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DATA CENTER FOR BUSINESS CONTINUITY

DATA CENTER FOR BUSINESS CONTINUITY

The relationship between business continuity and data center is crucial in online services, whether they’re provided as cloud computing or through virtualized machines. It’s essential to define the services regarded as having priority that the data center should guarantee. This way, you avoid definitions that are too abstract or incomprehensible to non-experts.

The purpose of this approach is to determine an optimal quality level of the service provided by the company that owns, manages, or buys it from third-parties. Even more so, the request for professional guidance in finding the best data solutions is so high among companies that risk management has become a subject of university studies.

sistema-elaborazione-dati

A data center is a short name for a data processing center: the core of the activity carried out by high-level hosting services. It usually resides in huge rooms located either in the company’s headquarters or in external locations, sometimes under the surveillance of specialized staff.
Most of the time, this structure is organized in server racks–the “cabinets” in which the various machines are recessed, connected and programmed/managed by system engineers.
The connected servers can be controlled directly (which occurs in the case of resets, restarts, or some types of updates) or remotely (which guarantees maximum flexibility).
The operators are often called upon (sometimes at unpredictable times) for complex, but necessary, timely interventions. And it’s here that the idea of business continuity comes into play as an essential parameter to be optimized.

The concept of business continuity, on the other hand, is expressed in the enhanced capacity, guaranteed at any level, of being able to continue providing the service even in critical conditions or in the unfortunate event of damages or accidents.
Beyond what it entails at first glance relating to security (read: avoid losing your data forever), business continuity is essential for maintaining an adequate image of the company from the outside, avoiding receiving excessive criticism from unsatisfied users. In simple words, it’s a mix of good marketing and technical warranties that all companies operating on the web need to thrive.
As already noted in a previous article, business continuity is a more extensive concept than data recovery. Not only does business continuity imply the possibility of providing the service in all situations, but it also includes the ability to recover data thanks to a series of adequate procedures at a strategic, operational, and tactical level.

Once you understand the importance of it, how can you make sure that the data center guarantees business continuity? On an engineering level, this occurs in two different ways.

First, by equipping the infrastructure with an adequate level of electric machines capable of guaranteeing a constant voltage in the event of sudden changes or power outages (therefore, for example, uninterruptible power supplies). Second, through backup systems that should be present in multiple copies, possibly also in the cloud or on machines virtually inaccessible by any intruders or malware.

This discussion also includes various requirements on energy efficiency, to avoid waste and guarantee, at the service level, maximum productivity and safety for customers and data center operators.

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HOW TO BACKUP YOUR WORDPRESS SITE

HOW TO BACKUP YOUR WORDPRESS SITE

WordPress is the platform of choice for most modern websites. It’s a CMS (Content Management System) and open source blog that has grown into a well-established solution, thanks to its ease of use. When it comes to the main competitors in the open-source area, the preference for WordPress is clear.

The platform outperformed alternatives such as Joomla! (previously much more widespread) and ended up pushing them toward specific market niches. Moreover, with WordPress, anyone can set up their business or personal website without having many technical skills. The only issue that people tend to underestimate is planning backups.

come fare backup con wordpress

In fact, a website owner rarely thinks about backups. Unfortunately, when a backup is needed, it could be too late to do it. The need to make secure website copies right from the start often gets avoided due to the excuse of having little time available or perhaps other priorities (both in terms of personal and company commitments).

In the worst case, we’re looking at substantial inexperience on the part of the operator who manages the site. In this article, you’ll learn how to solve this problem in a smart way and without necessarily having technical skills.

There are several ways to do a backup in WordPress. Few people know that it is also possible to automate the process (at least partially) so as to not have to think about it in the future.

 

The Manual Backup

This is the most straightforward way of doing a backup and includes two phases. In the first one, you download copies of all the files from your website on another computer (your device, for example), accessing the main folder (root) through FTP.

In the second part, you make a copy of the MySQL database, exporting it in a text format (or as a ZIP archive if it’s too large). The two phases are both essential, as they help you obtain a backup copy of the website to be restored if necessary. However, manual operations raise more problems than one.

