Free Cloud Storage and China

May 14th, 2012

China has a long-running practice of censoring and restricting access to foreign services. Google Drive is the last service to hit the Golden Shield. It is hard to believe that Google will find solace in the fact that most of the popular cloud storage services are also restricted in China. 0.5 Billion active internet users are off-limits while cloud storage is on the rise. There are already quite a lot of great service providers out there. The number of services suggests that there is a rising demand. Cloud storage for the masses is still a new thing.

global could storage interest

How is China coping with the Golden Shield vacuum? They mimic the concept of existing services, build upon them and offer internal solutions to Chinese citizens.

  • Google Drive – 5GB of Google Docs plus whatever you feel like sharing with Google. For a free service it would be OK, but I won’t feel okay with Google being able to use my content if I pay for the storage.

What China offers:

  • Wangpan – The “Google of China”, Baidu, offers Wangpan – the Chinese word for “your only viable option”. All attempts of witticism aside, Wangpan offers 15GB for free. With most options removed by default, it seems like a pretty decent offering. According to online sources, Baidu will embed Wangpan to Yi (Android derivative). Baidu are up to something. When you search for “wangpan” you’ll get a lot of results from sites such as Forbes.

 

  • Dropbox– 2GB which get to about 18GB, media streaming, Linux & Blackberry clients included. This service is quite popular, every now and then offering perks to help free users boost their space.

What China offers:

  • Kanbox – Think of Kanbox as the Chinese Dropbox. The similarities are too many to be ignored. Even the homepage has the same concept. The service offers the same features as its non-Chinese counterpart. Unlike Wangpan, anyone can register. There is no hype around limited number of daily invites as the service is already well established. After receiving 20 million in venture capital in Q4 2011, Kanbox is definitely about to up its game.

 

  • Skydrive – 7GB of storage and a not-so-nasty 2GB file size limit. It is rare to see Google have a nastier policy than Microsoft. In this case I would feel better with Skynetdrive. Also one of the few Windows Phone options.

What China offers:

  • 360 Cloud Disk – Here is our last entry. 360 Cloud Disk offers the whooping 18GB, extendable to 36 absolutely free. The only limitation is that your file needs to be below 5GB, which is ok. This solution can also be considered pretty safe. It has been developed by a company mostly known for its antivirus and security solutions.

Of course, one might say that the Chinese are missing out on some of the other great cloud storage services out there, such as Box, SugarSync, Insync, etc., but three good free cloud storage services are more than what most countries have. Then again China has no decent access to the first set of service providers. The best thing about all services listed here is that Chinese or not these services are free and would aid anyone who is after a decent backup for their personal data. If you are about to travel to China on business and need cloud storage, you should probably try to copy your essential data to one of their cloud storage counterparts.

Speed and technical availability of the Chinese cloud storage services seem to be the last thing to worry about. Still, it is good to remember that The Great Firewall monitors all internet activity in mainland China. No matter what cloud storage service you use, you should check if it is available in China. You can do this with our China firewall test. Note that sometimes the services seem available and you should run multiple tests. Dropbox can be accessed by some platforms and locations, but completely unavailable in others. It has to do with China’s firewall not being that great. No pun intended.

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Monitoring Video Tips: HostName Test

April 6th, 2012

What is the main purpose of  a name server? It stores the DNS records for a given domain name and translates (resolves) domain names and hostnames into their corresponding IP addresses. But what if you want to make sure that the domain name you have chosen for your site points to the correct IP? Here’s what you can do – run a simple HostName test. With just three clicks you can check whether any given domain name is directed to its appropriate IP. If you want to see this test in action, check out the video below or try it out for yourself in our Test tools section.

This video is part of our Monitoring Video Tips series.

Free Website Test tools by WebSitePulse

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Monitoring Video Tips: Traceroute Test

March 21st, 2012

The traceroute test is one of the most powerful tools you can ever use. In short, it shows the route and transit times of ICMP packets across a network from one destination to another. It can be used to get information about the network infrastructure and IP ranges around a given host or it can help you identify firewalls that may be blocking ICMP traffic. In case of connection issues this is the tool with which you can pinpoint exactly where the problems occur. To see this test in action, check out the video below.

This video is part of our Monitoring Video Tips series.

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Free Website Test tools by WebSitePulse

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Monitoring Video Tips: Web Page Test

March 16th, 2012

Do you know which component of your web page takes the longest to load?

If not, our Web Page Test tool can help you find out. With this test our monitoring agent shows how long it takes to download the complete HTML content, the images and all the other internal web page objects. Of course, it also measures the download speed of each of the components. The test results show the DNS time, connect time, first and last byte times for each of the web page objects.

In the video below you can see how this test works. And don’t forget that you can use this and more of our free tools and services by signing up for a 30-day full-service free-trial account with us.

This video is part of our Monitoring Video Tips series.

