I have been asked to explain the inner-workings of how our DEFCON managed services interact with the functions of the Abuse Desk. In this message, I hope to impart upon you how certain situations are handled when the Abuse Desk becomes involved with the managed services provided by our Technical Support Staff.

Recently, we have become aware of a number of situations with Linux servers, where scripts have been uploaded via compromised PHP code and/or particular installed sub-modules, and allowed to execute in the /tmp and /dev/shm directories. These scripts cause harmful repercussions to both internal and external networks, including port scans, port flooding, brute force password attacks, or one of many other malicious scenarios (i.e. SPAMMING) that are against our authorized usage policy. These executable scripts are the product of vulnerable PHP scripts, which can be easily repaired. If you, or one of your customers is running a PHP forum, bulletin board, calendar, photo gallery, or any other code that is outdated or vulnerable, you may be open to such compromise.

The PHP installed modules, such as the forums, photo galleries, et al, can be uploaded by your customer via FTP or similar mediums, or through your control panel of choice, and subsequently installed to their public (HTTP) account space. These modules are considered end-user content and 3rd party scripting facilities, which we do not monitor. Keeping track of the content that the customer is uploading to the server is the duty of the server owner and administrator, and FastServers, as stated in our Official Policies, will not be held responsible for any vulnerable code your customers upload to your dedicated server. This applies to all levels of DEFCON service.

But we can offer sound advice! If you find a process running on the server, or executable file within /tmp or /dev/shm that looks like it could cause problems, please let us know by opening a new ticket, and we will help you to determine the next step in having your server audited and updated, or give you some additional direction in tracking down the issue yourself.

While being informative on this subject, I will now also let you know what happens when we see massive bursts of bandwidth on our internal bandwidth monitoring, and find these scripts being run from your server. The first time we find these scripts being executed from your server, we will send you an informative warning. If you are using SPAM blocking/filtering software, such as SpamAssassin, please whitelist the “fastservers.net” domain name. Responses to these emails are of extreme importance in making us aware that you are taking steps to rectify the problem. If you fail to respond to the email from us, and the issue happens again, we will disable your server via Ethernet, so it is absolutely critical that you keep your Pentagon profile updated with an email address that you check on a daily basis. Having the server re-enabled at this point will require you to discuss the situation with our Systems Administrators, as we must take a strong stance against a lack of response to our warnings and malaise in lieu of the critical nature of these AUP violations.

Communication on BOTH our parts is VITAL in keeping situations such as this from developing. Please note that the above information is geared to help, not hinder, but we must do everything in our power to maintain a secure network. This sometimes requires us to take steps, such as the ones described in the paragraph above, in order to keep an optimized, responsible networking model.

On another note, our AUP has had some changes made to it, as there have been technology advances in the file exchange protocols and the way that our policies have been shaped around this. Please check out our new and improved AUP here: http://www.fastservers.net/about-contact/company-policies.html.

As always, if you have any questions about our policies as described above, please let us know via abuse@fastservers.net, or if you have a technical question, we recommend logging into Pentagon and submitting a new ticket to our Technical Support Staff. Thanks for your time, it is much appreciated.

Another year at FastServers.Net has come and gone and 2005 was definitely an outstanding year for us. Not only did we achieve a high rate of growth we also established many new relationships throughout the world. As 2006 gets started, the management team at FastServers.Net remains focused on enhancing services, reliability, and especially, the quality of everyday support.

If you have not had the opportunity to visithttp://forums.fastservers.net/ you should really check it out! The News and Announcements section contains late breaking information directly from Chief Technical Officer (Travis Schaffner) on a regular basis. You can even subscribe to particular threads and receive new posts in your inbox. Additionally, if you have not had a chance to login to https://pentagon.fastservers.net in the past few months there are a couple of new mailing lists available within for distribution of important connectvity-related announcements, depending on the datacenter you’re hosted at with FastServers.

FastServers.Net has been working directly with a highly-respected data protection company, and by the time you read this article, the provisioning of new backup hardware & related software will be well underway. This new solution will provide an enterprise-level managed backup environment in a very cost effective manner. Teamed with one of the largest and most respected backup service providers, FastServers.Net will provide a “total package”, thoroughly covering backup & recovery processes inside of this new service offering. I promise a series of articles on this new solution once its available.

The FastServers.Net network is getting bigger and better. In the upcoming months FastServers.Net will be expanding the current Midwest Network operations center to increase capacity and redundancy across the board. Our team is working night and day to make this a reality. At the time of writing, direct fiber optics have been establish, routing equipment is in place, and we are nearing the final stages of preparation which include testing and failover assurance. As mentioned above, please don’t hesitate to check out our online forums for more precise technical details on these exciting developments!

