What's New At A2 Archives - The A2 Posting https://www.a2hosting.com/blog The Official Blog for A2 Hosting Thu, 14 Jul 2022 04:31:12 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.8.1 Switching to cPanel’s Jupiter Theme https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/switching-to-cpanels-jupiter-theme/ Thu, 14 Jul 2022 13:00:03 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=13189 cPanel is a full-featured, web-based control panel that enables you to easily manage your hosting account. With cPanel, you can manage all aspects of your site, including e-mail accounts, files, …

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cPanel is a full-featured, web-based control panel that enables you to easily manage your hosting account. With cPanel, you can manage all aspects of your site, including e-mail accounts, files, backups, web site statistics, and much more. It is also one of the most widely used control panels, offered by many hosting companies as a part of their packages.

Themes provide the look-and-feel of the cPanel interface. The latest cPanel theme release is named Jupiter, and it replaces the Paper Lantern theme (which in turn replaced the x3 theme before it). If you have been using Paper Lantern for awhile, you may be considering a switch to Jupiter. Here’s what you need to know about cPanel’s latest theme.

Differences between cPanel Paper Lantern and Jupiter themes

Jupiter provides a completely new look-and-feel to the cPanel interface. But it also offers two new pages: Tools and Solutions.

If you have used cPanel before, the Tools page will be largely familiar to you. It is the default page, and groups features into familiar categories, such as Email, Domains, and Databases.  You’ll also see relevant information about your account at a glance in the right sidebar, including:

  • General information: Here you’ll find information such as your account’s IP address, home directory, username, and more.
  • Server information: Here you’ll find information specific to the server, such as software version numbers and path information.
  • Statistics: Here you’ll find various statistics relating to your account’s resource usage, such as disk, database, and domain usage.

The Solutions page, on the other hand, is totally new. It is intended for novice users of cPanel. It features tutorials on common tasks, such as how to set up an email account and build a website. There are also FAQs and links to documentation resources to help you easily find answers to your questions.

Switching from Paper Lantern to Jupiter theme in cPanel

You don’t have to wait to see what the new Jupiter theme looks like. You can easily switch your account to the Jupiter theme now to get a feel for the new interface. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your cPanel account.
  2. In the right sidebar, under GENERAL INFORMATION, locate the Theme list box.
  3. Select Jupiter. cPanel switches to the Jupiter theme automatically.
  4. If you want to switch back to the Paper Lantern theme, just select paper_lantern in the Theme list box.

Conclusion

cPanel has made it easy to switch to the Jupiter theme. With dedicated development and the promise of more features, the benefits of making the switch to Jupiter outweigh the costs of staying with the older Paper Lantern theme.

At A2 Hosting, we strive to provide our customers with the latest industry standards and updates. Our hosting accounts include the new Jupiter theme so you can enjoy the best that cPanel has to offer. Our dedicated Support team is standing by 24/7/365 to answer any questions you may have.

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What’s the Difference Between Reseller and Affiliate Programs? https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/whats-the-difference-between-reseller-and-affiiate-programs/ Tue, 21 Jun 2022 13:00:00 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=13095 Looking for an additional hustle these days? If you’ve been loitering around the internet then chances are you might have heard about reseller and affiliate programs. And there’s no doubt …

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Looking for an additional hustle these days? If you’ve been loitering around the internet then chances are you might have heard about reseller and affiliate programs. And there’s no doubt about it, when done right, you can make some serious cash on the side from these ventures.

While both concepts have the same goals and core elements, the execution or dynamics of the two are entirely different. As a reseller, you sell a product or service under your own brand name. As an affiliate, you send leads or business opportunities to another brand for a chance of earning a commission.

Why don’t we explore these concepts a bit further?

What is a Reseller?

A reseller, as the name implies, is someone who purchases products (usually in bulk) or offers services that are not originally theirs, with the intent of selling them to their own pool of customers.

