Internet Servers Direct

A time server is computer hardware that performs the function of obtaining accurate time from a timing reference and transfers this time to network infrastructure and other clients. There are many time servers that reside on the Internet and serve accurate time. However, many organisations have their own independent time servers located on their local network, or intranet.

A time server utilises an external hardware clock to obtain precise timing information. There are a number of hardware clocks that a time server may utilise to obtain accurate time. One of the most common external hardware clock references is the Global Positioning System, or GPS. GPS satellites provide highly accurate timing and positioning information. The timing component of GPS transmissions is accurate to within a couple of hundred nanoseconds of the correct time. There is also a number of National time and frequency radio broadcasts available. The WWVB signal is transmitted from Colorado and is available throughout the USA. The DCF-77 radio time signal is broadcast from Frankfurt, Germany, and is available throughout much of Central and Western Europe. While, the MSF-60 radio time signal is transmitted from Anthorn in Cumbria, UK, and can be received throughout much of North-Western Europe. A time server may also be configured to get time from other time servers in a hierachical structure of time servers.

A time server may be an existing file server that also provides timing information in addition to it’s primary function as a file server. Alternatively, it may be a dedicated device whose only function is to provide time to client computers on the network. Many dedicated time server systems incorporate precision hardware time references that help maintain accurate time in the event of failure of external time signals. A dedicated time server often contains a temperature or oven controller crystal oscillator or enen a rubidium oscillator to maintain accurate time. A Rubidium crystal may typically lose only a few milliseconds per year.

There are a number of computer network protocols that have been developed for computer time dissemination. Many computer timing protocols have become obsolete to be replaced by a single standard. The most common protocol used for time transfer between computers is NTP - the Network Time Protocol. The Network Time Protocol is one of the oldest protocols still in use today. It was developed over 25 years ago as a means of transfering accurate time around the internet. The protocol basically defines a set of algorithms and specifies data-structures for the transfer of time between computers. NTP operates in a hierarchical manner, with a level 1, or stratum 1, time server sitting at the top of the tree and filtering time information to lower stratum time servers. The lower the stratum of the time server, the further away it is from the reference server and hence less accurate.

A proxy server protects your privacy by being the ‘middleman’ between you and a real server. When you visit a website, it intercepts your requests to determine if it can manage your requests by itself. If it can’t take care of your request, the proxy server will send the request to the real server. Thus, it provides you with indirect access to real servers.

Since real servers can’t directly access your information (e.g. browser type, location, IP address, internet service provider), this information can be prevented from being discovered by the real server.

Proxy servers are used to avoid recognizing information from the requests of the user. These are called anonymous proxy servers. Nowadays, numerous anonymous proxy servers are already available on the Internet. You can find lots of free services.

With proxy servers, it is not only your IP address that is being protected. Making your computer and yourself more anonymous through the use of proxy servers is possible.

For instance, linking proxy servers can provide you and the real server with a higher degree of “separation”. This makes it more difficult for would-be attackers to track you down. Also, if you encrypt data right at the outset, you can have an advanced degree of protection.

Once data is received and before it is forwarded, a proxy server can effectively encrypt data. However, a proxy server that is receiving unencrypted data will make the data open to harm. Usually, free anonymous servers do not encrypt data. You may need to pay a little amount to avail this kind of service and this may be very well worth it for you.

If you want to utilize an anonymous proxy server, see to it that the one you will use is well known for the quality of its service (preferably with posted privacy policies).

It is very important to keep in mind that proxy servers can’t guard you from someone who can access the computer you are using (e.g. those who nose around you). In this case, you should ensure that you take the necessary steps to safeguard your data by clearing and deleting cache, search history, and cookies from your toolbars and browser.

SearchInform Technologies releases a new version of SearchInform Internet Server – its Internet search product, featuring an enhanced technology of search through a given website, as well as through a large list of resources.

