Q2 2022 — Latest developments for PlanetHoster customers
Since technological evolution is the mother of the ability to adapt, we at PlanetHoster are aware that it is crucial to satisfy our customers, whose needs are constantly changing. As we are listening to them, we encourage them to enter their ideas via the link https://features.planethoster.com (French interface available only).
At the end of the day, our ability to satisfy our customers rests on one major pillar: the competence of our staff. We are always looking for talent to join our team. So, do not hesitate to make yourself known by sending us your resume. Our featured positions are posted on this page: https://www.planethoster.com/en/Carrieres.
In the following, we will provide an overview of the most recent developments in our suite of tools.
A Brief Look Into the Past…To Better Understand the Future
Initially, we decided to create a modern and robust web hosting platform based on open source software. A hybrid concept with our unique features, in parallel to cPanel, was the result.
Then the sale of cPanel to a venture capital firm changed the game; it was the catalyst for the birth of the N0C hosting platform and its control panel.
Since then, N0C has continued to grow. In addition, we are continually redesigning the customer area. For example, the screens accessible through MY SERVICES and MY SUPPORT lead to much more ergonomic interfaces with a more unified appearance.
New Hosting Management Section
Under MY SERVICES, we have added the Hosting Management icon:
By clicking on this icon, you can access this interface:
Our customers who host domains at PlanetHoster can view and search their accounts by filters, create accounts and manage the resources allocated to each of their shared hosting accounts. They can also delete, suspend or reactivate a hosting account at PlanetHoster.
Automation of the Migration to Our New Platform
The migration process from cPanel to N0C is mostly automated.
In this regard, we invite you to read the paragraph “Quelle différence par rapport à cPanel” (What’s the difference compared to cPanel) in the blog “Nouveautés 2021 – Bienvenue à la plateforme d’hébergement N0C” (What’s new in 2021 – Welcome to the N0C hosting platform). Please note this blog is available in French only.
We plan to make the tool eventually self-service, so that customers can switch through the platform in a simple way.
It will also be possible to migrate accounts from a The World offer (shared) to a dedicated N0C solution (HybridCloud).
Redesign of the N0C Panel
The N0C panel (or MG panel), accessible at https://mg.n0c.com/, has been completely redesigned to make it more user-friendly.
Here is this new dashboard:
Search Module in the N0C Panel
What could be more tedious than having to navigate through the many screens of N0C or dig through the documentation when you want to perform a specific function? We are aware that our customers’ time is precious. With this in mind, we have implemented a powerful search module.
In the upper left corner of N0C, you can see the Search field. Clicking on this field brings up an interface where the field What are you looking for? allows you to enter any word and thus launch the search module. The module highlights hyperlinks to screens and also to articles in the knowledge base containing the same words.
SSL Wildcard on N0C
When N0C users want to set up a custom SSL certificate, they need to provide the information for generating the certificate signature (CSR).
It is no longer necessary for our customers to choose in advance the level of certification, including the SSL wildcard, and the desired period of validity that best suits their needs, as this is set by default at PlanetHoster.
Reorganization of the Statistics Charts
The statistics available in N0C have all been improved, both in content and in form.
Now, in the case of performance statistics, graphs offer precise data related to bandwidth, memory usage, CPU usage and the number of insufficient memory errors. The article Performance statistics in N0C provides details about this.
In addition, graphics related to visitor statistics have been improved. Thanks to the status codes, these statistics are useful for diagnosing web pages that have caused problems. The article Visitor statistics in N0C is worth reading on this subject.
Finally, disk usage statistics allow you to better monitor the use of disk space in a hosting by specific folder. Details are provided in the Disk usage statistics in N0C article.
Our clients will appreciate the user-friendliness of these statistics. Here is an example from the performance statistics:
Added WAF Security Rules Management in the N0C Panel
A premium web application firewall (WAF) is now integrated into The World and will gradually be integrated into HybridCloud as well. This is a technological asset that the competition of PlanetHoster may not be able to offer. This solution, created in partnership with the founders of mod-security (Atomicorp), protects against bruteforces cms, hacking attempts, etc.
With N0C, it is possible to see the real-time history of blocked attacks as well as to activate or deactivate the desired rules.
It should be noted in passing that some vulnerabilities that are detected on particular CMS are protected even before the CMS editor launches the security update.
HybridCloud on N0C
At the moment, N0C is only available on The World web hosting platform. N0C will be available during the spring of 2022 for HybridCloud dedicated servers.
Redesign of the API Documentation
The API of PlanetHoster allows you to perform actions related to domain management and web hosting.
It is designed for large corporations, such as web agencies, resellers and internet service providers, so that they can quickly deploy and resell the services efficiently. As N0C is a white label platform, they can automate the creation of accounts for their customers. They are also able to program each tool according to the particularities of each account.
The API documentation, available at https://apidoc.planethoster.com/en/, has been completely redone:
Adding New Features to the API
The features under the NOC HOSTING category are completely new:
Redesign of the PlanetHoster Knowledge Base
Our customers and consultants or technical collaborators need to be able to efficiently refer to written documents allowing them to understand the use of our products or various important concepts. Therefore, we have made a special effort to redesign the knowledge base of PlanetHoster.
As N0C is a white label, its knowledge base at https://kb.n0c.com/en is independent of The World’s knowledge base; the latter is accessible at https://kb.planethoster.com/en/.