In its most basic sense, you purchase the products or services at a lower price from the original business and sell them with markup to gain profit. While anyone can be a reseller of any products or services, building your network to gain significant profit through this method may take time and a lot of sales talk. Finding a great source of what you resell is also a huge advantage, especially if you’ve already developed a good working relationship.

Say you want to start a web hosting company, for example. You lay out all the plans and the things that you need to get a decent business off the ground. But then you realize that you’ll need a large amount of capital and a lot of other things to do so.

This is where reseller hosting makes sense.

In a reseller hosting plan, you get a chance to buy hosting in bulk. This not only gives you a  lot of hosting space that you can divide into your future clients’ needs. At the same time, you also gain access to a lot of different tools that would otherwise cost you much more to acquire on your own. As a startup, that is not ideal, and most especially for a side hustle.

Also, one huge advantage of being a reseller is that you can brand everything under your own business. That’s why a reseller program does not actually force you to do something entirely different, because the way of doing business is just about the same as with a traditional one.

Pros and Cons of Reselling

With a reselling business, your startup costs are relatively low, since you don’t have to invest in most of the things that you would otherwise need to get it off the ground. As a reseller, you don’t worry about things like manufacturing. All you need to think about is how to get a steady flow of customers and orders.

Reselling should also facilitate growth in your business. You can keep a consistent flow of products and services, as long as your source does not encounter any issues themselves.

A couple of disadvantages though when it comes to reselling is that you do not have total control over the products or services that you’re going to render, since you don’t do the leg work for a lot of aspects in the business flow. When it comes to quality, you are dependent on your source.

Also, there is a possibility of being unable to resell at a competitive price. So, expect to not have a staggering amount of profit upfront. Reselling might sound easy, but depending on the profit that you want to gain, you will need to put in a lot of work.

What is an Affiliate Program?

If reselling sounds like too much work for you, then you might want to try being an affiliate. While being a reseller allows you to run your own business, as an affiliate you are essentially working as a sales rep for the business you are affiliated with.

How do you become an affiliate? Join an affiliate network of the niche you’d like to be in. You will be given a unique link just for you with a tracking code to embed on your website, content, etc.

When someone clicks on your affiliate link and makes a purchase, you make a commission. Affiliate programs work because it generally puts all actors involved in a win-win situation.

This is a great way for businesses to get a steady flow of leads and sales and at the same time, allow smaller businesses to earn off of those sales. The most widely utilized affiliate program is that of Amazon.

Pros and Cons of an Affiliate Program

With an affiliate program, how you earn is quite clear and simple. Through this side hustle, you can earn passive income and it’s quite easy to get started. You will also not have a lot of responsibilities, so it’s less work than being a reseller.

But of course, being just an affiliate, you only earn on commission which, to be honest, can’t be a lot depending on the products or services you’re linking to. Sales here are also not guaranteed.

Which One is Best for You?

So where are you at in the reseller vs affiliate debate? I think by now it’s clear what suits you best:

If you want to start a traditional business, be in control of your profit, and are willing to put in the work, then become a reseller.

If you just need a side hustle or additional passive income, then become an affiliate.

A2 Hosting’s Reseller Hosting and Affiliate Programs

With A2 Hosting’s white-labeled reseller hosting solutions, your clients are guaranteed to have faster websites on our Turbo servers, enjoy better SEO rankings, very low bounce rates, and high conversion rates. You will also be backed by a 24/7 crew of technical support and servers that guarantee 99% uptime.

And yes, we also offer an affiliate program where you are guaranteed to earn a commission every time you send a customer our way. Now that’s what we call a win-win situation.

So do you want to earn some side income? Contact us today!

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Helping Ukraine https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/helping-ukraine/ Thu, 16 Jun 2022 09:02:05 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=13171 As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth month, we continue to witness the heartbreaking impact the war has had on the Ukrainian people. This war has truly showcased the …

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As the war in Ukraine enters its fourth month, we continue to witness the heartbreaking impact the war has had on the Ukrainian people. This war has truly showcased the resilience and courage of the Ukrainian people as a whole, but even more specifically our Ukrainian colleagues.

