Pleth, LLC Joins SWDN

PLETH, LLC is pleased to announce that they have joined the SWsoft Developer Network (SWDN). The SWDN is a resource and community center behind SWsoft’s OPEN FUSION Initiative. SWSOFT manufactures PLESK Control Panel Software that is currently used by PLETH, LLC hosting clients. The SWDN was created specifically for hosting service providers. SWDN provides API documentation and SDK’s needed for in-house customizations and integration with SWsoft software.

Some of the many benefits of SWDN:

• Development Licenses: for all SWsoft products.


• Software Developer Kits (SDKs) including API specs, & tech manuals.


• Product Betas: early access to products before the general public.
  
• Forums and Support: to interact and share information with SWsoft engineers

The PLETH, LLC Management Team met with Representatives from SWSOFT, Inc. this year during HostingCon 2006 in Las Vegas.

Launch: Team Caliber Project

Pleth, LLC an Arkansas Based technology firm announced last week that they were preparing to launch a new e-commerce enabled project for Team Caliber, Inc. of Charlotte, North Carolina, a Division of Roush Racing.

“The new project is just getting underway,” said Cotton Rohrscheib, Chief Developer and Partner. “They have put a ton of thought into providing their wholesale customers with this tool and we want to work with them in any way to bring it to fruition.”

The new project consists of various levels of authentication and security built on top of Pleth’s already award-winning e-commerce solution. Only registered and approved wholesale customers are allowed to login and view the 2006 product line. Orders are placed online and transmitted to Team Caliber by email and their staff takes it from there.

“We have taken a lot of things into consideration in putting this product together, basically rebuilding our existing e-commerce solution and making it do things that it normally wouldn’t; changing outputs and the way it displays products and handles orders, right down to the way it generates pick tickets and packing slips,” said Greg Smart, Project Manager for Pleth, LLC.

Team Caliber is the one of the top manufacturers of die-cast cars, fan memorabilia, and clothing for NASCAR.

What is Web Hosting?

I recently ran across an article at The Whir that did a good job of explaining the basic principles of webhosting.Web hosting is a service that allows users to post Web pages to the Internet.

A Web host, or hosting service provider (HSP), is a business that provides the technologies and services needed for Web sites to be viewed on the Web.

Web hosting is a primary service that consumers can utilize after obtaining either dial-up or broadband access to the Internet. It allows users to disseminate their own information resources to any Internet user that is interested in accessing them. Web hosting utilizes the server/client model to distribute content. A Web hosting provider will offer its clients access to a Web server that will push that client’s content to recipients on request. Recipients use clients, or Web browsers, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator to request content from the Web over their own Internet connection.

Web sites are hosted, or stored, on a special computer called a server. The server, or host computer, allows Internet users connected anywhere to reach your site when they put in your domain address, for example: www.yourcompany.com.

The host computers are set up so that when someone types in your domain name (your Web address), the address will follow a route from computer to computer until it reaches your host computer and your web site. Then the Internet user will be able to browse through your Web site. Hosting companies usually require that you own your own domain name in order to host with them. If you don’t have a domain name, most hosting companies will help you purchase one.

To have a Web site on the Internet you first need to have a Web server. Unfortunately, owning and operating a Web server can be very costly and requires technical expertise that most businesses do not possess. This is where “Web hosts” come in. Web hosts provide the equipment and other technical resources that are required to provide a consumer with their own customized Web site. Hosting companies charge a rental fee for the service of storing your Web site and allowing Web site visitor traffic flow to through their computers to get to the information on your site.

Web hosting services are more advantageous because they are outsourced, meaning that the physical location of the Web server does not reside at the consumer’s premises. Outsourcing your Web presence effectively transfers the responsibility for maintaining your Web site infrastructure from yourself to an organization that is more competent to do so.