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Free Website Test tools by WebSitePulse

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Monitoring Video Tips: Blacklist Check

March 15th, 2012

If you are searching for a suitable ISP for your business, it is a good idea to check if your IP address (or others hosted by this ISP) is listed on a DNS-based Blackhole list (DNSBL). The reason why you should do that is simple – if your ISP has given you an IP address which is listed, their mail server may also be on a blacklist and you may find yourself unable to reach your clients via e-mail. A simple test with our Test Tools will let you know if the domain name/IP address that you are testing is blacklisted. We query the major DNS Blacklists – Sorbs, Spamhaus, NJABL, DSBL, CBL and PSBL for specific IP address and return whether it is listed for sending spam, as an open proxy relay or for other possibly malicious activities. Check out the video below to see how this test works or give it a try now.

This video is part of our Monitoring Video Tips series.

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Free Website Test tools by WebSitePulse

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Monitoring Video Tips: PING Test

March 1st, 2012

Whether you want to check that your website is reachable or just need to make sure that your server or router is online, the fastest way to do so is to run a simple PING test. With our Free Tools you can run this test any time you need it. You also have the option of saving or e-mailing the results so that you review them later. You can see how this simple test works in the video or run the check directly from the tools below.


This video is part of our Monitoring Video Tips series.

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DNS Tools

February 28th, 2012

Sometimes the little things can get your online business in trouble. Each time someone comes to your website they go through a Domain Name Server, part of the Domain Name System. The Domain Name System makes it possible to assign domain names to groups of Internet resources and users in a meaningful way, independent of each entity’s physical location. Internet domain names are easier to remember than raw IPv4 and especially IPv6 addresses.

We provide several DNS Tools to help out with some important questions:

  • What’s the IP behind this domain name?
    • With the HostName test you immediately get the IP behind a domain. This is also a great way to verify that the DNS records are correct and specific domain points to the correct IP address.
  • Where did this email come from?
    • The MX Lookup test returns a list with servers responsible for delivering e-mail to that address and their priority relative to each other. You can now see where this nasty spam came from.
  • Who is in charge of this domain name?
    • If you are curious to know who owns a domain, you should use Whois. Nevertheless, you can also take advantage of the NS records lookup test. It will return the NS servers managing the domain name records for that certain domain. It is a great tool to verify DNS records when transferring a domain from registrar to another. Also if you are purchasing a domain it is good to double check on the name servers, once you set them.
  • What is the host behind this IP?
    • The Reverse DNS test is the exact opposite of the HostName test. You enter any IP and you get the host associated with it.
  • How can I trust that IP address?
    • Every now and then you will face a site you don’t actually trust. You can use the HostName tool to check the IP behind a website. You can then copy the IP and paste it in our Blacklist Check tool. We query the major DNS Blacklists – Sorbs, Spamhaus, NJABL, DSBL, CBL and PSBL for specific IP address and returns whether it is listed for sending spam, as an open proxy relay or for other possibly malicious activities.

These tools will help you troubleshoot common problems and find problems where you would rarely look. Even if your server is working perfectly and the sites are beautifully written, it would not mean a thing if something as simple as your DNS server goes down. In a world without DNS we would had to type in 69.20.11.136:80 just to reach www.websitepulse.com. Now, give the tools a try and let us know what you think about them. We hope you find the useful!

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From AC to DC

February 23rd, 2012

“Sometimes you need to look back to see ahead”. I never thought this saying will go well with data centers. It seems the new big thing with data centers is the transition from AC to DC architecture. DC took the back seat over a century ago and gave way to AC. So why should we revert to DC? We live in an AC world and things seem okay. Why the change?

There is a good reason to change to DC, at least for data centers. Most of the hardware in a data center runs on Direct Current. Since the power grid offers predominantly Alternating Current, conversion from AC to DC needs to take place before consumption. In the conversion process electricity is lost. DC data centers are between 10 and 20 percent more efficient that their AC counterparts. Switching from AC to DC direct infrastructure eliminates three conversion steps in the electrical system, and also reduces the load on the air conditioning by the reduced amount of heat being created in the conversion process.

There is also one great benefit to DC data centers – real estate. With DC infrastructure you can save between 20 and 40 percent floor space, leaving you plenty of room for further expansion.

Most of our electronics run on DC. Windmill power goes through batteries before reaching is, so does solar. It is basically DC converted to ac and then converted back to DC again, just so we can plug in our hardware. It actually makes great sense to switch back to DC.

The big players are already doing it. Facebook adopted a DC architecture in its Prineville, Ore., data center. SAP spent $128,000 retrofitting a data center at its offices in Palo Alto, Calif., to rely on DC power. In 2010 this move cut SAP’s energy bills by $24,000 per year.

Major names are catching up with the trend pretty fast. ABB bought a controlling interest in Validus DC Systems (manufacturers of data center DC equipment), while General Electric bought Lineage Power.

With the conversion cycles down from 5 for AC to DC to only 2 for DC, things look bright for data centers. More efficient, less hardware, more space, easier maintenance. It all seems pretty good. The cost for the end-user is bound to go down in the next couple of years.