First of all, this process requires time (unless the site is very small; on medium-large sites, it takes at least an hour to complete everything). This is time that could be used for different activities. After all, not all website owners have a technical department available full-time for this type of job.

The second critical aspect to consider is that backup operations should be performed regularly. That’s because the process should reflect the changes you make on the site, such as adding any plugins, changing a theme, writing, or updating content.

To cover these specific needs, WordPress provides various types of plugins, which you can install from the official CMS repository (https://wordpress.org/plugins/). Alternatively, you can find them directly inside the internal menu of the website using your administrator account (by clicking first on Plugin, then on Add). Let’s take a look at two of these solutions.

 

The Automatic Backup

BackupWordPress. This is undoubtedly one of the simplest to use. With one click, you can copy the files (which are compressed in a ZIP format) and the database of your site. The backup copy is placed, by default, in the local folder of your website, ready to be downloaded and set aside in case of an emergency. The backups, in this case, can also be scheduled–for example, an automatic backup every week.

UpdraftPlus. This is one of the best plugins for backup management. It has more options than the previous plugin and enables you, above all, to connect a Dropbox or Google Drive account and save your backups remotely. It’s a very convenient backup solution, thanks to the fact that it allows you to schedule operations and save the files in your cloud storage if you wish.

External Backups

There is also a third solution, which consists of using backup solutions that are independent of the website. These can be integrated through interfaces within the backend. In this case, you perform the backup operation separately from your activities on the WordPress platform. The Critical Case backup solutions, for example, allow you to securely save all your data, regardless of the plugins that you are using. They permit you to keep a copy of your data in complete safety, along with all the advantages that come with a dedicated professional service.

 
 
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HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOSTING SERVICE

HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT HOSTING SERVICE

Are you looking for a hosting service and you don’t know what to choose?

In today’s world, if you want to stay competitive on the market you need a great, available and fast website. Internet is the center of everybody’s life and the world of work is not an exception: if you haven’t a strong web presence you are actually invisible to the eyes of customers and vendors. So, if you are en entrepreneur or have a startup, it’s crucial for you to invest in your website, but often this is limited to overpay the graphics, and then save money on the hosting service, which will actually host your web domain.

scegliere hosting

That’s a common and serious mistake, because a poor hosting solution can compromise a lot the quality of your web service, making it slow and difficult to manage, due to the bandwidth’s saturation or the low maintenance of server. It’s like having a Ferrari without gasoline, easy on the eyes but of little use, so parked there and forgotten. In addition to that, we can say that the choice of the hosting service is made even harder because of the huge number of offers found on internet, which promise unlimited bandwidth for peanuts and are not serious. These kinds of provider just want to take on new clients and increase their business, by neglecting the quality of service and also the needs of users. How figure this out? How to choose the next “house” for your website? In other words, how to ensure to your supercar a full tank of gas to make it whiz at the right speed?

The right hosting solution for you

Let’s start by saying something very important: it doesn’t exist the best hosting service in absolute terms. The right hosting solution for your website is what suit better your requirements, which are surely different from the needs of other businesses. Therefore, you need to focus especially on the particular features of the service requested, leaving aside proposals of other type. So, if your aim is to create a website for fun, for example a blog about your life or in which you can share thoughts or cooking receipts, probably will not need a dedicated bandwidth and can be satisfied with a cheap service which ensure you just the space needed to stay online. Much depend also on the weight, number of pages and audiovisual resources of your website. Instead, if you have professional purposes and you are looking for new customers, need to choose a powerful service which allows you to make your website a real killing machine. Think about what would happen if while a customer is browsing your site, it takes too much to load or get some error messages from some link or banner. That customer would leave your site to browse your competitors with more available websites. So, be careful about “unmissable offers”: some hosting services are sold for nothing and promise unlimited resources, but you can be sure that this way clients will be hosted on server not powerful enough to manage a discreet web traffic. Slowdowns and outages will be a daily occurance and money saved will be lost in terms of missed customers. Save more time on the search for the right hosting service for your needs and choose a professional solution: by paying something more you will be certain to get the proper space and features to grow your web business.