Many individuals and small businesses take advantage of Web hosts in order to free themselves from pre-occupying their scarce human and financial resources on Web host issues. Individuals and companies who outsource their Web presence do so in order to achieve the following objectives: reduce and control operating costs; improve their own company focus; gain access to in-depth expertise; free internal resources for core competencies; and obtain access to world-class capabilities to control IT functions which are difficult to manage.

The best Web hosting services will provide relatively seamless access to IT functions that will allow you to self-publish your Web site. It is important to note that “Web hosting” strictly refers to providing the consumer with the capacity to upload content to a server for immediate transmission for those that request it. Web hosting does not include the authoring of a Web site or the development of database-driven components or code. It is incumbent upon the consumer of Web hosting services to develop this material or have it developed on his or her behalf.

Web hosting is offered to the consumer in multiple formats based upon the user’s requirements. These requirements are incumbent upon cost and infrastructure provided.

Web hosting can be obtained free of cost from content portal sites such as Yahoo! GeoCities. Such content sites invite individual users to establish Web sites on their domain in order to create a critical mass of core content on their online property. The user does not pay for service because it is subsidized by banner advertising. Because such sites do not charge, they offer limited service depth and quality of service. For example, free services will not provide customized hosting services where domain names are personalized (i.e., www.yourdomain.com).

The “paid” class of Web hosting services however does provide such services. Paid services are normally offered by Internet service providers (ISPs) or by hosting service providers (HSPs). Paid services provide a reliable set of offerings that ensure domain name personalization, service depth and high levels of quality of service. The paid class of Web hosting includes shared, dedicated and managed services. Shared is the most basic level of hosting. With shared hosting, numerous Web sites are shared on one server. While an economic solution, they typically cannot handle large amounts of storage or traffic.

If a consumer’s needs are more sophisticated, then they might opt for either dedicated or managed services.

Dedicated hosting allots a Web site its own server. This is more flexible than shared hosting, as webmasters typically have full control over the back end of the server, including choice of OS.
Managed hosting, on the other hand is a dedicated server that is accompanied by a full suite of technical support, maintenance and monitoring services. This differs from dedicated Web hosting, where customers are provided with their own servers but are still responsible for virtually all administrative and maintenance duties.

PCI Compliance & Credit Card Acceptance

I guess that Credit Card Fraud, Chargebacks, etc. finally is getting the best of Credit Card Companies… We learned while we were out in Vegas that PCI compliance would soon become a requirement from any online vendor that is accepting credit cards online by both MasterCard and Visa. I have to say that I am not surprised and sort of glad to see it. It will help to weed through the fly-by-nights that are out there…

What does PCI compliance do? Well, basically it is peace of mind to a shopper that their information is not going to be compromised. Keep in mind that within the last 6 months, the federal government and a branch of the armed forces have both had their information compromised and sensitive information about members of the military and the government were leaked to the general public. In a nutshell, if an online business is a fly-by-night business and do not have their website installed properly on a secure server w/ ssl, pci compliance, etc. they are putting their customers information at risk from being hacked.

At PLETH we have always strived to have the best intrusion detection methods in place at all times for our clients. In fact, we have some big-time clients that will do some heavy sales numbers this year. In our efforts we have learned that you just can’t be on top of everything at all times but you really need to be! With this in mind, we have contracted out with the top Security Auditing Firm in the United States, ScanAlert.

ScanAlert’s signature Hacker-Safe Certification can be found on over 55% of the top 400 e-Commerce websites in the world! We are bringing them to our clients and sparing no expense in doing so. In fact, with our new partnership arrangement that was formed at our meeting in Las Vegas, it is expected that our clients will receive a larger discount than firms that work directly with ScanAlert!

Pleth will soon be launching a co-branded website with ScanAlert that promotes the Hacker Safe Certification program that will ensure that websites meet the criteria for the following:

• HIPAA Compliance
• PCI Compliance

Both of these certifications will be in the news a lot in the very near future…

ScanAlert’s services monitors a websites vulnerabilities 24hrs a day, 7 days a week and watches for vulnerabilities, port scanning, and network fingerprinting services that are patent pending.
HackerSafe certification is currently being sought out by the United States Government, FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, and the Marine Corps. We feel that if providing our clients with peace of mind is our number one priority. In doing so, no other security auditing firm in the United States could be brought in as a partner other than ScanAlert, they are simply the best!