In the new version of SearchInform Internet Server the procedure of downloading domains from the Internet has been enhanced. Now you can set the program to not only block downloading certain links from each domain, but also to update only the links you consider relevant. This way you can download only those sections of the website that you are interested in, without wasting time on downloading patently irrelevant information.

Also, you can now browse the list of downloaded links and regulate the displayed link range. This considerably decreases the time spent on reviewing the list.

SearchInform Internet Server now offers three different modes of storing information into the database. The downloaded data can either be compressed or saved into the database without compressing, the time index updates take will depend on the selected mode. There’s also another mode in-between these two: saving the data in the same format it was downloaded. In this mode the program reaches the best balance between the size of your database and the time it takes to update an index.

SearchInform Internet Server organizes vertical (topical) search through a preset list of resources. The program boasts its exceptionally high reaction speed to web site updates (reindexing takes place at a time interval set by the user) as well as a higher relevance and precision of results compared to most global search engines (as search is conducted only through a previously selected list of relevant to the user resources). These features enable you to quickly get just the information you need.

What is a proxy server?

A Proxy (proxy server) is a server that acts as mediator between the client (the computer of a user) and server (the computer on the other ends of network connection on which the information requested by the user appears for example web server site.) When clients request data from an Internet resource, traffic goes from your web browser/application first through the proxy before it reachs the requested sources and back through the proxy. Then the proxy will transmit the data (information) to you.

Why I need to use a proxy server?

1. Transfer speed improvement. If the file you requested was received before to your proxy server, then proxy server will interrupt this file request and you will receive the file directly from proxy. However need to know, you can got the “speed down” effect. This effect appears when your proxy has long answer time because there is slow connection between you and your proxy server.
2. Security and privacy. Anonymous proxies destroys information about your computer in the requests header. So you can safely surf the net and your information will never be used by hackers and spammers.
3. Sometimes you encounter some problems while accessing to web server (for example, web-chat). You have mistaken while working with some data and / or the server administrator restricted access from your IP. So you can use the anonymous proxy and try to access again.

How can I get fresh proxy server information?

Every proxy server is inclusive of an IP address and a proxy port that is listed next to the address. You can search “free proxy list” on google to get newest proxy servers. Here is a daily updated proxy list I recommend: http://www.aplusproxy.com/proxylist/index.php

How to configure IE 7.0 to use a proxy server?

1. Open Internet Explorer 7.0.
2. Click on the Tools icon from the upper right of the browser and select Internet Options from the menu.
3. Select the Connections tab and click the button for LAN Settings.
4. Click the radio button for Proxy Server. Type the IP number of the proxy In the Address box, and add the port number of the proxy in the Port box.
5. Click the OK button, then OK again.
6. After setting a proxy server, you need to check if that proxy is working. Type www.google.com in your IE7 address bar and see if google index page is loaded for you.

Hosting is the process of getting a website on the Internet. In order to get a website on the internet on all the time, individuals put up their own websites with the help of an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

As far as hosting is concerned, you will find a lot companies who are offering web hosting services at different packages. If you want to get your website hosted with a company that can provide dedicated server hosting service then you need to pay some extra money for this. Dedicated hosting is preferable for large organizations or clients who not only need professional assistance for their needs, but also are willing pay more money. Obviously, the dedicated hosting is much more expensive than the ordinary hosting, but the advantages may outweigh the expenses.

Dedicated hosting companies often provide customized hosting services and remove all hassles of worrying about hardware issues and troubleshooting. If you expect to have lot of traffic to your website, then it is recommended that dedicated server hosting is essential for your website. Dedicated server hosting involves leasing an entire server offering choices of software, scripting languages and the appropriate hardware needed for the website.

If you think your website needs dedicated server hosting then you have to take care of some points before selecting a web hosting company. You need to know about the services what is offered by the company in terms of required software as well as hardware. The most essential things to consider are uptime servers, power backup, type of operating systems (OS) and the control panel. The control panel is used to access control of the website. The uptime server is the time or duration of the time for which the site is running through the server.