Types of hosting: dedicated or shared services

Discarded “false friends” and focused on quality services, now it’s the moment to make other assessments in order to reach this choice: which type of hosting is right for my business? There are many variables to keep in mind. First of all, you need to decide if you want a shared hosting or a dedicated server for your website:

  1. shared hosting is the cheapest solution available, but you’ll have to share space and bandwidth with thousands of users. It entails all the risks of slowdown and downtimes we mentioned above, so it is a good option only if you haven’t particular business needs.
  2. hosting on dedicated server is more professional and allows your site to have its own space and to take full advantage of server’s computing power: your website will be faster and more reliable, with a superior price you will get better performance which will be surely payed back with increased revenues
  3. the last option is the hosting on virtual server: it is a middle ground between the first options, server is shared with other users but is not a physical space so you can manage it autonomously like it’s only yours. You can also add more power to it and take full advantage of the bandwidth. Also, virtual server is more protected against cyber-attacks and is the safest solution if your website needs to manage money or sensitive data.

Features of good hosting: bandwidth, scalability and technical support

Which are the hosting features to compare before taking the final decision?
Basically, you can focus on three parameters essential for a good hosting: bandwidth, scalability and technical support. The bandwidth is the simplest feature but also the most important one: it’s the traffic capacity you can use on that server (10 GB, 15 GB, unlimited…). Pay attention to whose offer unlimited traffic because it’s not really like that, usually they are linked to other characteristics with have limitations, and the high-number of users will slowdown your site anyway. May be that at the beginning you need some space and then, after months or years, it was no longer enough, because your business has grown in terms of revenues and advertising campaigns.

You need to consider the scalability: it means that you can make an upgrade of the virtual resources of your website without calling the technical assistance or moving on other servers. It is vitally important also the technical support: even with the best hosting solution, sooner or later you will run into some issues and fix them rapidly and easily must be your priority. Some providers are accessible only by phone and sometimes just in English, other has H24 technical support which would be very useful and efficient. Usually, is good to contact the technical support of the hosting provider you want to choose and ask them all your pre-sales questions to eliminate any doubt about the quality of service offered. Another good practice is asking to who has already tried the hosting service: look for reviews and real opinions in forum of the field (better avoid opinion sites because the most are good reviews), they will give you additional information about benefits and limits of the offer.

The choice of the proper hosting service can make the difference and be a determining factor for your website. Take your time and consider all the proposals, only this way your website will get the maximum performances and results.

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MICROSERVICES: WHAT THEY ARE, FEATURES AND BENEFITS

MICROSERVICES: WHAT THEY ARE, FEATURES AND BENEFITS

What are microservices?

Microservices are a development approach of software architecture emerged especially to develop the modern Cloud-based applications. Whit that model, applications are broken up into smaller autonomous and independent services (microservices precisely), which communicate among themselves through well-defined API, with the aim to simplify the deployment and provide high-quality software programs swiftly. Indeed, microservices allow to scale easily and rapidly, by promoting the innovation and accelerating the development of new features.

Monolithic systems vs microservices

Microservices are in opposition to the traditional monolithic system used to develop standard applications, according to which each component is created into the same element. But monolithic method has its disadvantages. For instance, with large applications is more difficult to solve issues rapidly and deploy new features. With this kind of approach, all processes are connected together and performed as a single service. That means that when there is a peak in the requests, you need to re-size the entire architecture. Consequently, add or edit features become more complicated, and the experimentation and inclusion of new ideas is limited. At the same time, traditional architectures enlarge the risk of application’s availability , because the presence of strictly connected processes dependent from each other increases the impact of mistakes in a single process.

microservices

Microservices approach simplify the resolution of problems and optimize development time. Every process or component constitute a microservice and is performed as an independent service. Microservices communicate through an interface of “light” APIs and interact to complete the same tasks while remaining independent from each other, with the possibility of sharing similar processes among several applications. It is a granular model in which any service corresponds to a business functions and performs only one function. In addition, the independence among services removes the issues about updating, re-sizing and deployment typical of monolithic architectures.