If you have questions regarding PCI compliance please contact a member of our team to discuss your immediate needs. Also, stay tuned to our blog for important announcement regarding the co-branded PLETH / ScanAlert Website that will be available for one stop certification shopping.

Thanks,
Cotton Rohrscheib, Partner
PLETH Networks, LLC

Pleth, LLC Partners with ARG...

Cotton Rohrscheib, of PLETH Networks, LLC made the Announcement on Friday that his firm had partnered with Little Rock Consulting Firm, The Angela Rogers Group. “I have known Angela for a while now, when she was with the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau and she has always been a hard worker. I attended her wedding last year and her husband was in mine, we are great friends. On a professional level I can attest to her work ethic, she is a leader. That’s exactly the qualities we were looking for as a strategic partner in the Little Rock Market.” said Rohrscheib.

The Angela Rogers Group was formed when Angela decided to step down from her position with the Convention and Visitors Bureau in Little Rock where she had a hand in coordinating just about every major event that has transpired in Little Rock or Central Arkansas for the past years. These events include everything from visiting Presidents to Foreign Heads of State and even Rock Concerts and World Championship Boxing Matches, and of course Little Rock is also home to many festivals and events throughout the year.

“With Angela’s years of experience she also brings a lot of creativity and logic to our team,” added Rohrscheib. “At times we (our development team), will sometimes tend to look only at the technical functionality of a project and occasionally overlook the smaller details that an end-user might pick up on right away. Angela brings that to our team, and it has made a noticeable difference already in recent projects.”

This strategic partnership has already yielded a few noteworthy projects such as the River Market’s 10th Anniversary Website that features a full slate of upcoming events and special promotions in recognition of the River Market District’s 10th Year in existence. Plans for several other promotional projects are also on the table with announcements expected in the very near future. A number of private firms located in the Little Rock Area have also contacted Pleth Networks since the news was made public about this partnership.

“Our business is so service oriented, not only do we provide web-hosting, but we also handle about 90% of our clients development work in house so we have managed to build some personal relationships with our clients, getting to know their businesses helps us to better equip them with the tools for success on the web.” said Rohrscheib.

While the name PLETH might be a new one to many members of the business community in the state, don’t be mistaken, PLETH was actually formed when an award-winning web design firm, the Powersite Design Group decided that they wanted to go into the web-hosting business. Powersite Founder, Cotton Rohrscheib, met with then-client, Stephen Smart and his brother Greg Smart, and from it’s conception the partnership has showed tremendous growth. In only a short period of time, PLETH was able to go from a small startup tech-firm to one of the largest web-hosting providers in the United States.

“I started developing websites as a hobby along about the time that Netscape was becoming a household name, I had a fascination then with the web and a good background in graphic design, but never anticipated being able to make a living doing something I love so much. I founded Powersite back in 2001 and have managed or had an active role in over 500 projects worldwide, and in 7 different languages. These projects have included everything from small business e-commerce websites to high-level government portals. Along the way I have had the opportunity to work with an impressive list of clients including a few best-selling authors, recording artists, and NASCAR drivers like Arkansas’ very own Mark Martin, who has multiple accounts with us right now. It wasn’t until Greg and Steve came on board that I noticed somewhere along the way that the industry as a whole was no longer a hobby and it had became big business with millions of dollars worth of revenue running throughout the world. As a company we have grown past all of our expectations, in fact we now have several servers located in one of the most elite data centers in the world. Our Network is located in Dallas, Texas.” added Rohrscheib. “There are plenty of web firms in the state, but I think that the one thing that has helped us to rise to the forefront of the industry is our one on one relationship that we establish with each of our clients, and our passion to see them succeed. This is why we are so proud to have a partner firm in Little Rock now that shares the same goals and principles.”