Together with our customers, we were able to run a donation collection campaign to benefit Ukrainians impacted by the war. By the end of the campaign, we matched the collected funds and donated a total of $5700 to DC Charity Foundation, a small volunteer-operated non-profit organization where many of our staff currently volunteer. These funds will help procure much needed humanitarian aid in Poland, after which volunteers will hand deliver this aid to those in need in Ukraine.

We stand with the people of Ukraine and their loved ones as they endure incredible adversity. We will continue to take action to support our colleagues and their families impacted by the war.

 

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What Is Free Migration in Hosting? https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/what-is-free-migration-in-hosting/ Thu, 02 Jun 2022 13:00:43 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12996 Migration, in the world of web hosting, is the process of transferring files, databases, and emails from one server to another. It’s a necessity for any business that wants to …

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Migration, in the world of web hosting, is the process of transferring files, databases, and emails from one server to another. It’s a necessity for any business that wants to move to a new host – or for any individual who is unhappy with their current provider. 

Fortunately though, there are plenty of hosts like A2 Hosting that offer free migration assistance. This guide takes you through everything you need to know about website migration – from picking the right host, to actually completing the move. So whether you’re planning your first website migration, or just want to be better prepared for when the time comes, read on!

What is free migration in web hosting?

Web hosting migration is the process of transferring your website from one host to another without negatively affecting search engine rankings or changing your website’s appearance or functionality. 

When migrating a website, you can either do a full migration or a partial migration. In a full migration, you migrate all of your website files, databases, and other content. In a partial migration, you migrate parts of your website (for example, just emails).

A migration does not affect the existing published site. The web host essentially copies your data over to the new server: the information is duplicated, not removed from your existing server. This creates a mirror version of your website. 

To make your site active on the new host, you update the domain’s name servers to point to the new web hosting server. The entire process can take only a few hours to a couple of days, depending on how complicated the migration is. 

Why would you want to migrate your website from one host to another?

There are many reasons you might want to migrate your website to another host, including:

  1. You need better performance. Sometimes web hosting providers don’t work out. Your site isn’t performing well and you’ve tested your code for errors, but at the end of the day, you know that the problem is your web host. In this case, you’ll want to consider moving to a host who can provide faster website speeds.
  2. You need better support. Have you ever had a time when you’ve called a company’s support team, only to be placed on hold for an hour or transferred multiple times without receiving a solution? We’ve all been there. Some providers have better support than others. At A2 Hosting, we provide 24/7/365 support on live chats, tickets, and phones. Not everyone does that. 
  3. You need a less expensive plan. In the web hosting world, it’s industry-standard to purchase a plan at a lower rate. But when the contract expires, the plan price increases. If you need a cheaper plan, switching hosts might be the way to go.

There are, of course, other reasons to move from one web host to another, but these are the most common. 

Whatever your reason, when you’re considering making the switch to a new web host, you definitely want to consider cost. Some web hosting providers charge a fee to migrate your website (typically it’s around $25). 

You’ll want to ask any prospective host how much the migration may cost. The best hosts, like A2 Hosting, can do it for free.

The web hosting migration process

At A2 Hosting, we offer free migrations for your entire website. The migrated content includes:

  • Website files
  • Emails (note that we do not guarantee the entire transfer of mailboxes, as it can be incredibly time-consuming)
  • Databases
  • cPanel settings for cPanel-based accounts.

A migration takes around 24-48 hours to complete, but the site is not down during the process. Your site stays live on your old server until you choose to point the domain name servers over to the new host. 