Microservices and containers

Although the architecture based on microservice is not entirely new, the presence of containers make easier to use it. Containers represent the ideal development environment for application which use microservices because they allow to execute different components of the application independently, on the same hardware and operating a superior control on software lifecycle. Containers provide to microservices a self-sufficient environment in which the management of services, storage, network and security is easier. For these reasons, microservices and containers together form the basis for the development of Cloud-native applications. By entering microservices into containers, you can accelerate development and facilitate transformation and optimization of existing apps.

Benefits of microservices

Microservices, when implemented correctly, enable to improve the availability and scalability of applications. As we have seen above, one of the most compelling aspect of microservices compared to monolithic systems, is that a bug in a single service cannot affect other services and cannot compromise the entire application. This and many others are the benefits of microservices: let’s see them together right now.

 
  • No single point of failure
  • High scalability e resilience
  • Time-to-market
  • Easier Deployment
  • Top performance
  •  
  • Freedom in the use of technology
  • More experimentation and innovation
  • Re-usable code
  • Flexibility of development language
  • Greater agility of system
 

… and disadvantages

Don’t forget that microservices, although they represent an innovative and performing development model, have also disadvantages. Those include the complexity associated to all distributed systems, the need of more solid testing protocols and the requirement of experienced teams to manage processes and provide technical support. Besides, if the application doesn’t need to scale rapidly or is not Cloud-based, the development architecture might gain poor benefits from microservice.

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WHAT IS CLOUD HOSTING AND HOW IT WORKS?

WHAT IS CLOUD HOSTING AND HOW IT WORKS?

Cloud hosting: meaning and features

Cloud hosting is a service which ensures the permanence of your website online and all the resources related to space and traffic needed to manage at best your business on the web (CPU, RAM,storage etc.). Unlike the other services, it’s not physical but virtual. That means that Cloud hosting uses Cloud resources to guarantee the maximum availability, better performance and high-scalability. Cloud hosting service is based on virtualization systems designed for websites and internet services which request flexibility and high-performance.

cloud hosting

Cloud hosting features are suitable to any kind of business and to its particular needs in terms of online traffic. All Cloud hosting solutions are high-scalable and able to support the growth of your web project step by step, by assuring high-availability and customized SLA based on performance.

Which are the key benefits of Cloud hosting?

  • High-availability
  • Top performances
  • High-scalability
  • Pay-per use model
  • Customized SLA

Cloud hosting can be activated with the Fully Managed option, which means that the hosting service management is handled by Cloud provider’s specialists. Fully managed Cloud hosting service is beneficial for many reasons. For instance, it represents the ideal solution for firms which have no time to run the management, or for organizations that has no employees with proper IT skills to administrate the service correctly. Thanks to a dedicated team of experts, you won’t have to worry about IT management anymore, removing stress, expenses and time needed to manage it autonomously.

Cloud hosting Kubify with Kubernetes containers

Kubify is the only solution of fully managed Cloud hosting in Italy using Kubernetes containers, and able to ensure maximum performances, scalability and security. Something new is that Kubify is a multidatacenter and hybrid hosting solution, which takes advantages of the availability of Azure storage and of our Data Centers computing power and scalability to ensure unparalleled performances. Cloud hosting Kubify is a Fully Managed “turn-key” service. You don’t need to worry about the infrastructure technical management anymore, but you can develop easily your applications on an all-inclusive platform capable to ensure the highest availability of the service and achieve top-level performance. Besides, Kubify includes a series of additional free services in the hosting offer, such as hourly backups, synthetic monitoring, development and testing environments and more, as well as h24 technical suppor, like all our Cloud services.

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INDUSTRY 5.0: TOWARDS A NEW REVOLUTION

INDUSTRY 5.0: TOWARDS A NEW REVOLUTION

What is Industry 5.0?

Just ten years ago they started to talking about Industry 4.0 and yet today, we are on the doorstep of a new change: Industry 5.0. The experts define it as the natural evolution of Industry 4.0, which still dominates the world of small and medium-sized firms. The new industrial age originates from the development of technologies 4.0 at lightning speed, in particular in the ICT, AI and robotics fields, that are leading to Cyber Physical System (CPS) and increasingly powerful IoT devices. Industry 5.0 will be characterized by the cooperation between machines and human beings, with the ultimate aim to give an added value to production, by creating personalized products able to meet customers requirements.

