs into your server. In order for our Server Support Engineer to perform the necessary tasks they will need proper server authentication. If you have changed your server's root or administrator password without notifying them, and our Server Support Engineers are unable to login to your server, all monitoring and support services are stopped immediately. The end result is possible downtime of your server.

What happens to my server in DEFCON 6 mode?

With DEFCON 6, our technicians notify you immediately if they are unable to login to your server. Your server will not be monitored or maintained until you have taken the appropriate steps to reinstate your DEFCON 1-4 services. Below are a few reminders of what happens to your server if you are classified as a DEFCON 6 customer:

- All monitoring on your server is stopped immediately.

- All support for your server is billable at $100 an hour.

- All upgrades for software on your server are billable at $100 an hour.

Advantages of using DEFCON 6 (Sarcasm)

DEFCON 6 is free. There is nothing additional you have to pay in order to receive the service. However, since we immediately stop monitoring services on your server (assuming you have changed your password or User ID and our technicians are unable to login), any maintenance or tasks performed on your server will incur a $100 per hour fee. But with DEFCON 6, you can save hundreds of dollars in the long run by responding to our technicians.

DEFCON 1-4 customers are notified by our technical team as soon as access to the server is denied. You will also receive an email from the sales team with instructions on how to reinstate your DEFCON 1-4 services. The steps provided are shown below:

1. Login to https://pentagon.fastservers.net.
2. Click on "Server Manager" (near the bottom).
3. Click on the "Enter" button.
4. Click the link for the appropriate server.
5. Click the link "Notify Support of new root password."
6. In the textbox New access details, enter the new password.

Your server will return to its full monitoring status and our technicians will continue to provide maintenance on your server.

Preventing DEFCON 6

We understand that our DEFCON 1-4 services are very crucial to the health of your server, and consequently may affect your business negatively should monitoring be stopped. It is very possible that you may have forgotten to notify us of any password or User ID changes on your server. We encourage every customer to keep us constantly updated on any changes that take place.

To ensure this does not happen to you, make sure you read ALL e-mails sent from FastServers.Net. The bottom line - communicate with the FastServers.Net Support Team at all times.

Cedar Falls hit with an ice storm...our customers hit with a MailEnable exploit.

What a weekend a couple of weeks ago. Our Cedar Falls office was hit with a nasty ice storm (Chicago was about 2 degrees above getting the same thing). On top of that, a variant of a known MailEnable exploit was unleashed that weekend, swooping down like the freezing North wind over the cornfields.

Our DEFCON 3, 2, and 1 customers could rest easy, however. As soon as we were alerted to the exploit by one of our vendors, SWSoft, we went to work to process the latest hotfix from MailEnable and apply it to the managed servers. Consequently a very small percentage of our managed customers were affected (most likely hit before we were able to install the patch). Our unmanaged (DEFCON 4 and 5) customers, theirs was a different story.

Since these customers do not get the benefit of automatic updates to their OS’es and services, they were exposed to the exploit if they weren’t on top of the fixes. These customers found their servers spewing out SPAM and chewing up their bandwidth…or worse. The remedy was a reinstall of the OS and all the patches applied…all at additional support cost.

Every few days I respond to a customer about their DEFCON level, most of the time at the request of the tech department. Usually these customers are DEFCON 4 or 5 (self-managed or unmanaged). These levels require a certain level of expertise as well as a higher level of diligence when keeping the server updated. It’s a daunting task, especially with the constant march of technology, updates, (and yes) bad guy hackers. More than likely, it’s just a matter of time before bad things happen.

So a move to our managed services allows you to rest easy while listening to the wind howling outside, coating everything with that weird clear frosting. You’re nice and warm and your server is nice and secure with FastServers.Net staff working 24/7/365 to keep things up-to-date. Let us weather the issues.