If you are looking for a web hosting company that can offers dedicated server hosting service then I can assure you that Olive Web Hosting is the best option for you.

One of the keys to a successful online business is the web server. In order for a customer to see the products – or to see the page at all, for that matter – the server has to take the request for the web page and upload it from the disk where the file is. Therefore, if you don’t have the right server, nobody is ever going to see your page.

One type of server is the Virtual Private Server. At its root, it’s divided into several servers, which lets you remain as free as if it were strictly a single server, but you share some expenses with other hosts. Basically, it’s safe and economical if you own a large business, as it allows you to have 50 websites per account. The only thing that stands in the way of some people from choosing a Virtual Private Server is that you need to know how to work the program to choose the settings. Manuals are provided that can help you learn to control the server, but it takes some work. However, it’s a smart choice for a big business at just over 100 dollars a month for an account.

Another type of server is Virtual Hosting. This is more popular than the Virtual Private Server, as it only costs 20-50 dollars a month and requires no technical skills. It’s a single server shared among numerous users, making it controlled by an administrator rather than you. It’s simple and inexpensive, but whenever you want to update your settings, you have to contact the administrator. If the administrator doesn’t listen, you can’t do anything about it. However, this isn’t usually a problem. With Virtual Hosting, you can only have one website per account; therefore, if you want more than one website, you must have more than one account. However, if you only want a couple of websites and you lack computer experience, Virtual Hosting is a safe, economical choice.

There is also web server software to consider. Some web servers don’t give you an option, but if you do have options, you must know which software is best for your business.

The most popular type of web server software is Apache. It’s constantly updated for user’s benefit, and it’s the most economical choice because it’s free. However, it isn’t backed like Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS). IIS only works with NT-based server systems, since NT is Microsoft. However, if you’re concerned about safety, it has crash protection.

Of course, there are many other options besides the ones mentioned in this article. These are just examples to get you started and help you understand which types of server and software are best for you. Ultimately, you don’t want to worry about the cost or safety of your server when you should be thinking about your webpage, so choose your server carefully to get ready for success.

Precision and time synchronisation is highly important for modern computer networks, without synchronisation many time sensitive transactions would be impossible to carry out.

The internal clock in computers does keep time and date information but these Real Time Chips are not designed to keep perfect time as computers are mass produced and optimized for low cost rather than being perfect clocks.

Of course for a lot of applications this can be more than adequate but for time-sensitive transactions such as online purchasing not having a network that is synchronised can cause errors in transactions and can even leave the network vulnerable to fraud.

Fortunately Windows Server from 2000 onwards has a time synchronisation utility built in call windows time (w32time.exe) this can be configured to allow the machine to be used as time server.

Windows time uses a form of NTP (Network Time Protocol) which was developed over 20 years ago. It uses an algorithm to synchronise time on a network. NTP (version 4) can maintain time over the public Internet to within 10 milliseconds (1/100th of a second) and can perform even better over LANs with accuracies of 200 microseconds (1/5000th of a second) under ideal conditions.

NTP uses a single time reference and synchronises all machines on the network to that time. It can be configured to both synchronise a network using the internal clock or an external time source.

Note: Microsoft strongly recommends that you configure a time server with a hardware source rather than from the internet where there is no authentication.

To configure the Windows Time service to use an external time source, click Start, Run and type regedit then click OK.

Locate the subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParameters

Right-click Type then Modify, in edit Value type NTP in the Value data box then OK.

Right click ReliableTimeSource, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 0, then click OK.

Right-click NtpServer in the right pane then click Modify.

In Edit Value, type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique.

Now click Ok.

To set the poll intervals locate:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParameters

In the right pane, right-click Period, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 24 then OK

Exit Registry Editor

Click Start, then Run then type the following and press Enter:

Net stop w32time && net start w32time

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained

To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpServer

In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now go back and click on

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersNtpServer

In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique and you must append 0×1 to the end of each DNS name otherwise changes will not take effect.

Now click Ok.

Locate and click the following

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpClientSpecialPollInterval

In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.