Where were we? Let’s go back to Industry 4.0

We’ll make a step back to better understand what will happen in the next future. Today we are still in the era of Industry 4.0, based on digitisation, automation and interconnection of production processes. That industry which has seen the birth, the evolution and the establishment of advanced technologies such as Cloud Computing and Information Technology in general, Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence. And yet Augmented Reality, Big Data, Robotics. At the basis of the Industry 4.0 that we know there’s the advent of the internet, which combined with the development of new technologies, has deeply changed the society in which we live as well as its industrial processes. Industry 4.0 was carrying a huge risk connected to what seemed to be the future of the fourth industrial revolution: a total digitisation which would replace the human workforce with machines. But is this really what will be next? Let’s find out right now.

The protagonists of the revolution

The forecasts declare quite the opposite. Rather than a substitution of human labour, we will assist to the development of the so called Super Smart Society, governed by the intelligent cooperation among humans and machines. In particular, the protagonists of Industry 5.0 will be cobots and Intelligent Software applications (bots). Cobots, unlike the robots currently used in the production cycles, are collaborative robots programmed to interact with humans in shared workplaces. Indeed, the differentiation and personalisation of products can’t be done without the guide of human mind. So, the purpose of Industry 5.0 is to use the capacities of machines (obviously, superior to ours) to keep high volumes of production but with a higher quality, precisely because of that collaboration.

industria 5.0

Bots, instead, are Artificial Intelligence applications able to act for a user or another program in a mutually beneficial relationship. Bots are already widely used and in the future they will be used even more, especially in the industrial context. Cooperation and personalisation will be the core elements for the change of Industry 4.0 towards the future industrial paradigm. The redefinition of human intervention in production processes and the recognition of its value in determining the quality and personalization of the product, make the role of men meaningful and indispensable into industry 5.0.

How the working world will change with Industry 5.0?

This vision will affect soon the working world, by making up new, more specialised and better jobs. Indeed, the use of Artificial Intelligence in the industry aims to facilitate employees, not to eliminate them. What is expected is a redefinition of human activities in a context of men-robots integration which will get to a more performing and “light” production for workers. The collaborative dimension at the base of the next revolution in fact would lead to a rezising of work loads, by freeing the employees from hardest duties.

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HOSTING FOR WEB AGENCY: BENEFITS OF PARTNER PROGRAM

HOSTING FOR WEB AGENCY: BENEFITS OF PARTNER PROGRAM

What is a web agency and what does it need?

Web agencies have to do with developing digital solutions. In addition to website building, they work with different kinds of online communication projects. Indeed, in a web agency we find a team of digital experts able to support and promote the growth of online businesses in different ways. Here’s the main services offered by web agencies, as well as website development:

  • Online advertising solutions
  • Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for websites
  • Web content editing
  • Social media marketing
  • Graphic and web design
hosting web agency

Precisely because a web agency works in close contact with the digital world, needs to use a top-level hosting service. Each company has particular requirements, so it’s important for a web agency to choose the best hosting solution for its needs.

Partner Program: why is the best service for web agencies?

Criticalcase’s Partner Program allows web agencies which sign up to expand the range of services provided and increase reputation to their customers. With Partner Program you can offer your clients high-end hosting services and other Cloud solutions. But not only that, you will have at your disposal a complete range of IT solutions: CDN, Disaster Recovery services, Managed services, monitoring solutions and more. Thanks to this partnership, from one side web agencies can raise their popularity, finding new customers and increasing turnover. From the other side, this way it’s easier to get customer loyalty, assuring them great IT solutions instead of them choosing your competitors because provide hosting services and you don’t.

Partner Program benefits for web agencies are really a lot. Here’s some:

  • White Label
  • No costs
  • Dedicated pricing
  • Facilitated payments
  • Free staging environments
  • Free trials
  • H24 technical support

You will also have free business training and marketing support, custom packages and more.