For more information on the Angela Rogers Group, please visit their website at: www.angelarogersgroup.com , or stop by their offices located in the Little Rock River Market District inside the Museum of Discovery.

For more information regarding the Powersite Design Group or Pleth Networks, please visit their websites at: www.powersitedesign.com and www.pleth.com or call toll-free: 888-276-0848.
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Planet / EV1 Planning Merger

May 10, 2006 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — With a couple of quick announcements this week, the balance of power in the dedicated Web hosting market shifted, or rather coalesced, into the hands of one new, and very big, organization.

On Saturday, it was reported that investment firm GI Partners (gipartners.com) had acquired controlling interests in two of the dedicated hosting space’s most prominent players, Everyone’s Internet (ev1.net) and The Planet (theplanet.com).

Shortly thereafter, the two companies announced that they had merged, creating the largest dedicated Web hosting provider in the market, with more than 20,000 clients and 50,000 dedicated servers under management.

Executives from both companies say they don’t see the deal ushering in any big changes in the dedicated hosting market. But the significant resources, scale and stability of the new organization will likely enable the two brands, already leaders in the dedicated hosting field, to set the tone for that particular segment of the Web hosting business.

The companies have said they intend for EV1Servers and The Planet to continue to operate as separate brands, but the new potential for the sharing of intellectual property and business practices has obvious benefits for both sides.

Jeff Lowenberg, vice president of operations at EV1, and his counterpart at The Planet, chief operating officer Will Charnock, have begun discussing the ways in which the companies can share resources and ideas.

“The way that I look at it,” says Lowenberg, “we will certainly share technologies that the two companies have developed, and Will and I will be looking at different ways that each company does things, and whoever does it best we’ll start adopting that technology to the other company. But the two companies will continue to have their own identities and their own brands.”

And, in addition to sharing technologies the companies have developed, or are developing, the new organization will benefit from the potential to combine technology resources.

“There is that opportunity,” says Charnock. “And some of the things that we’re kicking around internally are some products that kind of leverage the two different physical locales for some products and things like that.”

The doubling up of engineering staff and resources has the potential to immediately impact the speed and confidence with which the post-merger organization can develop new products and bring them to market. Rather than fundamentally changing anything about the dedicated hosting market, the merger, say its participants, will have its most immediate and most profound effects on the way they do business, and their ability to do so. The significant boost in financial solidity, for instance, could be of considerable interest to customers.

“From my perspective,” says Charnock, “if there are going to be any changes, they’re going to be for the better. I think for the customer, as a whole, combined we’re a very strong company. We’ve seen some of our competitors disappear overnight. And when you look at us now, you have to know that we’re going to be around for the long haul. And you can feel secure when you take your services to us.”

There is plenty of overlap in the partnerships held by the two companies, and while the deal may not immediately create any new vendor relationships for either company, it may have the potential to change their existing relationships.

“We share many of our vendors,” says Charnock. “So it’s hard to pick Microsoft and say ‘that’s an immediate benefit,’ because we already have essentially the same relationship with Microsoft that EV1 does, I believe. So in that respect, I think the benefit is that we’re now a much larger entity, and we can leverage that into maybe having a little more input into features going forward, helping them develop some of their products to suit what our customers are asking for and things like that.”

Interestingly, given the nature of the Web hosting business, the similarity of the two companies in terms of their products and general approach to the business make it very easy for them to slip into a collaborative relationship. It is no big surprise that two companies succeeding in dedicated hosting are operating very similarly.

“We didn’t have a working relationship [prior to the acquisitions and merger],” says Lowenberg, “but it was good competition between us, as it was two of the biggest, if not the biggest in this particular section of the market. We drove each other to improve our service offerings, and we’ll continue to do so. Only now it won’t be so much one against the other. We’ll be forcing the rest of the market to keep up with us.”