To configure the time correction settings, locate:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Timeconfig

In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.

Now go back and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Timeconfig

In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify.

In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)

Exit Registry Editor

Now to restart windows time service, click Start, Run (or alternatively use the command prompt facility) and type:

net stop w32time && net start w32time

And on each computer, other than the time server, type:

W32tm/ -s and the time server should be up and running

Time synchronisation in modern computer networks is essential, all computers need to know the time as many applications, from sending an email to storing information are reliant on the PC knowing when the event took place.

Microsoft Windows XP has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server.

Windows XP can easily set the system clock to use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the World’s time standard) by accessing an Internet source (either: time.windows.com or time.nist.gov). To achieve this, a user merely has to double click the clock on their desktop and adjust the settings in the Internet Time tab.

It must be noted however, that Microsoft and other operating system manufacturers strongly advise that external timing references should be used as Internet sources can’t be authenticated.

NTP (Network Time Protocol) is a protocol already installed on Windows XP and is used by Windows Time to keep machines synchronised to the single time source. Specialist NTP servers are available that can receive a reliable time source via the GPS signal or specialist radio transmissions that get their time from atomic clocks.

If you wish to configure Windows XP to operate as a time server then first thing is to locate the Windows Time subkey. To do this, run Regedit (Click start/run/then type REGEDIT/and click enter.)

Note: editing your system registry can cause problems with your system. It is advisable to back up your system before editing the registry.

Now locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Timeparameters
Right click the right-hand side and click Modify. In the Edit Value box, under Value Data, type NTP and then click OK.

Now go to the Config folder and right-click AnnounceFlags, Modify and in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 5, and then click OK.

Locate this subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpClient
Right-click in the right-side window and Modify. Edit the DWORD value box and type the number of seconds you want for each poll under Value data, i.e.: 900 will equal 15 minutes. The poll field represents the polling interval between NTP poll packets.

To allow Windows XP to operate as a network time server, the NTP service needs to be switched on. To activate NTP simply find the following subkey in the registry editor (regedit):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpServer
Right click enabled (in the right-hand window) then Modify. Edit the DWORD Value and type 1. Right-click NtpServer, then Modify and in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type Peers, then click OK.

Exit the registry and start windows time service by clicking Start/Run and typing:
net stop w32time && net start w32time.; Then on each computer on the network (other than the domain controller which can’t be synchronised with itself) type: W32tm/resync/rediscover.

Time synchronisation in modern computer networks is essential, all computers need to know the time as many applications, from sending an email to storing information are reliant on the PC knowing when the event took place.

Microsoft Windows Server from 2000 onwards has a time synchronisation utility built into the operating system called Windows Time (w32time.exe) which can be configured to operate as a network time server.

Windows 2003 Server can easily set the system clock to use UTC (Coordinated Universal Time, the World’s time standard) by accessing an Internet source (either: time.windows.com or time.nist.gov). To achieve this, a user merely has to double click the clock on their desktop and adjust the settings in the Internet Time tab.

It must be noted however, that Microsoft and other operating system manufacturers strongly advise that external timing references should be used as Internet sources can’t be authenticated.

To configure the Windows Time service to use an external time source, click Start, Run and type regedit then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersType
In the right pane, right-click Type then click Modify, in edit Value type NTP in the Value data box then click OK.

Locate the following subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeConfigAnnounceFlags.

In the right pane, right-click AnnounceFlags and click Modify. The ‘AnnounceFlags’ registry entry indicates whether the server is a trusted time reference, 5 indicates a trusted source so in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type 5, then click OK.

Network Time Protocol (NTP) is an Internet protocol used for the transfer of accurate time, providing time information along so that a precise time can be obtained
To enable the Network Time Protocol; NTPserver, locate and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpServer
In the right pane, right-click Enabled, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWord Value box, type 1 under Value data, then click OK.