How to earn with Partner Program in 3 steps

Obviously, we cannot ignore one of the major benefits of Partner Program: earn money since the first day. Through our program for Partners, any web agency can resell our Cloud and hosting services to its customers in a simple and profitable way. To start earning with Partner Program you just need to make three simple steps:

1. Sign up to Partner Program
2. Login to the reserved area
3. Start selling our Cloud solutions to your clients
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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SITE SPEED METRICS

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SITE SPEED METRICS

What is Site speed and why it’s so important: impact on User Experience and sales

Site speed is a key factor for any kind of online business. For instance, with e-commerce websites you can’t overlook web performance in any way. In particular, you need to pay attention to site speed, because it strictly related to the quality of User Experience provided to customers and, consequently, to the volume of sales generated.

When users come to an online shops, they expect a very fast site, high-definition images, user-friendly pages, easy and rapid checkouts and more. Researches about online retail says that 1 of 3 users leaves the website if it takes more than 3 seconds for page loading. A number which affects significantly bran reputation and especially online sales. That’s why you need to measure carefully site speed of any web project, to keep your customers on your site and make them carry out a purchase. But often, analyzing data on web performance might be confusing. That’s why there’s no a unique metric for site speed, but there are many parameters and you need to be aware of each single metric to be capable to optimize your website at best.

site speed

Which are the main site speed metrics and how to use them to increase website performance?

This post has the aim of explaining which are the key site speed metrics and how you can use them to speed up your website.

Page Load time

As we have seen in a previous post, page load time indicates the time needed to download and view the whole content of a web page in the browser window. Page load time has calculated from the beginning, when a user clicks on a link or types a web address, to the end, when the page is fully loaded on the screen. Page load can have different values according to the type of browser used and user’s geographic location. To fix it, you can adopt Content Delivery Network solutions, designed specifically to distribute contents all over the world speeding up your site ad keeping top performance.

Time to First Byte (TTFB)

We have also seen that Time to First Byte (TTFB) is the metric that can be used to measure server speed. It’s calculated by counting the time from when a user requests a site until its browser receive the first web page byte. TTFB is not perceived by users, but it’s so relevant as site speed parameter. When calculating, you need to consider the use of CMS platform (WordPress, Magento or others). In that case TTFB can be easily reduced implementing proper plugins. If you still get poor TTFB, you might need to check the quality of your hosting provider service.

Document Load

Document Load, or Document Complete, refers to a series of “events” viewed by the user. Usually Doc Load indicates when all texts, images and other HTML elements are fully loaded, but it could not include some contents triggered by JavaScript (for instance, animations or forms).

Page Complete

After Document Complete, just some JavaScript files are left to complete the loading. Once they are fully loaded, we get Page CompleteWhen the browser stops to receive information or requests for 2 seconds, that means that the Page is entirely loaded. It is an important value but it can be different from test to test, so it’s better to use it in conjunction with other site speed metrics to get a true picture.

Speed Index

Speed Index estimates the average time needed to load visible parts of a web page in the browser window. It’s the score that your website gets from a collection of speed metrics. Lower the Speed Index score, faster your website is performing. Heavy contents “above the fold” (on top of the page) can give negative Speed index, on the contrary “below the fold” contents are not included in the calculation. Speed Index is very useful to make comparisons, for instance to check if optimizations made are working or to compare your website with competitors. However, it doesn’t show the specific areas which need to be improved, so use it with other site speed metrics to understand better the situation. Speed Index can be improved by optimizing fonts, images (therefore reducing page sizes which we’ll cover shortly) and by lazy-loading images.

Time to Interactive

Time to Interactive (TTI) is the time that it takes for a web page to become interactive. “Interactive” means that all the visible elements are loaded and the page respond immediately to user interaction. TTI is a crucial metric to measure initial user experience. Many websites load quickly but get a few seconds more before you can properly use them. That is a frustrating experience for customers and it often leads them to abandon the site. A great method to improve TTI is to defer unnecessary JavaScript.

Number of Resources

Anytime a user requests a website, it sends a series of HTTP(S) requests for all the files which make up the page. All the HTTP requests together constitute large part of the site speed. You can analyze any request that your website makes (when it loads, request size, how long it takes to complete). It’s a very useful tool because allows you to pinpoint possible issues and solve them rapidly. An effective way to reduce the amount of HTTP requests is to combine CSS and JavaScript files.