If you’re not sure how to migrate your site, here’s an inside look at the migration process:

  1. Purchase a web hosting package from our website. If you’re not sure which plan to buy, please consult our guide or contact our sales team here. 
  2. Log into the A2 Hosting customer portal.
  3. Click Support, and then click Migrations. The My Migrations Tickets page appears.
  4. Click Request a Migration.
  5. Provide the requested information. If you aren’t sure how to fill out some of the fields, you may need to contact your current hosting provider for this information.
  6. Agree to the Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy, and then click Continue to Step 2.
  7. In the Choose Service box, select the service to migrate your content. 
  8. Click Continue to Step 3.
  9. Provide the requested information, and then click Submit Migration Request.
  10. We notify you when the migration is complete. The entire process takes around 24-48 hours. 

Important: We highly recommend testing your website on our servers before changing your domain’s name server settings. To do this, you can use the shared URL for your account. The shared URL enables you to view the site without using the account’s domain name. For more information, please see this article.

Wrapping up

We know that moving your website to a different host can be daunting. A2 Hosting is committed to making the process as easy and painless for you as possible, so we have put together this guide on how to migrate your site with us in a few simple steps! Have questions? Contact one of our sales representatives today- they are standing by ready to answer any question or concern you may have about migrating your website to us. With over 20 years of experience in web hosting, our team knows what it takes to make sure all of your files are transferred successfully from one platform onto another with minimal service disruption. If there is anything else we can do for you while helping transition your website to our servers, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Related Articles:

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Standing By Ukraine https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/standing-by-ukraine/ Fri, 11 Mar 2022 21:39:13 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=13085 We are heartbroken by the violence and loss of life the Ukrainian people are enduring as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Effective immediately we are no longer accepting …

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We are heartbroken by the violence and loss of life the Ukrainian people are enduring as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Effective immediately we are no longer accepting new orders from the Russian Federation and Belarus.

We stand in full solidarity with the Ukrainian people and with all those affected. This tragic conflict is personal to us, as Ukraine is home to many of our team members.

We are actively supporting and focused on ensuring the safety of our Ukrainian team and their families. We have been in constant contact with them and doing all we can to offer support in many forms so that they can prioritize their safety and the safety of their loved ones.

For our Ukrainian customers, we are giving the option to request deferment of hosting charges for 90 days so that they can continue hosting their websites without worrying about payment and then review the situation

On the humanitarian crisis front, we are accelerating our aid by pledging to match donations up to $25k for the next 30 days and partnering with nonprofit relief organizations working to help people in Ukraine and those who are being displaced. We encourage you to join us in supporting displaced Ukrainian families.

We stand with Ukraine and call for the restoration of peace, respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and the protection of its people.

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A2 Hosting Supports Newest PHP Version 8.1 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/a2-hosting-supports-newest-php-version-8-1/ Mon, 24 Jan 2022 12:23:38 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12982 A2 Hosting is proud to announce that we are now supporting our customers on the latest version of PHP, Version 8.1. This means that you can take advantage of all …

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A2 Hosting is proud to announce that we are now supporting our customers on the latest version of PHP, Version 8.1. This means that you can take advantage of all the features and updates that this new release has to offer! One example is the addition of scalar-type hints for functions that will help improve security by preventing errors in your code. This is just one way we’re helping our clients stay ahead with their development needs.

This new PHP version has allowed popular frameworks like Symfony and WordPress to run on PHP 8.1, so you know that A2 Hosting’s servers will be able to support it! You can now take advantage of PHP 8.1 with your PHP applications hosted by us.

New Updates!

PHP 8.1 is the most recent release of PHP and features new updates, such as:

Scalar Type Hints

PHP will now receive better error messages when type hinting doesn’t match. This means that if you’re expecting a string and PHP receives an integer, PHP will throw a clear and concise error message to help you debug the issue easier. PHP will also not allow errors to occur when typing hinting at your PHP variables. This is just one of the ways PHP 8.1 helps you keep your PHP applications secure and bug-free!