Furthermore, aware that our readers may sometimes have difficulty understanding lesser-known technical concepts, we have created two glossaries of terms frequently used in the world of the Web and computing in general, namely one for The World (https://kb.planethoster.com/en/guide/glossary/) and another for N0C (https://kb.n0c.com/en/glossary/). The words in these glossaries are automatically highlighted with tooltips in our articles, so that readers can quickly find the definitions. This approach also streamlines the content of the articles and prevents unnecessary repetition.
While maintaining our philosophy of breaking down articles, we are now systematically standardizing their presentation to make them easier to read and understand. We have also set up a configuration management mechanism to keep them up to date as our tools and interfaces evolve, which was not done before.
Addition of a New Zone in Switzerland
We are pleased to announce the deployment of a new premium infrastructure (TierIV datacenter) in the French speaking canton of Vaud, Switzerland, in Lausanne.
The infrastructure is based on next-generation AMD Epyc CPUs, 100G network, high-frequency RAM and high-performance SSD storage, not to mention a DOS protection system with proprietary technologies, both physical and software infrastructure, 100% redundant and secure. This new approach to mass storage allows us to better serve our customers.
Thus, our customers whose domains are hosted in Europe will be in Paris as well as in Lausanne. Lausanne ensures optimal connectivity to the French, Swiss and other European states. Take advantage of the infrastructure in Lausanne by creating a new World account from your customer area!
The new PlanetHoster cloud zones are equipped with N0C platform advances.
For security and technology protection reasons, we cannot disclose more information.
The Protection of Our Customers’ Private Information is a Serious Business!
We are ready to take any means to protect our customers’ private information. We have an eloquent anecdote about this, which perfectly illustrates the integrity of PlanetHoster.
One of our clients once hosted a former site belonging to his own client, which had been accused of plagiarism of a design by a company. The site in question was no longer accessible as of December 30, 2021, but the plaintiff kept pestering PlanetHoster for our client’s private contact information. PlanetHoster’s frontline support flatly refused each time, as a judge’s order is required in such a case. After several months of working on the case, a legal saga did indeed ensue, after which the court ruled in favor of PlanetHoster.
The judge concluded that the company (plaintiff) did not show how this drawing bore the imprint of its author’s personality, and therefore it was not eligible for copyright protection. The judge added that it was appropriate to reject the claims made by the plaintiff. The plaintiff has been ordered to pay the costs and to pay to PlanetHoster 2,500 euros under Article 700 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Swiss Laws for Data Protection
The advantages of Swiss data protection laws deserve some attention.
It should be noted that any operation involving personal data is subject to the Federal Data Protection Act (DPA). The data is processed for the purpose for which it was collected and destroyed after processing. The accuracy of the data and its security must be guaranteed. Finally, the person must have been informed of the purpose of the data processing affecting him or her, must have given his or her consent and must have the right to access the data.
The reader wishing to deepen the subject can refer to the following site (the article is in French only): https://libguides.graduateinstitute.ch/c.php?g=652466&p=4675641.
Canadian Data Protection Laws
Canadian laws do not include the Patriot Act. They also protect data very well.
Our Canadian cloud zone offers many strategic advantages. In addition, it will offer great performance, as it will soon be equipped with very powerful processors.
Version 2 (V2) VPN
PlanetHoster VPN will be upgraded to Version 2 very soon.
Future CDN
While our customers generally do not require a content delivery network (CDN), each site is different.
So, if your site receives DDoS (brute force) attacks quite often or if it has a high traffic but you want to stay on a shared site, among other things, you must use cloudflare.
To make your life easier in cases like these, we are about to set up a permanent CDN.
Possibility to Group Different Items on the Same Invoice
Not so long ago, PlanetHoster used to send one invoice per order or, if you prefer, per product. For some customers, the resulting accounting could cause serious headaches, since the dates did not coincide in time and overlapped.
Now a customer can request that all invoices be combined on one invoice, so that the next invoice date for different products is the same. Simply raise a ticket from the Commercial / Billing department by clicking on this link: https://my.planethoster.com/v2/my-support/new-ticket.
Backups in N0C
N0C allows you to restore your files or databases as they were on any given day if, by misfortune, you lose them.
In fact, backups are made automatically every day using PlanetHoster’s proprietary technologies in different data centers. Since the backups are encrypted and daily, our customers do not have to worry about them or the consequences of physical destruction of a data center.
Just choose the day of the restoration and restore the files or MySQL databases available on that day:
This does not preclude customers from following good backup practices, i.e., having multiple types of backups, such as making a habit of backing up to their own physical computers and taking archives on unattached hard drives. The reder may refer to the following article, available in French only: Bonnes pratiques pour les sauvegardes.
Even the PlanetHoster Logo is Green…
Did you know that every time you use the Internet, whether it is with your computer or your smartphone, you are polluting the planet more?
Indeed, servers are powered by electricity and are kept in huge air-conditioned rooms. The more they are solicited by Internet users, the more electricity the servers consume. As some countries still produce electricity with nuclear or coal-fired power plants, the servers installed there are detrimental to the quality of the environment.
It is well known that Quebec produces green electricity (hydro-electric). Therefore, if your website is hosted on one of PlanetHoster’s servers located in Laval, near Montreal, you are helping to preserve our planet! Moreover, one of the priorities of PlanetHoster is to use 100% renewable energy for the data centers located in France and Switzerland.
Our servers are selected based on their energy efficiency, performance and consumption. Also, virtual hosting solutions and plans are designed with the aim of greatly reducing electricity consumption, as a virtual server consumes less energy.