The two great enhancements that are part of this newsletter include a major upgrade to our “shared firewall” services and a new network segment dedicated to enterpriselevel customers. Our first release of the “firewall service” was released almost 18 months ago and utilized a pair of SonicWall 4020 firewalls. Throughout the process this solution did well, but as our team of engineers and expertise began to expand so did the need to standardize and upgrade our technology. In November of 2005, the SonicWalls were replaced with CISCO Pix 515e(s). The transition of customers from the SonicWall to the shared PIX environment went through without a hitch. Our team of network engineers performed a perfect migration which resulted in essentially zero downtime for every hosting environment utilizing this service.

Throughout 2006, FastServers.Net will remained focused on improving technologies and related offerings, while continuing our commitment to provide you, our existing customers, the highest level of support and services in the industry. With improvements to existing environments, combined with the overall service advancements we have planned, ‘06 is slated to be another outstanding year!

During the month of October, we had a great opportunity to host a customer of a customer during a full scale audit of our practices and data center security. The experience taught us a lot and I thought I would share with some of the results with you here. The company performing the audit was concerned with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) compliance, a well-known compliance and audit procedure performed in the health care industry. HIPAA compliance covers four major components which include a code set for practices that cover electronic transactions, security, unique identifiers, and privacy.

FastServers.Net received a phone call from one of our customers asking us to facilitate an onsite visit and I was given the honor of meeting/greeting and conducting the onsite audit with this organization. The process is something we are familiar with, but it was the first onsite visit of this nature that we have handled in quite a while. The day started out with a question and answer period about best practices on server security, network security, and overall operational procedures. We discussed DEFCON Management Levels, Operating System Support, Security Integration, Firewall Configurations, User Groups/Policies and much more. I provided them with a full firewall configuration dump, a security scan of the server in question, and a detailed description of what the DEFCON Management Service covers. The end result of this information opened up discussions on how FastServers.Net will enhance the current service offerings and tailor this solution to meet the HIPAA standards required by our client.

The second phase of the audit included a full data center tour which covered the security, access procedures, environment analysis, and overall configuration parameters of the data center. As we met the Data Center Group we were escorted to the central OPS center, asked to provide a valid form of identification and then issued official visitor badges. The Data Center group then laid down the ground rules before we entered the Data Center Floor space which included staying within the “red lines” (tour boundaries) and not touching any piece of equipment.

(1) The first stop on the tour started at what we call the “mantrap” which is the entry room to the data center. This room features key card entry scanners with a 2nd hand scanner. When you get authorized to enter the data center you are issued a unique access card and your handprint and bone density in your hand is entered into the (2) system for exceedingly thorough security verification. The “mantrap” room displays a wall that shows the 18” of cement that surrounds the underground data center which is waterproof and reinforced with rebar for added protection.

As the tour continued we entered the data center core and went through the overall security camera layouts, fire suppression system, power systems, rack layouts, cooling, and overall design concepts of the data center. Designed from the ground up, the data center employs a N+1 philosophy which includes redundant modules of all major systems with a backup system on constant stand-by. (3 - 6)

Interesting Facts about the Data Center:

40+ Security Cameras are used and monitored 24/hours a day. Video is stored digitally on a server and maintained for up to 30 days.

Fire Suppression Systems utilize VESDA system and FM 200 based gas which means in the event of a fire water will not be used, rather non-toxic flame gas to extinguish the flames.

(7 - 12) Being located in the Midwest (Iowa) provides an overall reduced risk for the operations of your business. A primary mission statement of this facility is the existence of an ideal hosting location that will allow your business to continue running without threats disrupting the environment.

The Data Center Tour and Audit provided me with a deeper understand on the due diligence and related thought processes that larger organizations go through when choosing partners and our facility itself passed the audit with an ‘excellent’ score. While we await the final report, I have been told that no changes in the Data Center are needed to meet their HIPAA compliance and that this datacenter registers as an “impressive and outstanding facility”.

For further information on the Midwest Data Center visit: http://www.fastservers.net/products-services/colocation-data-center.html

There comes a time in every business relationship when you must part with some of your hard-earned money. A time when we must say: “We held up our end of the bargain, now its time to pay up.” Sadly, but truly.

It’s called “Invoicing Time”, and for most people it is the least enjoyable part of running a business because no one likes to part with their money. If everything was free my job would certainly be easier, but paying invoices is a necessary evil that all businesses must deal with. The last thing anyone wants to do is make invoice paying any more complicated then it has to be.

So we have a few helpful suggestions to keep in mind. These tips will at least help keep your invoice paying processes as painless as possible.

#1) KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT INFORMATION UP TO DATE

If you take advantage of the ability to keep a credit card on file for your account, make sure the billing information is current. An expired or cancelled credit card creates unnecessary delays and additional steps in the payment process.