Return Type Declarations

PHP 8.1 now supports return type declarations which means that PHP will be able to tell what kind of data you’re expecting back from a function. PHP 8.1 can not only help with security but also PHP performance as PHP will be able to execute the function and return the type of data you’ve requested without an extra step which speeds up PHP execution!

PHP 7 Compatibility

PHP 8.1 now has improved compatibility with PHP 7 so PHP developers don’t have to rewrite their PHP scripts for PHP 7. PHP 8.1 is backward compatible with PHP 7 so you don’t have to rewrite your code!

Contact Us Today

A2 Hosting is a leading provider of PHP hosting with a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a 24/7 support team to help you get the most out of PHP 8.1, today! Our expert Guru Crew team can help you with any questions or concerns about your PHP application, PHP 8.1 support, or migrating to PHP 8.1! We are available 24/7/365.

 

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New Managed WordPress Enhanced Security Features with A2 Hosting https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/enhanced-managed-wordpress-security-features/ Mon, 24 Jan 2022 10:51:52 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12973 WordPress is the same age as A2 Hosting, and with 18 years of experience and hard work, it has become one of the most popular CMS on the internet. That …

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WordPress is the same age as A2 Hosting, and with 18 years of experience and hard work, it has become one of the most popular CMS on the internet. That being said, with excellence still comes room for error. It is important to note that all CMS systems and websites do get hacked and need to constantly update and improve their security systems and features to avoid any cyber security threats that they will face. To aid in this task and combat any security issues we made sure that website security was a top priority in the launch of A2 Hosting’s new Managed WordPress plans.

Looking to learn more in-depth about the security included with all these plans? Below is an explanation of the different security tools and features included and how this can help you make sure your website is safe and secure.

The Importance of Security on Websites Using WordPress

When there’s a huge demand for a script or CMS, there’s a good chance that hackers and attackers will be keeping an eye on websites using it. At any one time, there could be hundreds or thousands of attacks happening on the internet. This makes WordPress websites a target.

As such, hackers will always be scanning WordPress websites for vulnerable areas. This means website owners who don’t properly prepare and secure their WordPress sites may be at risk. This is why you need to keep the security on your website in tip-top shape! Below are the features we offer at A2 Hosting on our Managed WordPress plans to help ensure your security success.

Managed WordPress Security Features

A2 Hosting’s new Managed WordPress plans now come with a selection of enhanced security features that have been designed to support our users such as HackScan Protection, Reinforced DDoS Protection, and KernelCare. We’re including a complete breakdown below of three of the main tools we will be including in the plans and the different security features they provide our users:

WordPress Toolkit

We include different levels of cPanel’s WordPress Toolkit on all of our WordPress plans. Below are some of the main security perks:

  • 1-Click Hardening: Used to scan existing and new sites for settings that may be potentially vulnerable.
  • Automatic Hardening: This can keep your site safe through the auto-application of the industry’s best practices in security.
  • Mass Hardening: Scans all your sites for vulnerable settings while securing every site with just a click.
  • Security Rollback: In rare cases, security updates may create compatibility issues on your website. This feature will allow you to quickly revert the changes made.
  • Mass Updates: This allows you to execute updates for all of your website’s WordPress themes, core, and plugins.

Jetpack Security

We will also be including the popular Jetpack Plugin. This plugin comes with a multitude of security features including:

  • Automated Spam Filtering: Protects your site by keeping spam content away.
  • Brute Force Attack Protection: Works to keep your website safe by blocking unsafe login attempts from distributed attacks and malicious botnets.
  • Free Daily Malware Scans (Included with our Fly & Sell Plans): This feature automatically checks your site for vulnerabilities such as malware. You’ll also receive immediate alerts if Jetpack finds problems to be addressed quickly.

