Support and System Administration
We provide PROACTIVE support. This means that we know about your server and your server problems when they occur. In most cases we do not need to wait for you to call if there is a problem. However, should you require assistance with any aspect of your server you have telephone, email and helpdesk access to Linux certified support technicians.

System Security
Hardened Linux Distribution
We only use a restricted Linux distribution, this means that only the applications required are installed. You still get all the normal functionality of a server, but without the unwanted and unneeded programs.
Default Security Policy
After consultation with the client, we will apply our default security policy. This security policy will provide perimeter defense against ’script kiddies’ looking for an easy way into your server.
cPanel 11
The latest Cpanel offers greatly enhanced security through a combination of strengthened backend code, and many new utilities which allow you to provide fine grained security policies for your server. These numerous enhancements make it extremely easy to keep your servers locked down tight.
Dedicated Hardware or Software firewalls.

Proactive Server Monitoring
We have developed a flexible, and yet critical, monitoring service that enables us to support them in achieving their online objectives and meeting their customers’ needs. This service provides real time Linux server reporting to our Technical Services Team, whilst our own Management Servers also use this information to build up a rich historical profile of server performance

Every minute your server will report the following metrics to our Network Operations Centre:
Checksum of /usr/sbin/sshd - This check is performed to ensure the SSH daemon has not been overwritten by a malicious process which would be able to gather usernames and passwords. In most circumstances, hosting providers would remove your server from its network and reformat the server. If the checksum changes an alert is sent. Immediate investigation should be undertaken if this alert is received.

Free disk space on /home - Free disk space on “/home” is important as it is the normal place to store your web pages. An alert is issued at 95% capacity. This provides an opportunity to login to the server and investigate before becoming critical.

Free disk space on /var - Free disk space on “/var” is critical to system integrity as it stores log files and generally MySQL. Should the var partition of the server become full the server will not be able to log system events and be unable to store database data. An alert is issued at 95% capacity. This provides an opportunity to login to the server and investigate before becoming critical.

Free disk space on / - Free disk space on “/” (root) is critical to system integrity. Should the root partition of the server become full the server will become unstable and in extreme circumstances destroy the file system completely. An alert is issued at 95% capacity. This provides an opportunity to login to the server and investigate before becoming critical.

Free memory - The amount of free memory on your server will have a direct impact on the website performance. Little or no free memory may cause the server to “swap” memory to disk, therefore taking valuable processing time away from your website.

Server and Service Availability
Server and service availability monitors the critical services on your server. The primary services for websites are Web and Database. However, email and FTP can also be critical normal operations.
If any of these services become unavailable an alert is issued. Unavailability is triggered by a local failure. If the network that the server is connected to is down then the “ping to server” is respond.

There are two methods of patching - automatic or manual
We will only patch servers manually as this ensures the most effective and protective outcome for our clients.
Manual patching is performed as and when required, allowing us to control what is installed and updated. In addition it means we are aware of your configuration changes and take that into account when patching is performed. As manual patching is performed by a skilled and qualified Linux technician, it is done during the day. This allows us to monitor the patching closely and have all resources on hand should a problem occur.