Page Size

Page Size refers to the weight (in KB or MB) of all files in the website. If the site includes many heavy files, Page Size might be high and slowdown the website. Image are the major factor of large Page Size. Different solutions can be used to lower it: minimize CSS, HTML and JavaScript files, optimize images and use methods of compression such as gzip. In addition, for website using CMS there are many plugins available to reduce large Page Size.

 

Each site speed metric matters!

When you use a tool to test site speed, be aware of the kind of metric they’re reporting on. Often popular tools get only TTFB, which is very important but it doesn’t provide the overall picture. Thereby you need to be careful of what are you testing and how. Once you get those information, you will be able to proceed with the optimization of your website to make it as faster as possible. Just remember that there’s not only one number you must focus on, but each site speed metric matters. Maybe start from reducing file size and HTTP(S) requests, indirectly lowering some of the key metrics related to site speed. From there you can identify specific issues and improve site speed further.

 
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5 REASONS TO CHOOSE ITALIAN CLOUD PROVIDERS

5 REASONS TO CHOOSE ITALIAN CLOUD PROVIDERS

How to asses a Cloud provider and choose the best one?

When a company is searching for a Cloud provider needs to take in consideration some important things to make the right choice. Indeed, a valuable IT partner is able to support the business step by step and not only from a strictly technological perspective, by guaranteeing the best service available.

Among the criteria deemed essential to choose correctly, SLA and assistance are at the forefront. SLA (Service Level Agreement) define the conditions of service which must be respected by the provider towards its customers, for instance the quality of service. Custom SLA next to 100% are considered basic by entrepreneurs for a good service. Technical assistance should be available h24 to cover customer’s needs of support: weekends, holidays or nights, possible downtimes needs to be managed and solved immediately. According to a research done in Italy, there’s another key factor which affects the final decision: the provenance of the Cloud provider. Many firms prefer an Italian company rather than a big corporation.

cloud provider italiani

Why trust an Italian Cloud provider instead of big corporations?

The reasons that propel entrepreneurs to trust more Italian Cloud providers than foreign ones are different. In the following lines we will show you 5 reasons to choose a Cloud provider from Italy:

1. Better regulatory compliance

Some companies has particular needs in terms of regulatory compliance. The need to respect special rules requested by Italian legislation (for instance based on the industry or other criteria) makes an Italian Cloud provider the right choice to ensure the complete compliance.

2. Data security and privacy

According to the same principle, an Italian provider guarantees also a greater data security and gives to the customer the possibility of store them in Italy, by ensuring a higher privacy. Big Cloud providers of international level don’t guarantee the same transparency on business data.

3. Knowledge of the market

Unlike the foreign companies, Italian providers are well wired into the market and know deeply its logic and dynamics. The knowledge of context gives them a higher gear.

4. Assistance in Italian

This feature is often underestimated at decision-making level but instead plays a key role in the choice. Most international vendors provide the technical assistance in English from somewhere across the globe. An Italian provider can guarantee to its customers the support needed from Italy end especially in Italian.

5. Contact with the customer

In addition, Italian Cloud providers can ensure to clients a custom contact, even face-to-face meetings (very unlikely event if you choose to trust foreign providers). Relationships with companies are more direct and less linked to code numbers.

In conclusion

The choice about the Cloud provider it’s affected by many factors and change necessarily depending on the type of business and its specific requirements. But it’s a fact, Italian vendors provide to their customers some benefits that Big Providers can’t do. In this post we have seen some examples, such as the greater security and compliance about business data, but also the service of technical assistance in Italian and the ease of contact with the customers.

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CLOUD SOLUTIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS: WHICH TO CHOOSE?

CLOUD SOLUTIONS FOR ORGANIZATIONS: WHICH TO CHOOSE?

The market of Cloud solution for organizations is constantly growing: year by year, is an upward trend at global level. Numbers confirm that most organizations is now finally aware of the benefits and value of Cloud technology. Cloud does not involve only several economic advantages, such as cost reduction, optimization of virtual environments and avoid wastage of resources and energy, but it plays a crucial role in the Digital Transformation of businesses. In 2018 Cloud Italian market reached €2,34 billions, increased by 19% over the previous year. Currently 82% of medium to large size companies uses at least one Public Cloud service, in 23% of cases for mission-critical processes (data sourced at Osservatorio.net).