A2 Optimized

All of our plans also come with our plugin, A2 Optimized. We’ve focused on various security measures with A2 Optimized, which include the following:

  • Deny Direct Access to Configuration Files and Comment Form: This allows you to protect your configuration files by creating a Forbidden error to bots and web users who try to access WP configuration files.
  • Lock Editing of Plugins and Themes from the WP Admin: This prevents exploits to use the built-in editing capabilities of the WP Admin.
  • Login URL Change: With this, you can hide your wp-login and wp-admin pages, blocking off hackers from entry through brute force attacks.
  • Regenerate wp-config salts: WP salts and security keys help to secure the site’s login process along with the cookies that WordPress implements to authenticate users.
  • ReCAPTCHA on Comments and Login: Used to increase site security while decreasing spam by adding a CAPTCHA to the login screen and comment forms.
  • Unused Themes & Inactive Plugin Notifications: Themes and plugins with security flaws can still have an impact on the site. Having these notifications can help you better manage other features on your site for improved security.

cPanel Security Features

There is also a wide range of improvements to cPanel’s Security. This includes:

  • Directory Privacy: Blocks users who want to open a folder that you’ve designated for protection. They will first need to enter a username and password for access.
  • Free SSL Certificate (Free RapidSSL On Sell plans): This allows you to secure pages on your website so that details such as credit card numbers, logins, and more are sent encrypted instead of plain text.
  • Hotlink Protection: Stops your images from being used on other sites.
  • Imunify360: A comprehensive security suite for real-time and proactive website protection. It provides an all-in-one security solution that features a Web Application Firewall, an Intrusion Prevention and Detection system, a Network Firewall, Patch Management, and Real-time Antivirus protection.
  • IP Blocker: Blocks a range of IP addresses to stop hackers from getting access to your site.
  • Leech Protection: Stops users from publicly posting or sharing passwords to restricted areas of your site.
  • ModSecurity: Provides real-time monitoring for incoming threats and blocks malicious connections before reaching your WordPress website and applications.
  • Patchman: This scans your account for any outdated WP malware scripts, vulnerabilities, and applications. It will then fix any vulnerabilities without doing damage to the site.
  • SSH: Provides more secure file transfers.
  • Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): If turned on, it will require the app on your smartphone to provide a unique security code that you must input apart from your password when trying to log into your account.
  • Virus Scanner: Configurable scan of your account to identify any security threats.

Need Help? Ask Our Guru Crew

If you need support or just have a few WordPress Hosting questions, you can count on our expert Sales team! Working 24/7/365, our friendly and knowledgeable staff are more than happy to address any concerns or issues. You may also reach them via email, phone, or live chat, so you can get the answers you need when you need them.

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A2 Hosting Launches Next-Generation Managed WordPress Hosting https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/a2-hosting-launches-next-generation-managed-wordpress-hosting/ Mon, 17 Jan 2022 15:21:36 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12950 Blazing-Fast, Managed Turbo Servers Increase WordPress Website Speed and Security   Ann Arbor, MI—January 17, 2022—A2 Hosting, a provider of high-speed web hosting solutions, announced the availability of its new and …

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Blazing-Fast, Managed Turbo Servers Increase WordPress Website Speed and Security  

Ann Arbor, MI—January 17, 2022—A2 Hosting, a provider of high-speed web hosting solutions, announced the availability of its new and improved portfolio of Managed WordPress plans. Modernizing its prior WordPress offerings, the new plans run on the company’s high-performing Turbo servers and introduce advanced features and tools—innovations that collectively increase website speed and security as well as ease of management for customers. The plans are available in four distinct packages to support various business requirements from single or multiple website deployments to basic corporate or eCommerce site configurations. 

“Last year, 70 percent of businesses chose to invest more in their digital presence. In parallel, over 60 percent of websites currently use WordPress as their content management system,” said Bryan Muthig, CEO, A2 Hosting. “We have a highly regarded track record of staying in step with our customers’ wants and needs which is why we released an extensive WordPress survey. The results guided us in creating our new Managed WordPress solutions that maximize, secure, and simplify the use of WordPress.” 

