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Try version 4.0 beta of our Dynamic Update Client! This version is currently only available for Windows.

New features of Version 4.0 Include: 

• Windows 8 support
• Fixed run on startup/run as system service issues with older versions of windows.
• Ability to pick an internal network interface
• Easier to manage update interval (Plus/Enhanced), users
• Ability to create hosts from the client (Plus/Enhanced) users

We are committed to constant improvement and your feedback plays a large role in our updates and product development. Please contact us at duc@no-ip.com or leave your comment on this post to leave feedback. Download the new DUC today!

Last week, the social media giant Facebook suffered some unnecessary downtime that they are now blaming on an error that occurred when a change was made to their DNS infrastructure.

“Earlier today we made a change to our DNS infrastructure and that change resulted in some people being temporarily unable to reach the site. We detected and resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100 percent. We apologize for any inconvenience.”

DNS is the core or backbone of the Internet, without it, the Internet would be a much different place; harder to navigate and browse. We talk all the time about how much downtime caused by mother nature, traffic overloads, and other issues can cost your website, but what about user error?

What can you do to safeguard your website against unnecessary downtime due to user error? Simple, out into practice this 5 tips for DNS management.

1. Only allow authorized and knowledgeable people access to DNS accounts
2. Triple check any updates and changes
3. Monitor your DNS. Make sure it is always running and that it is resolving to the proper address. We suggest using Nagios or Pingdom.
4. Don’t let your domain name expire on accident. Register it for a few years at a time, or let it auto-renew.
5. Make sure your DNS Servers are patched and if available, updated to their latest version to avoid vulnerabilities

Who manages your websites DNS? Have you ever had downtime due to errors in DNS updates? What do you do to safeguard your website against downtime?

Are you thinking of launching a new product, service, or have an awesome idea for a new invention or product? Don’t forget the most important part of the process: registering the domain. If you forget, it could cost you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars down the road.

Also, are you thinking of a name for your new product, service, idea? Don’t forget to see if the name is already a registered domain. Although it may be okay if you have to choose another TLD if the .com version isn’t available, it may confuse your customers, in the long run, costing you unnecessary time and money.

Check out this other helpful posts:

6 Tips for Choosing the Right Domain Name
Best Practices: The Top 4 Ways to Protect your Domain Name

Today, the House of Representatives voted unanimously for the Internet to “remain free from government control.”

“Whereas given the importance of the Internet to the global
economy, it is essential that the Internet remain stable,
secure, and free from government control;”

This is quite exciting news, especially since we have seen so many controversial Internet bills pass through the House this past year. This may just be a small step for the Internet, but hopefully, it paves a way for the future in keeping the Internet free of control. You can read the entire Resolution here. What are your thoughts on this Resolution? Are you surprised to see that it was voted for unanimously? I sure was.

Did you know that the text message turned 20 years old today? On December 3, 1992, the first SMS message was sent! I am not quite sure what I would do without it!

According to Gizmodo, “in 2010 alone, the world sent over 6.1 trillion messages, or roughly 193,000 per second.”

The following 5 people are the winners of our giveaway. Please email ngoguen-text@no-ip.com. Please include your t-shirt size, mailing address, and No-IP username. Congrats!

1. Alex Copland
2. Jonathan Nahlke
3. Luca Viviani
4. Wade Thomas
5. Roger Huegi

A few years ago, the word cloud mostly related to the clouds in the sky, now it immediately makes me think of Data Clouds. Although a recent study totally contradicts this saying that most people think it is run on actual clouds in the sky.  Most businesses manage their databases in the cloud, they also use the cloud as an easy way to manage data and backups. Home users use cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon Cloud Drive to easily backup pictures, music, and documents.  Although these solutions are easy and often reliable solutions, how much of your private data do you really want to entrust to big corporations? Google already knows too much about you via your search history and social media sites like Facebook make your personal information everyone’s business.

When it comes to privacy, there is a very fine line of knowing what these companies are doing with your data and whose hands are actually on it. Security breaches have been very common in the past and they aren’t going anywhere.  Sometimes it’s not the question of will someone steals your data, it’s when will they steal your data. So, why not set up your own home cloud? It is actually a lot less daunting than it sounds.

No-IP is an integrated solution in most Synology devices, which makes this integration even more seamless if you would like to easily access your home cloud remotely on a dynamic IP address. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars a year for remote cloud data management services.

The product that we recommend is the Synology NAS storage device. It hooks up to your router to easily create a home network for seamless backups. If you decide to purchase the NAS with 2 bays, you will have a fully redundant cloud if the first hard drive were to ever crash. Your data will be at the tip of your fingers, freeing your computers hard drive of unnecessary data. You can check out these tutorials for easily setting up your NAS device at home, the office, or wherever.

Have you set up your own “cloud” before? How did you do it?

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Due to Hurricane Sandy and the devastation that has swept the East Coast, customers with Mail Reflector and/or Backup MX Email Services will have their emails held for 14 days, instead of the typical 7 day retention period.

We wish all of our East Coast users a fast recovery. Our thoughts go out to everyone. Stay safe.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact our support team!