Announcements
June 24, 2011
Switching to Cloud Computing
To all customers,
We recognize that our customers are not "tech" people. So we will explain things as best we can in simple terms.
On June 22nd at approximately 1am PST we experienced a system wide outage due to hardware failure.
We have had a great uptime record so far. In the last 6 years we have had a combined total of approx 27 minutes of downtime. That is an outstanding record. Better than Yahoo, better than Google, better than MSN, better than any other large company. The reason why is because we do not run large and complex systems and networks. The more large and complex something is the more points of failure are introduced. However, things will be changing in the near future.
Recently big changes are being made in computing and network technology. Specifically "Cloud Computing". Cloud Computing is just a buzzword. It basically means a large group of computer systems that work together like one big brain. If you want to use part of the large brain then you can basically pay for what you use... like an electric utility bill. This concept is nothing new. The concept goes back to when computers first began being used. But with recent advances in technology this concept can be used efficiently on a very large scale. This means companies like IBM, AT&T, Microsoft and others can build and sell "Cloud Computing" services. Now, instead of a business having to buy and maintain various computer systems (like web servers, email servers, database servers, etc...) the business can simply utilize the Cloud Computing service. Businesses can have any number of "virtual servers" that "live" in the Cloud. This helps businesses save big on hardware costs. It also makes data backup and recovery much easier because IBM, ATT, Microsoft, etc.. will be responsible for the data backup and recovery. It also means that if there is hardware failure it will have little to no effect on the uptime. However, Cloud Computing runs on very large and complex systems and networks. Outages are bound to happen. But we are confident that when they do the service provider (IBM, ATT, etc..) will be working hard to get things back up as soon as possible. In light of this shift in computing and network technology we are looking into utilizing Cloud Services to run all our systems. Should we decide to go that route you will not notice a difference if we cutover to a Cloud Computing service. There will not be anything required to do on your end. Think of us as your building maintenance crew. We maintain your building (website). If we switch power companies from Pacific Gas and Electric to Edison Power, you will not notice anything. To you and to us power is power. It does not matter who provides it. So long as the lights stay on and the building stays maintained and the power bill does not go up. We will keep you updated on the Cloud Computing service as we get closer to a decision.
April 7, 2008
Gmail Problems Spammers have been able to crack into Gmail and use it to send large amounts of spam/junk email. As a result, Gmail/Google is now throttling and in some cases blocking email sent from a gmail account to a valid recipient. Google says that "Gmail delivery delays are to be expected." Article here.
http://tech.slashdot.org/tech/08/04/07/2022238.shtml
July 2007
Billing Changes: In efforts to streamline the billing process customers are being moved to a credit card auto-billing system.
January 2007
Remember to update your records: Welcome to a new year. Customers are encouraged to update their contact information if it has changed. This includes office phone numbers, cellular phone numbers, email addresses, mailing addresses and full name of primary contact. Help us keep our records up-to-date so we can continue to provide professional service.
December 2006
Routine maintenance: We will conduct routine maintenance on our web and email systems during the last week of December. We do not anticipate any interruptions in service.