Run, Jump, Fly, Sell

As stated above, A2 Hosting’s WordPress experts developed the four different levels of WordPress plans based on feedback from current and prospective customers. All plans include cPanel’s WordPress Toolkit for easy site management. The tiers are defined as: 

  • Run: The first tier plan is for WordPress beginners and hobbyists to quickly and easily get sites up and running. Run best fits the needs of users who are beginning on WordPress and need a strong foundation optimized with security and features that can be built on.
  • Jump: The second tier plan is designed for professionals whose businesses need more resources and/or have up to five websites to host. Jump includes extras like Jetpack’s Daily Backup License and 250 GB of NVMe performance storage.
  • Fly: The third tier plan is designed for experienced web professionals and developers who host a number of sites for themselves and their customers. Fly provides users with unlimited websites, unlimited NVMe storage, and free daily malware scans with Jetpack’s Security Daily License. 
  • Sell: This tier is specifically crafted for eCommerce professionals, with WooCommerce pre-installed and optimized. Sell is also bundled with a premium RapidSSL certificate and a site seal to demonstrate enhanced security to customers. This plan is ideal for buying and selling using WordPress.

 

Advanced Plan Features and Benefits

The new Managed WordPress plans are supported 24/7/365 by A2 Hosting’s in-house Guru Crew. This team provides hands-on assistance with server and plan maintenance. The plans take a focused approach to help users increase their success rates with the popular CMS: 

  •  Security Enhancements

Also included is extensive security, including features like a web application firewall, real-time antivirus protection, a network firewall, and patch management that detect, fix, and protect these hosting plans. The Fly and Sell plans also include Jetpack Daily Secure that addresses specific WordPress vulnerabilities through malware scans, brute force protection, automated spam filtering, and more to remove the guesswork from deploying the most secure website possible today. 

  • Speed Optimization

The plans are hosted on A2 Hosting’s Turbo servers. The servers’ integrated NVMe storage, advanced LiteSpeed caching, and A2 Optimized plugin (which uses Memcached and TurboCache to accelerate website performance) to increase server speeds up to 20x faster than stock installation with 204% of standard disk performance.

  • Managed Server Benefits

All plans come with complete server management. This includes features like 24/7 server maintenance, security, resource upgrades, malware scanning, and more. 

  • WordPress-Specific Site Management Tools  

The plans also include newly introduced tools designed to aid and automate the speed and security of WordPress websites. The tools offer daily back-ups and malware scans, site speed scores, 1-click optimizations, optimized CSS, and other features. They are also bundled with cPanel’s Deluxe WordPress Toolkit, which helps users easily manage, update, back up, clone, stage, and secure WordPress websites.  

A2 Hosting’s New Managed WordPress plans are currently discounted, ranging in price from $11.99 to $41.99 per month.  

About A2 Hosting

Recently awarded Leader in Web Hosting for Summer 2021 by G2 and Best Cheap Dedicated Web Hosting by Digital.com, A2 Hosting, Inc. is a high-performance hosting services provider located in Ann Arbor, MI. The company delivers ultra-reliable solutions and 24/7/365 US-based support from its Guru Crew team. Since 2003, A2 Hosting has offered innovative, affordable, and developer-friendly hosting for small- and medium-sized businesses as well as web development agencies worldwide. Customers seeking the fastest hosting options in the industry can host websites of any size on A2’s Turbo Performance server platform featuring page load speeds up to 20X faster compared to competing solutions. To learn more, visit https://www.a2hosting.com.

 

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Press Contact:

Heather Ailara

211 Communications

+1.973.567.6040

heather@211comms.com

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Log4Shell: 0-day Exploit in Popular Apache Logging Package Log4j 2 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/log4shell-0-day-exploit-in-popular-apache-logging-package-log4j-2/ Fri, 17 Dec 2021 20:22:03 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12885 A2 Hosting is dedicated to the proactive security of your site and strives to stay on top of the latest threats to keep you informed. Apache Log4j 2 is a …

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A2 Hosting is dedicated to the proactive security of your site and strives to stay on top of the latest threats to keep you informed.