Even more importantly - make sure your contact information is up to date. Verify there is a valid phone number and email address on file for your account. This way we can reach you if there is a billing issue that you are not aware of. By allowing us the ability to contact you we can avoid unnecessary service deactivations.

#2) KNOW YOUR DUE DATE

Unless you request a change, your invoices will always be due on the same date every pay period. By simply knowing when your next invoice is due, and by actively preparing for it, you can avoid difficulties in the payment process.

I am sure that you are aware of the 5-day “grace period” that is allowed for payment of an invoice. Try not to rely on it all the time. It is there as a buffer zone in case you have trouble getting a payment to us by the due date. If you constantly rely on the grace period you run a higher risk of service deactivation. If you try to pay a bill on the due date and there is an unforeseen complication, you have some more time to get the issue resolved. If you don’t try to pay until the end of the grace period and there is an issue, you haven’t given yourself any time to work it out before the grace period is over.

This brings us to…

#3) KEEP THE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN or “WHY ARE YOU IGNORING US?!”

Before we deactivate a service of any type we try to reach you multiple times by email and by phone (see tip # 1). We also send out emails when we find we have a bad piece of information on your account, or if there is some change or update to the billing aspect of your account, or if a credit card is expiring. Pay attention to these notices because they are all critically important. We will NOT waste your time by sending out junk emails that have zero bearing to your account and attached services.

We understand that sometimes there are unforeseen circumstances that can affect timely payment. Talk to us about it. We like to help you if we can. We send out notices and make phone calls as reminders and warnings, not to be annoying. We want to make sure you know what is happening or what could potentially happen with your account. If we can’t reach you or don’t hear from you and your payment goes past due, we have to deactivate the service(s) in question. And believe me, we do NOT enjoy deactivating services.

#4) KNOW YOUR OPTIONS

While it is very convenient (and recommended) to have a credit card listed on your account that automatically gets charged when an invoice is due, it is not the only payment method we accept. We also accept PayPal, Western Union, wire transfers, checks, money orders, and our newest payment method – Moneybookers.com: which is like PayPal but is specifically tailored for international transactions. If you are having trouble with one payment method, maybe another will work for you. Just because you use a different payment method one month doesn’t mean you need to use it every month.

And if you didn’t know, in addition to a monthly payment schedule, we allow you to pay on a quarterly, bi-annual, or annual basis. By paying quarterly, bi-annually, or annually you have fewer invoices to worry about and may even be eligible for discounts on your server fees. Contact our Sales Department at sales@fastservers.net for more information.

If you made it to this point, thanks for taking the time to read this article. I hope you were able to extract some viable information out of it. We value our customers and strive to provide the best customer service around. If you have suggestions for us, please do let us know, as we are constantly working to provide you better service.

In the ever-changing world of bigger, better, and faster, Intel has once again outdone itself. Intel recently announced its Intel® Pentium® processor :: Dual Core Edition, featuring an Intel dual-core processor, which can provide immediate advantages for people looking to buy servers that boost multitasking computing power while improving the throughput of multithreaded applications. An Intel dual-core processor consists of two completely separate execution cores in one physical processor, both running at the same frequency. That said, both cores share the same packaging and the same interface within the chipset/memory. Overall, an Intel dual-core processor offers a way of delivering more capabilities while balancing power requirements and drastically improving the performance of your server. These enhancements will introduce a new era of server performance and flexibility, providing businesses like yours with platforms that can better handle complex, simultaneous transactions and escalating workloads.

So what does all of this mean? In short this system will behave as a dual processor web server, though at the cost of a single processor machine. More bang for your buck one might say. Through our testing we found the dual-core machine to be significantly faster then standard P4 3.0GHz machine, and it allowed us to run several programs simultaneously with out having a large impact on the CPU load. We are very excited to put these new machines in production and feel confident you will be very impressed by the overall performance of this new technology.

The dual-core processor will become part of out standard offerings with in the next 30-45 days and will be featured in our Velocity PX server fleet. Our current Velocity PX server, which is a Dell PowerEdge 750 P4 3.0Ghz machine, will be retired as we rollout the new state-of-the-art Dell PowerEdge 850 server featuring a Dual-Core Intel® Pentium® D Processor 830 at 3.0GHz/2X1MB Cache, 800MHz FSB. The best part about this is we’ll be offering this new technology at the same price as our current Velocity PX price. As a foot note, we will also be dropping the Dell PowerEdge 750 Celeron 2.4Ghz machine and replacing it with the new Dell PowerEdge 850 machine with a Celeron-D 2.53Ghz processor, again without any price increase.

With the added performance boost and bleeding edge technology, we have renewed our overall commitment to the Dell PowerEdge servers which bring a new level of reliability, performance, and proven technology to our family of products.

If you have any questions about dual-core processors or about any of our new server offerings please feel free to contact me as I am always happy to help. Until next time have a great fall season and more importantly… GO BEARS!