 

Today the Cloud Computing ecosystem is rich of services and tools which can be combined interminably, by generating a great value to firms. Juggle different solutions available is not so easy. In this post we will make a short overview of the main Cloud solutions for organizations, highlighting key features and benefits of each services: the first step to choose the best solutions for your business is to be aware of the options and their differences!

Public Cloud

Public Cloud service is offered by an external provider which make at your disposal the IT asset needed to support the business. We are talking about a high-performance Cloud infrastructure, shared among multiple users. Public Cloud is a cost-competitive choice and allows customers to use pay-per-use billing model, by removing waste and paying just resources actually used. That solution si also high-scalable and provides high-availability thanks to the use of public resources. Infact, in case of downtime, loads would be redistribute among the other data centers ensuring the continuity of service.

Private Cloud

Private Cloud is different from Public Cloud for a main reason. The infrastructure is precisely “private”, that means dedicated to the single organization which buy the service. That solution guarantees a greater security and data protection because the customer has exclusive access and complete control on the infrastructure and corporate data. Costs are higher than public Cloud, but service is particularly suitable for all the companies of enterprise level and especially for who treat sensitive data and need to get compliance with particular rules. Even in this case is possible to use the pay-per-use model to optimize resources and up-keep costs.

cloud per aziende

Hybrid Cloud

Hybrid Cloud is a solution which includes a mix of Public and private Clouds, designed according to particular business needs. That kind of service combines the benefits of both solutions and allows a high-customization of the infrastructural system and tools provided. Hybrid Cloud is surely more difficult to manage compared to other solutions, but also able to respond to specific requirements.

Virtual Data Center

Virtual Data Center (VDC) solution is dedicated to companies which needs a complex IT infrastructure, with high-availability and top performance. Firms can choose their favorite type of system (public or private Cloud) and can customize SLA according to their needs. VDC is a flexible service, with unlimited expansion possibilities (machines, bandwidth etc.) and total management independence. Even for this solution you can benefit from pay-per-use billing.

Cloud server

Cloud server service offers preconfigured virtual spaces to customers, providing to them direct access to the machine. Cloud server is sized according your business needs and it’s activated easily and immediately into the infrastructure. Cloud server solution ensures expandible bandwidht to cover any request and guarantees high-availability and scalability. It’s popular for its ease of set-up and use. Indeed, Cloud server is delivered to the client ready to use, equipped with the pre-arranged IT asset.

Cloud hosting

Cloud hosting solution is ideal for sites and web projects which request flexibility and great performance. Cloud hosting features are suitable to any business need and online traffic generated. The service is very flexibile and scalable, able to support the growth of your business step by step. Cloud hosting benefits include custom SLA and maximum continuity of service.
In addition to he standard solution we offer Kubify, a managed Cloud hosting service that use Kubernetes containers and the computing power of Azure. It’s an innovative, multi-datacenter and hybrid solution able to get unparalleled performances. Kubify is a”turn-key” service completely managed by Cloud experts and includes free additional services as development environments, backups and more.

Cloud desktop

The last two solutions are designed to meet specific needs. Cloud Desktop (also called Virtual Desktop Infrastructure – VDI) is a virtualization solution for desktop environments. It provides a virtualization platform to manage operating system, applications and data in total security. Cloud desktop removes any barrier of medium, place and time throughout the distribution of virtual desktops that enable employees to work in completely mobility and indipendence, with any device and from any place. It’s the best solution for your business if you need to optimize workstations, increase productvity and reduce costs.

Cloud backup

Finally, Cloud backup service, important to store and keep safe business data. It’s the ideal solution for who needs to maintain corporate data in outdoor buildings and in complete security. Cloud backup solution allows to plan automated backups with customized frequency (weekly, daily or hourly backups). Data are stored in selected data center, with protected and exclusive access and H24 on-site technical support. Cloud backup can be integrated with any disaster recovery policy and has no limits of space: you can make backups from simple data until virtual servers and complex databases. With Cloud backup you can make a fast recovery when it’s needed and it is able to adapt immediately to new space requirements.

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