Apache Log4j 2 is a Java-based logging library developed by the Apache Foundation. It is used by numerous enterprise applications and cloud services to provide advanced logging capabilities. If you have a managed hosting account, you can rest assured that we take care of server configuration and updates for you. If you have an unmanaged server, now is a good time to review your security configuration and make sure updates are installed in a timely manner.

On November 24, 2021, Alibaba Cloud’s security team reported a Log4j 2 remote code execution vulnerability to Apache. The exploit takes advantage of some Log4j functions that perform recursive analysis. With specially constructed malicious requests, attackers can trigger remote code execution.

The vulnerability impacts default configurations of several Apache frameworks, including:

  • Apache Druid
  • Apache Flink
  • Apache Solr
  • Apache Struts2

 

On December 10, 2021, this vulnerability was officially designated in the NIST national vulnerability database as CVE-2021-44228 (also known as the “Log4Shell” vulnerability).

How the Vulnerability Impacts You

Depending on the type of hosting account you have with A2 Hosting, you may or may not need to take action:

Shared, Reseller, and Managed WordPress Accounts

If you have a shared, reseller, or Managed WordPress hosting account, you do not need to do anything. These servers automatically receive frequent updates that include patches for the Log4j 2 vulnerability.

cPanel published an update to mitigate CVE-2021-44228 the same day the vulnerability was announced. For more information, see cPanel’s blog entry.

Managed VPS and Dedicated Servers

If you have a Managed VPS or Managed Dedicated server, you most likely do not need to take any action – your server is updated automatically with patches for the Log4j 2 vulnerability. The only exception is if you have installed any software utilizing log4j outside of cPanel/WHM you should ensure those installations are updated. All software installed and managed by A2 has already been updated.

cPanel published an update to mitigate CVE-2021-44228 the same day the vulnerability was announced. For more information, see cPanel’s blog entry.

Unmanaged VPS and Dedicated Servers

If you have an unmanaged VPS or unmanaged Dedicated server, make sure you keep it up-to-date with the latest security patches.

If you use Log4j 2 it is very important to ensure you have updated to the most recent version.  The first patch included another vulnerability which required a second patch.

Java 8 (or later) users should upgrade to release 2.16.0.

Java 7 users should upgrade to release 2.12.2.

More information can be found at Apache.

For information about how to install updates on unmanaged servers, please see this Knowledge Base article.

The Bottom Line

HeartbleedShellshock… The Log4j vulnerability is only the latest in a long line of security bugs. It isn’t the first, and it surely won’t be the last.

If you have a managed hosting account, you can rest assured that we take care of server configuration and updates for you. If you have an unmanaged server, now is a good time to review your security configuration and make sure updates are installed in a timely manner.

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A2 Hosting’s 2021 Year in Review https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/a2-hostings-2021-year-in-review/ Fri, 17 Dec 2021 18:00:14 +0000 https://www.a2hosting.com/blog/?p=12873 As 2021 comes to a close and we begin to look towards 2022, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on this amazing year! Following the trend of 2020, …

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As 2021 comes to a close and we begin to look towards 2022, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on this amazing year! Following the trend of 2020, 2021 was a time of great change, adaptation, and growth. We are grateful as a company to have built a community of amazing teammates and customers to experience this with!  From chatting with as many customers as possible, navigating two major Google Core Vital updates, and all the cups of coffee in between, we are proud of what we all achieved together.

To end the year with a bang we are running one final Holiday Sale. Starting today through the beginning of next year we will be offering sitewide discounts on all of our plans! Feel free to check out our Year in Review infographic below and then click here to get access to our latest low prices. Let’s start the new year going faster together!

A2 Hosting End of Year Statistics

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