With a goal of centralizing many of our standalone systems, FastServers.Net is developing a single point of communications that includes billing, online quotes, help desk interfacing, and general server information. Dubbed “Pentagon.FastServers.Net” you will be able to use your billing login and password to login to this central location by the time you read this newsletter.

Pentagon.FastServers.Net - will be the central location for billing, server support, inventory, upgrades, IP Address Requests, and an interface for updating your contact details. This is due to the latest upgrade in our
billing software which is allowing us to centralize all of our systems into a single entity. Overall a few changes have already started including a new look and feel for https://accounts.fastservers.net. Login and check it out.
One of the newest features is the inclusion of your server information which includes the ability to update your passwords, review your hardware information, DEFCON levels, and gain an overview of the servers
you have hosted with FastServers.Net. After logging in, click on “My Server”, “Server Extranet” and check it out.

Upcoming features will be added daily including the integration of our help desk, knowledgebase, IP Address requests, and hardware upgrades. It is our hopes that by providing you a centralized location, managing your services will become an increasingly painless process. I wanted to take this chance to cover a few important aspects of keeping your information up to date and what happens when we don’t have
proper information….

Server Passwords - It’s 2AM, your servers HTTP service fails, our techs are alerted via our monitoring system, they go to login to the server and don’t have an updated password. They try calling & emailing you with no
response, they try resetting the password to get into the box, and finally as a last resort they power cycle the server. If you are lucky the server comes back online with no issues, but the simple process that should
have taken 2 minutes ends up taking 20-30 minutes of time. Moral of this story: when you update your server password, immediately update our technical staff and let them know. If you are a DEFCON customer
and we don’t have access to your server, monitoring is removed from the server until we have an updated password.

Contact Information - Billing Address, E-Mail Address - Well… If you don’t have an updated address you probably are not reading this newsletter so I won’t preach too long on the subject, but keep in mind that if you move or your address changes to update this. The same goes for your e-mail address- it’s good to login at least once every 2 months and make sure things are up to date. This can be done via https://accounts.fastservers.net 24 hours a day, if you have problems logging in open a ticket at https://support.fastservers.net (which will all be consolidated within https://pentagon.fastservers.net) in the near future.)

Billing Username/Password - you can change both your username and password via our billing system- (https://accounts.fastservers.net) - and having this available to you is your key to getting support. Used as the primary authentication method for providing you support, this should be included with every support request you send in. We have probably mentioned this a dozen times in past newsletters, but it is important that you include this with your communication to the FastServers.Net staff.

Keeping your information up to date will reduce downtime, increase the quality of communication, and streamline processes we have developed to make your stay at FastServers.Net an enjoyable one. We are always looking for ways to communicate better with you and the upcoming changes that will centralize our various satellite systems will help by providing you a single login for all FastServers.Net related communications.

First, I’d like to give a shout out to the customers that endured the Midwest NOC migration this past weekend. Yes, we pushed the envelope and got quite close to the 12-hour “cataclysm” clause that I initially
floated out there. The entire FastServers squad would like to once again extend our sincere thanks for your patience as we completed the build out of the datacenter resources here. It’s one of those times where I can
confidently say, without flinching, that such an event will not be required for years… and likely decades. Frame this and mount it on your wall!

Now, let’s talk briefly about our common linux operating system flavors and the harsh reality over the horizon. FastServers’ network segments are home to a plethora of linux entities, many of which are actually sportingEnd-Of-Life (EOL) operating systems. Fortunately, despite the EOL rating by the original developer, organizations like FedoraLegacy (www.fedoralegacy.com) are continuing to produce software updates for *particular* RedHat versions, as well as Fedora Core 1, which recently went EOL. Will those updates last forever? Not on your life.

This poses an interesting issue for our customer base, and from our perspective it is going to be a lengthy, though certainly manageable, upgrade process. Many of the popular control panels available for Linux
systems are usually lagging behind as far as stable releases for usage on the latest ‘n greatest builds of popular operating systems - case in point, Fedora Core 2.

Here at FastServers, we’re considering a number of options, the frontrunner being the integration of CentOS (http://www.centos.org/) as a major player in our linux environment. CentOS is a superb solution for
us as it includes the sources & packages of RedHat Enterprise under the protective umbrella of the linux general public license (GPL). Basically, that provides our customer base the power and flexibility of RedHat’s
commercial OS without the support contracts and other unnecessary commitments. That’s good stuff!

Timetables on network-wide upgrades for particular operating system flavors are a bit fuzzy right now though we’re aiming to have RedHat 7.x & 8.0 finished off during the 1st Quarter, 2005, with RedHat 9 and
Fedora Core 1 handled during the 2nd Quarter of next year. Needless to say if you are anxious to speed the process along, we’ll be more than happy to work with you! That said, please rest assured that critical
updates for the abovementioned operating systems will continue to be produced through the first half of 2005, at the very least.

We will be in touch as this situation develops, and will pull the trigger sooner on migration processes, if necessary, to ensure network-wide security and stability. More specifics to come when we have them!

It’s that time again where we toss the Cubs from the playoffs, break out the parkas, and discuss security. Recently we have been receiving a flood of requests for firewall services from customers when ordering or
upgrading their dedicated server solutions. With this influx FastServers took a look at our overall services and concluded that one piece was missing from our overall service offerings: a cost effective firewall
solution.

At this time customers may select to have a dedicated Cisco PIX for their solution when they configure their new dedicated server. The problem that most customers have with this option are the costs and administration of the service: sometimes cumbersome for an entry level administrator. FastServers recognizes this and decided a more cost effective solution/service was needed to accompany a customers needs. To assist customers who need to have these services at a cost effective price point, we would like to announce the future implementation of our new Sonic Firewall Services.

This firewall service provides packet flood protection, elimination of unwanted traffic, access control lists for specialized services, and a wealth of other components to protect your dedicated solution. This solution is ideal for sites that rely on a secure transmission of data and customers who want to move their security solution to the next level. The projected release date of this service is slated for the 1st of November in our Midwestern datacenter, with Fremont (west coast network segment) coming online by the end of the year.
If you want more information on this service and how it can be beneficial to your existing or new dedicated server, please contact a sales associate for details. Until next month, stay warm during our cool fall
weather, get out and vote, and wish the Cardinals the best of luck on their run to the World Series.