Now go back and click on
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeParametersNtpServer

In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type In the right pane, right-click NtpServer, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value under Value Data type the Domain Name System (DNS), each DNS must be unique and you must append 0×1 to the end of each DNS name otherwise changes will not take effect.

Now click Ok.

Locate and click the following
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32TimeTimeProvidersNtpClientSpecialPollInterval
In the right pane, right-click SpecialPollInterval, then click Modify.

In the Edit DWORD Value box, under Value Data, type the number of seconds you want for each poll, ie 900 will poll every 15 minutes, then click OK.
To configure the time correction settings, locate:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Timeconfig

In the right pane, right-click MaxPosPhaseCorrection, then Modify, in the Edit DWORD Value box, under Base, click Decimal, under Value Data, type a time in seconds such as 3600 (an hour) then click OK.
Now go back and click:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesW32Timeconfig
In the right pane, right-click MaxNegPhaseCorrection, then Modify.

In the Edit DWORD box under base, click Decimal, under value data type the time in seconds you want to poll such as 3600 (polls in one hour)
Exit Registry Editor

Now, to restart windows time service, click Start, Run (or alternatively use the command prompt facility) and type:

net stop w32time && net start w32time
And that’s it your time server should be now up and running

Although very little credit is given to cheap host solutions when it comes to the internet boom, the truth is that without affordable host solutions there was no way so many websites could have been hosted online. The price of host has been on a steady decline and new technologies like VPS (virtual private servers) have made hardware sharing an affordable reality. To better understand how VPS has impacted web host one must first understand what a virtual private server is.
A virtual private server is a method of partitioning a physical server computer into multiple servers; each virtual server has the appearance and capabilities of running as a dedicated machine. In addition, a virtual private server can have multiple instances of different operating systems running at the same time. A virtual private server boots up like any normal web server, the server then executes a virtualization software that allows a single server to host multiple virtual machines. The servers administrator decides exactly what resources are available to each virtual machine. Contrary to popular belief, a virtual private server is in no way inferior to a dedicated server and is far more cost effective.
A webmaster is usually assigned a super-user account on the virtual private server, and a webmaster can choose to install any software he wants. Unlike a dedicated server, there are very little restrictions on the type of software a webmaster can install, and everything from firewalls to anti-virus programs can be installed on a virtual private server. Although, virtual private servers with multiple operating systems are becoming popular, a virtual private server with multiple instances of the same operating system is believed to perform better.
A super-user also has access to various features like root SSH and memory management. As mentioned earlier in the article, the virtual private servers administrator has the rights to decide how much RAM is allocated to each virtual server thus ensuring that each virtual server is allocated enough space and memory and is not deprived of system resources.
Advantages of virtual private servers
Cost effective
The biggest advantage of virtual private serves is that they are cost effective. Compared to a dedicated server, a virtual private server is nearly 75% cheaper and can offer the same features as a dedicated server.
Greater flexibility
A webmaster can choose exactly how many hardware resources he wants allocated to his website. In addition, a webmaster can reboot the web server as and when he wants without having to worry about downtime for other websites. Virtual servers can be rebooted individually, and do not affect other servers that are running on the same virtual private server.
Expandable
Depending on a webmasters requirements, a virtual server can be assigned greater system resources and space. For example, an e-commerce site might require more server space as its business grows. A virtual private servers administrator can assign additional server space and system resources to a website in real time with very little or no downtime.
Unmanaged virtual private servers
A virtual private server need not be managed by the servers administrator alone. A webmaster can also be granted super-user access to the virtual server and can manage the server himself. Webmasters that require access to the root SSH (Secure Shell) can choose to manage their virtual server themselves. In addition, webmasters that want to install specialized software can also manage their virtual server themselves. However, a webmaster acting as the administrator of his own virtual server does not receive support for pre-installed software nor receive any pre-installed software updates. In addition, a webmaster is responsible for monitoring the server himself and any software problems are the webmasters responsibility and only hardware issues are managed by the service provider. In a nutshell, unmanaged virtual private servers are ideal for webmasters with technical know how.