Data centers become more and more reliable. Nowadays, small and midsize businesses tend to trust data centers for their computing needs. There are a number of reasons why you still need complete server monitoring solution, despite all advancements in the IT industry. Test any of our services for 30 days and let us know what you think.

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Iceland Data Centers – Location, Location, Location

February 14th, 2012

Over the last few years the northern countries have been busy promoting ideal conditions for construction of data centers. Most of them pitch the idea of green data centers, powered by renewable energy sources, free cooling, ideal location and all that jazz.

There is a great site called Data Center Map. They provide detailed information on major data server locations. After only a couple of minutes on the site you will begin to see patterns. Data centers are usually built on international fiber optic crossroads, places with better economy conditions, close to power plants and any place where location can provide advantage in one way or another.

Iceland has been “ignored” as a viable data center location for quite some time. Investors have been skeptical because the country is notorious for its seismic activity. Not to mention the fact 3 banks went bankrupt in 2008, leading to a national crisis. Usually, this is all it takes to scare off potential investments. This, however, did not scare off Verne Global from building a 44.5 acre data center in Iceland.

Presently Verne Global’s campus in Keflavik, Iceland, is 100% carbon neutral and draws its commercial power from Iceland’s dual-sourced renewable energy grid of geothermal and hydroelectric power. This is the first major data center in Iceland. Because of its location and direct access to a modern power grid, they can offer over 50% cost savings to their customers. On top of this, Verne Global took advantage of Iceland’s strategic location between Europe and America. Two submarine cables connect Iceland to Europe and one to North America.

 

Verne Global chose Colt for their modular solution, allowing the owner of the data center to choose when to invest in infrastructure and expand, maximizing the utilization of the facilities over time.

So why not build more data centers in Iceland? Cheap renewable energy, redundant power grid, redundant transcontinental network connectivity and zero cost for cooling. What’s not to like?

If you like to check how servers in Iceland perform from your location, we might be able to help.

One popular MMORPG is based in Iceland – Eve Online. On eve-offline.net you can get IP addresses for different servers. Try 87.237.38.200 on port 26000. Our latest test from Seattle shows less than one second response time. In fact, most server monitoring targets from Iceland would return good figures, based on what we have seen. If you run a server in Iceland, go ahead and try how well it performs from Europe and the United States. Don’t forget to let us know what you found out.

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How WoW Manage Their Downtime

February 9th, 2012

World of WarcraftWoW servers, like other servers, go down from time to time. The great thing about WoW downtime is that it is, most of the time, predictable. Server downtime occurs when the Warcraft servers are inoperable or inaccessible to users. Downtime can occur when Realm servers are temporarily unavailable for maintenance or when an unexpected error appears within the Authentication servers.

Unscheduled downtime at Blizzard rarely lasts more than a couple of hours. This is possible mostly due to their scheduled downtime. Wait, what? Yes, they spend a lot of time maintaining the servers you login to, well, let’s be honest – every day!

Realm Maintenance – ~6 hours downtime

Tuesday morning downtime a.k.a. the period between 5am and 11am PST/PDT on a Tuesday morning is when Blizzard takes down all of the North American and Oceanic WoW realms for weekly maintenance. 6 hours each week ensure you will not suffer longer period of downtime.

On Wednesday morning, between 5am and 11am CEST (Paris Time) the so called Wednesday morning downtime takes down all of the European World of Warcraft realms for weekly maintenance.

So, for 6 hours each week, no one can play WoW. This is mostly the time when a couple of guys I knew went shopping.

Realm Restart

These usually take less than 15 minutes before servers are up and running. They might appear more often, but users usually get in-game notification 15 minutes prior to server restart.

Information on scheduler server downtime can be found on Blizzard’s official Service Status forum

United States Scheduled Downtime

Europe Scheduled Downtime

Is Your Realm Available?

If you like to know whether your Realm is up and running, you can get the IP from here and enter it in our traceroute tool.

If you don’t know the IP of your realm, you simply need to follow these steps:

  1. Start WoW & log in to the realm you want to trace. (the server must be available)
  2. Press ALT-TAB to minimize WoW and return to the desktop.
  3. Click Start, then Run, then type “cmd”
  4. In the DOS window type “netstat -an”

You will see 2 IP addresses – the first will be Established on port 1119, 3724, 6112, 6113, or 6114, and the 2nd will show an established connection on a random port. It will look like this:

TCP    192.168.1.100:49701    12.129.206.130:1119    ESTABLISHED

TCP    192.168.1.100:49703    206.16.23.70:4000      ESTABLISHED

The first line is your connection to Blizzard’s login server. The line below should be the IP address of your server.

You can then get the IP and port and enter them into our Server Test Tool. Don’t forget to enter “custom://”, because you will be testing a random port, which you need to enter. You will be able to see whether the server is available and, depending on the response time, whether to expect lag.

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